Trò chuyện với Đại sứ ẩm thực Anh

[Music] hey [Music] hey food is Great [Music] Britain hello and welcome to this edition of talk Vietnam now fish and chips or afternoon tea corn beef or even bread and butter pudding these are some of the British favorites uh the classic dishes that we have heard for a long time but there is a chef who has been able to create new twists and modernize these dishes um and and creating wonderful new dishes for us to taste and his name is Gary rhods he's here with me now he's the British Cuisine Ambassador and he's been traveling

all over the world to promote British Classics and he's here on our show today thank you very much Gary for Jo you for inviting me delighted to be here thank you and welcome to Vietnam what a wonderful country already you know it's sort of wetting my appetite I want to come back for more so that's that's a good sign that's wonderful let's let's start uh by going into kind of the British Classics what motivated you in the first place to basically focus on British Cuisine I think it had been forgotten for too long because if

you look back in history of a couple of hundred years ago or more some of the dishes that you know were exciting they were Lively there was influence coming in from other countries India in particular with some of the spices that were taking part in the food that got forgotten for probably about 60 years or more and I thought Now's the Time to reintroduce it and it was Prime and I was uh you know so looking forward to it because it made a big statement and that's exactly what I wanted to do it's something people

have forgotten and you're trying to put it back on the map absolutely absolutely yes do you remember the very first British classic that you looked at and you would you would think to yourself I had to do something to make this new again well you know it was always at school and of course you have the school meals and it was all British cooking then it was stews and castle colls and you know it could be a shepherd's pie anything like that but there was a dessert actually we used to have at school and my

mother used to make it at home and she won't like me telling this story but now and again you know when there's a little old bread sitting in the uh in the cupboard it would be making bread and butter pudding and it was really just so dry it was overbaked you had raisins across the top which had burnt and were bitter and I thought this dish could be so good and that was one of the first dishes as a professional chef that I wanted to reintroduce but make it a a whole culinary experience that when

you just bite into it and is melting and soft and delicious all those great things H and just show you all it is is bread and butter and a little bit of custard really but it can be Heavenly to eat I think it all goes into the technique and you know what you do to it exactly that it was about technique it was understanding the the temperature you need for it so you don't overcook it it won't become almost like a scrambled egg from this custard instead it's as I said just a melting experience so

that was the first one as a professional I really wanted to change the face of it and get people to talk about it but your culinary experience began before that you mentioned your mom yes cooking started at home didn't it oh definitely definitely you know it got to a situation where it was just my mother my my brother and and sister and I started to become the family Cook you know it would be first of all supporting my mother in the kitchen when she decided to go back to work I thought right now it's my

role my brother was had left school he's off so I used to have everything ready for my mother my brother sister she I'd pick her up from school and then I concentrate on the cooking I read in a magazine that one of your very first success began when you were around 13 years old making Sunday Rose oh goodness me yes you're right you're right you've got a very good memory I don't how you know all these things but you're right I wanted to help and take on the the Sunday Rose and but it was really

the dessert was the first thing I wanted to uh to really sort of look after all on my own and there was this old cookery book and it was a lady called margarite patteron um and she was you know back from the the the days in the war she was putting all of these these um these cookery books together and this one was purely desserts and she had one for a steamed lemon sponge um with a lemon sauce I thought I want to make that for the dessert this Sunday roast and I spent all morning

because we didn't have machines then it was you know getting your spoon and the and beating up together the sugar and the butter so it's light and fluffy and then with a you know lemon zest and lemon juice and making the whole uh the pudding and then one of those big old sort of um pots that you're going to actually steam it in yes put it all in there popped it in and it was quite large so it had to cook for about an hour and a half to two hours just steaming away gently and

then while that's happening I'm making this lemon sauce they were all sitting at the table so I have my mother brother sister and I I come out with this this pudding put a plate on top turn it over and when I lifted off that pot that it had steamed in the the aroma of the lemon just filled the room and I looked at them all and there was this huge smile on every face which got bigger and greater as I poured that lemon sauce that started to dribble down the sides and it was at that

moment I thought this is what I want to do it it put a buzz inside me like I'd never experienced it was an epip so absolutely abolutely so so exciting and I thought this is my career I want to cook after making his name in the 1980s and 1990s following the earning of his first Michelin star at the Castle Hotel in suest at the age of just 26 Rose has gone on to receive Micheline recognition for 10 years straight at his own Roose 24 establishment in London by refining the English Classics and placing British Cuisine

back on the top table Rose inspired a whole generation of followers Gary is also the author of some 20 cookery books to date he has published over 20 cooker books including new British Classics the complete cooker year keeping it simple and 365 just his television career has been equally successful with series such as Rose AR Britton Master Chef Master Chef USA Health kitchen Rose across India rose across the Caribbean Rose across Italy the BBC series The Great British food Revival Gary Rose legendary dedication to his crafts and reless pursuit of perfection has placed him firmly

at the Forefront of today's culinary World in 2006 Gary was honored with an obbe for services to the hospitality industry for the past years Gary has also toured the world as an ambassador for British Cuisine cooking and hosting events in India Japan Malaysia Thailand Dubai and Kuwait on behalf of the visit Britain campaign we talked about you know the moment you realized you wanted to do cooking was that moment you know the aroma of the lemon sponge filling the room was there another moment where you decided that you wanted to pursue a professional culinary Adventure

something it was quite an interesting uh moment that when I was actually leaving school because in those days you didn't really tell anybody guess what I'm going to train and become a chef exactly because it wasn't looked upon as a a great career it was for those who hadn't done well at school in those days or so they imagined and You' had to all you could turn to was a kitchen to get some work well that wasn't how I'd approached it but many who did and there was also a friend of mine and we always

kept very quiet what what are you going to do oh I'm going to be a policeman and he said oh I'm going to go and be know for a lawyer or something and it was at the very last few days before uh I left um school and I said to him uh Stephen I've got something to tell you I'm not going to be a policeman in fact I'm going to be a and I'm going to a catering College he said goodness me he said that that is unbelievable he said because I'm not going into to

be you know train as a lawyer what I'm going to do is I'm going to the ballet ROM be and I'm going to be a ballet dancer so you can imagine we were both a little bit shocked we kept that secret and I think it was then that that gave me an extra inspiration it was something that be brave do it my friend you know he'd been a little bit afraid of telling others he went on to have a great success with that and uh and you know things I I I can't look back when

I went to college to train for 3 years that is what continually continually inspired me I suddenly realized that this was uh an industry and a job where it was a continual culinary education yes and I was going to learn something new every single day and I still do today now one of your kind of first um you know working experience was in Amsterdam as a come Chef yes just a commi chef you know because all my friends were going to London they were all going to the seavoy hotel the Dorchester and I thought I

don't want to go you know with everybody else I started writing to restaurants and many in France actually and some of the great chefs the paulus the Michelle Gard the twag brothers all of these great great three michelan star chefs and that's a dream to even think about working with them and I've still got the letters that tell me no thank you you know all the Rejection it was that was Again part of it you know no thank you so I decided to to join the Hilton group yes and because Hilton were probably the number

one hotel group at that time in the as I say late '70s and so I I wrote to the Paris I wrote to the Amsterdam the Brussels the dorf and also uh one in uh Switzerland as well the first one that gave me the the job offer was the Amsterdam Hills and I thought well I don't know what the cuisine is like there but at least I'm you know working in an international uh Country and and hotel group and with that there won't really be a language barrier so that you know sort of tempted me

as well at such a young age now one of your next experience is uh was in 1987 when you took um role as a a head chef position at the Castle Hotel in Somerset um now I believe this was where you kind of truly dwell into the British Classics isn't it it was because you know it was a part of the country that the you know there we were in the west country so this little kind of town um but everything was was locally sourced so with almost a 20 mile radius apart from getting some

fish from cornall or some lobsters from Scotland but mostly really all of The Butchery and um fruit and vegetables where possible we'd bu local and I love that and because they're homegrown it should be home cooking you know why am I going to take lovely English asparagus that's only with us for two months of the year during May and June why do I want to actually start doing a French dish with with English asparagus I don't want to do that and likewise when I was getting you know lobsters from Scotland and all of the other

fish and also with that different um sculps from that part of the country English strawberries apples we had the Scottish raspberries coming later in the year all of these great flavors and I thought this is what I want to do it was really exciting and it was to try and make a huge statement but refin the British cooking so from those days of growing up um um because Amsterdam was predominantly sort of French Nel Cuisine style College was classic kind of French style so now I wanted to take British Classics but take a little influence

from the Newville cuisine in terms of refinement um and yeah that was the beginning and I've uh never gone back on it now so I've continued it would be roast chicken great tiled asparagus spice MOG salmon che cheese end of Rod deer baked over Douglas fur Cornish pasty probably an apple dandor pigeon served in a yorshire pudding cup it's about the produce it's about meat it is about two veg I still love crumble to me I'm obsessed by crumble it's a beautiful dish which should be known across the world um I think most people think

we overcook our beef everyone just eats fish and chips and Soggy vegetables I don't think it's certainly not accur we certainly do great fish and chips still the British chefs knows where his food comes from and the consumer too and I think the food scenes just getting better and better we're using more local stuff we're really going back to Artisan producers and are not relying so much on supermarkets markets are coming back people are going to their local shops food before was separated from our life now is part of it is part of our Consciousness

here as well I don't think anybody can take away that from us and I feel very good that I stand at that Podium as a British person now for Vietnamese audiences watching the show now you know how would you explain British cuisine at it at its core how's it different or similar to other Cuisines I think you know you have many Cuisines across the world that um Can feature at any time of the year in many dishes I think the the true true British you have to stick to the seasons yes because you want to

make sure as I did in those days at the The Castle Hotel the produce are fresh correct and if I want to do a you know an an an eaten mess for instance I want to make sure they're English strawberries at their very best so when you're getting into that late June July August they are a dream to eat you know they're rich they're sweet they're juicy and I don't think there's a better strawberry in the world keep it British it comes from our soils so let's show it off and that for me really is

how I'd explain British cooking stick to Homegrown as much as possible obviously we don't grow lemons and oranges and if you want to add a squeeze of lemon into something I mean that that's what you call sort of we don't really produce olive oil either you know you know so there's certain things that you can borrow from other countries but the main features I think have to be British to really show it off definitely now you have U mentioned so many dishes up to this point that um myself and I believe many of the audiences

are getting quite curious about some of the dishes so if you don't mind would you please share with us some of the demonstration here of course first of all I love what youve actually put together here because you know if you don't mind I want to dress this up is that okay absolutely no problem but this is couldn't be more classic because you know you've taken here something a combination of uh you know apples and with uh you know you've got celery you've got nuts you've got the blue cheese and that must be from Somerset

it is indeed suet blue Somerset blue you see couldn't be better couldn't be more British could it which is fantastic so you know this is one of the beauties of of Great British cooking you know you can really be inventive but keep things simple and just keep it kind of rustic style little touch of the nuts just sprinkled in just around it so you can imagine eating these flavors that nuttiness you know what's the great thing about this it's not actually it not everything has to be on a stove no no yeah that's the beauty

isn't it we can literally just cook these wonderful ingredients let's get a bit of the blue cheese oh this feels so creamy and Rich right a few little croutons just trickled around we can keep it quite rustic like this little touch notice here sea salt where does this come from it comes from UK Waters so you can imagine there you've got that lovely little bite coming from that that crunch little touch of black pepper just to give it a little bit of fire add another dimension to it and I'm going to add a little touch

of this side dressing another classic from Somerset there you go Chef you see now this man is telling me everything that I need to know so we've got cider we've got the blue cheese we've got walnuts we've got celery we've got apples perfect combination we have got here a little dream on a plate don't you think doesn't get any better doesn't get any does it doesn't really does it I mean now let's put a little touch of this dressing just on top top and a great thing is that you've already dressed those beautiful leaves next

thing we're going to go around with just a nice little touch of these leaves like that maybe a nice little sprig it looks like a Water Crest sitting on top it is and now just to finish if I can take another teaspoon so let's just put a little drizzle of that and this adds another Edge to it you can imagine here I'm using that little kind of Italian Touch you know or it can be Spanish but the great thing about an Italian olive oil it adds that little extra sweetness to it it's not quite as

harsh and I love that with this particular dish it actually turns that creamy cider dressing into more of a vinegret and that for me is a simple British salad there we have we have the blue cheese Apple celery and walnut salad now uh where do you normally get your inspiration I think actually from the people around you you know and and you're always looking up to other chefs there's some chefs out there that I still dream of even trying to match and I probably never will because they're so skillful um and everywhere I go throughout

the world I want to go and eat in restaurants and I want to get that fresh little sort of buz because there you can come through little stale moments but when you've eaten at a restaurant I walk away thinking oh I get so upset cuz why didn't I think of that you know and there's you know Paris in particular and I love going to to Paris because there's so many good restaurants all within a walking distance still up the Hub of culinary arts well it is you you know you've got some of the greatest restaurants

there there's many I've been to many times over and you know when you're actually tasting um the most Sensational ingredients which are in season at that time uh I get such an inspiration and a buzz and I do get upset that I didn't think of it first but it gives me sometimes that can inject such a fresh thought into my mind that just one little point of that dish has given me a whole new idea for a completely different dish and that is my buzz then that is saying to me I've still got it I

can do it you know and it you know it gives you that extra kind of drive and and uh you continue to cook and you you want to come home immediately and start making that dish wow continue getting some inspiration now you have been uh the British Cuisine Ambassador how is it uh to kind of fill this role and introduce the cuisine of the nation to different parts of the world I I think you know the the great thing is that you are meeting so many people worldwide you are having that opportunity to really stand

up for what you believe in and and I love you know I'm very very proud to be British and I want to share that with everybody I want to show that it is Great Britain and don't forget if if you think of that word great it's gr which stands for Gary roads and eat yes Gary road so it fits doesn't it so it seemed the the the right thing to do you've got Gary roads and eat and I should share that with everybody we that's a great slogan you should stick to that slogan I think

we'll keep it as one word but you know people don't often notice that so yes now as we talk about your visit to different countries obviously one of your destination this time is Vietnam uh as part of his trip here uh Gary has joined in the British food and drink Festival so we'll join him in the following to see how British Cuisine has attracted Vietnamese people I'm going to show you just why food is so great I'm going to making here'll give you mission in Star CHF Gary rhs brought the best of British flavors to

the town as part of the worldwind tour of activities in Hanoi by a well attended cooking [Music] demonstration [Music] while cooking these two British dishes G Ros also gave cooking tips to the audience of course delicious English straw when you look at this line that tells you which bit is raw which bit is cooked so once you've C it halfway through you can turn it over and then I literally turn the power out of the stove because the heat in the pan continues the cooking process and then you're always guaranteed to have it succulent for

as part of the event the online cooking recipe of love cooking contest gather many British recipe lovers to cook and share British traditional and modern dishes on its Facebook fan page this contest helped to promote British Cuisine to Vietnamese people via the [Music] Internet [Music] for [Applause] by different means either via social network or table Ser dishes British food is getting closer to Vietnamese diners how was the uh Festival uh experience uh introducing the food to the vietamese audience well it's been amazing actually I'm really surprised at the numbers that uh you know we've uh

produced four and you know when you're doing a cookery demonstration in front of just a local audience it was nice again to see those Smiles that uh you know my my mother and family had all those years ago because they can see what's being created they want to discover more and I'm just showing them the Simplicity of some of these great dishes some are long slow cooking methods what I wanted to show them here is that you don't have to take on that every time it can be a simple little finish in a pan but

it shows off really what Britain's all about I want to show them this is a Scottish salmon this is what we're going to do with it and keep it with just those local little ingredients as well so yeah it's been uh I'm hoping it's going to put some drive into everybody wanting to go and see what British food is about and even if they haven't and and won't it is about making sure they understand there is a cuisine in Britain exactly you know there is a British as we said it's quite you know a little

bit forgotten we're not know has been well it's true you know I think in certain parts of of Europe it's got some it's got a reputation now even in the USA it's got a reputation now you might even go into Hong Kong or Singapore where there's endless expats who might want to eat uh British but generally a lot of other countries you know as imagine I was in Tokyo last year and showing off British Cuisine there and they certainly never imagined there was any such thing as British cooking so so you know likewise with the

opportunity you came to come to Vietnam which is a country I've always wanted to come to because all I've ever heard it's beautiful it's stunning you have to go here I am and uh definitely uh I want to come back for more now also part of Gary's trip here in Vietnam uh at the British food uh and drink Festival he became a judge um for the rating of the making of English afternoon tea and scon so we'll take a look at that in the following so what's the con concept of today homemade scon with clotted

cream and strawberry jam absolutely delicious the chef who's going to be judging with me the executive chef of the Metropole hotel and that is Nicholas so Nicholas thank you very much my pleasure Gary nice to see you and you too you too so we have two teams on my right here we have with our ambassador we have the food bloggers and on the left well this team we've titled as the Fig team and fig not because they're fruity and delicious but because food is great and that's what this team is all about so let's get

ready steady cook we're using a traditional scone recipe with flour sugar butter baking powder uh and milk and a little bit of vanilla extract but we're also using a Vietnamese ingredient as well which is Hu uh to add the Vietnamese flavor to our British scones I think it's quite interesting like you said the that this team is doing the mix thisam my hand this one looks a bit Dy yes this one looks we make three different kind of scones and this one will be for the lemon and orange the traditional one just has some fruit

in it and it's PL but the other ones we've done are with lemon and with chocolate and orange so to add some fruits uh but also some chocolate uh some some luxury to to the recipes it's hotter okay [Music] whatever [Music] great very that has the jam is very nice full of strawberry flavor and you also have a really nice light buttery finish to it still lovely moist not too crumbly the whole combination of those three flavors they all complement one another beautifully don't they they do indeed you know you've got that lovely little crispiness

on the outside of the skun it's really lovely and soft in the center with the fruitiness and then you can imagine that with thick cream and the rich flavor of raspberries it's been a tough uh competition because you know two totally different teams just as Nicholas said a little bit earlier one which has kept homely and classic and the other which has been a little bit more venturous like a restaurant and of course we're both attached to restaurant so it has been tough for us so perhaps you can announce to all of us Nicholas who

is the winning team that we have both agreed um it has been a very difficult decision but we both agree that traditional was the way way that we uh we went forward so it's the food bloggers it's the food [Applause] bloggers we hope that uh all the Vietnamese viewers watching this will be inspired to go out and try making their own scones and have it with some delicious Engish tea how did you find in terms of you know the Vietnamese reaction to to the British food and I think it was a great experience even just

judging the the scone competition because then suddenly you had everybody up onto that stage all locals and those scon were gone in seconds and I think that's a great example I think also you know I did the a huge um cookery demonstration in a shopping mall and so you had nothing but locals when those dishes we was sending out little pots for them to try and and you could see they wanted to come back for more um so I think it's one of the the greatest Applause you can you can possibly have as a chef

is when people truly want to eat your food and we had the the stage again there absolutely raided and everybody trying to fight over a little taste of something and you couldn't ask for bigger Applause than that could you here in Vietnam there is a generation of new young Vietnamese chefs two of whom you've met um at the uh judging of the making of the English afternoon tea um what is your advice to these you know young Cooks I mean they're starting out just as you were in the late 70s um kind of embarking in

on new challenges where culinary arts is just starting just starting to Bud here in Vietnam I think if you've got that you know make sure that you ask yourself I think they should all take a long hard look in the mirror and say to themselves do I really have this true passion and this true love for food and and want to share it with others and cook for others and if they're answering themselves back with a definite yes then this is the career for them it is something that can involve a lot of hard work

long hours dedication but I always believe that what you put in now you'll benefit from later yes you can't do it the other way around where you want everything to be easy now because you're young and you want to be vibrant and out and about every single night and then hope that things are going to come for you later on in life quite often you've missed those opportunities exactly so I think it's take hold of this opportunity discover start to go to those markets on a Saturday morning and S of actually lying in bed when

you're a student and trying to take that day off go to that market have a look start to ask questions about those ingredients educate yourself I always remember at my college I'm getting excited again now but I always remember at College I'd walk around with this little book and it's called the repertoire de la cuisine and it told you everything about every classic cuz I was taught Classics in those days but every gave you every little detail on every classic recipe and I would carry that around with me and never let go and always wanted

to look down and see I could discover oh I love that that's that dishes with uh muscles and into the muscles it's also got clams and this and that I think oh I can taste that already you know it inspires you and I think it's about really realizing and recognizing this industry is about dedication um and as I said later in life you'll benefit from that and enjoy every moment and and that's what I'm doing now still cooking but I'm enjoying every bit of it yes a lot of patience a lot of hard work but

most of all a lot of drive that's what it is and remember your the the greatest greatest Accolade forget all the awards forget everything is that smile you just gave me and that for me is the greatest Accolade of all yes you know going back again to that Aroma and those smiles there's nothing better so as part of his trip here uh Gary has also had some time to discover more about Vietnam uh we'll follow his footsteps in the following [Music] report going in there it was Lively it had every kind of ingredient that the

chef can imagine it was incredible just looking round there's everything it's a chef's dream what do you do with these they are bamboo sh you shred them down y Finly SL them like that and you can put them in in your coner yeah okay yeah lovely yeah you feel that goodness me I mean that's beautiful isn't it so fat yeah really really plump I mean that's lovely picking up some of the ingredients and the nose and the smell and I was thinking I want to cook with this you know look at that absolutely lovely there

okay thank you mango well oh yeah oh so juicy look at this I saw these tiny tiny tiny little crabs and he was talking about the protein only that's taken from that you know and you lose the water you take the protein and then you might add that to a soup to add another strength to it and depth to it that for me is good detail you know what it's not the French that taught us how to snail I love snails love I think we taught the French big statement there big statement it's good job

I'm not a Frenchman isn't [Music] it [Music] that is so tender so tender packed to a flavor just eating the fish that was cooked there in front of me just in a few minutes Heaven Chef's Heaven you can smell that that fruit up there and all the different flavors and the little fishy Edge to it I mean look at all this delightful I think there was something from the banana tree the root from that which was finally shredded and put into the soup when I taste it at the market it really didn't give me anything

now tasting it here what a difference in flavor oh goodness me suddenly it became alive this now is without doubt my favorite I love the the rice noodles the flavor coming from that that liquor that we cook the fish in the succulents of the fish it's juicy it's rich and I'm getting all like a little school boy getting excited about it it's fantastic definitely a [Music] favorite [Music] L I'm loving this I'm loving it coming back to the UK what would be kind of your story to your friends who would ask what is Vietnamese cuisine

like I would tell them it's something you have to try and you have to try it here in Vietnam exactly you know there are some restaurants uh in London I'm sure in other parts of the UK where you'll have something with the Vietnamese influence it's not the same so I will be you know becoming hopefully an ambassador for Vietnam very soon because I'm going to be doing nothing but promoting and telling everybody it's a country you have to come to it's a two-way street oh without any Shadow of Doubt it's got um there's so much

personality in the in the city itself and when you have the opportunity to to eat the food as well um and I'm hoping to do a little bit more of that later on today taste some great little Vietnamese um food so it's exciting you know there's always more to see and I'm sure they're going to if I do try some tonight it'll be totally different to what I what I have already had so yeah it keeps my um my drive my passion for discovering food alive this is a wonderful country and I want to say

thank you to everybody for making us so welcome thank you so much for joining us here on talk Vietnam for coming to Vietnam sharing a British Cuisine British culture with us and we hope that as you said that you'll come back here along with Chef and uh cook for us and and basically bring British Cuisine even more well known to Vietnamese people well I certainly hope so and I want to thank you I'm it's been wonderful speaking with you today and definitely I'm going to come back yes again as Gary said Great Britain uh stands

for Gary roads eat so uh we hope that this edition of talk Vietnam with Gary has inspired you to uh learn more about not only British Cuisine but also find your own pass in your kitchen um thank you very much for joining us here on talk Vietnam and we hope to see you more next time goodbye for [Music] [Music] now [Music] short