By Angela Green: BaxterStorey fuels Vietnamese food knowledge through key appointment.
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Hospitality business BaxterStorey has teamed up with chef and author Thuy Diem Pham to help the company’s chefs broaden their knowledge of Asian cooking.
As a chef partner, the former head chef and restaurateur of the Little Viet Kitchen in London’s Islington will run Vietnamese cooking masterclasses for BaxterStorey chefs across the UK.
Chefs will learn how to prepare Vietnamese dishes and understand the rationale behind specific ingredients and their different flavour profiles.
As well as mentoring BaxterStorey’s chefs, Pham will teach techniques integral to Vietnamese cookery to spark more authentic recipes and menu innovation across the business, starting with a sauce masterclass, followed by a summer roll-making workshop.
The move reinforces BaxterStorey’s ‘Nourish to Flourish’ movement, where the company aims to encourage an eating for your wellbeing culture that heals both people and the planet. Pham’s Vietnamese dishes use a multitude of vegetables and ingredients not commonly used in other cuisines.
Pham said: “I aim to share Vietnamese cooking techniques that are not taught at culinary school, imparting tips and old-school tricks in the hope it will inspire chefs to step up their dishes, but most importantly give them the confidence to approach this cuisine without recipes or measuring tools so they can intuitively balance flavours. I hope to inspire chefs to explore fusion cuisine with integrity, leveraging their newfound skills.”
Andy Aston, head of wellbeing and nutrition, at BaxterStorey said: “We’re very excited to have Thuy on board and have been big fans of her unique approach to Vietnamese cooking for some time. Our business is built on giving people the skills and confidence to truly express their individuality through the power of food, to give our customers a memorable experience. What better person than Thuy to help fuel this.”
“Authenticity is really important within our business, so we are thrilled that we have Thuy on board to curate new Vietnamese campaigns for our customers to experience and enjoy.”
As well as her restaurant experience, Pham has worked at major food festivals, appeared on various television programmes, and held residencies at prestigious 5-star hotels and resorts.
Widely recognised as the UK’s foremost authority on Vietnamese cuisine, she is the author of two bestselling cookbooks, ‘The Little Viet Kitchen’ and ‘Vietnamese Made Easy’.
Pham joins BaxterStorey’s roster of chef partners to support the training of chefs across the business, which also includes Adam Byatt, Ruth Hansom, Bettina Campolucci Bordi, Kirk Haworth, and Josh Eggleton.