Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019 with Alce Nero

 "You have 3 minutes! Quick, Quick!". "Start with your salad now" Anita Lawrence was walking up and down guiding us. We, bloggers and influencers aka instant chef were in Berjaya University College sweating and cooking up a storm! It was truly exhilarating experience, yyes, "Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019" a cooking workshop by jointly organised by Alce Nero and 100comments, co-sponsored by Oilum, Nutriva and Eubos was really good! I had an enjoyable time, cooking and learning at the same time from Chef Athira.

I was at the door when my girl asked me "Where are you going, mummy?" "Going to Times Square Berjaya UC for cooking workshop", I answered. "Hope you will win again, mummy, like last time" she said. Ya, I hope so, as at the previous cooking workshop, I won a Philips Airfryer! It was by Philips and the products were also sponsored by Alce Nero. More about it at blog post here. So I was keeping my fingers crossed when I was driving to Berjaya University College, Times Square. 

 This Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019 was organized by 100comments, the main sponsor of products by Alce Nero, as cosponsors such as Oilum, Eubos, Nutriva_oliferin and a few other companies also. Let me start with the cooking workshop first.

 Products Used: Alce Nero
In this cooking workshop, we use Alce Nero pastas and spaghetti. Alce Nero products are from Italy, the pastas are made from 100% Italian Durum Wheat. Alce Nero products are from organic farmers since 1978.

Cooking Workshop
First, we were given a briefing and divided into groups. There were 8 groups with 3 members in each group.

Participants raring to go! We give ourselves a boost, (clap, clap,clap) we are ready!


Group photo before the great cook off!
I love the nice apron and chef hat by sponsored Alce Nero. Now everyone of us is a 'chef', haha, so cute. We cook under the guidance of Chef Athira, Chef lecturer from Berjaya University College. Chef Athira, had Master of Philosophy (Food Studies) from Universite Toulouse Jean Jauries, Le Mirail, France. She was very capable, friendly and helpful.

 Chef and her team of assistants

We were shown how to cook, the right technique to cut, types of chopping boards to use and many other tips. For example, why we need to burn belacan over fire first before using: so as to bring out the fragrance. How to clean mussels and deviled the shrimps. Yeah, I am very happy to learn many different techniques and terms of terminology on cooking on that day. Thank you Chef Athira!

The Cooking Starts Now!
We have to cook three (3) dishes within 3 hours. They are Tri-color Asian Pasta Salad, Italian Seafood Laksa and Chinese Strawberry Jam Cakes using mainly Alce Nero organic products.


Team 3, which is my group with Shet Ling and Wen Li. 
We were fresh, excited and happy posing with Alce Nero Products before the cook off.


Let's go for it!

Good teamwork Team 3! All three of us were busy working on the pastry for the Strawberry Jam Cakes.

It was a race against time, made more difficult by the bare minimum utensils supplied. This is not just a test of cooking skills but give and take and negotiation skills too. With only one blender, groups have to be good and taking queue numbers among ourselves to book the blender. The same goes for other specific utensils such as cutter mold, cling wrap and even some pots where we borrowed from another group. Well it was fun and we made friends in the process among ourselves too.

A big thank you to Anita Lawrence for going round reminding us of the time. Thank you too for helping to sample and taste my awkward half done food and telling me, "something is missing". A good hint and a great help for us who are so pressured with time that we would definitely leave out or forget some ingredients in the process.

The Products: Sponsors and Co-Sponsors and other sponsors
While waiting for the results of our interesting cooking workshop, we are able to visit booths set up by sponsors and learn more about the products.

1. Alce Nero - Main Sponsor 

Alce Nero is a brand that strives to produce delicious, healthy and nourishing food that comes from agriculture that respects the land. Thousands of organic farmers, beekeepers and processors from within Italy and farther afield work towards developing a sustainable economy and promotes a new a way of eating and living. (source: alcenero.com)

 Chef Athira (Chef lecturer from Berjaya UC) and Mr. Nathan Deverre (Alce Nero).  

I have known Alce Nero pastas for a long time, especially the spaghetti and ayam brand products. Ayam brand tuna, curry chicken are among my favourite can food and I always have some of it stocked up in my pantry for those days when I am lazy to go marketing. 

For children, I would highly recommend Alce Nero's latest pasta in the market. The Vegetable Alphabet pasta (Pasta Di Semola) are very nice. The alphabets are very realistic and and colorful. Vehicle shapes are also another good buy as children can learn about vehicles while they are eating, making learning a fun process. 

Oh yes, we were given a bottle of Mazola oil in our goody bag. I suppose it was for us to cook the pastas with it. How thoughtful of the sponsors and organizers. 

Oilum- Solution for dry skin (Co-sponsor)

We are in tropical climate where it is perpetually hot almost everyday. Therefore, our skin tends to dry up faster, which may result in  wrinkles or coarseness. More over as we grow older, our skin tends to dry up too. Oilum is made of Olive oil and collagen to restore the moisture to our skin. I use olive oil alot as it is the best natural oil to me.   

 

For cleansing, Oilum have Hydro-Rebalance Body Cleanser that cleanses and yet it does not strips our skin off the moisture as it contains olive oil and collagen. After cleansing, we can restore our skin moisture by applying Oilum Hydro-Rebalance Firming Lotion, which contains olive oil, Lactic acid, collagen and also gives a double UV protection against our harsh sunny weather. For those who like soap, there is Oilum Moisturing Soap that comes in 85g bar. The active ingredients inside are olive oil, collagen and lanolin. 

Mr. AndrewTan, Director of MD Pharma, with Readers' Choice Awards 2018, Natural Health.

EUBOS: Skin Care products from Germany (Co-sponsor)

EUBOS has a wide range of skin care products that are formulated scientifically and with proven dermatological ingredients to cleanse, nourish and protect and enhance skin. Various series of EUBOS skin care products are made from natural ingredients. EUBOS basic skin care range are for every skin type: normal and dry or impure and combination. Dermatological ingredients protects the biosphere of the skin, providing emollient and moisture. For those who have sensitive dry easily irritable skin, there is the EUBOS Sensitive skin range. Among the range of products for EUBOS are Baby skin care, Adult skin care, Hand, Foot care and hair care, Urea and gift sets. For more information on EUBOS please check out here. 

Trying out the EUBOS Hand Lotion as my hands have become dry from the washing detergents as a result of washing up after making too many cookies for Chinese New Year at home. 

Nutriva_oliferin: For rejunevating inner health and beauty (Co-sponsor)

Inner health is important and it can be supplemented by taking nutritious beverages or capsules. From Nutriva_oliferin, the two products I got to know are Nutriva® Moriheal Plus Rejunating Botanical Beverage and Nutriva® Nutritional Yeast.

In Nutriva® beverages, there are no added sugar or additives. The sweetness comes fro the fruits itself, for example, Nutriva® Moriheal Plus Rejuvenating Botanical Beverages, is made from 100% fruits. Some of the fruits for this beverage are mangosteen enzyme, soursop, noni enzyme, moringa leaf, grapefruit, pomegranate, black currant and bilberry for supporting immunity, digestive health and general well-being. 

Nutritious Yeast is good for our body as it contains proteins, vitamin B, minerals and antioxidants. Studies have shown that it has a wide range of potential health benefits, from lowering cholesterol and protect the body from free radical (source: https://www.healthline.com). Nutritional Yeast are in flakes form so we can just sprinkle it on our salad and laksa dishes. This is mainly used by vegans to enhance savoury flavours in dishes. Nutirtional yeast is produced from a special strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, deactivated by heat and rolled into powders or flakes. 

Other sponsors:

Mon Cheri: Essentials for Timeless Skin

A skincare product formulated in France, Mon Cheri means "my darling" or "my dearest" in French. A French legacy to cherish natural beauty with passion, enthusiasm and encourage natural beauty which transcends time and place. Mon Cheri has a wide range of products from skin care to cosmetics. Find out more details from Mon Cheri Essentials here. Pink is the favourite color for ladies, and yours truly like the pink diary from Mon Cheri very much. Thank you Mon Cheri for this beautiful door gift.

Apart from Mon Cheri, we have Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Night Renewal Cream which is in Anti-Aging Cream and a soothing hydration.

 Moorlife cute lunch box and 1000ml tumbler which is BPA free, dishwasher safe and withstand up to 100C temperature. A very useful tumble indeed. 

Shineclub2u has a wide range of products from nutrition, beverages, vitamins, soy-milk and women health.

Masabalm : for relief of muscualr aches and pain

Carrie Mozzibuster : for protection against mosquito bites

Timotei Shampoo that moisturises hair with precious oil (www.timotei.com)

Asepso : Body Wash, contains scientifically balanced mix of antibacterial agents

Masque Visage Eclat De Beaute: Face Mask with almond honey to nourish and soften

Zeiss: quality eye care products (www.zeiss.com)

Natural Health Media: healthy lifestyle magazine

The Results of Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019 Workshop:

Ok, now back the finale of our cooking workshop. The best dish for each category will be judged on presentation and taste and also the cleanliness during the cooking. Each team presented a dish to be evaluated by Chef Athira and Mr. Nathan Deverre. During the presentation, each team had to give a short description of our dish. 

The Judging and Food Tasting by Chef Athira and Mr. Nathan Deverre  

At the judging session, we also learnt a lot from Chef Athira, the do and don'ts to put on the plate (such as do not put vegetables on a dessert for presentation), how to improve on flavor, tips on cooking. Thank you Chef, I have learnt a lot from you that day. Finally the announcements are made.
The winners are:
Tri-color Salad - Syafiera Yamin, Naomie Licouz and Cindy Tong
Italian Seafood Laksa -  Dboystudio, Rodiah Amir and Kathy Wui
Strawberry Jam Cakes - Kooi Mei, Shet Ling and Wen Li

We won! Thank you teammates Shet Ling and Wen Li for the great cooperation and teamwork!

Simple but delicious and crunchy Strawberry Jam Cake
We used Alce Nero Strawberry Jam, which had a texture which is suitable for baking. This is a dish which can be baked for Chinese New Year instead of the normal Pineapple tart. As pineapple tart may be a bit boring especially most Chinese houses serves pineapple tart. 
   I was very happy with this Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019 workshop. Wow, it was exactly like the Master Chef shows or the MyKitchen Rules (MKR) show I have been watching on TV. Now I am in it, one of the participants and it is real. Phew! Awesome! Exciting! And I love it!

Here's a short video of this Cooking Right, Looking Good in 2019 workshop

For more information:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/my100comments/

Alce Nero Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlceNeroMalaysia/
Nutriva : http://nutriva2u.com/
Please check out www.100comments.com for interesting more events, products, reviews.

athan Deverre,

Strategic Markeng Advisor,

Ayam Brand Malaysia

(Brand: Alce Nero)

Andrew Tan,

Director,

MD Pharma

(Brand: Oilum)

Wallace Teoh,

General Manager

Nutriva Internaonal Sdn Bhd

(Brand: Nutriva)

Sophia Chung

Adversement & Promoon

Propharm (M) Sdn Bhd

Brand: EUBO

athan Deverre,

Strategic Markeng Advisor,

Ayam Brand Malaysia

(Brand: Alce Nero)

Andrew Tan,

Director,

MD Pharma

(Brand: Oilum)

Wallace Teoh,

General Manager

Nutriva Internaonal Sdn Bhd

(Brand: Nutriva)

Sophia Chung

Adversement & Promoon

Propharm (M) Sdn Bhd

Brand: EUBO