Rick Stein and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
The TV chef discovers South East Asia’s seafood secrets
Chefs often complain that the rest of us just don’t take food seriously enough.
Rick Stein is no exception. He has spent a decade and a half persuading the public that a simple, tasty seafood dish should trump any plate of frozen fish fingers. But it’s been an uphill struggle at times. “I’m so glad we pay more attention to food these days,” he says. “In England, we have taken lessons from cities like Sydney and California, where they celebrate inventiveness in food. Those destinations have a lack of culinary tradition and history, so they are willing to take on new ideas.”
To spread his message, Stein has travelled across many continents to taste the very best that the sea has to offer, with the results well documented in print and on television. He recently embarked on one of the most ambitious journeys of his career: a trip across South East Asia to create Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey, a project which will be launched in August.
“In places like Hanoi, food is an incredibly important part of daily life; they have five small meals a day. We all need to eat, so we might as well eat good food.”
Speaking to me from his home in Padstow, the Cornish fishing port, while simultaneously cooking dinner for Edward, the eldest of his three sons at 30, Stein wants to use up some beef that was sitting in his deli and not selling. What he’s more excited about though is the first course: smoked herring with a simple potato salad. Stein’s love for seafood was what made him popular and, although he continues to branch out, it’s clear that this drives him.
“This job’s a tremendously creative and intellectual process. I don’t mind long flights – I just love the excitement of going somewhere. Our most recent filming destination was Bali, where we ate a pig that was cooked over a coffee-wood spit. At the time, I remember saying, ‘This dish is worth crossing continents for!’ Occasionally, you come across something that is extra special. I’d jump on a plane and go anywhere for those kinds of moments.”
Stein’s travels have always had a man-of-the-land feel. His popular French Odyssey and Mediterranean Escapes series followed him at sea and on the road, accompanied by his Jack Russell terrier, Chalky. His dog may be no more, but his 62-year-old master shows no signs of slowing. Refreshingly, the chef admits that the main reason he decided to do the series was purely commercial since there’s a growing fascination with South East Asian cooking. Vibrant flavours and the perceived healthiness of dishes are partly the appeal. And if the preparation time can put you off, it’s worth it, Stein declares. “Malaysian curries are like Indian ones, but they include local ingredients like coconut and lemongrass. I discovered the Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian salads, which combine something like papaya with lots of crunchy bits and bobs, sometimes prawns, beef or chicken, plus lots of chilli, lemongrass, lime leaves and fish paste. Those salads are virtually unknown to people in the United Kingdom.”
‘Gastronomic tourism’ continues to grow in popularity, as chefs like Jamie Oliver declare that the best food they have tasted has been cooked by street vendors: unknown culinary talents in far-flung locations.
Being willing to try such foods often flies in the face of travel safety advice. While Stein agrees that one must be careful, he warns that timid travellers may miss out on the very best delights of a destination.
“In Cambodia we visited a village which seemed like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. They were smoking river fish, drying them in the smoke until they were crisp. They tasted smokier than kippers, actually. We ate it with a salad of green mango, red onion, chilli, coriander, lime leaves and fish sauce. I thought it was such a fantastic dish that I have adopted it in Cornwall, using smoked mackerel.”
Cornwall is still home, but Stein also owns a house in Sydney with his partner Sarah Burns.
While he may not class himself as a ‘celebrity chef’, he accepts that his media profile has fuelled the popularity of his four restaurants, deli, patisserie and cooking school in Padstow. But Stein’s empire isn’t attractive to everyone. Padstow’s locals claim he has brought far too much attention to the seaside community, even blaming him for skyrocketing house prices.
But the chef has a bigger public concern on his hands. He is under fire from marine conservation groups for selling species of fish which are under threat of extinction. Stein refuses to sell species like shark, skate, bluefin tuna and swordfish. But he continues to sell cod, monkfish and turbot, much of it caught around the coast of Cornwall.
“Because I have a public profile, I get slammed every time. The media look at our menus and say ‘Why are you selling that, it’s on the endangered list.’ I’m only a relatively small restaurateur. Why should I carry the can for everyone else? I do my bit, but I also have a business to run. There are a limited number of fish species, and to be frank, many of them aren’t the best tasting fish in the sea. If I only used the ones that were deemed OK, I wouldn’t be able to run a fish restaurant.”
Stein has also been criticised for the high price of seafood (a small lobster main can be as much as £40) which he says is because of the quality. But in a way, the chef is happy that his prices are being questioned, “because people should know what a precious commodity seafood is, and it should be treated properly”.
How precious it is Stein knows only too well, making huge sacrifices in his personal life. “Being a chef and running a restaurant is so demanding that I think my marriage probably would have lasted if I wasn’t so committed to the restaurant. A lot of chefs and their partners suffer the same fate, because you just haven’t got time to keep the home fires burning. So when people say, ‘I’m bored with being a teacher or working in advertising, I want to get out and open a restaurant,’ I tell them: ‘You really haven’t got any idea, have you?’”
Stein’s business arrangement is a rather unusual one. His business partner is, in fact, his ex-wife Jill, who has kept her role in Stein’s operation. The chef says the pair still get on “pretty well” and their three adult sons have also worked in the business. Middle son Jack, 29, is now a line cook in a seafood restaurant, and has recently spent time gaining experience in Sydney’s food industry.
“All of my sons have a serious interest in the business, but I think Jack will eventually take over the operation. I don’t need to think about retirement, I’m just happy to gradually do less and less. My focus is on the food. That’s the way it has always been, and that’s the way I like it.” 
Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is out next month (£25, BBC Books)
