Plant-based restaurant pioneer Bobsy Gaia’s journey from war-torn Beirut to...
Making an entrance I was born on November 23, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. My father is half-Lebanese, and was involved in running the family business. My mother is English. Mummy thought she wasn’t going...
View ArticleMushroom magic: why fungi are the latest superfood and their many health...
High in antioxidants and packed with vitamins and minerals, mushrooms are rising up the superfood charts. Incorporating them into your diet – or as an alternative to your morning coffee – may not only...
View ArticleChef Gert de Mangeleer closed three-Michelin-star restaurant Hertog Jan at...
What have you been doing since you closed Hertog Jan, near Bruges, in Belgium, last year? “I’ve never worked so much in my life. I opened two restaurants – well, we already had LESS [Love, Eat, Share,...
View ArticleBourbon and Tennessee whiskeys from the United States – same same but different
American whiskeys are not created equal. There are distinct differences between them, depending on how and where they are made.Bourbon whiskey can be produced anywhere in the United States. It is made...
View ArticleHow to cook fresh abalone – it’s easier than you think, just leave the dried...
In Cantonese cuisine, one of the most luxurious and expensive ingredients is dried abalone. It takes time and patience to prepare, and is usually reserved for banquets and other celebratory meals. As...
View ArticleWhy Bangkok’s chef Ton is trying to educate Thais about their own cuisine
Tell us your earliest memories of food. “Every day my mother and grandmother cooked for me and my two younger brothers. My father passed away in a car accident when I was five years old so we were...
View ArticleThe chefs who’ve made cabbage cool: how lowly vegetable became trendy and...
Here’s a sentence that might come as a surprise: cabbage is cool. That taken-for-granted vegetable, that sturdy, dense staple of many a poor, ancestral homeland, is finally getting respect.“It’s all...
View ArticleHow to make teriyaki chicken, the world’s favourite Japanese dish
Chicken teriyaki is one of Japan’s most famous dishes, appearing on the menu of almost every inexpensive to mid-range Japanese restaurant outside the country. In Japan itself, however, you’ll most...
View ArticleKáin Ná! A celebration of Filipino food illustrated by artist Mariel Ylagan...
Any food lover interested in exploring Filipino cuisine should look into Káin Ná! (2019). There are no recipes, sadly, but there are plenty of charming illustrations by artist Mariel Ylagan Garcia.The...
View ArticleFrom troublemaker to Michelin stardom: Belgian chef Kobe Desramaults recalls...
What was your childhood like? “My mother opened a bar called In De Wulf the year I was born [1980]. It was an old-style Flemish bar built on a farm [in Dranouter, in Belgium’s West Flanders province]...
View ArticleThe Clover Club – an accessible, sophisticated cocktail that is fashionably...
Of the classic drinks revived by the “ginaissance”, the most prominent have been the dry martini, the G&T and the negroni. The Clover Club has come a little late to the party, but is gaining...
View ArticleHow to make Shanghainese pork chop and vegetable rice, an easy all-in-one dish
Shanghainese pork chop and vegetable rice is an all-in-one dish: you get everything you need on a plate (or in a bowl) – carbs, vegetables and meat. I make the rice with as much vegetable as grain, so...
View ArticleHow to make Thai glass noodle salad with seafood and pork
The Thai dish of seafood and glass-noodle salad can be as extravagant or simple as you like. At its most basic, the seafood is limited to dried shrimp, while this version has fresh shrimp and squid, as...
View ArticleHow daughter of Hong Kong immigrants found success in Britain as a lawyer and...
It’s been seven years! What brings you back to Hong Kong? “The last time I came was before I set up the business. I’m back for a family wedding. We come from a food background. My dad was a chef. He...
View ArticleHow to make rempeyek, the Indonesian crackers that are a savoury sensation
I still remember my first taste of rempeyek. The fried Indonesian crackers topped with ikan bilis and peanuts had been made by a friend of a friend and were not available in stores. The ones I bought...
View ArticleChef Kirk Westaway on bringing modern British cuisine to Singapore
What was it like growing up mostly vegetarian? “My mother is vegetarian and since she cooked, we ate whatever was on the table. I grew up in Devon [southwest England], where my family still lives. We...
View ArticleAmerican-style Chinese beef with broccoli stir-fry – a healthier take on a...
As with other Chinese-American dishes, beef with broccoli probably has its roots in a more traditional dish, such as beef with gai lan (Chinese broccoli). The original version almost certainly used a...
View ArticleChef Que Vinh Dang recalls fleeing Vietnam, finding his fine-dining feet, and...
Land ahoy I was born in Móng Cái, near the northern border of Vietnam and China. My mom is from the Vietnamese side, my father is from the Chinese side, though they speak the same accented Cantonese. I...
View ArticleHong Kong bartender’s Milano cocktail a tribute to the fashion capital with a...
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) earned his place in history as a prominent revolutionary figure in Italy and South America during the mid-19th century. In particular, he is considered to be one of the...
View ArticleAmerican author and bartender Dale DeGroff on the tools and temperaments of...
How did you get into bartending? “I wanted to be an actor and went to New York in 1969. I did a series of crazy jobs – putting up posters, moving man, chauffeuring Zsa Zsa Gabor, packing Gideon Bibles...
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