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British cuisine (烹饪) has come of age in recent years as chefs (厨师) combine
the best of old and new.
Why does British food have a reputation for being so bad? Because it is
bad! Those are not the most encouraging words to hear just before eating lunch
at one of Hong Kong's smartest British restaurants, Alfie's by KEE, but head
chef Neil Tomes has more to say.
"The past 15 years or so have been a noticeable period of improvement for
food in England," the English chef says, citing the trend in British cuisine for
better ingredients, preparation and cooking methods, and more appealing
presentation. Chefs such as Delia Smith, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver and Gordon
Ramsay made to the public realize that cooking --- and eating --- didn't have to
be a boring thing. And now, most of the British public is familiar even with the
extremes of Heston Blumentha's molecular gastronomy, a form of cooking that
employs scientific methods to create the perfect dish.
"It's no longer the case that the common man in England is embarrassed to
show he knows about food," Tomes says.
There was plenty of room for improvement. The problems with the nation's
cuisine can be traced back to the Second World War. Before the War, much of
Britain's food was imported and when German U-boats began attacking ships
bringing food to the country, Britain went on rations (配给).
"As rationing came to an end in the 1950s, technology picked up and was
used to mass-produce food," Tomes says. "And by then people were just happy to
have a decent quantity of food in their kitchens."
They weren't looking for cured meats, organic produce or beautiful
presentation: they were looking for whatever they could get their hands on, and
this prioritization of quantity over quality prevailed for decades, meaning a
generation was brought up with food that couldn't compete with neighboring
France, Italy, Belgium or Spain.
Before star chefs such as Oliver began making cooking fashionable, it was
hard to find a restaurant in London that was open after 9 p.m. But in recent
years the capital's culinary (烹饪的) scene has developed to the point that it is
now confident of its ability to please the tastes of any international
visitor.
With the opening of Alfie's in April, and others such as The Pawn, two
years ago, modern British food has made its way to Hong Kong. "With British
food, I think that Hong Kong restaurants are keeping up," says David Tamlyn, the
Welsh executive chef at The Pawn in Wan Chai. "Hong King diners are extremely
responsive to new ideas or presentations, which is good news for new
dishes."
Chefs agree that diners in Hong Kong are embracing the modern British
trend. Some restaurants are modifying the recipes (菜谱) of British dishes to
breathe new life into the classics, while others are using better quality
ingredients but remaining true to British traditions and tastes.
Tamlyn is in the second camp. "We select our food very particularly. We use
US beef, New Zealand lamb and for our custards (牛奶蛋糊) we use Bird's Custard
Powder," Tamlyn says. "Some restaurants go for custard made fresh with eggs,
sugar and cream, but British custard is different, and we stay true to
that."
Matthew Hill, senior manager at the two-year-old SoHo restaurant Yorkshire
Pudding, also uses better ingredients such a means of improving dishes. "There
are a lot of exciting perceptions about British food and so we can't alter these
too much. We're a traditional British restaurant so there are some staples (主菜)
that will remain essentially unchanged."
These traditional dishes include fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and
large pieces of roasted meats. At Alfie's, the newest of the British restaurants
in town and perhaps the most gentlemen's club-like in design, Neil Tomes
explains his passion for provenance (原产地). "Britain has started to become really
proud of the food it's producing. It has excellent organic farms, beautifully
crafted cheese, high-quality meats."
However, the British don't have a history of exporting their foodstuffs,
which makes it difficult for restaurants in Hong Kong to source authentic
ingredients.
"We can get a lot of our ingredients once a week from the UK," Tamlyn
explains. "But there is also pressure to buy local and save on food miles, which
means we take our vegetables from the local markets, and there are a lot that
work well with British staples."
The Phoenix, in Mid-Levels, offers the widest interpretation of "British
cuisine", while still trying to maintain its soul. The gastro-pub has existed in
various locations in Hong Kong since 2002. Singaporean head chef Tommy The Kum
Chai offers daily specials on a blackboard, rather than sticking to a menu. This
enables him to reinterpret British cuisine depending on what is available in the
local markets.
"We use a lot of ingredients that people wouldn't perhaps associate as
British, but are presented in a British way. Bell peppers stuffed with couscous,
alongside ratatouille, is a very popular dish."
Although the ingredients may not strike diners as being traditional, they
can be found in dishes across Britain.
Even the traditional chefs are aware of the need to adapt to local at
tastes and customs, while maintaining the Britishness of their cuisine.
At Yorkshire Pudding, Hill says that his staff asks diners whether they
would like to share their meals. Small dishes, shared with meals and "mixing it
up" is not something commonly done in Britain, but Yorkshire Pudding will bring
full dishes to the table and offer individual plates for each diner. "That way,
people still get the presentation of the dishes as they were designed, but can
carve them up however they like," Hill says.
This practice is also popular at The Pawn, although largely for rotisseries
(烤肉馆). Tamlyn says, "Some tables will arrive on a Sunday, order a whole chicken
and a shoulder of lamb or a baby pig, and just stay for hours enjoying
everything we bring out for them."
Some British traditions are too sacred (神圣的) to mess with, however, Tomes
says. "I'd never change a full English breakfast." |
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发表于 2018-4-12 22:43:50