Celebrity chef Liza Zainol has trained some 4,000 participants at her culinary academy. 

IF you do not recognise her, it is only because celebrity chef Liza Zainol spends most of her time behind the scenes, creating recipes and teaching as many participants as possible to become entrepreneurs in the food industry. 

Sweet takes: Liza Zainol flanked by her twin daughters Nina (left) and Chef Erin

A teacher who dealt with special children for a good number of years, Liza finally opted for retirement to pursue her first passion ¨C cooking. 

A professional sugar chef, Liza works with sugars and makes delightful edible stuff with them. She is currently hosting a show on national television for the Ramadan month, teaching viewers to whip up several cookies and spin-offs of traditional biscuits. 

Met recently at her home in Taman Tasik Indah, off Jalan Ipoh in Kuala Lumpur, along with her twin daughters, Nina, who is an accountant, and Ereen, who is also an accomplished chef, Liza produced delightful cookies, desserts and an array of dishes. 

ˇ°I have three daughters and each is a specialist in a particular area of cooking. Nina is very good with desserts, Ereen is into pastries and baking while my eldest daughter is into hot food or main meal dishes,ˇ± she said. 

Liza, who turned her passion into a career, has for the past two years imparted her knowledge to students at her culinary academy known as Sweet Azza Sdn Bhd, at No.77-2-1 Jalan 5/18D, Taman Mastiara in Jalan Ipoh. 

ˇ°I gave up teaching after 29 years to pursue my dream of becoming a chef as it was important to be committed professionally to something I was so passionate about,ˇ± she said, adding that she forks out between RM50,000 and RM60,000 annually to do advanced courses in cooking. The latest stint was in the United States, where she did a course in her favourite topic, confectionery, for six weeks while Ereen did a course in pull sugar. Ereen is no novice in the area as she has won several gold medals in the Malaysian Culinaire competitions here. 

Liza is also listed in the Malaysian Book of Records for completing her feat of cooking non-stop for 50 hours when Malaysia celebrated its 50 years of independence recently. 

She added that she realised her passion for cooking at the tender age of five when she boiled potatoes and tried to shape them into chicks using a razor blade, and ended up cutting one of the arteries in one of her fingers. 

ˇ°I still feel the numbness of that incident until today in my finger,ˇ± she said. 

Liza admits that the hot kitchen, where main meals are done is not her calling; rather, her favourite is in confectionery and in making cakes and decorating them with her sugary toppings and creams. 

ˇ°I like the British style of baking and decorating as it is very refined and intricate,ˇ± she said. 

To date, Liza has trained some 4,000 participants at her academy and of that number, four have already set up their own bakeries in Rawang, Malacca, Jalan Ampang and Jalan Ipoh. 

She believes that as the world is now becoming borderless, she has set her sights higher and is now venturing into opening her own bakeries in Surrey near London and in either Washington or Chicago in the United States. 

Asked if she was up to pitting her skills with the traditional makers of such cakes and bread, Liza had this to say: ˇ°I am not in it for the competition but it is my fardhu kifayah (duty as a Muslim) to ensure that there are bread and cakes in the Western world that Muslims can have without being suspicious or unsure of.ˇ± 

Liza said there was a huge untapped market in the West for halal food and this was one of the ways Muslims, especially those in Malaysia, could do their bit for the Muslim world. 

ˇ°Malaysians have many skills and they should use them not only for family and friends. They should also use their skills for a greater good and become entrepreneurs in the halal food industry besides serving the basic needs of Muslims internationally,ˇ± she said. 

In her quest to increase the number of Muslim entrepreneurs in the country and globally, Liza has courses of seven to 10 days, where the curriculum would include making more than a dozen types of bread, pastries, cakes, toppings and icing, and even outlet management after which the graduating participant can open their own shops. 

For those interested, check out the curriculum at www.sweetazza.com.myor e-mail enquiries to enquiries@sweetazza.com.my; or call the academy at 03-6258 7102.