For A Good Cause By Sheela Chandrand Local celebrities cook up a storm for charity on Celebrity Cookout. It is always nice to hear how celebrities lend a helping hand to those in need. Whether it involves adopting children or donating money, they help the less fortunate to lead a better life and contribute to the well-being of society. Of late, there have been Hollywood celebrities who have adopted orphans from developing countries and also those who have become philanthropists. Lina Tan: "For every cake sold, RM10 will be channelled to the charity of the winning team’s choice." Closer home, food chain Secret Recipe founder and chief executive officer Datuk Steven Sim is doing his bit by coming up with a celebrity cooking programme to help the needy. Aptly titled Celebrity Cookout, the show sees local celebrities competing in a cookout to raise funds for charities. The programme is held in conjunction with the food chain’s 10th anniversary. “It’s time to give back to charity. This is an interesting programme as viewers can see celebrities competing to prepare cakes and meals in a fun way,” said Sim during an interview in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, recently. Lina Tan: "For every cake sold, RM10 will be channelled to the charity of the winning team’s choice." Celebrities featured include Sarimah, Hannah Tan, Amber Chia, Carmen Soo, Jehan Miskin, Tony Eusoff, Sofea Jane, siblings Aishah and Ashraf Sinclair, Sheila Rusli, Azhar Sulaiman, Vanida Imran and Ferhad. The show premieres on Sunday on Ntv7. Red Communications Sdn Bhd managing director and producer Lina Tan explained: “Two teams (comprising two celebrities per group) will compete to win RM10,000 for the charity of their choice. Their mission involves baking a cake, and preparing a main course and a drink in 90 minutes. Both teams are given similar recipes. “The winning cakes will be sold at Secret Recipe outlets from October till December. For every cake sold, RM10 will be channelled to the charity of the winning team’s choice.” The five-part programme is divided into different themes – children’s birthday party, romantic dinner, healthy food, cake for mothers and Malaysian food. The themes were chosen to match the lifestyle of the celebrities. Celebrity Cookout is Tan’s first attempt at producing a cooking programme. The director-producer, whose works include 3R, Project Runway Malaysia and Gol & Gincu the Movie, admitted facing challenges because food is a difficult subject to shoot. “Sometimes, food may not look very appetising so we have to use the correct technique to make it attractive. Despite the initial challenges, the production team really had fun being involved in a charitable project,” said Tan. For the romantic dinner cook out, models Carmen Soo and Amber Chia pitted their culinary skills against Jehan Miskin and Tony Eusoff. The teams whipped up a chocolate cake, spaghetti dish and mocktail. According to Tan, the guys had never dabbled in cooking so it was hilarious watching them carrying out their task. Amber Chia (left) and Carmen Soo putting the final touches to their chocolate almond cake in Celebrity Cookout. “The boys were very kiasu so they put in all the ingredients for their spaghetti dish. Imagine, they cooked a whole packet of spaghetti for a meal for two.” For Jehan, the experience of cooking was fun despite it being his first gastronomic attempt. “The only thing I’ve ever done was whisk an egg and cook rice, so this is really an achievement. We prepared a chocolate almond cake, spaghetti calamari marinara prawn barbeque (because the spaghetti got burnt) and a fruit juice concoction. “We were totally unprepared but managed to bake a cake from scratch. It proves that just because someone has never cooked before doesn’t mean he cannot do it,” said 27-year-old Jehan, whose acting credits include Gong and Qaisy & Laila. The girls, however, came fully prepared for their task. They baked a heart-shaped cake and beautifully decorated it with strawberries, chocolate hearts and figurine. “Prior to the challenge, Amber and I discussed how to prepare our dishes. We were focused on how we wanted to decorate the cake and even did research on the Internet. Amber wanted the figurines whereas I wanted chocolates as it symbolises romance,” said Soo. Interior design guru Eric Leong and Sim judged the dishes based on creativity, taste and presentation. “First impressions are really important and both teams put in a lot of effort in making their dishes tasty and attractive,” said Leong who hosts interior decoration TV programme Casa Impian. Which team won? Tune in to find out. Catch Celebrity Cookout on Sept 9 at 9pm on Ntv7. Article, TV & Radio @ The Star ... 'Wednesday September 5th, 2007