[ad_1]
Delivered
It's one of those summer days that London is doing so well : sunny, cloudless, warm enough to melt tar
All is lost for Anna Hansen. The New Zealand owner / chef at the famous London restaurant The Modern Pantry will not enjoy the sun anytime soon. After our interview, Hansen has to prepare a mountain of pink grapefruit for the pandanus and citrus marmalade recipe she imagined last night, conduct three interviews for the kitchen staff and get ready for the Taste of London gourmet festival five days where his restaurant Clerkenwell are one of those who feed and water 55,000 Londoners.
"Ah yes, summer – this thing outside the window," jokes the 48-year-old
"We had such a long and horrible winter. Uni is so beautiful that the sun is finally here and that people are coming out of hibernation to eat again, but that means I'm not going to leave the kitchen. "
Up to the month of August, when Hansen flew to Wellington party in the two-week-old calvary carnival which is the 10th Wellington Visa on a plaque.
READ MORE:
* Anna Hansen talks about food
* A London-born New Zealander chef of the year in Britain
* Wellington on a plaque marking a decade
Delivered
Anna Hansen's breakfasts at The Modern Pantry in London.
She is shy about what the pa laughs can wait, but true to his passion for fusion cuisine and using eclectic ingredients in unexpected combinations, Hansen promises his dishes will include black garlic, chocolate, liquorice and hijiki.
"Tell them it will be a little light and a bit indulgent."
What is a good description of the chef who received a MBE for food services in 2012. In the typical Hansen style, there is a fun
"I never expected to receive such a prize so when a guy with a very classy accent rang to see if I was interested, I sincerely thought that it was someone who was taking the p … "[19659018] It turned out that Hansen had not received the initial letter but, "extremely surprised and flattered," she went to Buckingham Palace to receive her Prince Charles award.
Recipients are responsible for bowing and walking backwards. do not turn your back on royalty, but Hans She was so nervous that she did it.
"Of course I was mortified, so I ran back, I again bowed, I fell back and I burst into tears ! This looks hilarious now, but at the time, I was incredibly overwhelmed by the experience.
Hansen, who in 2009 was named one of the top 100 emerging leaders in the world, is the kind of interview journalists dream about: interesting, entertaining, talkative and, despite his esteemed role in the culinary firmament of Britain, refreshing down-to-earth.
Delivered
Anna Hansen at work in The Modern Pantry's Kitchen
She is tall and slender, and the day we meet, her usual chocolate locks have been replaced by a blonde and elven cup of which she is constantly passing the hand.He was born in Montreal, a Danish genetic stew (her mother) and her Swiss, Belgian and kiwi heritage (her father), her parents moved to West Auckland at the age of 18 months, his brother was a few years older, and his parents separated and his father returned to Canada. half-brothers and sisters on both sides scattered across the globe), she and her brother moved to Nelson to get closer to her mother's family.
She was not university and a severe glandular fever crisis further hampered her studies. After trying, and failed, to enter college teachers, Hansen instead completed a degree in business management.
And then she did what so many young Kiwis do: settle in London. Good food was always a constant, pickled herring from her mother at Nelson's deli, she was working after school. So it's not a big step to work for Margot Henderson, a New Zealand expat, and for her famous husband, Fergus, one of the UK's most famous culinary couples
. The room was starting to make waves for his philosophy of eating from nose to tail. Hansen says that work has changed his life forever.
Provided
Krupuk's quail eggs are on the menu of the Modern Pantry.
"I started as a kitchen porter, washing dishes, preparing fish and meat and making bread and ice, but I loved him so much that I came during my days of rest to learn the skin … a roast or a bone a roast lamb. "
The Hendersons obviously recognized his talent because it was not long before they l & # 39; lead to being a leader. Six months after starting, the couple returned to New Zealand for a vacation, leaving Hansen in charge.
"This was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but I learned a lot and I am thankful I have confidence in the fact that Fergus and Margot have me mis. "
Thanks to the Henders, she met Peter Gordon, another kiwi chef, and a year later she worked with him. Hansen fell in love with his style of fusion that will soon become his.
"There are no cultural or culinary boundaries, ingredients like tamarind and yuzu are common in our kitchens."
She worked with her idol, cook and restaurateur Stephanie Alexander, and Hansen returned to London and Gordon's restaurant Sugar Club Soho
. 19659013] Jay Rayner, a critic at The Guardian restaurant, praised The Modern Pantry.
"Nobody wanted to make pastry so I stepped in and tried it, it was very fun and I learned so much there."
In 2001, when Gordon asked Hansen and her husband to partner in the London restaurant The Providores, they jumped on the occasion. It has proved incredibly difficult.
"We worked crazy hours in a very small kitchen and I was suddenly responsible for all those amazing young people who had a lot more knowledge and training in food than me."
Years later, when Hansen's marriage ended, he did his time with The Providores. Wanting to focus on her own project, she stumbled across two dilapidated buildings a few blocks from London's Barbican and Smithfield Market, which had been vacant for 12 years. Built in the 1700s, one was originally a brewery, the other a steel foundry. Hansen knew that she had the stuff of The Modern Pantry.
"But I did not realize it would take three long years to get there," she laughs
because of the heritage status of the buildings and a phenomenal amount paperwork, approval of planning and construction took longer than usual. And then the main investor of Hansen got sick and had to retire, leaving him another donor
Delivered [19659013] A pork and star anise dish at the Modern Pantry
