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You can count on two things to be in chef Jean Michel Loubatieres’ luggage when he returns to Toulouse, France for a visit in August – red and golden palm oils.

While kain batik or songket, or even dodol may be the usual souvenir one brings away from Malaysia, for this hospitality and culinary professional, palm oil is a significant discovery and he would like to share it with his friends and family back home.

He has been living in Malaysia for over three years, but only recently started using Malaysian palm oil in his cooking. Like those who have just fallen in love, he is passionate about his new love.

“I was late to discover palm oil and now I’m trying to catch up,” he says.

“The red palm oil is my favourite, and I didn’t even know of its existence until recently. Now I use it for many of my dishes – not just to cook but for plating purposes as well as the vivid red hue adds a nice touch to the dish.”

Loubatieres is well versed in the cuisines of the French, Spanish, German and even the Reunion Island – where he lived for four years – as he has been travelling around. Now with a family, he calls Malaysia his new home.

“I must admit that I haven’t tried cooking any Malaysian dishes since I got here, but that’s because I love the street food. I get my nasi lemak fix from the streets as I know that no matter how hard I try, it won’t be as good as what I can get out there. So why fight it?” says Loubatieres, with a resigned smile.

When Loubatieres cooks at home, he now automatically reaches for palm oil which he uses not just to deepfry or stirfry, but as dressing in salads as well.

He would even let you in on his secret for making the smoothest chocolate and hazelnut spread in the world (otherwise known as Nutella): the use of palm oil.

He uses chocolate and hazelnut paste not just to spread on bread and crackers, but also to make the most fabulous chocolate and hazelnut souffle, that to-die-for, light-as-air concoction that has a habit of going from bouffant and puffy to flat as a pancake in a matter of seconds.

“You just have to eat a souffle right after it comes out of the oven. Then you won’t risk the souffle falling flat,” says the chef with a laugh.

He also loves making truffle-infused oil using palm oil as palm oil has a neutral flavour and allows the truffle flavour to stand out more. His secret is to let the infusion sit for at least three days but suggests a week for better taste.

To amp up humble mashed potatoes, he adds some homemade truffle oil to give it a rich taste and silkier texture – and therein lies secret no.3: adding a bit of palm oil gives many dishes a smooth and silky texture because of the stability and denser properties of palm oil.

“Before, I had only heard negative comments about palm oil, and that was why in my previous life I only used olive and sesame seed oil,” Loubatieres says. “It was ridiculous as I was living here in a palm oil producing country.

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“That’s when I decided to learn more about palm oil. And now that I know about the goodness of palm oil, especially its tocotrienols (a unique form of vitamin E) and carotenoids (Pro-vitamin A) content, I am seriously trying to use it more,” he says. “Of course most chefs now know the oil has a high smoke point and is trans-fatty acids free.”

He adds that as a chef, the onus is on him – and other chefs – to use good oil when preparing food, and to educate the masses and encourage them to eat healthily.

“Things have changed in the gastronomy field. More chefs are exposed to social media, and more people are looking up to chefs for advice. Now, sharing information on a larger scale is part of our job that didn’t exist before,” he says.

Loubatieres adds that people who work in the food industry should educate consumers on the use of palm oil.

“The only way to fight the misconception that surrounds palm oil is with facts. I believe that the best place to start the debate is at culinary schools where the new generation of chefs are born,” he says. “You teach them the goodness of palm oil, and you’ll teach the future generation the goodness of palm oil.”

Source: Star2.com