Michel Roux Jr. | Full Q&A | Oxford Union

Wow hacked out audience so I will start off with a few questions and then we'll throw it open to the audience at carry on after that so firstly you're from a real cooking dynasty your father your uncle your cousin I believe your daughter is now also training to be a chef hmm yes and were you always going to be a chef did you ever have any choice in the matter and yes I I can't imagine myself doing anything other than being in in the kitchens or at least in the catering world my mother went into labor actually whilst she was working for my father and in the kitchens I may add and this was at the Fair Lawn estate when my father was a private chef in in Kent near Pembry and it was my father was the head chef and my mother was just the assistant because it was only two in the kitchen feeding the the owners of the estate and she did literally go into labor whilst whilst cooking and rushed to hospital and an hour later I was born but I could have been literally born on the kitchen table the the following day because it was really literally as in and out of Henry Hospital and the following day I was in a kitchen in a professional kitchen and my parents didn't have enough money to have a a nanny or childcare and in fact at that time it really wasn't that much childcare and so I was in the kitchen in a pram and in a playpen from day one of my life so I really can't it was it was just a natural progression for me to be a chef and I can't think of anything else that I would want to be other than maybe in another life maybe a professional athlete because I do love my running and have always fancied myself a bit of a you know a proper athlete long distance runner I'm with everyone being involved in a cooking industry is there any rivalry that you have within the family has got three Michelin stars you've only got two I like the way he said only not to you try get to young man it's a with with chefs we have a little bit of an ego as you can no doubt imagine and there isn't any nasty rock rivalry of course not and on the old occasion where we actually are all cooking in the same kitchen and eating at the same table we all have views and we're not afraid to share our views so it can get a bit heated the discussions can get heated but there is a very very strong bond between all of us my father my uncle my cousin myself and now my daughter as well it's working in the in the business we're passionate about what we do and I think that comes across have you ever had a kind of like condi with me competition just a bunch of family died with me my word know is the simple answer no fair enough and do you think that there's a bit of an obsession with with Michelin stars mark OPI whites been very outspoken against the Michelin Guide and try to renounce his three stars so yeah do you think there's an obsession with it and how do you think what's the best way to deal with that obsession yes I do think so and you know a lot of young Chefs make the mistake of chasing mentioned stars chasing the accolades and so they their style is somewhat stifled and because they cook in the style that they think will earn them the plaudits and earn them Michelin stars and earn them great reviews I always say to them look forget that cook from your heart and listen to your customers cook what your customers are coming back for and if your customers are coming back then you're doing the right thing and then the the plaudits will follow and the the praise will come and no doubt micchon stars will come but you know the Michelin Guide is not the be-all and end-all the most important thing is the customer and that you have happy customers and loyal customers that come back again and again and how often do you find yourself in the kitchens of lagash do you wish you could be there at the helm well often yes I sometimes get dragged into places like Oxford sorry about that but saying that as I need to get my train back to London because I will be back in the kitchens later on so I still manage to spend the bulk of my time at new Gavroche and I think it's very very important it's yes it's my name on the you know at the top of the door as you walk in it's my food and so on so forth and a lot of chefs at Sheetz they've given up cooking and do something else are never there I could quite easily do that I have a wonderful team at Lu Gavroche but I do feel it's important and at the end of the day it's something that I enjoy I do genuinely enjoy still enjoy cooking still enjoy being a restauranteur and being a host and of course as well as being an you know a world accomplished chef yourself you've become known now perhaps more lot more so for an your TV programmes and why do you think that food programs have become so popular in the UK oh gosh I don't know me they've been around for years Fanny Cradock the galloping gourmet my father and uncle they don't want a series as well back in the early 80s even MasterChef in its first incarnation with Loyd Grossman was was amazing yes I thought I think that there's probably a bit too much bit too much food on the television at the moment in fact on any channel now you can switch on and there's something food-related and there am I actually doing exactly exactly that I'm on telly as well but it does serve a purpose it does actually I think serve a purpose it is enlightening it's it's great for people to to be confident and then actually go and cook themselves it's programs like MasterChef for example do inspire youngsters to come into our industry and and and some of the more documentary style food programs such as Rick Stein are are great for people to learn about food history and to learn about the origins of food so I think they do serve a very you know a great purpose I still maintain there are maybe a little bit too many and that when I say too many I think some of the cheaper cheaper kind of food-related programs such as Come Dine With Me nobody here works for come down with me I hope all Ready Steady Cook that or that in many ways make fun of my profession and that's the bit what I've done particularly like so I guess my next question that is why did you need master chef Wow how long have we got full editorial policy and the BBC the BBC's editorial policy and working for the BBC not easy it's been well-documented my rift with with the BBC I'm extremely proud of what I've done with the BBC I must say and work and the work that I've done with them was was immense and and then every single show I've done with them was was a hit but the way that the BBC finances itself is actually on the review at the moment with the Royal Charter being under review stifles and limits its contributors such as myself to have outside financial interests now I have lots of outside financial interests I endorse the various amount of produce such as global knives green pans all related to to me and to my industry and to catering what I do and Albert Bartlett potatoes and root vegetables are one of them and that was the sticking point Albert Bartlett sire the Bartlett family have been supplying potatoes and root vegetables tula Gavroche for fifteen years so precedes any involvement I had with the BBC they are dear friends friends of the family and I decided to do an advert with them a television network with them and they said that breached the editorial policy so after several meetings I started on funny enough I started at BBC Portman Square on the ground floor you know BBC house and gradually moved up I didn't get the sixth floor I got to the fifth which was which was pretty good going and meeting after meeting after meeting and it was like hitting my head against the brick wall the the upshot was at the end of the day I was allowed to advertise but it could not be food-related in any way shape or form so I could advertise football kits and footballs in the same way that Gary Lineker is allowed to advertise potatoes as increased but I am not allowed to advertise any potatoes so it is right it's it's silly I personally think it is silly they the BBC have done this on several occasions that's why Jamie Oliver left the BBC as well they're losing talent they look they're losing some very very serious professional talent because of that so I guess is that part of the reason then why your new programme kitchen impossible and it's on Channel four yes absolutely yeah it is on Channel four and it's much more flexible in fact once we were filming that I because I've brought up on BBC and for example this would have to be Tovah or they'd have to take it away completely with channel 4 they don't give up monkeys you know it's there it's there it's part of the furniture and it's Strathmore so be it so yeah it's much easier much much easier so in your new program you are teaching cooking skills to people with disabilities yes do you feel that as a celebrity chef you have that kind of social responsibility I I definitely feel that and have said that on several occasions I think as a and I hate the word celebrity chef I far prefer to be a media media known or well-known chef I think we have a duty to to put a message across and we have a duty as well to to inform so for example with with diet sugar being the enemy at the moment that it is I've always always championed that but to eat properly to help children make decisions on their diet and and to be informative and to be leaders to be you know to be people that that youngsters will look up to and and actually learn from from the way we behave in the way we we put ourselves about and I'm very conscious of that and I think it's it is vital some of the chef's that I know do not take that on board which is a shame but I certainly do and I think we have got a social responsibility I've done lots of well quite a few programs which touch upon that like the service program where I took eight young boys and girls from different backgrounds some of which were from disaffected homes or broken homes and gave them an opportunity to work front of house which was a huge success huge success life-changing for them and for many other people and this one is no different kitchen impossible with them eight young people who have got different disabilities but they have one thing in common and that's they want a job they want a job in our industry in my industry but have yet to achieve that so if with my profile if I can open doors if I can help them if I can inspire them if I can teach them and that can in turn inspire other people with disabilities or future projects then you know I feel I've done well so have there been any particular challenges that stand out in your mind that have you've come across while skilled in kitchen impossible and yes now then without sort of telling you what happens in the next three episodes but I mean for those of you watched it didn't watch it last night the the most shocking one to me was Tourette's we have two guys there boy and a girl Sophie and Sam and had Tourette's and quite full-on Tourette's it felt very full on and I had never worked with anyone that had suffered from to it and it's shocking absolutely shocking not just the verbal tics so the swearing but the physical tics as well and having to let off steam literally but lying down and having convulsions having these tick attacks and and that's that that was a real I ryodan and difficult for difficult for myself to come from comprehend and then also to think well hang on I'm trying to teach this young lady a skill to get a job in a kitchen and a kitchen environment is bloody dangerous if she starts having physical tics in a kitchen you know that's yeah so as an employer I would definitely not take her on and I had to be brutally honest to them you're not employable in you know simple as that so it's very tough very very very hard it was very hard for me as well to to not be charitable because the immediate human instinct is when you have someone in front of you who has got a disability is to be mealy-mouthed and charitable and want to hug them and help them and all of that when in fact to help them you have to be truthful and you have to be honest but hopefully this will I actually change perceptions of employers but also changing you know the perceptions and views of the viewing public and and people in general and I still see now some people will turn their face not make eye contact with anybody that has got a disability beard physical or a tic for example or even a stammer or even sometimes just the small facial disfigurement rather than having that eye contact they will turn their head walk away even with blind people people with a stick walking down the street I've seen people walk across or down syndra and cross the road so as not to have that eye contact and that is shameful that is sad so maybe this will actually encourage people to make that step and like I always say I work for a blind charity as well a blind person will not be offended if you go up to them and say nice to see you yes it's a faux pas yes you've put your foot in it but you know what you've engaged and you've actually gone to meet that person and say hello and they'll forgive you within a flash because you've actually said hello to them and you actually made that step and that's the thing we shouldn't be ashamed or afraid of putting our foot in it but we should be ashamed for not engaging and coming back to food programs more generally I do you think there's a danger in having so-called expert judges on these programs and also on competitions like your own new scholarship is there a danger of implying there's some sort of objectivity in judging the taste of food oh it is objective and subjective isn't it because it's its taste at the end of the day and but it is a competition I mean if you take the route scholarship for example we've been doing the route scholarship now for 32 years 33 years the vast majority of the winners have gone on to to win you know fantastic accolades and Michelin stars in their own right so it may be subjective but when when it comes to the judging panel like myself my uncle my cousin you know very very high caliber judges then nine town nine times out of ten we're right I'm glad to hear and you mentioned just earlier the government's proposals for a sugar tax so do you do you agree with those proposals um gosh I honestly don't think that a sugar tax is going to be the answer Jamie Oliver is is is flying that fly flag and fighting for it and which is which is great but I don't think it's the solution I really don't I think you know putting ten pence on a on a bottle of Pop is not going to make any difference it's just going to maybe make the but it will it'll it'll increase the coffers but where is that money going to go to ultimately I think it is knowledge and the the most important thing so teaching teaching from a very very young age and I mean primary school or even before sugar is not necessarily good for you and we do consume too much sugar and useless sugar in drinks especially and in processed food and there's a lot of hidden sugar out there I'm not saying that we shouldn't eat sugar no of course not sugar is delicious and it and it is it's great it's it's fantastic product but in industrial catering and industrial foodstuffs very much like salt it is a cheap ingredient and it is added with far too much in to bigger forms so I think I think it's education the key and that again sort of ties it back to it to myself and media profile chefs that should be doing their bit as well and imploring people not to drink too much fizzy drinks or not to be eating snacks sugary snacks and so on and so forth and it's it's always going to be an uphill battle it's always going to be very difficult but but it fat's were the enemy in a twenty thirty years ago and now it seems that fat we've realized that fat animal fats I should say and no longer the enemy the secret is a balanced diet that is the secret animal fats are good for you but in a certain percentage no no don't go don't go crazy I love but it doesn't look like it might a ton of butter you know I don't I don't scrape the butter on my toast in the morning us that's a great big slab of it and I eat lots of cheese but you know that's that's it I don't eat cheap confectionary and I don't drink sweet sweet drinks never have done and just no so educational for me and we need to get more chefs actually working in that as well education final question for me um how do you perceive the current state of British cuisine very healthy yes definitely very healthy there's lots and lots of young British chefs that have travelled the world and come back with fantastic skills and some of which and have have opened up some great restaurants and it's a very very healthy I mean who would have thought London you know would be up there with Bob B's perceived to be up there with Paris Tokyo New York as you know gastronomic capitals and that's that's fabulous you know thirty years ago forty years got people would come to London to go and see the changing of the guards go and see a museum a show and then get the hell out of the place because there was no food available no good food of it and they were mocked you know the food was mocked whereas now you know that's one of the top of the to-do list when you come to London find a nice restaurant in a sense is that because we've absorbed everyone else's cuisine you know you had a French inspired restaurant and yes and though it's difficult to sort of say a British style because I do feel it's still evolving and that's that's fabulous and I think the great thing about the British food scene and is that it is evolving and it is an eclectic mix of various cuisines but I do feel as well the British public is far more adventurous than say the French or Belgium or German or Italian public when they're dining out the British not afraid to experiment to try and to you know to have a go and that's that's great I mean way that although that has changed a lot I mean I remember not that long ago when we'd put snails on the menu and English customers when questioned would you like to try the snails and they'd say don't like that hey but surely have you tried them no no no never tried them but both no whereas now you know that snails are very popular and and British customers burger I'll try them I've never tried before but I'll give them a gun and then they make a you know their own judgment great and we're going to open up to the audience now if you would like to ask a question please put up your hand high and wait for the microphone to come round it's not amplifying it's just for the recording for the YouTube video question on me the third wave the gentleman with the glasses and what did you find the hardest skilled to pick up in the kitchen and maybe related to that what was the biggest mistake you've done as a young chef oh mistake if you soak the first pot the question Watson was the hardest skill to pick up yeah um yeah hard is skill to pick up it's difficult I trained as a pastry chef so I love pastry but I suppose one of the most difficult things to master in in pastry souffles so souffles are very difficult to master and I think after 40 good Lord I'm trying to work out how how old I am and how many years experience I've had 40 plus years of experience I've just about mastered it and disasters I've had a few yes but none that really come to mind and because I'm very I'm very fine there I don't dwell on them I press the delete button and I just move on very convenient yeah yeah yeah I do remember while - I'll let you into one I invite a bit because the restaurants shut on Sunday we very often eat at home on a Sunday night and dad wanted to catch up so I invited dad around on Sunday night to my flat in London and I'd made a lamb stew and never I am the Sunday morning and so I just went to reheat it and a couple of weeks before that I'd had my kitchen refurbished and I had an induction put in and I wasn't quite okay with the instructions of the induction and I what I thought I put it on just gentle simmer or reheat gently and I put it on full whack now those of you who have worked with induction will know that if you put it on full whack it's it is seriously seriously hot and I went back the the lounge opened up a bottle and we were quietly having a glass of champagne discussing something and then the smoke alarm went off had rushed back to the kitchen and it was literally carbonized absolutely thankfully thankfully we had a nice selection of cheese and salad in the fridge because otherwise we would have had to call out for a takeaway but but that's a disaster but you know it's it's all relative all relative I'm glad these things happened to you as well as oh yes and next question the lady on the third way when you go through the new kind of process of coming up with new dishes for the menu what is the creative process that you go through how do you kind of work from a concept to something which is a real leash yes well I mean look have Ross and and the Rue family are very much steeped in French gastronomy and and know the classics in fact we're famed for our classics so we get inspiration from old books and looking around here it's lovely and wonder if there any old cook cooking book cookery books here so you know I have a big collection of very very old cookery books and it's I love going through them and then picking up an old classic and then bringing it up to sort of ours our new modern way of cooking with with a contemporary style to it and so that's the inspiration but it does that dish won't go live as it were to customers before a lot of trials and so we do go through a certain process of trial and then tweaking it and seeing how we can make it perfect and that can sometimes take months and months and I say we because we work as a team with the kitchen and the front of house as well so it's the shape head chef sous chefs and we will all put our little bit in taste it and then then maybe it will go on the lunch menu or tried it on special or on the lunch menu before it actually gets a place on the full ala carte so hand tools the back on the right hand side your left Howsam yeah and what do you think about the approach that chefs such as Heston Blumenthal have taken with the whole molecular gastronomy and combining the kitchen with the chemistry lab mmm yes where you can come and have a look at my kitchen it's not a chemistry lab at all and I have the utmost respect for Heston and for Ferran Adria and all those of that style it's a lot of fact like actually and I've been quite a few times it find myself though every time I eat there thinking I've had a wonderful time and then I think what I want to eat there in a hurry again no it's not the kind of food that you would want to eat time and time again it's the kind of food that you want to eat maybe once a year if you're fortunate enough to get a table because it is an amazing theatrical event much more than the food much much more but it's not food that you recognize on the plate I don't think it's comforting and I don't think it's extremely good with wines either it's very challenging for anybody who enjoys a good glass of wine to match it to his style of food and so it whilst it may not be my cup of tea I have it as I said in men's respect for Heston and what he does it's not liu Gavroche it's and it never will be I sometimes get customers actually who who say oh we went to the Fat Duck we went to Mugaritz oh we went to such and such a place and the food was this food was that so where we were expecting the same well with all due respect I say to these people we are not saying we are a different restaurant we are based on the classics and that is what we do so it's some horses for courses as they say the scared the lady in the aisle what do you think about modern healthy food trends like raw gluten free juice detoxes and plant-based diets what do I think yeah yeah well gluten-free and as much as if you're celiac and you have a severe gluten intolerance that's fantastic gluten-free as a fad as a self-diagnosed I'm gluten free because I want to be like the rest or whatever I'm not so keen on and embarrass other allergies that that people have as a restaurateur it is an issue it's a health issue and we have to be very very careful and very serious about this and we are we have to but it does sometimes wind us up as chefs when people will turn up and say I'm allergic to dairy the daring and tolerance so we've very careful we will cook everything in vegetable oil we will not put any butter in the sources all the vegetables very careful with absolutely everything to the you know to the nth degree and then come to dessert that person says all actually I'll have an ice cream and I'll have a cappuccino with extra milk and that really does piss us off but it really does it what I mean the problem with that is is that obviously it just gives boat of fighting people who have got in tolerances you know a bad name and and there's a lot of that about at the moment I must say self diagnosis which is wrong the other thing my thoughts on detox and juices the fans that are of them of the moment um Who am I to criticize my wife has just bought a nutribullet I don't particularly like him I I don't like them at all I don't like these vegetable juices and all of that she loves them but I'm not keen going back to sort of serious health issues yes I think I think it's good because far better to drink a freshly juiced fruit vegetable Ventor by you know a can of can juices or bottled juice far better so yes I think good on the good on that extent the lady on the front way you spoke about the importance of educating young children on a balanced diet whose responsibility do you think that it is do you think it should be added chocolate or a curriculum or is it is the owners just on parents well I think it's dual curriculum most definitely but also parents guardians grandparents whoever elder siblings whoever and but that will not happen overnight and I do fear that it's been several generations that have gone by the wayside and that parents no longer have skill of cooking and being confident enough to cook at home and to pass that on to their children and it's going back to that obesity problem as well as sugars what is allowed and what isn't allowed into your children's melt for the right reason and how to cook from scratch as well that's so important because cooking from scratch know exactly what's going into the meal and you know how nutritionally valuable it can be instead of buying ready meals or just grabbing a takeaway so I think the responsibility definitely lies with close ones be at parents parent guardians grandparents friends whoever but also most importantly as well schooling curriculum and on this I'd Houston so I was in the South of France and holiday of my family this year and we went between yeah it was lovely oh he gets better we went to a michelin-starred restaurant as well and but when we sat down to eat my mother and I were given menus without prices whereas my father and my brother got menus with prices on I just want to know what you thought about sexism in the industry in general but also in classical French restaurants yeah yeah but we still do that we give the know prices to the guests so if for example the table had been booked in your name miss whoever you would get the menu with prices and that is important that's the subtle difference we sometimes get criticized for that a little Gavroche but I maintain that policy and I think it is a wonderful policy because if you are the host you're the one that's paying and you want your guests to feel at ease choose the lobster that's the most expensive item on the menu without fear of pricing you may well think well should I shouldn't touch removal it's very expensive there's no price on it go for it and I think it's liberating and and I think it's you know in in many ways I think it's liberating and it's it's a wonderful wonderful custom that I maintain sexism it is is I wouldn't I wouldn't say that sexism you know is opening a door sexism I open doors for ladies I open doors for gentlemen as well I think it's etiquette I think it's manners you know that as simple as that I'm but there is a cross over there and then and the female members of staff are treated in the same way as male members of staff in my kitchen and and I think you know that is the way it should be it is on merit and it is you know gender should have nothing to do with it at Lu Gavroche head chef is Rachel being with me since she was an apprentice and I think we have just under half of the staff in the kitchen of female so it's um it is it is important very very important but that particular question about prices I still practice that only pair rush but for the host for the host yeah which is yeah it is different next question please we go to the lady near the back on the left hand side a gentleman actually say maybe get into P the P at top what are your thoughts on turning vegetarian or vegan for a period of time or forever forever I'm not you personally but people people in general so turning vegetarian for a couple of months or vegan or all right an old question are you a vegetarian or vegan no I'm not but a lot of people I know have chosen to do that and I was just wondering what your yeah yeah as a lining by choice no wonder but I I have I have no problems with that at all whatsoever I know in France it's a big issue a very very big issue they yeah more or less turf you out if you turn up in a restaurant say you're vegetarian or vegan vegan whoa no but no it's personally I feel that we eat too much animal protein I'm not a vegetarian but I do really enjoy vegetables and pulses and and starches and such like and I do feel that in general we do eat far far too much meat meat protein animal protein and we should vary our diet a lot more and we should all know cut back on the amount of animal protein that we meet any day for health reasons for one just for one but it's you know like chicken for example chicken has become cheap and worthless and go to a supermarket and buy a chicken for a couple of quid you know what look what kind of life is that chicken head is it really that good it'll bulk up your stir-fry maybe but is it giving you satisfaction is it giving you as much satisfaction as a chicken that maybe you pay a lot more five or six pound but then when you put it in the oven and roast it it smells lovely make me salivate just thinking about it it smells lovely the chicken skin goes crispy and you and then you put your bread in the bottom of the roasting pan and you mop up all that lovely juice you know now we're talking a chicken that's had a life chicken that's been rummaging around and eating worms and scratching around and doing what chickens are supposed to do the brown meat is brown and it's chewy it's got muscle you know that's that's you know I think the way that we should be looking at eating in the future animal protein respecting the animal farm or eating less of it paying more for it you know in that respect because you're eating less than you can afford a better quality and I think that that is the solution to a lot of ills be it of the of the planet and on a human basis and right at the back in the aisle um hi I just spent the past year living in Paris on a year abroad and I had a great time and they love French food but the thing about Paris is there are not many restaurants of a good quality that sell food that is not French but there is a sort of arrogance on the part of French people to think that their cuisine is better in almost every way than other cuisines what do you make of thy claim and why do you think the French are so reluctant to embrace other cuisines mmm yeah no I agree yeah I mean if we take gastronomic capitals of the world so and I personally think Paris is up there you'd have Paris Tokyo London New York so on London is by far the best city in the world when it comes to ethnic restaurants of high quality and of a reasonable price and I don't think there's another city in the world that can match it absolutely stunning amazing amazing food for a very very good value and very authentic be it Indian Chinese Vietnamese Korean you you name it you'll find it in London you'll find it the right price of great quality Paris no there's not a decent Indian there's not actually it's very difficult to find a decent Chinese it it really is now Parisians are very stuck-up they really are even the French don't like Parisians and it's true even the French look at prisons and disdain they are they are very stuck-up and Paris is packed is a great city if you've got money to dine out you can dine out in the most luxurious amazing places and have fantastic three-michelin-star to Mission Stafford but when it comes to casual dining it is extremely difficult and the casual dining that they do produce is expensive it is very good it is very good that it is expensive and it's not everybody's and it is above all French as well Frank they may have a few tweaks in there but it is above all French now Paris is changing when you said you were there last year it is changing changes afoot and there are more and more trendy places that are opening and doing so good value good value places but strangely enough the people that are opening these restaurants are Australians Kiwis Japanese a couple of English guys as well have gone out there as well they've recognized that actually they can do the same kind of stuff that they're doing in London but in Paris and there is a big market for it so things are changing in Paris they are definitely changing but we'll never change the attitude of a prism can we go to the gentleman in the red jumper about half way back um would you say there's ever a valid excuse for a ready meal probably not although on Kitchen impossible last night Jack who suffers from autism did cook me here a ready meal but yeah I think that was the first time I'd ever tasted one actually but no simply no my ID my idea of a fast food fast food is is really an egg eggs they're versatile they're delicious they're there they're full of protein then you nutritionally good for you and they're great vehicles for lots of other flavours so yeah that's my idea of fast food can we go two more hands over there yeah are we going like this well let's let's go to each of them from left to right and I suppose it's a two-part question but what is the favorite dish that you've ever put on at the restaurant and also what is your favorite dish when you're cooking for yourself or eating for comfort mmm yeah well I mean that I suppose the favourite dish would be that the one that sells the most and that's the cheese souffle it's been on the menu since 1967 and and it is kind of what it is a signature dish in which we try to take it off the menu a few years back and it was just impossible because customers we're coming what's going on the cheese souffle isn't on the menu you know we've come from the other side of Britain just for the cheese souffle no it's yeah cheese souffle is the one that that I think has to has to be the answer to the the first point of your question and gosh like my comfort food what I what I really love cooking that's a very difficult question gosh I mean this time of the year it's it's all about game game wild mushrooms and suchlike and very rich earthy flavors and soon as it starts getting a bit cold long slow cooked meats so I love I love to cook you know joints of meat on the bone and yeah and then you can just tear them off the bone like that the fork as opposed to a knife you know it's just yeah slow cooking so pulled pulled pork pulled lamb things like that I'm going back to the health promotion and having a balanced diet what do you think the role of nutritional information in restaurants and eateries is would that be beneficial would you ever do it um yeah there was talk about that in in Brussels I believe well everything stems from Brussels doesn't it some some busybody behind a desk thought it would be a good idea maybe to put some the calories calorie count on all restaurant menus I'm not for it no definitely not for it I think packaging yes has to be standardized and has to be understandable to the layman and and that's that is very important that's all part of knowledge and and ease of understanding what you're about to put into your mouth and that's that's all part of education so I think that's important but on menus no I'm not for it I I think it's just a legislation too far as somebody who wants to go into vocational training after university to be a chef but they're facing like costs of over twenty thousand pounds for a year diploma at the top chef schools what's your advice for somebody who can't afford that Wow what school was that gee whiz that is expensive isn't it oh gosh I mean it really depends what you are looking for what where you see yourself I know it's very difficult this way you see yourself in five ten years time what's the ultimate goal is the goal to be working in a restaurant as a chef or is the goal to be working your way up into say catering in the catering industry but not at the cold front you have to ask yourself these questions because 20k is a hell of a lot of money for a year in one of these schools they are good schools don't get me wrong but you will get out of that school out of the years education with a certificate that says lease or says golden on blue can't marry whatever what is it giving you in return is it opening doors is it actually going to get a prospective employer to take you on I think if you do go that route it is vital that you add to your CV some experience some professional experience so work placements or tying down even if it's a short-term job at the cold front is vital and that that will be extremely beneficial I mean very very beneficial but I can't really answer unless we go into an in-depth conversation of what you are looking for in five or six years time very expensive that Jeep with twenty hour wrong business and you've spoken a little bit about being in the public eye already but I was just wondering what you thought of your appearance on heat magazine's infamous weird Crushers list well it's voted for by the public isn't it I won't ask you who you voted for um yeah it's nice I had you know it's not it's not something that really floats my boat but it's it's positive I got to take it thank you and question on the third row what would you say to Brooke students who are more likely to choose the cheap option rather than the healthy option oh yeah don't choose the cheap option yeah it's it is yeah I mean I I do understand you know that sometimes it's far easier to go for the cheap option and to go that route rather than cooking from scratch or anything like that but the pleasure you get from cooking from scratch and you know you know what's going in and and to be honest it is far cheaper far cheaper to cook from scratch I believe selling private lessons 20 K ago the gentleman on the third row on this side the bread in the UK is mainly made in on an industrial scale and on the continent it's done very locally and I find this not it's not a lot of good bread around here is that you know does it affect you how do you you know could you change this where you from Luxembourg Luxembourg yeah well that the trolley would process as it is called invented in Britain and Charlie would funny enough and it it revolutionized the way that bread is made bread since the trolley would process or that the actual trolley would process is a way of making bread almost liquid with a lot of improve it added yeast and then it is risen under a vacuum so it rises very very quickly and can be cooked immediately the problem with that is it's super super bleached flowers so we then have to add in nutrients to the to the bread and it all comes out uniform and a loaf of bread takes about five minutes to make in a factory and then sprayed in pesticides and antifungal stuff that's not pesticides sprayed an antifungal spray so that it doesn't go to moldy very quickly that's your basic you know cotton wool loaf which I think you're alluding to yeah it's horrible I agree absolutely but it were it was designed so as to make bread very cheap and affordable for everyone and to make it nutritious as well that's that's the the reason why it's sad because it was the death of small bakeries in Britain and when I was a young man there were still small independent bakeries in and around London and that really did sort of sound the death knell finished no more or very few there are now thankfully more and more small independent bakeries and the only way they will survive is if the customers us the paying public actually do support them and go there and buy decent bread and now the problem with making bread if you want to make good bread it takes time minimum 24 hours fermentation 48 hours for a really good sourdough time is money and to make good bread level also is labor and labor is money as well so that that's why it is few and far between but it will you know it is changing I do see a change and again I think it's a you know again coming back to rolls it's my role as a media ties eg Erised yeah chef why not to put that message across for people too their local Baker local bakery and bye-bye from there but you can make bread at home as well it's easy second row from the back on the left and you talked quite briefly about how London's very good in terms of like ethnic food and I was just wondering if there are any cultures foodstuffs or dishes that you really enjoy in particular you're interested in working in other than French streaming yeah yes oh yeah absolutely well part of my learning as a young chef I went to Hong Kong and worked for six months there and absolutely loved it it was it was unbelievable experience to be exposed to different styles of cooking different ways of cooking and and you're just yeah walking through the markets and being inspired in that way yes absolutely loved it and I'd done I can't say that I'm any good at cooking Chinese food no but it's something that really does take my interest and of historical value as well because a Chinese cuisine actually precedes I believe French cuisine so it's um it is of great great interest to me I love Japanese food as well but I'm yeah I can slice a piece of raw fish that's about it I can't cook Japanese food and but Indian food I love all food I love all cuisines as long as it's well well cooked and done properly yeah we've got time for one or two more quick questions could we go with the lady about half way back on the left-hand side hi um do you think the culinary world is doing enough org is there something you can do more to make sure that the ingredients that it uses are sustainable or good for the planet yeah well I mean I loaded to that with the animal protein and we're probably not probably going to run out of food aren't we if you listen to the scare monger is in there that do merchants we are going to run out of food if if we don't change our habits but if England suddenly change their habits it's not going to make one iota of difference it has to be the bigger emerging populations but how can we look at the people of China and say no you're not allowed to have what we've had for the last seven or eight ten generations enjoyed animal protein every day of the of the year and it's affordable you know that's I don't think it's going to happen so we the more drastic measures are needed and do I know the solution I'm afraid not I don't part of the solution is that we all make an effort yes we all make an effort and a small effort but yeah I don't know I can't look into the future without a question on the secretary yeah hi um at this point in your career does anyone make you nervous when you're cooking food for them dad still makes me a little bit nervous and he always reminds me about that burn Lance do um yes and no I suppose it's er it's it's I always get done I always get the butterflies anyway before a lunch or dinner service because it's the anticipation it's like anybody that that has worked in you know theater or live television you always get the butterflies just before you go on and that's that's normal but that's yeah but once once you're on there once you start cooking service begins no longer what no longer worried it could be it could be a you know royalty or a TV personality or a football star that I'm cooking for or it could be a very anonymous person punter that's sitting next to them that's paying the same amount and you know they're all customers and the food that's all we have time for this afternoon it's been absolutely fascinating please join me in thanking me Chaudhary

Channel: OxfordUnion

Views: 112,418

Rating: 4.8225422 out of 5

Keywords: Oxford, Union, Oxford Union, Oxford Union Society, debate, debating, The Oxford Union, Oxford University, Michel Roux Jr. (Chef)

Id: BU-efsgzu_4

Length: 57min 43sec (3463 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 03 2015