Some
of them have visited Vietnam to learn about the origin of the increasingly
famous cuisine. Here are the chefs who fell in love with Vietnamese cuisine:
British chef Gordon
Ramsay
Gordon
Ramsay, 49, is a Scottish-born British chef, restaurateur, and television
personality. His restaurants have been awarded 16 Michelin stars in total and
currently hold 9. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in
Chelsea, London, has held 3 Michelin stars since 2001.
Ramsay
is known for presenting TV programs about competitive cookery and food, such as
the British series Hell's Kitchen, The F Word, and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares,
along with the American versions of Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares,
MasterChef, MasterChef Junior and Hotel Hell.
In
2015, Forbes listed his earnings at $60 million for the previous 12 months, and
ranked him the 21st highest earning celebrity in the world.
Gordon
Ramsay has made it clear that Vietnamese cuisine is on the top of his list. His
love was on full display in the Master Chef US 2013, where he tasked the final
5 contestants to prepare a bowl of hu tieu. So where did chef Ramsay's passion
for Vietnamese food come from?
In
2011, Ramsay visited Vietnam for an episode of Gordon's Great Escape and
quickly became enamored with the Vietnamese dishes with complex flavor
profiles.
In
the TV show "Gordon's Great Escape", broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) in
2010-2011, Gordon Ramsay discovered the traditional cuisine of Southeast Asia,
including one episode about Vietnam.
American Chef Anthony
Bourdain
American Chef Anthony Bourdain eats cơm hến, or clam rice, in the streets of Hue.
For
Vietnamese people, Bourdain is best known as the one who ate“bun cha” with US
President Barack Obama in Hanoi. However, for those who love international
cuisine, Anthony Bourdain is not an unfamiliar name and his affinity for
Vietnamese cuisine has existed a long time.
Bourdain
is an American chef, author, and television personality. He is a 1978 graduate
of The Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of numerous professional
kitchens, including many years as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles.
Although
Bourdain is no longer employed as a chef, he maintains a relationship with Les
Halles in New York. He became widely known for his 2000 book Kitchen
Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.
His
first food and world-travel television show was A Cook's Tour, which ran for 35
episodes on the Food Network from 2002 through 2003.
In
2005 he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) and The Layover (2011–2013). In
2013, he switched to CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
He
has always actively introduced Vietnamese gastronomy on world famous travel and
culinary websites. In an interview with
Condé Nast Traveler in 2014, Bourdain said: "The trip to Vietnam changed
my life!".
In
four seasons of the television show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown"
aired in 2014, he took his crew to Vietnam. During this trip, he was particularly
impressed with the cuisine of Hue, such as bun bo (beef noodle), banh beo (pan
cake), com hen (rice with mussels), banh bot loc (rice cake with shrimp
stuffing).
Besides
“bun cha” (noodle with fried pork), eaten by US President Barack Obama during
his recent visit, bia hoi (draught beer) and bun oc (noodle with snails), two
famous dishes of Hanoi, will appear in CNN’s culinary discovery program
featuring Bourdain called “Bourdain: Part Unknown” this September.
British Chef Jamie
Oliver
Jamie
Oliver is a British chef born on May 27, 1975, in Clavering, United Kingdom. As
a child he worked in his parent’s restaurant, thus influencing his career
direction. At age 16, he attended Westminster Catering College and then gained
valuable experience working at several reputable restaurants. His broke into
television when he appeared in a documentary while working at the River Café in
London. From there, he gained fame after hosting a hit cooking show, The Naked
Chef. Multiple cookbook publications and restaurant openings followed.
Throughout the 2000s, he championed healthier eating for school children in the
U.S. and U.K.
Oliver
is very interested in Vietnamese cuisine. He had introduced the recipe for many
Vietnamese dishes, for example “ca kho to” (braised fish), bun cha (vermicelli
and grilled chopped meat), “pho ga” (chicken noodle) and “pho cuon” (rolled
noodle) on his own website and Youtube channel.
In
London, a Vietnamese-born girl named Uyen Luu has been very successful with a
Vietnamese cuisine club at her home, where she cooke Vietnamese dishes and
invites guests.
Oliver
registered to join the club and complimented the club. Thus, Uyen Luu was more
known and her club’s prestige was enhanced. The club was very successful,
becoming a destination to attract attention of lovers of Asian cuisine in
London.
Major
British newspapers have written about Uyen Luu. In November 2014, Oliver
enrolled at Uyen Luu's club, and also invited famous singer Ellie Goulding and
her boyfriend at that time Dugie Poynter, and actor Dexter Fletcher to visit
the club.
After
returning from the dinner at Uyen Luu’s home, Jamie Oliver wrote on Instagram:
"I had a fantastic Vietnamese meal last night at a cute hidden away supper
club in East London thank you Uyen Luu, great job to you and the family and the
dog. The sea bass Congee with kale and ginger wow, great noodles, amazing
exciting shredded salads with lovely spicy vinegar and nut dressings and Saigon
summer rolls to name but a few!!!”
US MasterChef winner
2012 Christine Ha
Christine
Ha is the first-ever blind contestant and season 3 winner of MasterChef Season
3, she defeated over 30,000 home cooks across America to secure the coveted
MasterChef title, a $250,000 cash prize, and a cookbook deal. During the
competition, Ha presented many traditional cuisines of Vietnam.
Christine
also has a Master of Fine Arts from University of Houston’s nationally
acclaimed Creative Writing Program. During her time there, she served as
Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. She is
currently working on a memoir. Christine lives in Houston, Texas, and plans to
open establishments both locally and elsewhere.
Since
winning, she has made a guest appearance on the inaugural season of
“MasterChef” Vietnam and travels around the globe to give inspiring keynote
addresses and cooking demonstrations. Her latest foray into television is a
Canadian cooking show called “Four Senses” (Varner Productions), on which she
is a co-host with Carl Heinrich, season 2 winner of “Top Chef” Canada.
In
2015, Christine became the judge for season 3 of Master Chef Vietnam that is
under production as of 29 August 2015, whereby local celebrities competed
alongside amateur cooks.
By Pha Le/Vietnamnet