What made a chef from Argentina angry when he first moved to Hong Kong
- Argentinian Agustin Ferrando Balbi talks about moving to the United States and what he learned from working in Japan
- ‘People in Hong Kong are much more open, very curious, and they have nothing to hide,’ he says – but convenience store staff aren’t as polite as in Japan
What was your childhood like growing up in Argentina? “My mum and dad worked during the day so my maternal grandmother took care of me, an only child. She lived two blocks away so every day after school I walked to her house and she always cooked for me. When we ate lunch we watched Karlos Arguiñano, a famous Spanish chef who had a TV show.”
How did you get your first cooking job? “The summer I was 14 years old, I had nothing to do. My mother’s friend had a restaurant across the street from my house, and they suggested I help them out. It really caught my attention – the adrenaline, the service; it was very rushed, but everyone had a position, and everybody had to work together and make quick decisions.
“I fell in love with it. I kept working there every day after school. By the time I finished high school, I already knew I wanted to be a chef and started culinary school right away, graduating three years later with honours.”
What do you like about cooking? “I fell in love with this romantic idea that wherever you go, people need to eat. You can travel the world, know different languages, cultures and people, because food is culture. And it’s something you can make with your hands that gives other people pleasure. That’s an addictive feeling.”
What was it like working in the United States? “When I was 22 years old, the culinary school sent me to New Orleans – the first time I had travelled so far away from Argentina. I worked for a very good chef, Scott Boswell, who had a restaurant called Stella [now closed].