Created with love

FOR chef Azilina Mohd Ali, love plays a big part when it comes to cooking delicious food.
Currently, the sous chef at the Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa’s Resort Café, Azilina has been cooking professionally for 22 years.
Her love of cooking ­started when she was 18 and still studying.
“I studied at a vocational school, where I took up Domestic Science and learned to cook [more professionally],” says the ­Seremban-born chef.
“I became interested in cooking then, and wanted to make a career out of it.”
Her passion truly started when she was sent for a three-month training course at the Allson Kelana in ­Seremban.
She noticed that there were not many women working professionally in the kitchen. That made her determined to become a chef herself.
She adds: “I learned [the basics of] cooking from my mother and grandmother. I learned more about Malay cooking [when] working in various hotels.
“I would pick up [recipes] from the staff from other states and then learned how to cook those dishes by ­trying them out at home.
“I also learned from watching cooking shows on TV and through other media.”
On what made her decide to make cooking her chosen profession, Azilina says: “Cooking for me is like being an artist. When you cook, you cook with love. When you feel love, your food will look and taste better.”
For a person who cooks a variety of food every day, her own personal tastes are simple.
“I like simple food like ­sambal ikan bilis and sambal petai with rice,” she says.
Married with four children, Azilina admits she does not cook for her family every day.
“Only when I spend time with my family, then I will cook for them.”
She adds that she is cooking every day at work because of her job, and so can only cook for the family during her off days.
Azilina first worked at the Sunway Resort Hotel in 1996, then left in 2010 for a job in Singapore. She was there for three years ­before returning to Sunway Resort Hotel again.
As for her ­signature dish, she names the ­rendang Minangkabau from her home state.
“It is special to me because I learned how to cook it from my mother. I want to show ­Malaysians that Negri ­Sembilan, too, has its own ­special cuisine.
Rendang Minang, as she calls it, is not something anyone can cook, she adds.
“It is unlike the rendang from other states. It is really tasty. Every Hari Raya or special occasion, my family will cook this dish.”