An appetite for conversations

joanne-leow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:50:01 +0000

I’ve had a really good run of interviews lately – just thought I should post some links up before they disappear forever from the Primetime Morning page. One of the ones I am particularly proud of is this one that I did with Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize Laureate and political activist.

He was in town for the Sun Festival and I got a chance to sit him down and talk about his writing, his dreams (at the grand age of 75) and his political views. I’ll admit freely that before I met him I only had a vague idea of Nigerian history and its political struggles. Of course, like any interviewer worth her salt, I did quite a bit of research before I actually did the interview. Still there’s nothing like hearing it firsthand from someone who experienced it. The best interviews I do transport me into someone’s thoughts and memories – and I really hope that that comes across when the interview goes to air. What really moved me was when he talked about how he had come to a certain acceptance that the “utopia” he wished for Nigeria would not come to pass in his lifetime – but that didn’t mean he would stop trying to make the world a more fair and honourable place.

Somewhat more lighthearted, but no less intellectual really was my interview cum cooking session with Chinese cookbook writer Fuchsia Dunlop.

I’d actually written a paper on her memoir about eating in China as part of an independent study module I did for my ongoing Masters in English Lit that I’m doing in NUS. It was about cultural transformation through food and it’s truly fascinating how Fuchsia has really taken on an incredible amount of Chineseness (if there is such a thing) through learning, cooking and eating all manner of Chinese foods. Her command of Mandarin, especially it’s specialized culinary vocabulary is astounding and never fails to impress Chinese chefs. I love the way she describes falling in love with spicy Sichuanese cuisine and also the very astute observations she has about China’s gastronomic culture and how that will be the way out of its food scandals. I definitely recommend the memoir, although being the half-baked Chinese cook that I am, her cookbooks are a little intimidating!

And of course… now the Neil Gaiman interview is up on the website! Neil has graciously credited me on his blog which is making my blog stats go a bit nuts with Gaiman fans. Sorry to disappoint! I am neither macabre nor fantastical! But if you are curious about the interviews… they are up here and here. Enjoy!

off the menu

joanne-leow — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:00:31 +0000

There’s nothing like a good meal – whether it’s something someone has lovingly cooked for you or whether you enjoy pottering around the kitchen and fixing something exactly the way you want it. One of my favourite things to cook is softly scrambled eggs with just a bit of butter, maybe some goat cheese and herbs or a splash of full cream milk. I don’t cook many things better than my Italian mother-in-law, but this is one of them.

Speaking of Italian food – I just filmed another episode of this segment I’m producing and presenting called “Off the Menu”. For this segment I interviewed Chef Giacomo Gallina who has just set up a new restaurant called ‘Otto’ in the Red Dot Building in Singapore. Giacomo is pretty much the “godfather” of Italian chefs based in Singapore, having mentored some pretty big names behind the well established Italian restaurants here. He was a really nice, laidback kind of chef with sure, deft touch to his cooking.

We also had a chance to do a tasting!

I have to say, I’m also a sucker for a really good chocolate molten cake – as cliched as that may be. But Giacomo also makes a mean squid ink pasta and perfectly cooked asparagus with a rich and decadent cheese sauce.

Off the Menu is not just about food though – in fact it’s not really about the food per se but the stories and ideas behind the dishes and cooking styles. Over the past few months, I’ve had a chance to interview some culinary greats like Pierre Herme and Anne Sophie Pic (only woman in France to get 3 michelin stars) – and some homegrown self taught cooks like Willin Low. Plus I got to talk to a young but determined chef behind one of my favourite restaurants in Singapore – Sage. Jusman So is a man who really values honesty, especially in cooking and if you head down to his restaurant on Mohamed Sultan road you’ll see what I mean.

Do tune in to the segment – it’s on Tuesdays during Primetime Morning at 9.20am Singapore time. Otherwise, you can always head down to the website to catch the episode you missed. I hope you have as much fun watching it as I did filming it!

The Skeptical Optimist » interviews

An appetite for conversations

off the menu