‘Hong Kong is another world’: Italian chef Antonia Klugmann on her first trip to the city
- Recognition from Michelin ‘is so important for a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere’, she says
- It was while studying law that Klugmann realised she wanted to cook – the hardest thing was telling her parents
This is your first trip not only to Hong Kong but to Asia as well. What are your impressions? “I rarely travel, and then it’s only for work. Hong Kong is another world. I was shocked to see dried fish. It’s so different from Italian dried food. We don’t have as many varieties, like scallops, fish stomach, octopus, whole dried duck.”
You grew up in Trieste, in northeastern Italy. What was it like? “We have people from everywhere – Turkish, Serbians, Croatians, Slovenians, British, Italian, French – and they have brought things for 600 years into our kitchens. It’s a mix that is unique in Italy. Every family in Trieste has a different story.
“My grandfather was born in Switzerland and his family arrived in Trieste just before World War I. He met my grandmother while he was hiding from the Nazis in World War II. My grandmother was from Trieste and was one of the first women who graduated from university in the 30s, in languages, in Naples. There are people of different origins and in the kitchen they had harmony. I was raised with that variety, so I’m open-minded.”
What are some of the best food memories from your childhood? “I ate fresh raw sardines because I went to the fish market with my father every week. He seasoned them with olive oil, lemon and salt, like they do in the south of Italy. In my grandmother’s house, I ate lasagne, pasta fresca, ravioli. And thanks to the Jewish traditions of my grandfather, who was from eastern Europe, we ate meat with fruit, pickles and red beets.”
When did you learn to cook? “My mother, father and grandfather were doctors and my grandmother was a pharmacist. My other set of grandparents were both teachers. Everybody graduated from university, so it was important for the family that I study. But when I was studying law at university in Milan, I decided to become a cook.
“I was 21. I called my parents, very frightened, and said, ‘I’m so sorry, I want to be a cook.’ I’m lucky my parents let me follow my choice. I started as a dishwasher and apprenticed for four years, not earning much money.”