“Would you like to be on Martha Stewart’s show?”, the folks at International Enterprise (IE) asked. “Would I like a 300gm grade 12 wagyu steak with white truffles to go with a fine Chateau wine?” I thought to myself. The IE folks, in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in New York, in taking advantage of what this media mecca can do for the Singapore brand, thought it would be good to pepper a bit of our flavour, culture and language into goggle boxes America-wide.

No one is allowed to photograph Martha except their own in house cameraman. Photo by Anders Krusberg The Martha Stewart Show

So, what am I to cook on her show? Suggestions came from every quarter (there were at least 10 people in each quarter) - “cook something western with an Asian interpretation, because they don’t like strange sounding dishes”, (hello, what about pizza, tom yam, sushi or mugugaipan) or “westernise a Singapore dish for them and make sure they can get the ingredients in America, especially in the ulu mid west”, or “ don’t even mention hawker street food, they’ll go yukks!” was some well intentioned advises. But the best came from, ahem, me - “aiya, just do what you do best la. They like and accept people as they are” and another from the PR agency that organized it, “be very accurate and sharp with your recipes and message, Martha will eat you if you are wishy washy.” I sent a few local recipes and they chose laksa.

The planning took over six months. It started with my slot on Martha’s radio show hosted by two very cheerful and dishy deejays last December. I guess they just wanted to know that my incessant banter on our food culture indeed arose from some homework I did. It also helped that they actually understood my Engrish. Then, it was fixed - showdown with Martha on April 15th this year. The studio prep work needed half a day just for an eight minute segment with her. The fussing over script, styling, recipe checks and the overall professionalism around it was like hair gel- shiny, deliberate, smooth and slick (they custom blended a toner with color powder just for my patchy face ). I even had my personal head chef to check, test and confirm my recipe and ingredients (they obtained everything, even fresh laksa leaves and buah keras. All, just so I can pour coconut milk over laksa rempah for Martha Stewart on American national TV.

I can understand why many people call Martha Stewart names that even this bold and entertaining tabloid would not like to print. She began with a catering company and grew it into an empire with a very respectable lifestyle TV show, books, magazines and products. She has a brand, a name, reputation and personality that makes the normal adore which the jealous and envious love to hate. You rarely mention the word lifestyle and not associate it with her; she practically owns the experience that word touts. She is the lifestyle goddess.

Each step of the segment was finely calculated for a eight minute segment, including prepping three rempahs for it.
Pix taken of www.marthastewart.com

The day began at 11.30am at her downtown Manhattan studio. Even the reception knew who I was (they googled for my face and had a guest fact sheet). I bumped into someone very familiar for a snapshot there. Comedian Jimmy Fallon was there filming a segment too. Then the producer ushered me into a guest holding room and asked if I liked juice or beverage to go with their pretty platter of cheese and strawberries before she went into detail on what might happen with Martha. Their head chef was at my call, so was the stylist and kitchen coordinator. There was even a Martha stand in for my rehearsal. The real Martha was nowhere to be seen till just before filming, in the kitchen just beside the stage, for a quick “hello”. At about 3pm, “meet KF Seetoh”, Martha said to the crowd of about 185 cheering live audience. Up close, I realized how radiant this lady, looking like in her late forties but actually pushing 70 (born in 1941), was. She came across as smooth, deliberate, curious and genuine. The largely American auntie crowd adored her and was very responsive. The guffawed delightfully to my “king of food” when Martha asked what KF stood for and was honestly happy when, courtesy IE Singapore and partners, a goodie bag which included a pre-packed laksa paste and brown rice beehoon was offered to all studio guest.

She said on air that 2010 was a year she planned to visit Singapore to which I sung in response “I’ll be waiting”. So, STB and IE, please pounce on this opportunity. Check out the clip on www.marthastewart.com/recipe/laksa-kf-seetoh