{{short description|Malaysian-born Australian chef (born 1949)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Cheong Liew | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM|size=100%}} | image = Cheong Liew OAM at the Biodiversity Matters panel discussions 05.jpg | caption = Liew in 2025 | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1949|}} | birth_place = Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya<br/>(present day Malaysia) | occupation = Chef }} '''Cheong Liew''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (born 1949) is a Malaysian-born Australian chef. He moved from Malaysia to Australia in 1969 to study electrical engineering, but instead became a chef. Famous for experimentation with new ingredients and formats, Liew has also been important in the development of Asian-Australian fusion cuisine.
==Early life== Cheong Liew was born in 1949 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<ref name="Downes2006">{{cite book|author=Stephen Downes|title=To Die For|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2T5c0Q59iGkC&pg=PT10|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=978-1-74266-082-0|pages=10–}}</ref> His father was a farmer who also owned several restaurants.<ref name="Oster2001"/> Following the 13 May incident,<ref name="Downes2006"/> Liew's family emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia. In Adelaide, Liew's passion for cooking was ignited while he tended the grill part-time at the Greek restaurant Iliad in Whitmore Square. Although he had planned to study electrical engineering in Melbourne, he eventually decided to become a self-taught chef.<ref name="Oster2001">{{cite book|author=Samantha Oster|title=Cardinal Points: Mapping Adelaide's Diversity - People, Places, Points of View|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLSu-qoIky8C&pg=PA5|year=2001|publisher=Wakefield Press|isbn=978-1-86254-565-6|page=5}}</ref>
==Career== In 1975, Liew opened his own restaurant ''Neddy's'', whose menu consisted of mostly Malaysian and Chinese dishes. His cooking incorporated ingredients not commonly used during his time, such as crocodile tail,<ref name="Downes2006"/> pork leg, sea urchin and shark lip. The restaurant closed in 1988 and Liew went on to teach cookery at Regency Park, Adelaide.<ref name=adelaide/>
In 1995, Liew took the reins at The Grange restaurant at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide.<ref name=adelaide/> At The Grange, Liew came up his "signature dish", titled "Four Dancers of the Sea", featuring "four varieties of seafood cooked in four distinct national styles".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/cheong-liew|title=Cheong Liew|publisher=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref> In 2009, after some 14 years, Cheong left The Grange; the restaurant closed at the end of the year.<ref name=adelaide>{{cite web |url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/cheong-liew-our-real-masterchef-signs-off/story-e6frea83-1225796703214 |title=Cheong Liew, our real masterchef, signs off | Adelaide Now |accessdate=2010-04-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307120757/http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/cheong-liew-our-real-masterchef-signs-off/story-e6frea83-1225796703214 |archivedate=2012-03-07 }}</ref>
==Awards and honours== Described as "one of the indisputable fathers of Australian cooking" by Stephen Downes in ''To Die For'' (2006),<ref name="Downes2006"/> Liew was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours "for service to the food and restaurant industry through involvement in developing and influencing the style of contemporary Australian cuisine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/887684|title=It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours|website=www.itsanhonour.gov.au|accessdate=26 October 2017}}</ref> In 2017, Liew was honoured as "one of the ten hottest chefs alive" by the American publication ''Food & Wine Magazine'', and inducted into the Hall of Fame in the World Food Media Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foodandwine.com./articles/the-hottest-chefs-alive|title=The Hottest Chefs Alive|publisher=|accessdate=26 October 2017}}</ref>
==Writing== * Liew, C., & Ho, E. F. (1995). ''My Food''. St Leonards, N.S.W., Allen & Unwin. {{ISBN|1-86373-739-1}} * {{cite book |last1=Sly |first1=David |last2=Liew |first2=Cheong |last3=Lewis |first3=Tony |title=Cheong Liew: Inside My Food: Unlocking the Secrets of 100 Extraordinary Dishes |date=2023 |publisher=Wakefield Press |location=Mile End, SA |isbn=9781923042063}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==See also== * South Australian food and drink
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Liew, Cheong}} Category:People from Adelaide Category:Living people Category:People from Kuala Lumpur Category:Australian chefs Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:Malaysian emigrants to Australia Category:1949 births