The Potluck: Recent Episodes
Kenneth SZ Goh
Welcome to The Potluck Podcast, which serves a melting pot of stories from Singapore’s food producers and makers (and second rounds are always allowed). At the virtual dining table, we tuck into scrumptious servings of anecdotes and sharings from food personalities who shine a spotlight on local dishes and a vibrant food culture that keeps evolving. Hold the sauce, pass the dish and dig in at The Potluck.
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Meet Nor Hadayah Mohamad, or Nor, a Top 5 finalist on MasterChef Singapore Season 2 (2021). Nor has been hailed as 'Soul Woman', wowing judges with her dishes that boast intense and vibrant flavours, from Gambas Al Ajillo, Kek Pisang Nanas to a coffee-infused Mexican beef stew. Nor shares how her experience on Masterchef is akin to "enter a wrestling ring, where you start to question one's life choices" and the highs and lows of her colourful and (sometimes teary) journey of taking part in the televised cooking competition.
Nor also shares how her interest in cooking blossomed, from being "my mother's shadow in the kitchen", crimping epok epoks while other kids were out playing to cooking all sorts of cuisine from Mexican, Japanese to even Uzbek. Nor also shares her plans for life after MasterChef and how plans to open up the possibilities of cooking Halal food.
Meet Lee Yum Hwa, chef-owner of Italian private dining outfit, Ben Fatto and pasta artisan, who knows his orecchiette from marubini. Yum Hwa shares how selling pasta and sauces during the circuit breaker period has helped him see more clearly that pasta production is his endgame, and how he has gotten more creative with pasta-making. He also shares how his interest in crafting an extensive range of pasta started. "I want to showcase the craft of making pasta as the protagonist of a dish".
I speak with Shake Shack's Culinary Director Mark Rosati on his plans for the chain at the opening of the first Shake Shack outlet in South-east Asia in Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport.
Read the full interview here.