IIUM Pagoh’s Malay Food Heritage Branding Flagship organises Healing Cooking 1.0: Food for good health and wellbeing

By Muhammad Hanif Bin Anas

As delicious and homey food is always being associated with healing elements, thus, the Healing Cooking 1.0 and Community Engagement program was held with the aim of promoting good mental health and quality education for staff of the Kulliyyah of Languages and Management (KLM) at IIUM Pagoh. The event was organised by Malay Food Heritage Branding Flagship (MFHB) in collaboration with the Counseling Unit of KLM and was attended by KLM staff along with Kumpulan Wanita Laman Tani Kompleks Penghulu Mukim Parit Jawa, and a team from IIUM, Gambang Campus.  

The event began with a sharing session on how cooking heals by special guests, Masterchef Malaysia, Dr. Ezani Monoto; the Counselor, Sr. Masturah Mohamad Arif and CELPAD teacher from IIUM Gambang campus, Madam Hanifah Eydel. The session highlighted how the activity of preparing dishes can be a therapy for stress. Also, there were some significant insights on the nutritional value of ingredients that contribute to good physical and mental health. 

A live cooking demonstration of a special Johorean dish, Kacang Pool, by MasterChef Malaysia champion, Dr. Ezani Farhana Monoto, was a real treat. Through this segment, the chef celebrated local ingredients and demonstrated the techniques in preparing the delicious dish for everyone to taste.

The highlight of the event was a cooking competition which was participated by six teams from the Department of Arabic Language (DOA1 and DOAL2), Department of English Language (DOEL), Department of Malay Language (DOML), Department of Tourism (DOT) and the General Studies Unit (GSU). All teams showcased their cooking skills while fostering a sense of community with the locals and embracing our Malay local dishes. A wide range of traditional Malay dishes was available for sampling and tasting, hence, the top three winners were announced with their amazing menus.  

The overall winner of the competition went to the team from the Department of Malay Language (DOML) with its menu that consisted of:

1. Daging salai rebung masak lemak cili padi
2. Sambal bilis petai
3. Ulam ulaman
4. Sambal belacan tempoyak
5. Air kelapa muda    

The Department of Tourism (DOT) bagged the second place prize with their menu items: 

1. Ikan siakap masak lemak cili api
2. Sambal udang petai
3. Jagung lemak manis 
4. Teh O limau

The third place, was earned by the team from the Department of Arabic Language (DOAL) with its breakfast menu, Bubur nasi and Air bunga Telang.

Healing Cooking 1.0 and Community Engagement was successful as it received encouraging feedback from participants. Overall, this program was enjoyable, leaving attendees inspired, educated, and with full stomachs. Events like these play a vital role in fostering the love for cooking in managing good mental health, overall wellbeing and bringing people together through the universal language of food.

(This article was written as part of the Malay Food Heritage Branding flagship based in Kulliyyah of languages and Management, IIUM Pagoh)