In life you can be simply beautiful, or, in very rare cases, you can be perfect. It belongs to this second category Jeremy Chan, one of the best and most interesting cosmopolitan chefs of his generation, now almost a regular guest of Masterchef Italia. Born in England to a Canadian mother and a Chinese father, Jeremy Chan lived in Hong Kong, the East, the United States and Europe, and has been able to treasure his cosmopolitan being. A mix of languages coexist in him (he is fluent in seven), traditions and somatic traits which constituted the cultural baggage on which he managed to create a unique cuisine.
We saw him in the latest episode of the talent dispensing advice to aspiring chefs on using the five senses in the kitchen, kind but inflexible, smiling but stern, and in any case always, inevitably irresistible. Not only for her attractiveness, which certainly clouded the lucidity of some competitors for a few seconds (as happened to the Florentine-Vietnamese Hue). Despite her young age – she’s 35, but she looks a lot younger – Jeremy Chan has an important charisma, a contagious energyand a good dose of professionalism, decision and seriousness that have made him the great chef he is over the years.
His Ikoyi in London
«One of the most innovative and original restaurants opened in London in recent times». The Michelin Guide does not mince words when describing Jeremy Chan’s restaurant, theIkoyi of Londonbuilt in the St James’s Market district and then transferred to 180 The Strand building, the hub of young creativity. «A cerebral and visionary chef, capable of creating iconic dishes»says The World’s 50 Best Restaurants about him, placing his restaurant in forty-ninth place, giving him in 2021 the “one to watch” award, the one that crowns the great promises of the futurefor having distinguished himself since the opening for «his audacious use of taste, obtained by introducing new and original combinations of ingredients and presenting them with an indefinable style».
Two Michelin stars pinned on his jacket, Jeremy Chan builds his cuisine – as he explained to Masterchef – focusing on strong flavors and having fun balancing them. The spicy, the umami, the acid, the bitter are the toys in his hands: the challenge is to bring them exactly where he wants, in a totally unique way. “From the very beginning, journalists and food writers have been busy pigeonholing the restaurant and defining its cuisine,” explains 50 Best. “But they quickly realized that the food coming out of the kitchen was impossible to classify exactly.”
From Ikoyi spices and herbs are the key ingredient to ignite the chef’s creativityin a kitchen built «around British micro-seasonality: vegetables grown slowly to preserve their flavour, sustainably caught fish and aged local beef».
Among Jeremy Chan’s most famous signature cymbals is certainly his smoked Jollof, reinterpretation of a typical African dish to which, in the Ikoyi version, perfectly balanced umami and spicy flavors are addedand a seafood component not present in the traditional version of the recipe, but added by the chef with a crab custard, fresh crab salad and garlic, ginger and chilli wok hei paste, a clear nod to his Cantonese heritage.
The menu of the restaurant that Jeremy Chan opened in 2017 together with his schoolmate Iré Hassan-Odukale costs 300 pounds, but there is also the possibility – on Wednesdays and Thursdays – to try the lunch formula, spending a little less : 180 pounds.
Chef, polyglot and writer
Among chef Jeremy Chan’s latest efforts there is also a book, which tells all the secrets, philosophy and history of Ikoyi cuisine.
The book includes his stories about the importance of spice and boldness in the kitchen, as well as personal reflections and anecdotes about the joys and challenges he and his partner experienced in creating ikoyi, Chan explained. “I hope this is the kind of book that not only chefs but anyone interested in cooking and personal writings on food, memory, culture and family will enjoy,” concluded the chef.
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
