TV chef Bobby Chinn back in Asia and leaning into the Egyptian side of his heritage at Hong Kong food festival

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TV chef Bobby Chinn back in Asia and leaning into the Egyptian side of his heritage at Hong Kong food festival

“I left around 2012 to open The House Of Ho, which was my authentic Vietnamese restaurant with modernistic techniques presentation,” Chinn says. “It’s since been sold to a major restaurateur. I decided to get out because [the concept] was going to get diluted.

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“I took a sabbatical after and decided that I needed to do more ‘personal development’. I became more vegetarian, got more involved in issues like overfishing and became an advocate towards greater awareness of our industrial food system which is failing many of us.”

That introspection included exploring the Middle Eastern side of his heritage. Chinn is now in Hong Kong for the inaugural Egyptian Food Festival organised by the Consulate General of Egypt and the Silver Oak hospitality group.

He will be serving a five-course menu at both The Bayside, in Hong Kong’s Hung Hom neighbourhood, and F.I.G.S Bistro Mediterranean, in Taikoo, from September 12 to 16.

I look at Egyptian food the same way as Chinese cuisine. It’s family style, to be shared

Bobby Chinn

In addition, Chinn is offering an Egyptian cooking class with a four-course tasting on September 16 from 3-5pm at The Bayside. The dinners cost HK$498 and the cooking class and tasting costs HK$450.

“Egyptian cuisine has always been overshadowed by other cuisines of the region,” Chinn says. “There’s still a lot we don’t know about Egyptian cuisine’s history.

“It has gone through many dynasties, kingdoms influenced by Africa, Persians, Greeks, Romans, as well as the Ottomans, and it’s all interwoven. A lot of it was lost, especially during the Ottoman Empire.

The Bayside restaurant, in Hong Kong’s Hung Hom neighbourhood, is one of the venues that will host Hong Kong’s first Egyptian Food Festival. Photo: The Bayside

“What people probably don’t know is Egyptians were the first to domesticate fowls for foie gras.

“The pharaohs were force-feeding figs to migrating birds like ducks and geese, and that technique was kept alive by the Jewish population basically doing all the work,” he says.

“We know there were a lot of ingredients available in the ancient kingdoms. We know what they grew and what they ate. There’s proof of it in burial chambers of the pharaohs. We just don’t know how they cooked a lot of it.”

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Chinn also says that Egyptian cuisine is simple, honest and “ridiculously tasty when done right”.
According to the chef, achieving great results from simply combining three or four ingredients is a balancing act and an art form. As if to prove a point, Chinn’s signature creation for the festival is an amuse-bouche of grapes wrapped with goat cheese encrusted with pistachios.
“It’s a textural, salty, sweet, crunchy, and juicy dish,” Chinn says. “I look at Egyptian food the same way as Chinese cuisine. It’s family style, to be shared. To make it into single-portion tasting menus, to me it’s much harder.”
One of Chinn’s signature dishes of grapes wrapped with goat cheese and encrusted with pistachios, which he will serve at the festival. Photo: Bobby Chinn
For meze (starters), there is a choice of hummus or bessara, a dip made with fava beans and roast herbs. A warm option is ta’ameya, the Egyptian form of falafel. Another highlight is foie gras terrine with fresh fig.

“I had a debate with social anthropologists who say [the pharaohs] probably didn’t have terrine. I thought, why not? The ancient Egyptians knew fermenting and preserving. They could preserve foie gras as far as I’m concerned.”

More traditional choices are the mains, which include hamam mahshi, pigeon stuffed with cracked wheat and herbs, and sharkaseya, shredded chicken in a walnut sauce.

I do feel a little responsible to bring greater awareness to people and encourage healthier diets

Bobby Chinn

“I love sharkaseya, but it’s actually more Turkish Ottoman. It’s kind of a rich, heavy sauce, so with rice and chicken it’s really a wonderful combination,” Chinn says.

“It uses a technique also done in Afghanistan, Persia, and India, where you temper spices with garlic and coriander in oil then mix with the sauce. I also do this walnut sauce vegetarian style with mushroom and pasta and it’s delicious.

“The stuffed pigeon is more French in technique. Historically, Egyptians stuffed pigeon with bulgur, or cracked wheat. This is an absolute delicacy in Egypt.

F.I.G.S Bistro Mediterranean, in Taikoo, Hong Kong, is the other venue where Chinn will serve Egyptian course meals from September 12-16. Photo: F.I.G.S.

“The bird is browned and braised. Before service, we’ll roast it so you get a crispy skin, and give it a bit of the glaze with some spices and sweetness too.”

Chinn doesn’t operate any restaurants currently, but he is still on TV, as a judge on Top Chef Middle East (“It’s a big show in its seventh season with, like, 58 million viewers a week and it got nominated for an international Emmy last year.”).

He is also active promoting eco-sustainability causes as they relate to food and hospitality. Chinn has also not given up on Asia.

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“Presently, I am often in Koh Samui [in Thailand] working on a project,” he says. “We’re taking a three-star hotel and trying to convert it to a five-star while making it greener and improving the food. The place is called Malibu Koh Samui.

“It’s my way to reduce food waste and apply all my learnings towards creating a more equitable food system.

“I believe we have a global problem that needs to be fixed on the local level. I do feel a little responsible to bring greater awareness to people and encourage healthier diets. But I still always want to be a better chef, but it’s expanded from that now.

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“Other than that, I’m doing food promotions and food events, just broadening my horizons wherever I can. I am a seriously conflicted soul, a walking contradiction.”

To book, contact each restaurant directly.

The Bayside, One Harbourfront, 18 Tak Fung Street, Whampoa Garden, Hung Hom. Tel: 2123 2177

F.I.G.S Bistro Mediterranean, Shop 601, 6/F, 1111 King’s Road, Taikoo. Tel: 2126 7357

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