the traveler and food seasoned street Chef Mama San, Sarong, Hujan Locale, and soon to open Tiger Palm brings an eclectic mix of traditional and uber its urban popular places. He talks about his interest in the culture of Asian cuisine inspired him to open his restaurants.
You're Scottish origin, but born in Portugal. Tell me about your background.
My parents lived in Beirut before the war, where they got my brother and sister. Then they moved to Peru and Portugal, where I was born. After that, we moved in Italy. My father then moved to Spain and I moved to Scotland with mom. I'm very used to the expat life; That is why it has never been difficult for me to live in any part of the world as I do now. I went to Europe when I was 21 and I went to the United States before traveling around Asia. I moved and worked in Australia for a while before returning to Asia.
What inspired you to become a chef and then a unique restaurants creator
I started to learn cooking not because of the passion ; I had found a career, because I'm not very academic. I tried the kitchen, and I had to prove to people that I could do it. But then, when I was traveling around Asia, I fell in love with the culture, and food. What I see in the kitchen of the culture of Asia is what inspired me to open my restaurants. With the collaboration between my partner and me, we do our best to introduce Asian cultures through our food and places.
Explain how street food brings us closer to the real kitchen of a region.
The streets and villages are places where you can find authenticity. Most of these people obtained their revenues from their families, from generation to generation. I added little tweaks to dishes, especially the way we serve, which is inevitable. However, my goal is to keep the authentic taste and present it to a wider audience.
Your travels have taken you all over Asia; Southeast Asia in particular. When did you decide to Bali your home?
It was when I started Sarong there eight years. At the time, I already had my beautiful family and Sarong completed my life.
After the success of Sarong, you opened Mama San in Bali. Can you talk about the differences between the concepts for each location, and what influences them?
Each of the restaurants that I manage has a different concept. So Sarong is a gourmet restaurant highlighting Indian and Thai dishes, Mama San is a bit more casual, highlighting Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. Hujan Local Ubud specializes in Indonesian cuisine, and the new Tiger Palm serves Malaysian dishes :. Small Kopitiam style, all day lunch and dinner
In your travels in Burma you wrote, "The purity of the Burmese spirit is what comes through the strongest." is you remember your first days in Bali
at the beginning of my life in Bali in 2006, it was much simpler ?; much quieter. The cultural activities were visible everywhere without . But having to look comparing to Burma, I think that Bali had been updated at the time already,. more dynamic with many western influences
Tell us about the amazing floating gardens on the lake Inle in Burma.
I admire how farmers cultivate their vegetables. They use the water hyacinth, which are fixed in position using bamboo poles. Topped with mud from the lake bottom, the mixture becomes a floating flat fertile for growing tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and other vegetables. I really hope that this system survives the "attack" of the use of pesticides, I hear has already begun.
How to connect a leader to land and the sea does not affect the way he approaches his work
When a leader knows where the ingredients it uses comes from - how farmers grow them, how fishermen catch fish and understand people and cultures - so he knows what he cooked, and how it is supposed to cook the dishes. Food is not only the kitchen and serve it on a table; it is about heritage and culture.
This is becoming a trend indeed. I really see as a positive gesture and it will do nothing but help local communities in creating sustainable agriculture, although I do not see that most business practitioners actually trying to do more than just use the trend as a marketing gimmick. Bali and Lombok have many resources that are not yet developed -. These places can be a good start to support the movement
In all your travels what food experiences stand out in your memory?
One of the most memorable experiences of the food was when I visited Manado and ate bats and rats. It was OK, but the food was certainly not my favorites.
Your brilliant career made it more difficult to slow the simplicity that you respect so much, where life is just to meet the necessities?
I consider myself a realist. By default, I do things in the simplest way possible, but change "necessities" according to your roles and responsibilities. In my case, the company needs me to go fast and I go with the flow.
As a father, and with your accumulated knowledge of agriculture and aquaculture, what are your hopes for the future of food when your children are adults?
I would like to see food as a culture that develops sustainability in communities through well-managed boutique agriculture that can empower people and improve their quality of life -. like I'm back in my restaurants
What cookbooks have you published?
I published Sarong Inspirations , which is now underway for the third printed edition. Next year, the plan is to write a few books focused regional cuisine.
What is your last company?
We open at The Tiger Palm Village in Seminyak this month. The next step is to develop cooking class programs involving learning the culture of Balinese cuisine of local people in their villages.
Thank you, Will Meyrick!