CHEF FOR HIRE – CALL FOR A GOOD TIME

Greetings and salutations, my poppets! Are you feeling peckish? Keep reading and you will be soon, because May Seah, Showbiz Sista, has a gastronomic treat in store for you!

It’s a new lifestyle programme coming to MediaCorp TV Channel 5 that’s all about food. At the cookbook store 25 Degree Celcius on Keong Saik Road (check it out – it’s a chill place where you can find virtually any cookbook you’re looking for and get yummy desserts at the same time), Showbiz Sista caught up with Ryan Hong, Chef for Hire.

Ryan is a private chef who does small guest stints in kitchens. In the weekly programme Chef for Hire, which premieres on Wednesday (Jan 21), he visits strangers’ homes and helps them cook up meals fit for kings – or average houseguests.

The 44-year-old “modern European” chef told Showbiz Sista that his missions are twofold. “The first is to show the world what I do,” said Ryan.

“Sometimes you have to egotistically flex your culinary muscle,” said the former civil engineer, with a wink. “To say, ‘You can’t do this, but I can.’”

The second mission: “I would get the biggest smile in the world if someone came up to me and said, ‘I saw your show the other day, and I went and cooked.’ Even if it had nothing to do with what we did on the show. If the show gets them to say, ‘Wow, cooking is quite fun, isn’t it?’ and if I had that much to do with it, I think it’d be the coolest thing in the world.”

Showbiz Sista couldn’t resist chatting him up – after all, men who cook are incredibly sexy – and the conversation turned to eggs, egos, pickup lines and … porn?

TODAY: Why are you passionate about food?

RYAN HONG: I love it. Food is part sustenance, part luxury. Wine is part ‘Oh, I’m so rich,’ part ‘I want to get drunk’. It’s the yin and yang of life. I think cooking is an art form, a craft. We’re in a time now where the world is small, I could cook you a French foie gras with a Peruvian white asparagus and New Zealand abalone. How cool is that?

Have you always been in love with food since you were a kid?

Yeah. Before the age of 23, I was just plain greedy. Then, I became fat and greedy.

Do you know that women think men who cook are really sexy?

Yes. (Smirks) In the past, the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. That was from the ’50s and ’60s. Now that women have jobs, it’s applicable to all genders. It’s the quickest way to a man’s heart and to a woman’s heart.

How would you seduce a woman – or a man – with food?

I don’t seduce many men. Mostly they try to seduce me. (Laughs) Actually, I’ve never seen the allure of traditionally romantic food. I don’t think oysters work. I would probably start by making a bouillabaisse. With lovely croutons and clams and lobsters and things like that.

Food porn: For or against?

Food porn is incredible. It’s a great thing. Food porn is wonderful. Porn is wonderful! Don’t quote me on that!

Oops. Speaking of egos, do all head chefs have huge egos?

Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah. To be head chef, you have to know what you want. You have to bulldoze your way. When you create dishes, you have to say, ‘This is what I do. You will like it.’ If you don’t have the ego and you say, ‘Eh, try lah,’ people will say, ‘It’s okay.’ It’s always like that. Say, ‘This is the best thing you will ever eat.’ Conceivably, people will say, ‘Yeah!’

Can you tell the difference between coq au vin made with cheap wine and coq au vin made with expensive wine?

Honestly? It’s hard. But don’t say!

Catch Ryan on Chef for Hire starting Wednesday (Jan 21) at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.