American chef on culture shock in Europe – he foraged for ants and smoked...
How did you become interested in food? “When I was a kid, my mom wasn’t that great a cook, she was a very busy single mother for a while. But when we went to restaurants, I was drawn in, like when the...
View ArticleHow to make Thai fresh corn and tomato salad with shrimp and sausage – a...
Fresh corn – often called sweetcorn to differentiate it from the starchier varieties – is a delicious summery treat. I love it slightly charred on the grill, so it gets a smoky flavour, but it’s also...
View ArticleTime for tea: a guide to choosing, making, drinking and cooking with tea,...
Tea has changed a lot since it was, as legend tells us, discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shennong in 2737BC. We’ve come a long way from the austere cup that was brewed when the leaf of a wild tea...
View ArticleGary Rhodes gave this chef a start, nasty French chefs made him hate cooking...
How did you start cooking? “I’m from Kent [in southern England], and when I was 11 years old, one of my dad’s best friends was a chef in Confolens, in central France. Whenever we went there for...
View ArticleHow to make chow mein with pork belly, dried shrimp and vegetables - the...
There are many types of chow mein. It is not just the cooking method that varies – the noodles (which can be thick or thin) can be stir-fried, deep-fried or pan-fried, and, of course, there are endless...
View ArticleStreet food hawkers in Hong Kong: a tale of corruption, crackdowns and the...
Buzzing, multifaceted street-side activities are a well-established, colourful feature in any large urban centre. Ambulant food hawkers were a noted facet of life in all Asian cities, including Hong...
View ArticleHot, sour, salty and sweet in balance, that’s Thai cuisine – but the heat is...
What comes to mind when you think of the food of Thailand? Chances are, it’s the perfect balance of flavours: hot, sour, salty and sweet.So it’s interesting to find in The Food of Thailand (2001) that...
View ArticleRestaurants focus too much on presentation, veteran chef at Hong Kong hotel...
What was your childhood like? “When I was young I didn’t like to study, instead I played sports like tennis and was on the volleyball team. In junior school, I was on the high jump team.My parents used...
View ArticleHow to make chicken nuggets with shichimi, furikake and sesame seeds:...
Chicken breast is one of the foods I would never order in a restaurant, and the only time I am certain that I can eat it without wishing for something else is when I cook it myself, which I rarely...
View Article‘Malaysian cuisine defines fusion’: from Rendang to roti canai and curry...
It’s interesting to think of what food would have been like in certain countries before there were any outside influences. Can you imagine Thai or Korean cuisines without the chilli, or Filipino food...
View ArticleWhy Indian restaurants should not be slaves to spicy food, and why there’s...
How did your father influence your career path? “It’s a long story but a negative one. My grandparents migrated from Pakistan to India. They were very well-to-do landowners. When they came to India...
View ArticleHow to make chocolate and caramel verrines with salted peanut praline, an...
Verrines are savoury or sweet little bites that are served in small glasses; the savoury ones make an elegant amuse-bouches while the sweet versions are usually served as a pre-dessert – just a few...
View ArticleMentor to Pierre Hermé and Michel Richard, pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre was one...
Gaston Lenôtre came a long way from the little farm in Normandy where he was born, in 1920. By the time the French pastry chef died, in 2009, he had a cooking school, and an empire of shops, not just...
View ArticleChef Mario Paecke on cooking for Barack Obama, moving to Asia to improve his...
What was your childhood in East Germany like? “I lived in Weißwasser, a small city close to then-East Berlin. In East Germany, life was different, my childhood was simple and happy. Most weekends were...
View ArticleHow to make sake-steamed clams with butter, leeks, seaweed and udon noodles...
Steamed clams are easy to prepare, and make for a tasty casual dinner when served with melted butter. But with just a little more work, you can cook clams that make a hearty, delicious dish fit for...
View ArticleChinese built the US salmon canning industry. ‘Iron Chink’ invention robbed...
James and Philip Chiao needed money for college, but few employers wanted to hire a couple of guys from Taiwan with no experience and funny accents. After weeks spent pounding the Seattle pavement, the...
View Article‘Best of’ Chinese cuisine, from Sichuan to Hunan to Taiwan, in cooking...
Fu Pei-mei was revered as a master of Chinese cooking. Born in Dalian, northeast China, in 1931, she moved to Taiwan in 1949. In 1962, she started a television cooking programme that ran for almost 40...
View ArticleWhen belching fell out of favour in Hong Kong: a young man makes a faux pas...
Traditionalists, inevitably, insist that traditions should be maintained. Once customs become part of accepted practice, they must go on indefinitely. But like everything else since humankind emerged...
View ArticleFrom box cake mixes to fine-dining pastry chef in Hong Kong, how Joanna Yuen...
You started your career in advertising. What was that like? “I studied political science at the University of Melbourne and thought speech writing was an art. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a...
View ArticleHow to make Southeast Asian ceviche with avocado and tortilla chips, a...
Using salt or acidic ingredients to briefly cure raw seafood isn’t unique to South America, although ceviche – which comes in many versions – is probably the one most people think of. Hawaii has its...
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