The Philippines can be a funny place, and even the locals end up in funny situations. Being in a part of Asia notorious for its dogeaters, "the dog ate my homework" isn't as common an excuse as "a thief stole my notebook," or in this writer's case, stole the tape recorder with three-fourths of an exclusive interview with self-made chef and TV show host Bobby Chinn, who was in town to promote his book, Wild, Wild East at FullyBooked in Fort Bonifacio.
A few minutes of conversation and time spent in his company, however, is enough to make a lasting impression.
Mr. Chinn related how he took a walk on the wild side during his week in Manila, making the rounds, eating kwek-kwek ("so good, you had to name it twice"), the inevitable balut that his English director brought him expecting that he would find it disagreeable ("I liked it, I ate the entire thing"), and the proffered isaw that finally triggered the looked-for gag reflex ("I highly recommend that someone clean the intestines first").
Little can perturb the easygoing part-Chinese, part-Egyptian California native, who takes pictures of Vietnamese market folk "proud to wear pajamas in public," dog cadavers with death grins, and a cleaved pig carcass about to take a ride on a motorcycle—except perhaps how the Filipinos are so familiarized with such sights that they do more than laugh and shake their heads at his slideshow antics and impromptu rendition of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing."
He waxes lyrical over how Vietnam and the Philippines (like most Asian countries) still have itinerant vendors who toss out come-hither spiels along the lines, he says, of "I've got some shit to sell, you want to buy some of my shit? I've got some really good shit." But in Manila, he finally met some, er, shit he didn't like so much.
Still, he approved of our wet markets anyway, because they sell food for the consumption of four-legged as well as two-legged animals, and he also got a kick out of saying "Let's get some boom-boom" right after mass, heading straight for the puto bumbong station.
On the seventh day, Oct. 31, he paused for a cooking demo featuring sponsored chicken stock and non-sponsored whiskey, which he "taste-tested"—twice. He spent an hour signing an average of 10 books in one go (outside the pre-signed books), scribbling personal messages to strangers—please make it out to his partner who is an aspiring chef ("follow your heart"), his wife who is a foodie and a fan ("keep making love, in love")—all the while answering nosy questions from press folk.
The verdict? Yes, chefs are the new rock stars. But Mr. Chinn doesn't let it get to his head. Read on.
You call yourself an Asian "gook," and at the back of your book you're described as the "enfant terrible of Vietnam," how true is that?
I'm a global mutt, I'm beyond borders... that was the Financial Times, they gave me that nickname five years ago, just for being honest... It's hard to say it like it is because nobody wants to offend anybody, everyone's looking for political correctness. I just think that basically being global, I'm critical of many different things and I'm not afraid to say it.
What made you decide to write this book?
Because of the stories, and someone told me that I better write them down before I forget. Because no one wanted to teach me how to cook, and I learned by observation and by being persistent, until people opened up and shared things with me. It wasn't easy... But this wasn't work at all; I only write when I feel like writing or I wouldn't enjoy it.
You said something about Vietnamese cuisine being the... cuisine of the future, is that still true?
Yeah. You haven't discovered it.
Isn't it like raw food that you assemble, almost as if you're always on the go, and you don't have enough time?
And it's good. It's that simple. I think that if you like food, and you like to cook, and you want to give yourself a taste of something that's familiar but different, then that would be it. Because it has the ingredients that you are familiar with... It can be layers of flavors, layers of textures, layers of colors, it's either/or or all, and you can have an incredible different variety, six different ingredients, with six different spectrums from this to that, from pho to spring rolls. It appeals to any person who wants to cook but may not have the belief that they can.
What's your favorite Vietnamese dish?
I'm not really good at having a favorite dish or color or number... I think that if I told you, you can only eat one dish for the rest of your life, you can't say I can't choose this dish, because you have the rest of your life where you can be educated in so many different things that you'll be able to try.
What would you want to eat if you were condemned to die tomorrow, then?
If I was to die tomorrow, I would say that I probably want to eat a lot of different dishes, not just one, and make it with alcohol, so at least when I die, I can be sad and drunk, while I was going on.
Isn't it unusual to use whiskey, or any type of liquor, in Vietnamese food?
Right. I did it only because it does impart a bit of smokiness, especially if you're using a really good fire, because if it burns, then you get the smoke. Also for the drama, because you get the fire. And it also imparts a small flavor which is inoffensive. There's alcohol in it but the alcohol is burnt off, and it adds a flavor that I think is kind of posh.
What's the logic behind eating street food?
Then it's really all about the food, because you've got nothing else... and it's really good food even if it's not always clean... When you get a Michelin star, you get it because you've got good service or you've got a good wine list or you've got good bathrooms, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're running a successful business.
You learned about Vietnamese food when you were in your 30s, so this is encouragement for people who start late as a chef?
Vincent van Gogh is more famous for having his ear cut off than that he started painting when he was 30.... When you have passion, you always—generally—you'll enjoy your life more, because you enjoy what you're doing. The ear thing was crazy, and that's how we sum it up, he was crazy, but the passion was so much greater than the ear. Because at the end of it, we have artwork that we look at and he's in a completely different league than all the other artists. He was Vincent van Gogh.
You said something about putting your ego aside as a chef, no temperamental stuff.
I don't believe in being a chef that pulls tantrums in the kitchen... but Gordon Ramsay is an artist and you go to him because of what he can make. If you're going to The French Laundry, you're going because of Thomas Keller and his creations, you're going because of who he is as a chef and what he's capable of.
Tell me how your restaurant in Hanoi, Bobby Chinn, will be evolving. Are you expanding?
I don't know. I did something out of love and now it becomes business, and I haven't come to terms with the type of change that I'm willing to accept. But I'm thinking about it and I have a lot of offers. That's really kind of flattering, but at the end of the day, I have to be at peace with myself... I'm not doing this because of the money, I'm doing it because I like it.
You named it after yourself to protect yourself, but are you going to sell the brand then?
If I can, I can give it to some of my staff, who has been with me for years, who've run the business while I've not been at it. They're like family. I want to have a type of social capitalism, where you've built it, you've made your money, and now you take less, and let other people finish it and let them grow and stay in the organization. I don't know exactly how to do that, but that's what I would like to do.
Then you do that with other places and you've branded your name, but you still have people who are protecting your brand because they want to stay with you because they've seen that you are decent and giving and they have ownership.
When you talk, you say "us" when you refer to Vietnam locals...
I say "us" for a lot of things. I try to be inclusive, I say "we the Americans" did this, I say "we as human beings." I'm kind of getting past the borders, in terms of who I am and what I am.
If a Filipino doesn't like balut, right, that's not a problem. But if a foreigner comes here and says, "I don't like balut," then "What the hell are you coming from..." If we can get past all that and say this is who I am, this is what I like, and this is what I don't like—should I be condemned? Because I've expressed my feelings. It doesn't mean that I don't like Filipino food, it just means that I don't like that one dish.
Whereas isaw would be really good if somebody cleaned the intestines out, I'm sure the Filipino person who made it would say, "Jesus Christ, they left the shit inside, I thought you could deep-fry it and it would be okay." It's not anything greater than that. For me, I'm a global person, I don't think I would be fighting any cause right now.
Speaking of the U.S., what's the biggest misconception about American food?
If we're going to talk in generalities anyway... Americans don't eat all that much steak. Only some Americans can afford steak. The majority, and the poor Americans, they eat fast food. Poor people are supposed to be thin, but in America, they're actually obese, because there's something wrong with what we're feeding them.
How do you feel about GMOs?
Genetically modified organisms? I find them interesting. If we could cross a plant with some nutrients... but right now it's just experiments. We've put our faith in science before and it hasn't always turned out the way we expected. And it's just that we don't know what's wrong with something until after we've gone and done it. I'm really about using all natural, but I find genetic modification interesting and I think that at some point it could work for us.
So this is your life, you've gone from Wall Street to stand-up comedy, to bussing tables, to being a global representative of Hanoi cuisine, this is it, this is your life's work, you think?
Unless I find something I'm much more passionate about, that I want to challenge myself, that I felt that I could do and that I would do and that would motivate me to be better. You know, you start out as a cook, and you plate the dishes, and you can see yourself as like a chef de cuisine because you learn how to manage the ingredients, you learn how to manage people, and you learn how to manage the business, and you just keep on growing. I don't think you should limit yourself.
Like somebody would say, "you know how to cook but you're not a writer," yeah but why should it be anything? Why can't a person say, "If I sit down and watch someone do open-heart surgery, over and over and over again, and I just spend the equivalent, why couldn't I do it?" Anybody can do anything, 99% of the time, it's your own mind that's telling you, you can't.
You're saying that there can't be specialists, that you can just pick up a wok and you would be the chef of that kitchen?
Anybody can do anything, you can do anything, it's your own mind that prevents you from doing it, and it's people telling you that you can't do it, that it's not politically correct, it's not economical, you can't do this because what would our family think, or you can't because it's unthinkable. But it's your own heart, and you and the other person have to live your own life... Would you stop cooking just because you make a bad dish? No. You learn from your mistakes... Isn't the whole point we're just eating? It's only food, it should be enjoyable. But at the same time, you can experiment and have fun.
Are you encouraging everyone to be celebrity chefs?
I'm encouraging people to recognize what it takes to make food, to recognize it and appreciate it more so that if it doesn't come out exactly right, you aren't really there to criticize it... It's more fun that if they're good critics, then they can try their hand at it... People always think that all these chefs on TV, that it's all about marketing, that we get these little deals on the side. It's not; it's really about education.
Wild Wild East: Recipes and Stories from Vietnam is only available in hardcover.
Price is P1,999 at FullyBooked. It's also in Amazon.com.
Originally published on 6 November 2008 in BusinessWorld.