Woking with mum

POPULAR local cooking series Family Kitchen with Sherson, featuring Malaysian celebrity chef Sherson Lian and his mother Ann, returned for its second season on the Asian Food Channel (AFC) on April 21.
The lovable mother-and-son duo will be revisiting age-old family recipes as they cook in Ann’s kitchen in their Malacca home, promising many mouth-watering dishes and brand-new themes to explore.
While the dishes featured in the eight new episodes revolve around what the Lian family mostly grew up with, Ann assures that these dishes are familiar to most Malaysians who love their food.
Apart from popular Malaccan specialities with Portuguese influences such as itek tim (salted vegetable duck soup) and debel (or devil) curry, viewers can also expect to see the two whipping up beloved local delights such as sambal belacan with ulaman, local desserts like sweet walnut soup, and wholesome family favourites with a unique twist, like the classic roast chicken with curry spices.
“The essence of the show is sharing family recipes, and [we want] to share with [the viewers] how we do our version,” said Sherson during a special Mother’s Day-themed cooking class for the media on April 28.
Besides choosing to feature their family comfort food, Ann said an important aspect when selecting the dishes was their simplicity, which makes the work quick and easy for her.
“We want to make it as simple as possible,” added Sherson. “At the end of the day, if something is too complicated, people will be turned off,.
“[But] if you make it simple, it makes people think it’s actually doable [and worth a] try.”
But more importantly, the duo plan to share much more than just family favourites that are easy to prepare.
They also want to showcase the importance of family togetherness in the cooking and eating of these dishes – a message that they want to convey through their cooking series.
Sherson said: “We hope to impart in the show the fact that families who cook together, stay together; and that families who spend and invest time eating together at the dining table [can] benefit [from the closer bonding of] family relationship ...
“And that’s the beautiful thing my family has because mum has always cooked for us, [and] we’ve [spent] a lot of time at that dining table.”
Carl Zuzarte, senior vice president of programming and productions for Scripps Networks Interactive Asia-Pacific, said that Family Kitchen with Sherson was one of the top five lifestyle original productions across Southeast Asia last year.
“Leveraging off this success, we made the second season even more compelling, focusing on the passion behind authentic family recipes.
“At AFC, we understand how food is still a central element in bringing families together and we are confident the series will serve to entertain and warm the hearts of our viewers.”
Sherson added that he hopes viewers will enjoy the show as much as he and his mum had enjoyed filming it.
He also urged viewers to take that essence of what they saw on TV and try it at home so that they can really experience it for themselves.
“It’s one thing to watch, but another to take what you watch to the kitchen, to get your kids around you and just have fun [with] the experience of cooking together. That is what I hope they will eventually experience.”
Season 2 of Family Kitchen with Sherson airs every Thursday at 9pm on AFC. Recipes from the show will be available on the AFC website (http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/shows/family-kitchen-with-sherson/recipes).