Chef and Southeast Asian cuisine specialist
Will Meyrick, culinary appropriator behind Mamasan, Sarong and Hujan Locale lets us in on gleaning recipes from matriarchs, putting nutmeg in cocktails, along with his love for chicken feet and MSG.
I started traveling around Asia when I was a teenager. That was my first encounter with Asian flavours. I started my career in Australia, in a restaurant that served Asian food. At that stage, I thought I learned quite a lot. Then I moved to Indonesia where I met my wife (who is Indonesian), and realised I had actually not learned anything yet.
I love and breathe Asian food. That includes chicken feet, shrimp paste, and the irresistible instant noodles – with MSG of course, mixed with chopped chillies. Love is blind, indeed.
All the restaurants I manage are inspired by the richness of Southeast Asian flavours. I travel, meet the locals, knock on their doors, cook with them in their kitchens, and witness their lives. Tiger Palm is no different. There’s a strong Peranakan feel into all sides of Tiger Palm, and the intense history of Peranakan is what inspired me. Tiger Palm shows how different have cultures merged in marriages, resulting in richer cultures and flavours.
I always try my best to keep the taste of every dish authentic. If it is originally spicy, then my dish will be spicy. I do have to be very creative when it comes to serving my guests, because the taste of street food doesn’t necessarily show on the plate.
I learn and get the recipes from locals. Keeping the taste as authentic as possible is the only thing I do. And that’s actually a big challenge.
Our food uses a lot of spices, as do the drinks. Besides the usual cocktails, we use nutmeg in some of them. The spice adds a hint of sweetness and nutty tastes to enhance the flavours of our cocktails.
