Monday, February 23, 2009

Bobby Chinn

I'm sure all of you are dying to find out how the interview with Bobby Chinn went and so I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

I had 15mins with him right before he did his show to promote season 2 of World Cafe Asia and so I couldn't ask much. Initially he was a little reserved but I suspect he was tired and also needed a little bit of time to warm up. By the end of the 15mins he was telling stories and making jokes...that was when I saw the Bobby Chinn that people are used to seeing on tv.

He is an ethnic mutt with curly hair just like me! He is mixed Chinese and Egyptian...born in New Zealand and was educated primarily in England but had a sense that San Fransisco was home.

Here's a tiny taste of the interview....

What is your favourite Malaysian dish?
I really enjoy Nyonya/Peranakan food. I also love Kway Teow and Nasi Lemak!

What do you cook for yourself at home?
Thesedays I don't get much time at home so I don't cook much. I'm so busy traveling and working that when I cook it's usually Top Ramen.

What is the most interesting ingredient you've worked with?
Ca Cuong a type of water beetle whose pheromones, are used to flavor a dish with the essence of pear. I make a martini with it.

I was also able to get him to sign my copy of Wild, Wild East. In which he wrote that he hopes to personally feed me sometime in the not to distant future...so I'm definitely gonna make a trip to Hanoi to check out his place one day!
After the interview he went on to do his show where he cooked a very simple vietnamese rice noodle salad with beef...he was a comic throughout the whole thing and I could not stop laughing...he also made many jokes about the French and their obsession with food and I just had to laugh because my mom was a part of the audience but she found his impressions funny and at the end I couldn't resist introducing him to my FRENCH mom...
And of course this post wouldn't be complete without photos of the occasion!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's great that you got to interview him. And I love your hair, it's gorgeous! :)

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a fun interview! And hey, you guys look like you could be related. ;-) (I gotta agree with Lorraine - your hair is gorgeous!!)

Chefspiration said...

Lorraine - It was nice although too short...gotta make it over to his restaurant in Hanoi! Thanks for the compliment :)

LL- haha that's what my mom said when she looked at the pic...she said he could easily pass for being my brother...lol! Thanks for compliment as well :-D

Selba said...

What a fun interview.

Last year, I was invited personally by him to his cooking demo but I didn't get the chance to interview him.

Chefspiration said...

Selba - Ohh that's too bad! But I'm sure you enjoyed the demo...Bobby can be quite entertaining and not to mention hilarious!

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I came across your blog while I was searching for Bobby Chinn's twitter account. He doesn't seem to use or the time to create one as www.twitter.com/bobbychinn isn't registered (unless he's got one under a different name).

Not much of a foodie but a professional photographer. Seeing that you're a fan, I thought you might like the pictures I took from the two half days I spent with him.

http://shimworld.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/bobby-chinn-in-brunei/

Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Chinn's show has no culinary value and his jokes hardly funny. i wonder why no one take him out of the air. he is such a pitta