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Poh Ling Yeow

Poh Ling Yeow was born in Malaysia in 1973, spending the first nine years of her life in Kuala Lumpur. Her family then migrated to South Australia where she now lives and works. After completing a Bachelor of Design specialising in illustration at the University of South Australia, Poh freelanced as a graphic designer and illustrator and then began painting full-time in 2002. She has over twenty highly successful exhibitions under her belt, nine of these solo exhibitions and her list of clients boasts a number of major corporate collectors.

Just as Poh's art explores the notion of belonging and origin so too do her explorations with food. As a fifth-generation Chinese Malaysian Poh's interest in cooking began as an attempt at reconciling this heritage with her Western identity. “Desperately wanting to assimilate as a child migrant, I shed everything that made me feel different in my new country. In my 30’s I suddenly realised that food is the vehicle that can help me keep in touch with my past, the history of my ancestors. It is a way I can still bond with the generations before me, even with the loss of traditional values and language”.

In the last two years Poh found her interest in food intensifying to a point where she could no longer deny she wanted to pursue it as a career and when a friend suggested she enter “MasterChef”, she saw a rare window of opportunity. Always thinking outside the square with her artistic sensibilities and paying homage to the traditional cooking she grew up with, she fast became one of the most popular contestants. And so it was in July of 2009 that the first ever “MasterChef” series, described as nothing short of a phenomenon and watched by over 4 million Australians, came to a nail biting end with Poh securing her position as 1st Runner Up.

With barely a moment to catch her breath after the “MasterChef” finale Poh was approached by the ABC to present her own cooking show, now known as “Poh’s Kitchen” and soon after another dream came true when she signed a two book deal with Harper Collins to publish her own cookbooks. The first of which, also named “Poh’s Kitchen”, published in November 2010 and sat at the top of the bestsellers list for a stunning 6 weeks.

A busy 2011 will see Poh enter her second season with “Poh’s Kitchen” on the ABC network, write her second book and preparing for another art exhibition.

Poh lives in Adelaide with her partner Jonathan and her dog Zed.

TESTIMONIALS

"Poh brings a natural curiosity, a warm, an honesty and a terrific sense of humour to the screen. She will share her unique, innovative and very exiting approach to food and I’m sure will continue to surprise us"
Jennifer Collins, ABC