What part of London are you from?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m from Hackney, in East London, which makes me Cockney, because, as\nthey say, I was born within earshot of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow Church. My parents both studied medicine, and they got first jobs at London\nhospitals. Our family lived in a council house in Victoria Park: my father\nGerald, a pulmonologist, and my mother Rosemary, a radiologist; my sister\nBridget, who went on to be a professor at the University of Bristol, and my\nbrothers Michael, who currently works in banking, and Anthony, a marketing\nexpert, and me, Steve, a physicist by training and a chef, because I fell in\nlove with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s talk about your parents. How did\nthey meet? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a story we love to tell in our\nfamily. They met, and fell in love, during an anatomy class at university while\nworking on a shared cadaver. Very romantic! [Laughter]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way you tell it, it sounds like such an\nidyllic love story. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, honestly, it wasn’t. The\nrelationships in my family have always been complicated. My father is from a\nvery Catholic family that was originally from Ireland, and my mother is the\ndaughter of a Buddhist and an Anglican. It’s all very complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was it a religious question or did race\nplay a role too?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well… let’s just say that my mother, who\nis of Burmese descent, was inconveniently dark-skinned for 1950s England,\nsomething that my father’s family, which was very traditional, wasn’t happy\nabout. But they eventually got married, and they’re still together, 60 years\nlater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This, and other stories, are included in\nthe book you wrote with your sister Bridget, Burma: Food, Family & Conflict<\/em>. Who came up with the idea?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The genesis of the book goes back several\nyears, but it didn’t take concrete form until now. It all started when my\nsister Bridget finished university and decided to record conversations with\nGrandy, our grandmother, who was an amazing storyteller and knew a lot about\nour family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The cover features a photograph of your\ngreat-grandmother Ma Khin, who is the central figure in the book.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s right. Ma Khin’s life story and her\nexperiences deserved to be told. Our exotic family tree began with her and our\ngreat-grandfather William Carr. Imagine Burma, what it now Myanmar, in the late\n19th century, a time when British colonialism was at its peak, and now picture\na young British magistrate posted to what must have struck him as an exotic and\nunfamiliar place. One day, while he was strolling through a market, he noticed\na young Burmese girl called Ma Khin who was sitting on the ground, selling cigars.\nHe was captivated by her. They fell in love and moved in together. My\ngreat-grandfather made her his concubine, of course, because that is what all\nwealthy Britons did at the time, and they had two children. But later on they\ngot married, despite the misgivings of a society marked by intolerance,\nxenophobia, and classism. Not even my great-grandfather’s own brother ever\naccepted or understood this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book talks about your\ngreat-grandparents\u2019 luxurious life in Rangoon, but also about the nightmare\nthey were plunged into.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They lived a dream life in Burma, full of\nluxury, with servants, parties, and carriages. It all ended suddenly when the\nJapanese invaded the country during World War II, forcing them to flee into\nexile in India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Grandy, your grandmother, without whom\nthis book wouldn’t exist, also makes for a great character. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, because in addition to everything\nelse, she was very intelligent and had a great sense of humor. When she and her\nfamily eventually moved to Great Britain, she was well aware of the racism, but\nat the same time she was rather philosophical about it. There’s a story that\nsays a lot about her character, how fun and ingenious she was: when people\nstared at her on the street and asked where she was from, she’d always respond\nin a perfect, slightly posh English accent that she was… Eskimo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Burma: Food, Family & Conflict<\/em><\/strong> is a\nreally interesting read.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It\nwas the culmination of all these conversations with Grandy, and a tribute to\nthe women in our family. I think what makes it such a satisfying read is the in-depth\nhistorical research, how it combines family memories and pertinent historical\nevents of the 20th century. It also includes Southeast Asian recipes, which are\nexplained simply so that western readers can easily understand them. The book\nhas come out in Spain and in the UK. We’re really happy with the reviews and\nthe response it has gotten so far!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is your personal opinion on\nintolerance and racism? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe if there is one thing that all\nof us human beings share, it is precisely our humanity. If we want a just\nsociety, we have to embrace human diversity, starting with the idea that we all\nhave the same basic rights. It is essential that we recognize our\nresponsibility toward the other (because historically, those in power have\ntreated the immense majority of the world unjustly) and fight to make up for\nthose injustices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has cooking always been a constant in your\nlife? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not really, although I have to confess\nthat I’ve always liked cooking. When I was little, I’d hang around in the\nkitchen while my mother cooked incredible things. She had this amazing\nIndo-Burmese culinary culture that she’d inherited from Grandy, my grandmother.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n You said that you fell in love with\ncooking. What captivated you so much that you decided to give up teaching and embark\non a culinary career?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I first arrived in Valencia, I taught\nEnglish, mainly because I didn’t speak any Spanish at the time, but a year or\nso later, I finally started teaching physics at a school. One summer, I got the\nchance to work as an assistant at a cooking school in Italy. There I coincided\nwith a chef, Alastair Little, who is very well known in Britain, and I learned\na lot from him. That inspired me to make a career change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your restaurant Ma Khin Caf\u00e9, which opened\non the ground floor of the Col\u00f3n Market in Valencia in 2014, is named after\nyour great-grandmother. How would you describe the cuisine here?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We serve Asian food that has strong historical\nties. We call it \u201cdecolonial Asian food.\u201d Our cuisine takes history and food\nseriously, respecting culinary traditions, celebrating cultural encounters and\nexchange, and looking forward to a world where people are welcomed as much as\ntheir food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few months ago, you opened a new\nrestaurant in the center of Valencia called Baalbec. What is the culinary\nconcept there?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We make food from the other side of the\nMediterranean Sea. Gastronomy from eastern countries like Lebanon, Turkey,\nGreece, Palestine, Syria, Israel… I’m drawn to these culinary traditions,\nbecause even though they’re different, they all use seasonal products that are\neasy to find in Valencia. This diversity is precisely what I want to express.\nOur menu includes traditional, house-made dishes that are staples in homes\nacross the countries on that side of the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally… What advice do you have for\nyoung entrepreneurs who are interested in opening their own restaurant\nbusiness?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So much could be said about that! Stand\napart from the competition, manage your expenses wisely, put quality first,\nlisten to your customers and the people you work with… But above all, I\nsuggest they take these wonderful words by Maya Angelou, the American writer,\npoet, and civil rights activist, to heart: \u201cI’ve learned that people\nwill forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will\nnever forget how you made them feel.\u201d So my advice would be this: put yourself\nin your customers’ place and make them feel happy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Brief Taste<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The best moment to enjoy a glass of wine?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A good wine is like a good friend. You can\nlean on them when life gets tough, but other than being there, they really can\u2019t\ndo anything to help. It’s much better to seek them out when times are good and\nshare life’s joyful moments with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A song to accompany a glass of wine.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Senza Fine<\/em> by\nGino Paoli. A small reminder to live the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A place to get lost in?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Isle of Skye (Scotland).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you do in your free time?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I love traveling without a destination in\nmind, getting lost on trails, in markets, in entire countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A flaw and a virtue.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe (almost) everyone is good. Flaw:\nI still don’t know if that’s a virtue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What did you want to be as a kid? And when\nyou’re older?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was eight, I bought myself a book: Teach Yourself Hotel and Restaurant\nManagement<\/em>. How precocious! Now that I’m older, I want to stay young, at\nleast in spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jos\u00e9 Manuel Torres Mor\u00e1n Steve Anderson (London, 1964) is a physics teacher and chef. He arrived in Valencia in the early 1990s and immediately fell in love with the place. He has lived there ever since and now runs two renowned restaurants: Ma Khin and Baalbec. His maternal great-grandmother was Burmese, and together with his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-people"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jeanleon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Anderson_cuinant_interior-850x614.png\")
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