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Flavors of Malaysia:
Raves and Reviews
From America's Leading Authorities
On Food and Culture
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Marion Nestle: Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and Bestselling Author of "What to Eat" http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Marion_Nestle
"Flavors of Malaysia is a masterpiece, a gorgious introduction to the food and culture of a country as multiethnic as they come. The resulting blend is glorious food, beautifully described by Susheela, who appreciates the cultural history of each dish as well its taste, and makes us want to cook every one of them."
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Suvir Saran, Owner/Chef of Devi, New York City's award winning Michelin Star Indian restaurant and Author of Indian Home Cooking and American Masala. http://www.suvir.com/
"You will smell the scents and feel the textures of the marketplaces that enrich the cookery of Malaysia as you read along ... Susheela has gifted to the world of food lovers and food history the ultimate guide to Malaysian cookery, and the culture, people and history that shaped it"
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Wan Latiff, Trade Commissioner, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (MATRADE).
http://www.malaysiakitchennyc.com/news-events/videos/flavors-malaysia-author-susheela-9.html
"Susheela's book - one of the most comprehemsive books on Malaysian Cuisine - offers an excelllent collection of delicious recipes along with the rich history and culture of Malaysia's favorite dishes. Full of captivating antecdotes and personal tales, it is both engaging and approachable. We at MATRADE are pleased with the publication of Flavors of Malaysia."
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Zakary Pelaccio, Chef, Fatty Crab, Fatty Q, and Cabrito, New York City.
http://www.fattycrab.com/
"Susheela's book is full of nostalgia and passion for the food and culture of Malaysia. It piques the curiosity of the Malaysian food lover and serves as a great introduction to the cuisine for the uninitiated. Flavors of Malaysia has found a permanent place in my Southeast Asian cookbook collection."
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Corinne Trang, Chef and Cookbook Author. http://www.corinnetrang.com/
"Beautifully researched and written with personal and historical annecdotes ... you'll discover a world of regional specialities with influences from the Portuguese, Chinese, Indian, Dutch, and more. This is a classic that belongs in every kitchen."
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The Passionate Foodie:
http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2011/01/flavors-of-malaysia-family-fusion.html
"Flavors of Malaysia feels like a very personal book, with Susheela sharing many details of her life growing up, such as watching her grandmother and mother cooking. Her parents encouraged her to develop an adventurous palate and Susheela desired to honor her family with this cookbook, sharing the cuisine which has brought her so much joy. It is this passion, this underlying story, which makes this cookbook compelling. It is certainly not a boring litany of soulless recipes, but instead is a culinary treasure, a marvel of family, fusion and fascination"
"A superb, well-written, and comprehensive guide to the cuisines of Malaysia. Susheela even took all of her own photos for the book. This was obviously a work of passion, and that is reflected on every page. This book could serve as a role model for other ethnic or regional cookbooks, with its fine balance of history, education, personal stories and recipes. It gets my highest recommendation and shines the light on a cuisine which really should be highlighted.
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Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2011/0207/Cookbook-review-The-Flavors-of-Malaysia
"The Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes and Traditions, ... draws together a collection of recipes from across the full range her country’s diversity into a harmonious whole that is as interesting and educational to read as it is jam-packed with deliciousness. From opening chapters that place her and her family at the heart of Malaysia’s ethnic variety, to much-needed ethnographic and geographic explanations of how it all came to be, to charming anecdotes of recollections and family stories, The Flavors of Malaysia really is a cook book you can read and learn from. In fact, as you read, what you really notice is what a tour de force Raghavan has performed in creating something coherent and comprehensive out of such marvelous diversity.
I can heartily recommend this book. Not only will your house be filled with fascinating aromas, and your stomach filled with astonishing dishes, but your intellect will be stimulated by a country and people of marvelous history, culture and depth."
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Cooking with Anne
http://cookingwithanne.blogspot.com/2011/01/flavors-of-malaysia.html
"Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey through Time, Tastes, and Traditions by Susheela Raghavan is just the right book for initial exposure to the world of Malaysian food. It's packed with stories and facts about Malaysia and the food culture there. It's a colorful book in many ways; history, recipes and a beautiful center section of photographs.
The author's own history and the history of Malaysia could be a book in itself, but having it added to this cookbook makes it that much more interesting and useful when confronting Malaysian cuisine for the first time.
I tackled many recipes from this book including Lime Rice, Stir-fried Sambal Shrimp, Chicken Soup - Malay Style and Pineapple Tarts and each one was so flavorful and delicious even the youngest child in our home dove in and asked for seconds.
[Y]ou'll be very glad to know Malaysian food the way that Susheela shares it and so will anyone you eat it with. "
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Jacqueline Newman
Flavors & Fortune, Summer 2011
A dozen chapters detail and delight the reader....They fill more than three hundred and fifty pages with wonderful tales, wonderful tastes and wonderful sepia and colored photographs, many of historic value....We found the recipes tried delicious, the anecdotes delightful, and the specialities a devine gift for our tastebuds.
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Amy Riolo
Dining with Diplomats
Amy Riolo is the author of the fascinating blog “Dining with Diplomats” http://diningwithdiplomats.blogspot.com/ Amy attends, plans, and hosts embassy and other diplomatic events both in the United States and abroad. In Dining with Diplomats Amy invites readers to “Taste the World” through her global travels and her “passion for food and culture”.
Amy recently shared with her readers selected recipes from Flavors of Malaysia. According to Amy, “Susheela Raghavan is an expert on Malay and Indian Muslim cuisine” and is known for “bringing the flavors of far off lands to your kitchen". Amy found the recipes in Flavors of Malaysia “delicious” and concluded that Malaysian cuisine is “a colorful kaleidoscope of Chinese, Malay, and Indian tastes and flavors” that “offers something for everyone.”
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Zester Daily
www.zester daily.com
Zester Daily, a blog on “The Culture of Food and Drink,” recently called Flavors of Malaysia a “comprehensive overview of Malaysian cuisine” and a “must read”. For Malaysia-bound travelers, Zesters advises to use Flavors of Malaysia to compile a list of "must-eat dishes." According to the reviewers, “With more than 150 easy-to-follow recipes …It's a pleasure to find recipes that are beloved on Malaysian soil.” Zester also recommends that “Readers who collect cookbooks for more than their recipes will want to spend some quality time with this one [Flavors of Malaysia], soaking up Raghavan's information about the origin and health” of Malaysian foods and ingredients. www.zesterdaily.com
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The New York Food Examiner
by Kristen Hess
http://www.examiner.com/food-in-new-york/taste-of-malacca-a-master-blend-of-art-and-science
Susheela just released her cookbook, Flavors of Malaysia, A Journey through Time, Taste and Traditions, Hippocrene Books in October 2010,which features a variety of Malaysian recipes and a detailed introduction to the history and cultures of Malaysia. Flavors of Malaysia includes colorful and appetizing food photographs that show off the variety of Malaysian cultures, foods and ingredients. You will smell and taste the aromatic curries, sizzling satays, flavorful stir-fries, fragrant noodle and rice dishes and the signature hot and spicy condiments of a truly flavorful cuisine.
Susheela Raghavan is a master flavor and spice blend developer, food scientist, culinary professional. She has truly mastered the blend of art and science – not only in her recipes, but in her handcrafted spice blends, creative cooking techniques, and colorful storytelling of her past, present and future.
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JTaste & Travel International
July-September 2011
By Anne Mendelson
According to Anne Mendelson in her recent review of Flavors of Malaysia, Susheela’s cookbook “deserves to be the go-to source” for Malaysian cooking and “proves to be a practical way of bringing a wildly unmanageable subject into focus.”
“ The repeated spotlight on family actually complements and sharpens the book's other great strength: reams of background information crammed into a lengthy general introduction and a dozen detailed chapter introductions. With apparently inexhaustible reso lve to explore every possible culinary dimension, Raghavan tackles enormous complexities more thoroughly than any other writer I know on Malaysian food You can't come away from Flavors of Malaysia without rea lizing that the term 'Malaysian cuisine' refers not to some fixed entity but instead to the fluid, ever-changing, intrinsically hybridized result of many interactions among peoples, meaning generic groups, and people, meaning individuals.
“My experiments with the recipes have been enjoyable (allowing for a lot of interpretive freedom). A chile-shallot relish (Sambal Tumis Belacan) is a great fiery all purpose condiment. Malaysia n-style water spinach with a fragrant mélange of spices was one of the best things I've seen done with these flavourful greens. Raghava n's version of the tart, bracing South Indian broth called Tomato Rasam was deeply satisfying (though I slightly upped the tomato). In the fusion department, I highly recommend an invention billed as 'Curried Spaghetti' – Italy meets Malaysia, on U.S. soil .”
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