Aloha nui. I hope that you have enjoyed peering my mind and glimpsing into what drives me in this direction of cooking. I enjoy the meshing of styles because of my background. I was born in one part of the world, then moved to another part of the world. The worlds are different yet are the same. The east coast of America has a fusion of peoples from eastern Europe, where Hawai'i has a fusion of peoples from the Pacific. I was able to adapt because of my acceptance of other peoples views of life.
Now in keeping with the merging of differences, I want to bring to light some famous personalities in America. One celebrity is from the United States, while another was born in another country, yet both have achieved tremendous fame in this land. The former is Chef Ming Tsai, who owns Blue Ginger in Massachusetts, and the latter is Chef Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef fame.
Ming Tsai received his formal traing from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. There he was instructed in the French techniques of preparing food. His style of cooking is Chinese Fusion. He blends his Chinese heritage with the skills he learned abroad. He has a television on PBS titled East meets West. That program demonstrates how he chooses to presents the meals he creates on a daily basis at the business he owns.
The other chef, Morimoto; has taken this concept in another direction. He uses his Japanese background to display his version of cooking with the same French techniques he was educated to utilize. Morimoto has several restaurants located throughout the country. His latest venture has brought his talents to the island of Maui. Chef Morimoto is a classically trained sushi chef who adapts his knowledge of the culinary world into a hybrid style of cooking.
These two well known chefs are from Asian heritages that choose to cross ethnic boundaries and create works of art in a manner that has been adopted by many younger, skilled, aspiring cooks; as well home grown foodies that choose food as a hobby. Many individuals are on point with fusion cooking while many more are way off base.
Morimoto and Tsai have transformed their individual repertoires of cooking into a fusion of western techniques with their Asian heritage. One chef has his Chinese background for inspiration, while the other chef employs his Japanese history to propel his creativity forward. I hope you were kept fascinated with my brief post. I will update soon. A hui hou
