John Burton Race is a lively and talkative chef who has a clear-cut passion for food. The entire interview was peppered with his anecdotes and before we had realised it, time was up, and only a handful of questions were asked, yet we walked away with many interesting stories.

FC: What was the inspiration for writing your latest book ‘Flavour First’?

JBR: You can’t make good food with inferior ingredients; it just doesn’t work that way. I want people to use what is local to get it freshest and at its best. You get the best flavour from using regional and indigenous ingredients. I also like to learn about my food and see how it ends up on the plate from start to finish…like if I want to see where my goats cheese comes I would go to the farm and milk the goat myself and then make the cheese so I understand where it all comes from

FC: You grew up as a third culture kid in Asia what are your favourite foods from this region?

JBR: I don’t like answering this questions because the world’s too big and I haven’t eaten everything yet but there are some foods that are linked to memories…right now I’m chewing on this dreadful gum but when I was a kid living in Indonesia I used to enjoy chewing on dendeng the stringy crispy dry beef. I would chew that and then keep in my pocket for later. Another thing I love is pisang susu because it’s like having a banana milkshake in your mouth…I can’t stand the other bigger bananas that are so starchy and have no flavour. And if we are talking about fruits durian and mangosteen are in my top 10 list. But I really can’t narrow down my favourites.

FC: What is your go to recipe to impress guests you invite over?

JBR: When you are a diva like me who doesn’t like to do the chopping and mincing and cleaning up then you do very little cooking at home. I also have a small kitchen that is not very well equipped compared to the restaurant kitchens I work in. So I would say that if I cook something for guests simplicity would be key and it would be a dish based on what the washing up afterwards would look like.

FC: This is kind of a morbid question but one we like to ask…what would be your ultimate death row meal and what would you last want to choke on?

JBR: This isn’t morbid at all! I love this question…it’s the best way to die. Mine would be a 25 course meal and it would include freshwater prawns, Indonesian Nasi Goreng, a few of my favourite wines and champagnes…I’m a chocaholic and so I would need some good quality chocolate as well…and I would want really good bread, and rice and noodles. I never really enjoyed potatoes which is more British, I’m much happier with bread, rice and noodles. If I were to choose only one thing to choke on though…it would have to be something shellfish. I love shellfish. But this list could go on…it might be more than a 25course meal but then again I might as well drag it out if I’m about to die right after.

Before we knew it time was up and John had to get ready to cook dinner for the Midsummer Nights Feast at Starhill Gallery. He left us with this thought though - There are lots of good cooks, but very few who “get it”. Very few are actual artists.

"You can’t make good food with inferior ingredients"

Flavour First Book Review
by: The Charlie

Race's latest book, Flavour First, focuses on getting the most out of ingredients that are in season. This way, one gets the “freshest, tastiest, cheapest” ingredients. With that, fifty percent of the meal is made. Whilst I completely understand this philosophy, these are 2 things that we here in Malaysia never really understand: 1) we do not really have 'seasons' per se here, so it means everything is available everyday, and because of that 2) many of the ingredients featured in this book are not grown in our climate. While I long to eat artichokes, fennels and beetroot, I know that those I buy here will be far inferior to anything I buy in an English market. That said, his introductions to each ingredient are thorough and speak from years of experience. I love beautiful photography that made even peas (something I abhor, unfortunately) look appetising.

Because of his focus on working with what was fresh and readily available, I decided to try out two recipes featuring peppers and potatoes, abundant in our country. I do realize that the dishes include imported ingredients, but almost every recipe requires at least one non-native ingredient – I chose the lesser of many evils.

Tomato stuffed peppers with anchovies and mozzarella



When I was eating them, it reminded me of pizza without the crust. So you can, if you want, serve it on slices of your favourite bread, making them a substantial snack.

4 red peppers
3 peeled garlic cloves
16 ripe cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper
olive oil, to drizzle
6 anchovy fillets
1 ball of mozzarella, drained
15 large basil leaves, finely shredded

Preheat the oven to 200°C. While waiting, halve the peppers lengthways and remove all the seeds and pith. Arrange them cut side up in a shallow ovenproof dish. Finely slice the garlic and put a few slices in each pepper half. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and stuff them into the pepper cavities. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil on the top. Bake for about 45 minutes until soft. Cut each anchovy fillet into 3 strips, the mozzarella roughly into 1cm cubes, and place them on top of the cherry tomatoes. Return to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese has melted. This will serve 4, or 2 very hungry people.

At the end, I found that a lot of the juices leaked out. What you can do is save the runoff to toss with pasta for a salad; delicious!