AN evening of Malaysian food and dancing was held in York to help promote the country.

The event at the Park Inn Hotel, in North Street, was organised by Malaysian-born York chef Jennie Cook, who has held similar events around the country on behalf of the Malaysian Kitchen, a promotional campaign funded by the Malaysian government to promote indigenous food and produce in the UK as well as Malaysian restaurants.

VIPs from across the city were invited to the hotel for a three-course meal and traditional Malaysian entertainment, courtesy of dancers from London and Bradford.

The menu comprised satay chicken, beef rendang and a Malaysian take on sago pudding.

Jennie was in charge of it all, and said she chose the dishes because they typified the food of her childhood.

She said: “They were typical Malaysian dishes. They are our signature dishes and I wanted to put these three popular ones into one menu.

“I think it went really well, a lot of people told me they had had a good time. A lot of people had not tried Malaysian food before and they thought it was really good.”

She said the hotel was now going to put her dishes on its specials menu. “That is a plus for us; it’s my mission to get hotels and restaurants to put at least one or two Malaysian dishes on the menu.”