KUALA LUMPUR: Nadia Lim — 2011 New Zealand MasterChef winner — premiered her new eight-part series ‘New Zealand with Nadia Lim’ on the Asian Food Channel last Thursday.
Lim cooks for a television show in Otago.
Lim — who is half Malaysian Chinese, half New Zealander — was born in New Zealand and spent part of her childhood in Kuala Lumpur.
She embraces both sides of her heritage and said Malaysia’s social and cultural food rituals are close to her heart, while New Zealand has the best food and produce on the planet.
“New Zealand produce is among the best in the world and it was such an honour to take the time to explore the range of produce in our country.
“People are becoming increasingly interested in how and where our food is grown and they want assurance it is full of taste and has been produced with nutritional integrity,” said Lim.
The new series complements her ‘gate to plate’ seasonal food philosophy.
Every episode was filmed on location around New Zealand.
Lim’s quest to discover the best local produce took her to High Country sheep stations in Central Otago, garlic farms in Marlborough and a secret island in Tauranga Harbour where they grow avocados.
She ate raw mussels straight out of the sea, drank a cappuccino made with sheep’s milk and picked tiny pinot noir grapes to put in a salad.
An award-winning author and dietician, Lim is a genuine foodie.
She will share some delicious and nutritional recipes throughout the series including persimmon and fennel salad; fresh clams and mussels in a spicy coconut broth; sticky chicken drumsticks drizzled with Manuka honey; and a vanilla dessert with boysenberries.
Lim has written two cookbooks: ‘Nadia’s Kitchen’ and ‘Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cook Book’.
She studied at Otago University graduating with a Bachelor in Human Nutrition and Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics.
Lim is behind New Zealand’s healthy food delivery service My Food Bag, which she runs with a team including her husband Carlos Bagrie.
‘New Zealand with Nadia Lim’ airs on the Asian Food Channel (Astro 703) tomorrow at 9pm.
It will repeat on Friday at 1am, 12 noon and 5pm, as well as on Saturday at 1pm.
For more on Lim or the new series follow her on www.facebook.com/nadialimchef or go to www.nadialim.com.