Food across borders with Bobby Chinn

“If food be thy medicine…,” this jet-setting chef, restaurateur, TV host and author has found the perfect antidote for life. Bobby Chinn — most popular for hosting World Café Asia on Travel and Living, Saturday Kitchen on BBC and Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia on Discovery, gets serious and candid about his strange lineage, cooking chicken noodle soup for Bob Dylan and the one dish every man must taste before he dies.

Bobby, let’s talk about your heritage. Tell me how did the conception of a Chinese-Egyptian ever occur on the face of this earth?
You should talk to my parents. They were both young and fell in love on a boat ride to London. It was love at first sight. It was not looked highly upon, because my mother’s Egyptian and my grandparents didn’t know much about my father, his family, his education, or anything. But it made no difference. It was the early 60s, and they decided they would fall in love and do their thing. So I’m one of the results of that marriage.

How was the experience working up a white-collared job at Wall Street before you ventured into the food business?
I ended up on the floor of the New York Stock exchange as a summer clerk, which turned into a full-time job. Suddenly I was a threat and there were ethnic jokes about me. I had to deal with that everyday which wasn’t a big deal. I had dealt with that in boarding school. I’m very good at dishing it out just as easily as taking it in.

So that’s why you quit?
It was just this constant thing of my adrenaline being shot up just before I walked into work, ready to attack and defend. And in the same token making no mistakes and doing a really good job. I just thought, “what a stupid job is this!” It was also, “what am I doing for mankind? What is my contribution to the world? What’s my calling?”
I needed to have a purpose. They could replace me easily and I wouldn’t have achieved anything. There’s a song that I recall listening to a thousand times before but only learned what the lyrics truly meant at that moment in my life, which was, ‘…you can spend all your time making money, you can spend all your love making time.’ The song was an awakening, first, and second, that it’s not too late.

And then you even started selling seafood to support yourself? No ego trips there?
It all became a search and it was reactionary — “what am I going to do now? I’m going to be homeless in one month.” I needed to think immediately about what I could do to offset the financial issue, so I started selling seafood. It became a mission to find personal satisfaction in what I did. And I didn’t know where that was going to take me.

During the same time you also dabbled in creative writing?
Yeah I took some classes in NY. I wanted to tell a story. In the same token I felt that being Egyptian-Chinese I could make fun and tell the truth.

Which is why you went into stand-up comedy?
Yeah, and it was because I had a story I wanted to tell, because I made people laugh at Wall Street. I was like a Chinese Billy Crystal. It’s not about necessarily making them laugh but more about telling the truth in a manner in which it’s funny. It’s about observing something and then regaling the story.

You also went on to author an interesting cookbook, Wild Wild East: Recipes and Stories from Vietnam.
I always liked writing. And writing comes from storytelling and observation. A lot of stories in my cookbooks are real. They’re not invented. I remember having gone to the backwaters of Kerala, in India, and having written all the stories that happened at tables over the years. When you’re cooking food, there’s an immediate reaction and feedback — “its not hot enough, it’s not seasoned, it’s too cold, too spicy.” You get that immediately. With a book you don’t know. With my stories, I felt I really knew they were tried and tested. They were funny.


But tell me, how did you discover food?
It was always there. My grandmother was a diplomat, so she cooked a lot of food. And I just took that for granted. There was great food everyday. I didn’t recognize that until boarding school. I was like, “what is this? You eat this? This is good? This is crap!” I had a great Chinese grandmother who made great Chinese food. And then I started thinking about food and my relationship with my grandparents and it just became apparent to me that I was different from other kids. I had the support of grandparents who made me believe that I can be whatever I wanted to be.

Was there a Eureka moment or something when you realized you found your passion in food?
Not really. I thought that I was here only for today and I want to make the most out of today. And tomorrow will be totally different. Tomorrow when you live that dream it’s like you were trained to do it for the rest of your life. But I don’t live my day for the rest of my life. I live it for today.

What do you feel more of? Chinese or Egyptian?
Egyptian.

So you speak fluent Arabic?
Yeah, but it gets me in trouble. Not fluently enough to get me out of trouble.

I reckon you cook a lot of Middle-Eastern food?
Well I find it too rich. I can make hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, falafel, foul. I’m doing a lot of Japanese food lately. It’s just stock making--seaweed and bonito. It’s not that difficult. I don’t limit myself because I don’t have a natural culinary background. A black jacket doesn’t make a judge, just like a white jacket doesn’t make a chef.

I was almost thinking “doctor”…
Yeah, a white coat doesn’t make a doctor either, and a suit doesn’t make a gentleman, right? “Anyone can do whatever they want” — is my philosophy. Obviously you need to have a little bit of background education and learn, and passion…passion’s everything. It’s never too late to do whatever you want do. That’s why they invented death. That’s when it’s too late.

Hosting World Café Asia has taken you all over the globe. What place are you yet to sample food from?
I’d like to go to Ethiopia. I think their dishes are very interesting. The use of soda water and bread and the variation of flavors are very appealing.

Why is it that the greatest chefs in the world are men even though cooking is largely a woman’s domain?
Because women just got a lot more smarter. If you ask the greatest chefs in the world, they always say that it was their grandmother or aunt who influenced their cooking. It’s never a guy. But I think there’s a lot of great women chefs out there. It’s the women who inspire us.

Your restaurant “Bobby Chinn” has entertained guests like Bill Clinton and Tyra Banks. Do you think life has come full circle? Perhaps in the way of recognition…
I don’t know. For a man like Bill Clinton who passed over at my restaurant to eat, and went in late for a meeting by 10 minutes…for him to come and shake my hands…He’s a vegan, and I had to cook some low-fat Indian food…that was a moment for me. Also, cooking for Bob Dylan. That was a huge task.

Bob Dylan? I love him… What did you cook for him?
Chicken noodle soup.

Just a chicken noodle soup?
I cooked for his entire band actually. Their request was so Middle American. Like, a potato salad, tuna fish salad, and peanut butter cookies. My friend was doing his event and I said, “who’s cooking for Dylan?” I said I’d do it for free because I’m such a huge Bob Dylan fan. I made a lot of food for that. That was something like, you know- ‘I made something and you’re going to consume it.’ When you’re cooking it’s personal, it’s love.

Did all the recognition change you?
In certain ways, yeah…

How?
If someone was being an absolute pain before I’d go into a battle. But now it’s like, “no. I wont.” So in certain confrontational issues it has calmed me down. But generally speaking, I’d like to speak the truth. So I’d just say, “hey you’re out of line,” or “I think you’re rude,” or “I don’t appreciate it.” That could give me a lot of trouble and it has.

What food would you cook, say… to get rid of someone?
An embryo of a duck that’s 18 days old. It’s developing its feathers and the head is developed. That should send anyone running.

What’s the worst food you ever ate?
A chicken intestine soup with poo in it.

I don’t know why I even made the effort to ask you that. Did you know what you were eating?
I didn’t know it had poo in it. They didn’t tell me that. I think silkworm is also pretty rough.

What dish do you suggest every man must eat before he dies?
A chicken noodle soup that is comforting, with tender pieces of chicken in a broth, which is complex and perfectly balanced with fresh herbs on the top. Yeah, chicken noodle soup is comforting to the soul in many different countries.

You’ve juggled various roles in the food industry. What have you got planned for the rest of your life?
I don’t know what ‘the rest of the life’ means. I know I have inspired a lot of people to give up their day job and do something different. I’d like to do something that makes people feel better. That’s also very important. I’d like to do it on television if they allow me to. Food, historically was medicine. You are what you eat. And now people have started to get attuned to their health. I’d like to use my body as a lab. I’m prepared to do that.

So you are happy today doing what you’re doing.
Yeah. I’m content, but I’d like to do more stuff. I’d like some financial security. But I don’t go craving a fast car. I don’t even have health insurance…

Does that come from some personal perspective?
Yeah, I mean I met a guy in Florida who runs this burial business. People go to Florida to meet him and plan their burial for the future. I mean when you’re gone, you’re gone. You ain’t taking anything with you. So it’s more important what you leave behind. You’re certainly not going to take money.

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