Erwan Heussaff on embracing the ‘fat kid inside’

SINGAPORE — It is hard to tell just by looking at him, but food entrepreneur Erwan Heussaff is The Fat Kid Inside. That is the name of his food and fitness blog, which gets about two million hits a year, and also an apt description of his personality.

“People always tell me, ‘You (are all about) healthy living, but on Instagram, you’re posting all these pictures of really fatty food’,” he said, pointing out the fact that while he is “someone who loves living in general”, he is not one to overindulge. “I just try to pace myself. I don’t dive too much into the deep end.”

The 28-year-old French-Filipino, who owns seven dining establishments in Manila, is TLC channel’s latest personality. You can see him in a series of vignettes airing on the channel later this month, in which he cooks easy fusion meals. Together with other television personalities Bob Blumer, Jock Zonfrillo and Denise Keller, he will be at the inaugural TLC Festival in Singapore, held today at 4pm at The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay, helping to serve his concoction of Salted Egg Butter Prawn Rolls. (The event is open to the public and admission is free.)

But while he is now known for being a dishy dude who doles out delectable dishes on his YouTube channel and on Snapchat, (you can find his content in the Tastemade section, under the Discover tab), Heussaff agrees completely with the saying, “Once a fat kid, always a fat kid”.

“When I was really fat (and I didn’t want people to see my tummy), every time a picture was taken, I would pull down my shirt. It really didn’t work. And I had really big hair, so I’d brush it forward so I’d look like I had a small face. That didn’t work either,” he said with a laugh. “You have these tics that you don’t forget. Sometimes, I’ll be talking to someone and I’ll (still) pull my hair forward.”

His love for food started at 16 when he was working in a sushi kitchen. “All my friends would come to my house and I’d cook for them. You’d think I’d cook spam or something. I’d make rabbit stews and lentil cassoulets — really a feast at four in the morning.”

At the age of 21, he was at his heaviest, weighing in at around 110kg. “I got fat because of the food I was making for myself. I’d come home after a long night of work or clubbing, and literally eat buckets of fried chicken that I’d make from scratch at three in the morning. That’s how dedicated I was to eating good, fat food,” he quipped.

But then, after college, he took a job at an island resort in Greece, where, surrounded by beautiful people, he realised he was “the fattest guy on the island”. In four months, he lost 27kg through healthy diet and exercise. “It was very strange at first because when you’re fat, you’re kind of either wallpaper or you’re the elephant in the room — people either don’t notice you or they notice you and go, ‘Whoa, that guy’s really unhealthy’. As I started losing weight, I started realising that, professionally, it helped me — people took me more seriously, I got more job offers. And then, yeah, I started getting more dates … ” Not right now, though, as he is currently in a relationship with Filipino-Australian star Anne Curtis. Sorry, girls.

To be sure, Heussaff has always known that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach. “Each time I knew there were girls coming to my house, like a group of friends or strangers whom friends were bringing over, and even if I wasn’t going to eat them, I always had a batch of cookies in the oven, just to make the house smell like cookies. Because when you smell cookies, you feel so safe and homey, and you’re like, ‘Oh, this guy is not threatening. He’s making cookies!’ You know what I mean? It’s like having a puppy. I used to do that quite a bit,” a tickled Heussaff shared. Killer tip, guys, so take notes.

Of course, every foodie has had a moment of weakness, and Heussaff is no exception. “I used to go to the fridge and pick out all the chocolate bars that I had — and usually it was Milky Way, Snickers, Lion — (around) six chocolate bars. And I’d make a ball out of them, like a big bowling ball, and I’d put everything in the microwave. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried this — it becomes nice and flat …” He then adds vanilla ice cream and makes a burrito out of it. “I’d just have this massive chocolate burrito while watching TV at four in the morning, just feeling good about myself. And then I’d wake up in the morning with the biggest sugar hangover — but then do it again the next day.”

Wow, Erwan. The fat kid inside us wants to high-five the fat kid inside you.

For more information on the TLC Festival, visit http://www.TLCFestival.com.