SINGAPORE — Fans of cooking presenter Rachel Khoo’s quirky tiny Parisian apartment, as seen in her hit show, The Little Paris Kitchen, may be disappointed to learn that she no longer has the place.

“It’s a rental, so I had to give it up when I relocated to London. The landlady didn’t want to keep it empty since I was no longer there,” said Khoo, who is of Malaysian Chinese-Austrian descent. “In a way, it’s good as I don’t want to be defined by a kitchen.”

And out of the kitchen she was gone for her latest BBC series, Cosmopolitan Cook, in which she traipsed to different European cities such as Naples, Stockholm and Nice to soak in their cultures and put her spin on the dishes she tasted.

“The show combines what I love — food and travel,” she said. “I have a little notebook where I write my inspirations and insights from what I see and do up little illustrations. After we finished filming, I went back to the kitchen to come up with the dishes and test the recipe. It took a little longer than the usual travel cooking show, but I think that makes it more interesting and personal.”

Q: You covered 10 different cities in Cosmopolitan Cook. Which city was the most challenging in terms of coming up with your version of its dish?

A: Istanbul was the only one that I had not visited before. I’ve no real knowledge of what the food is like. In London, kebabs kind of have a bad rep where you don’t ask what kind of meat goes in there. But the street food I had in Turkey was so good, such as this grilled mackerel with dill, lemon and pomegranate in a baguette. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Q: How about some of your favourite food spots in London where you’re currently based?

A: London is such a vibrant city and there’s always new stuff going on. I like Clove Club in Shoreditch Town Hall. The restaurant was (partly) crowd funded and the bar snacks are as good as its fine-dining menu. The charcuterie is made in-house and the fried chicken is fantastic. I like Dishoom. It’s a Bombay-style cafe that’s affordable, with a fun atmosphere and the food is always pretty good. E5 Bakehouse is where I go for bread. The sourdough breads are especially great and keep well.

Q: Your dad is from Malaysia. Do you have any plans to do a similar show in this part of the world?

A: Yeah, I’ll be going to Penang after my stopover here. The last time I was in Malaysia was five years ago. My father’s very excited about this and immensely jealous of what I’m eating in Singapore and Malaysia. There are no plans for a series yet, but I’ll actually be filming a one-hour special for the BBC where I do a little tour of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands and Ipoh to talk about my heritage.

Q: Besides your notebook, what are some things you absolutely need when you travel?

A: My iPhone and camera. I bought a Fuji instant film camera for Cosmopolitan Cooks and took pictures to stick them in my notebooks. Make-up, of course, such as my lipsticks — I try to cut down on the number I take along and usually have a red one (from Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford or MAC), a lip balm and a lip pencil. Still, I find myself buying more! When I was in Japan, I got a yuzu-flavoured lip balm that I absolutely couldn’t stop licking. I bring along my own tea bags for trips. Coffee gives me palpitations, so I need herbal tea in the morning to function well. And it’s a nice way to unwind over tea in the evening. Oh, I used to take my own kettle along whenever I travelled before all the TV stuff happened. But I don’t now, since I can find kettles in hotel rooms. Yes, I’ve made it in life! Serene Lim

Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook airs on BBC Lifestyle (Starhub TV Ch 432) every Tuesday at 8pm.