7 things we learned from Chef Tareq Taylor

By James P. Ong

Oct 20, 2014 | 2:28pm Manila time

First came the fashion, then followed the cuisine. A day after fast-fashion retail store H&M threw its doors open to Metro Manila’s trendy shoppers, Coconuts Manila joined a private lunch with another Swedish export: celebrity chef Tareq Taylor from Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city. Taylor started his career young. He was already working in a restaurant at 15 years old, and was a head chef at 19. He has been a chef for the past 29 years.

Manila was the last leg of the chef and TV host’s (Nordic Flavors, Mon-Fri 12am, Asian Food Channel) quick tour of Southeast Asia which started in Singapore and followed by Kuala Lumpur.

Filipino chefs can take a cue from Sweden on how to present Filipino cuisine to the world. Some 15 years ago, chefs from all over Sweden got together and decided to develop their own style of cooking. “We decided to interpret our own dish instead of trying to replicate French or Italian cusine. We are now cooking something we can relate to,” he says.

Here are some more nuggets of wisdom we picked up from the three-course lunch. Photos of what we ate are posted below.

1. Nordic cuisine is au naturel.
“Nordic cuisine is about highlighting natural ingredients and flavors. We don’t use a lot of spice and not a lot of herbs. If we do it will be very few and it will be raw. Nordic cuisine is all about keeping it fresh, simple and in season, and using as much local produce as you can find.”

2. This new way of light and healthy Nordic-style cooking started 15 years ago.
“It was developed because…we had always been looking outwards to France or Italy or other countries and regarded their cusine as ‘fine dining’. And then, out of nowhere [about 15 years ago], this idea of new idea of Nordic cooking came into play when all of the great chefs from all over the country got together and discussed, ‘What are we doing, really? We have got all the best produce in the world, we have incredible seasons, we have incredible knowledge in the kitchen. Why don’t we use own ingredients? Why don’t we cook our own cuisine?’ It’s inspired a lot of other chefs in the Nordic countries to go out and explore their own backyards.”

3. Before that, the Swedes used to eat a lot.
“In the old days our food was really heavy. Since we used to be farmers working in the fields the whole day, we needed energy. These days we might lift the iPhone or a cup of coffee. We don’t really move our bodies the same way anymore. Our new style of cooking is adapted to our modern lifestyle. It’s fresh, it’s healthy, it’s nutritious, it’s got the right composition so you don’t get heavy from it.”

4. He is against diets.
“For me it’s the beginning of the end. It’s what makes everyone guilty about enjoying food. The funny thing is when you look at all these diets, none of them work. They will work for a short period of time because probably before you started on that diet you were eating unhealthy food. You’ll feel better for about two, three or four weeks but that’s not a lifestyle. The diet can never offer you a healthy lifestyle because it will only last for as long as you endure this thing you’re on.”

5. He eats what he wants to eat, and no fast food.
“I eat good food. I eat until I’m full. I can eat three, four or five times a day. But I don’t eat fast food. I cook at home but I have no restrictions on using butter or cream. I eat desserts when I want to, I drink a glass of wine, but I don’t do in excess.”

6. The closest Asian cuisine to Nordic cooking is Japanese.
“I think Japanese food has a lot in common with Scandinavian cooking, in the sense that it’s all about keeping it clean and simple, and emphasizing the elegance of the ingredients, it has to feel brittle at times. The first course today (see photo below) is a beet root salad — it’s heavy, earthy sort of thing. When you look at it, it should have a delicate sense to it. There should be crisp on top of the earthiness, elements of sweet and sour, but not covered in sauce or anything that would mask its flavor.”

7. You can cook Nordic-style at home.
“You have all the ingredients to cook Nordic food because, again, we are about highlighting local produce. You can use red snapper the same way I use salmon or cod. You can use dragonfruit like the way I use apples. It can be the Asian version of this type of cooking. You can highlight its natural flavors, not cover it in sauces and stuff like that. Just by being very delicate with it, you can create whatever I do in the kitchen with your local produce.”

WISH YOU WERE THERE: What we ate at chef Tareq Taylor’s three-course lunch:

Appetizer: Beetroot and potato cake with goat cheese, sweet and sour honey and walnuts