146 malaysia tatler. august 2019
T
ypically a minefield
for explosive debates
and disputes, the
concept of ‘indigeneity’
(the quality of being
indigenous or native to
one place) was tackled
with grace and wisdom during the third Food
& Society Conference—the fi rst to be held
outside Kuala Lumpur, and in Paris no less,
the gatekeeper of Western gastronomy.
“It took some time, but we fi nally worked
up the courage to organise something like
this,” commented Professor Datuk Shamsul
Amri Baharuddin, founding director of the
Institute of Ethnic Studies headquartered at
the National University of Malaysia. “This
is the fi rst time the conference has been
held abroad for one simple reason: human
resources. But that’s the importance of
having friends such as Eric Olmedo.”
Respected researcher and organising
committee chair Olmedo said: “This year
and the last have been very auspicious years
for Malaysian gastronomy. Back in 2017,A Moveable Feast
Mixing business with pleasure, food writer Samantha Lim
attends the third Food & Society Conference in Paris
organised by the Asia Pacific Food Studies Networkchefs Ryunosuke Naito and his Malaysian
spouse Kwen Liew opened Pertinence
restaurant in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
In 2018, they were granted one Michelin
star, which they retained in 2019. In January
2019 in Lyon, the Malaysian team won the
gold medal of the world Pastry Cup for
the fi rst time in history. Both events were
geographically connected to France. That isLIFE | FOOD