Food for a melting pot‭ ‬

Linggeswaran Sathasivam‭, ‬chef

Linggeswaran Sathasivam got his passion for the culinary arts from his mother and grandmother, who were both great cooks. But it was his time spent at the renowned Indian restaurant Rich Maha in Melbourne that helped to form his cooking style of combining Western ingredients with Indian spices – a fusion welcomed by the Malaysian palate, thanks to the country’s ethnic diversity. "This kind of fusion is common in Kuala Lumpur," he says. "The Chinese also use Indian spices in their dishes. We combine different tastes and cooking methods to create a uniquely Malaysian flavour. After all, we’ve been living together all these years."

Kuala Lumpur’s diversity means Sathasivam, now head banquet chef at Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel, must juggle the varying preferences of customers every day. He sees the city’s multiculturalism impacting not just his work but also the local culinary offerings. "Famous Chinese street food char kuey teow is now on the menu of many Malay and Indian restaurants, but they’re different interpretations," he says.

Kuala Lumpur’s food scene benefits, according to Sathasivam, from a diverse population and a growing internationalism, a transformation that led to his decision to return from abroad. "The hardware of Kuala Lumpur has greatly improved and the whole city is getting more creative and international," he says. "When it comes to gastronomy, street food was the major draw in the past. But now celebrity chefs have opened branches of their restaurants here: Nobu came two years ago, and Sushi Saito, the Tokyo-based three-Michelin-starred restaurant, is in the new five-star St. Regis Kuala Lumpur. This was once unimaginable. The entire city is undergoing a complete facelift; there are opportunities everywhere." ‭