Tony Tan describes his earliest, formative food education as an explosion of flavours and ideas akin to a culinary tsunami. Growing up in Kuantan, on the east coast of Malaysia, the son of Hainanese immigrants - a father who ran a rest house and a mother who was an accomplished, endlessly curious cook - he was blessed with an open mind, attentive parents and a dynamic ever-evolving diaspora around him. His Malay neighbours taught him to cook beef rendang, his Peranakan neighbours gave him an appreciation of chicken cooked with buah keluak, and his Indian-Tamil friends showed him how to eat rotis and chapatis. Across multiple subsequent decades in Australia, the UK and France, through studies of history, language and food, his own restaurants, cooking schools, and food tours, Tan has continued a journey of learning and discovery that endears him to all who know him - and never ends. He lives in the central Victorian town of Trentham, where he runs legendary cooking classes and inspires the next generation of cooks.
'Tony Tan is an outstanding and always surprising cook. His mastery of a wide range of Asian and South-Asian techniques and flavours is amazing and it is a delight to eat at Tony's table.' Stephanie Alexander 'Tony Tan isn't an authority on Asian food in Australia - he's the authority on Asian food in Australia. When the crme de la crme of chefs in this country need to check something, they check with Tony. When they have a question, Tony Tan has the answer. And now, for the first time, that authority, that lifetime of experience and those thousands of hours on the road and all that research and knowledge is at the fingertips of anyone who buys this beautiful book. Better still, it's as accessible to the home cook as it is the professional, and Tony's years as a cooking school teacher means that this book is as useful in providing inspiration for Tuesday night's dinner as it is Saturday's grand feast.' Pat Nourse