China adventures in Changsha

 China, the land of the amazing food, culture and nice people, I was luckily invited to do a amazing dinner in the city of Changsha where the owner was opening up his own personal museum of photography, he is one of the largest collectors in China with hundreds of ancient and old photos that he wanted people to see and admire, so he simply just made a decision to build a huge museum to showcase his collection.

Story short a Chinese guy came to Sweden and looked me up and asked if I was able to do a dinner for the opening night for the owner and his closest friends, who am i to say no to this, 40 people 8 course dinner, no problem, I can do that by myself with a little planning and a good mis an place"

I arrived 6 days prior to the opening and was hosted by the officials from his office and NO ONE could speak a word of English! I had to use google translate for everything, luckily I had send a shopping list a few weeks ahead so that was kind of safe, they took me to see the venue on a rainy night and I was very surprised to find that the museum was far from being finished and the tep kitchen that they promised me was outside in the rain with some cover and the kitchen space was a huge pile of rubble, 

I was surprised and confused, but hey in China everything is possible , right! the next day they found me a catering company who was able to host me for the prepp, I got one bench 120 cm and some pans, BTW the figures have changed to 120 people, ok can you find me some assistants? yes sure, one guy shows up with no skills whats so ever so I had to put him to clean and wash veggies, that he can do, my prepplist on day 2 changed of curse and the shopping list got bigger, I had a car and a driver, take me to any big HORECA store to get stuff, later that day (day 3) they told me that they now expect 350 guests, 

I was slightly stressed and wondering how to pull this off, the first meeting with the FOH staff was crazy and all in Mandarin, but I made it clear to that that I need help to pull this off, they promised me 40 kitchen staff, ok cool, the menu was Nordic inspired as was ordered and as a soup I was planning to do a lobster bisque with scallops and garnishes, well the lobsters arrive from a supplier in Shanghai and they whare all deat and the box smelled like crazy, ok get me new one - cannot find in Changsha, ok frozen Canadian? yes ok fine, lets do that, new lobster arrives Live! I got lost in translation obviously but fair enough.

I visited the temp kitchen and all the rubble was gone and the area was actually very clean and they started to mount the kitchen equipment with everything that I did not order...improvise dear...and take a deep breath, anyway 2 days to the show I was told to get on a stage to meet the waitering staff, I can do that...150 staff was attending and the guest list was now 420 people...hurray I was thrilled 

The irony is that the staff who was serving was all from a local college with zero experience so I spend hours to teach them how to hold one plate at the time, no more and dont drop!!

On the morning of the event I was told that the dinner can only be 40 minutes in total, we all know that for an eight curse menu this is not possible, so I had to adjust again to make 3 dishes as fists course, then soup and the fish on one plate then Kobe beef as meat followed by double dessert plates, ridiculous but it actually worked out and everyone was happy I guess, the boss invited me to that stage and gave me a Mandarin speech that I didn't understand anything from...

This was absolutely one of the craziest dinners I have ever done or been to, nothing beats a challenge and I am still wondering why I didn't just bailed and took the first flight back...I am not a quitter I guess.

Some photos from this crazy adventure and the menu as follow (Might have missed some details)

Hasselback potato with Kalix rom

Matjes herring on black bread kavring 

Melba toast w smoked monkfish liver

Lobster bisque w panfried scallop

Dover sole w Skagen sauce 

Kobe beef in bone marrow broth

Strawberry tart

Cloudberry parfait

My Indian Chef friend Manjit

 When it comes to Indian food and food culture few beats chef Manjit Gill, he is an living encyclopedia when it comes to Indian food and the story and history behind things that we take for granted when we talk about Indian cuisine, I meet Chef Manjit for the first time I think it was something like 2004 and hade the pleasure even to visit him in India a few years ago for a presentation and meetings with IFCA the Indian chef association, also awarded Lifetime member of the association, I am very proud and humbled.

Chef Manjit can tell you amazing stories about why and how food is made in Indian kitchens and how to build flavor profiles and layers, its fascinating and I consider Indian food to be one of the most difficult and complex cuisines in the world, extremely difficult to master and very few do.

I was happy to catch up with Manjit on his visit here for a few days and just listen to all his stories.

Thank you chef for your wisdom and friendship, much appreciated and I hope we can catch up on my next visit to India in November this year.

KENDO THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI

 What many of you dont know is that I do kendo, this old martial art is from the samurai era when they use blunt weapons to train with and protective gear to avoid to mush painful moments (it still can hurt like hell) to be part of a group kendo explorers is fun and extremely hard for an old guy like me, age do matter whatever you say, the training is tuff and also extremely hot in Cairo weather with the bogu on, long  hakama, tenugui and the men (head protector) Its great fun and I also try to do Iaido (sword drawing) once per week just for fun, great camaraderie and fun people of all ages.

PS. photos are not allowed during training

International taste institute

 ITI in Brussel is the leading taste institute in the world where all kinds of suppliers are sending their products to be judged by a panel of professionals from around the world, this is a great gathering of chefs of all kind of backgrounds and ages what makes the average score points really non controllable and honest.

This year I am invited again as a judge and I just cant wait to see some of the folks that I know will be there, a few days of hard work but also great companionship and food, thank you https://www.taste-institute.com/en/home  for the invitation and see you in December 

RIP one of the great chefs

 Michel Guerard a true legend passed today and may he rest in piece with Escoffier, Bocuse, Alain Chapel and the rest of the big boys.

I hade the fortune to spend some days with Michel at his place and now the famous Spa's in France Eugenie-les-Bains during my culinary travels in early 90,s he was a true gentlemen and took time for me and my visit there to explain his gastronomic journey and the Nouvelle cuisine that he was a crucial part of to establish in the early 80, s when I started my career and I was absolutely absorbed by the way this French chefs was treating the food and ingredients in a new and fun way to preserve the flavor of the actual ingredient, a new era was developing and still today we all pay attention to what happened then.

The new Nordic cuisine was a creation and a form after this idea and still many people see the Nordic as a start of something new.

Le Grande chef 

 

New puppy in the family

 I was and are still devastated with loosing Mama Mia the westie queen last February but extremely happy for our new family member that we received this week, a 9 weeks old westie girl with no name(I call here Stella (star in Italian) I am so sorry that I cannot hold her in my palm when I'm to far away and I will miss some of her baby steps for sure and she will get much bigger before I have the opportunity to see her, Westies are great dogs with amazing character and totally fearless and I cant wait to see how she will develop and she will be the headline here for sure.

 

Wedding anniversary 19

 Marriage is never easy and it takes a lot of effort to keep going on and make life easy and comfortable but with me its a real challenge constantly moving around like I do and all the crazy things that I come up with all the time and have always done, some of my gipsy blood I guess, My stronghold and support have always been there for me and gave me the freedom to grow as person and chef, with out I would never achieve what I have done so far and more to come for sure.

My family had the opportunity and privilege's to visit many places in the world thank to my travels but at the same time they have carried a heavy load in day to day life without me around to shear the burden, I am well aware of this and I try to compensate my own way, 19 years of marriage and still going strong thanks to you my love Christina my moon and sun in my life and thank you for making us a strong team that can overcome anything thrown at us.

Love you endlessly my sexy beast.