Dialogue with Martin Yan
烧菜大师一席谈

Sitting opposite to me, Mr. Martin Yan, the one caused great sensation in America through his popular cooking programs——Yan Can Cook. Though it seems that the vicissitudes of life have appeared on his face, his stentorian voice, humor and self-assurance still left deep impression to me. Martin’s Chinese name is Zhen Wenda, a gentle and elegant name, yet the pronunciation of the Chinese character “Zhen”, somehow or other, turns into “Yan”, which seems has something to do with Cantonese or Hakka people’s habits. Yan Can Cook, a cooking program teaching Chinese cuisines on main English channels, is so popular that Martin was even invited by NBC, ABC and other prestigious television stations. With various titles and posts on his business card, such as TV presenter of Yan Can Cook, consultant of culinary skills, chairman of Yan Can Cook, etc. Martin not only redeemed our reputation but won honor for our Chinese under the situation in which the Chinese immigrants were gradually categorized as take-out food deliverers and laundry owners. I once studied aboard in America, and in my mind, only the food in the canteen of Planning Commission and domestic kitchen could illustrate the real authentic Chinese flavor. Regrettably, after watching innumerable episodes of Yan Can Cook, I still didn’t grasp the quintessence of cooking. Presumably, I am not the proper audience of Martin’s show.

When it comes to the programming of the TV show, Martin Yan became zealous and ebullient, and invited us to watch the trailers of his recent cooking program in which the renowned chef in front of me is absolutely vigorous and dynamic. From all kinds of culinary skills in kitchen to the fastidious selection of fresh vegetable, meat and eggs, the whole preparation adequately embodied Martin’s ardency and enthusiasm towards gourmet food. “I am not the same as other Chinese on the show”, Martin said. “I am more flexible and less formalistic. Unlike those ABCs who have Chinese appearance but western thoughts, I respect western culture but still insist on oriental traditions. ” . Perhaps, it is Martin’s individualities that made multifarious TV stations regard the exaggerated but ebullient Chinese chef as their honored guest. Cooking programs are really difficult to make, for solid culinary skills and dynamic performances are usually incompatible. Monotonous program will never fly from mediocrity to superiority.  Just like Pete Sampras who has unrivaled skills but can never evoke spectators’ responses, Boris Becker, also a prominent tennis player, knows how to give a great performance via broking the racket and insulting the referee. Understanding this, Martin Yan does his utmost to present an innovative and exalting show.

Both exaggerated acts and eloquence compose a crucial part of a successful cooking program. With his unique sense of humor, Martin’s bilingual performance mingled with a little bit Cantonese wins wide acclamation among the audience over the world. In order to increase the amusement effect of the performance, some similar show, such as Master Chief, required the chef to talk billingsgate, which is definitely vulgar and coarse. To illustrate the differences between vulgarness and humor, Martin gave us an example. Once when he was still ran a gourmet show introducing the Italian food of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, he asked that whether those foreigners had ever heard of that the pasta was introduced from China to Italy. However, the foreigners denied stoutly. “One night, Marco Polo was drunk and asked his entourage to pass the mein to him. Because of his vague words, the Chinese chow mein was misunderstood as pasta. Hence, your pasta was the chow mein that Marco Polo brought from China”, Martin said. Ended with people’s laughter, the cooking program solved the cultural conflicts between the two countries. As a matter of course, the resourcefulness of the host guaranteed the considerable audience rating.
 
Insisting on continuous innovation, Martin has rigorous requirements on the production of the cooking program. A majority of the cooking shows are usually performed by a chef paired off with a host who is in charge of narrating the direction of the delicacies, while the versatile Martin can fastidiously prepare the food and make step-by-step narration of the cuisines simultaneously, which thoroughly changed the form of this kind of show. Promoting his show aggressively, Martin Yan said that his program provided not only an opportunity for those cooking masters to get together and compare notes but also an excellent platform for innovative pastries, street snacks and local flavor throughout the world to emanate their unique charms to every audience. Hence, both the western and Chinese people would be interested in his programs. From America to Southeast Asia, Thailand and Singapore, Martin has established an empire of gourmet food in every length and breadth of the world, which wins people’s hearty admiration on his originality and ambitions.
 
Regrettably, Martin’s cooking program has not been introduced into China yet. We all anticipate that more and more gourmet food promoters, like Martin, can dedicate themselves in the business of popularizing Chinese delicacies and carry forward the quintessence of traditional food culture. When we came up with the idea that we could cooperate with him to run a cooking TV program, Martin became quite exalted and blurted out his own originalities with a bit accent. It seems that he had thought about it for a long time. Modest and sincere, Martin didn’t require any privileges for his wide prestige and distinction; instead he said that he would offer his resource and expertise selflessly.  “I will approve it for you!” Martin said. Actually, his sufficient experience in this business, tens of monographs and a programming studio guarantee a triumphant career for him, which makes him become a genuine master in this field. While, he is never bothered by such trifles, the most significant thing, in his mind, is to ameliorate the program and attract more audiences. The ebullience and zealousness indeed left great impression to me. 
 
Looking at Martin’s business card, we noticed that one of the titles is the chairman of “Yan can cook” company. His attitude towards delicacies illustrates his modesty and courtesy. Albeit all those rough and arduousness are caused by his job nature, the title of chairman here still seems weird. Actually, it would be better to change the “Yan Can Cook” into “Zhen Can Cook”, for Martin Yan really can cook. (The pronunciation of the Chinese characters——Zhen, according to Chinese traditions, can be interpreted that somebody can cook very well.)
 
 Martin Yan先生坐在我们对面，比在电视里略显沧桑，讲话像电视里他的节目，幽默、风趣，直截了当且底气十足。没错，就是那位以yan can cook， you can cook风靡美国电视餐饮节目的甄先生。名片上甄先生的中文名字是甄文达，很文雅的中国名字。不知何以“甄”怎么就发音演变成了“严”，是老广的发音还是客家人的习惯不得而知。Yan can cook ,you can cook 在美可谓家喻户晓，以在主流英文电视台传授做中餐而闻名，NBC,ABC各大电视台都曾有他的身影。名片上的职务就印了一堆：如“甄能煮”电视节目主持人；视频与烹调顾问；“甄能煮”公司主席等。在华人逐渐被归于送外卖和开洗衣店的美国社会很为华裔争了此面子。只是笔者从中国大陆去的美国留学，对中餐的认知以为唯计委食堂和家中厨房才是正宗，看了数次yan can cook自己终究还是未能cook，原因不外是笔者恐非甄先生的目标受众。

 谈起电视厨艺节目的制作，甄先生充满热情，让我们看他最近在美国制作的饮食类节目宣传片段，可谓活力四射，豪放夸张，在厨房中的煎炒烹炸，在田间在市场选新鲜的果蔬和鱼禽肉蛋，充满了对制作美食的激情和热爱。我和一般华人在电视中的表现不一样，甄先生解释：“我会更收放自如，不拘紧。不像ABC外表黄里面白。我是表面白，显得西化，内心黄，很中国”这话有理，可能就是这原因，美国各大主流电视媒体都把这位表现夸张，充满活力的中国美食制作专家奉为座上宾。电视里美食节目不易做，名厨师虽能做得一手好菜，却不会在电视里表演，让观众看了索然无味。有些像当年美国网球明星桑普拉斯，球打得一流，却是闷蛋一个，不会激起场上观众共鸣。不如贝克尔等会摔拍子骂裁判会表演。甄先生深谙此道，作菜节目也要有美式表演方才好看。
 
 仅是动作夸张自然不够，电视烧菜节目主持人需能说会道。甄先生双语加广东话，自然大受欢迎。而且极具幽默感，风趣得洽到好处。有些电视餐饮节目如Master chief,名厨为增加表演效果，不时口吐脏字，显得不雅。甄先生举例，曾主持介绍旧金山渔人码头意大利餐饮节目，质问洋人是否知道面条是中国传入意大利，洋人当然不会承认。甄先生逐娓娓道来。你们的pasta就是马可·波罗的叔叔喝醉了，对从中国带回各类炒面捞面的马可·波罗大叫将面递给他：“past mei to me”因口齿不清，中国面的发音就成了pasta！众人大笑，一个烧菜节目，解决了两国的文化争端。这样的节目不看可惜，收视率自然高升。
 
 对电视烧菜节目的制作，甄先生有自己严格的要求，即要能不断创新，有新意。纵观国内外大部分的电视厨艺节目大都是一个主持一个厨师，一个在烧一个在看。甄先生自己能烧又能做解说，形式已有不同。现在甄先生将烧菜节目推而广之，可以促厨艺比高，又可以是尝试新的菜肴点心以至于扩展到街头小吃和各地出名的地方风味介绍。这些节目不仅西方人看了新鲜，中国观众也有兴趣。甄先生的节目已经制作到了东南亚，泰国，新加坡都有他的烧菜节目，可谓令人目不暇接，创意无限。
 
 可惜中国还没有甄先生的厨艺节目，泱泱美食大国应该多几个像甄先生这样中西合璧东西贯通的美食推广人。可以是中国美食的推广大使也是中华美食文化的代言人，于是和甄先生讨论在国内一同制作电视厨艺节目。先生立刻兴奋不已，广东口音的国语对各种创意已有设想。但甄先生绝不因自己的知名度而要求什么特殊，而是说大家一道合作，利用他的资源和专长，“I will approve it for you!”（让我证明给你看！），然后再说以后的合作计划。甄先生很谦虚也很实际。以他的资格，在这个领域里有了成百上千小时的电视节目，数十本专著和自己与人合作的电视节目制作棚，不可谓不成功。所以改口叫甄先生大师。他对此似乎无所谓，最在意的是做好有观众看的烧菜节目，那种激情让人印象深刻。

 再看“甄先生”的名片，其中一个职务“甄能煮”公司主席，堂堂公司“主席”亲自下厨煮饭，不可谓不谦虚低调，当然是甄先生所在行业使然，但公司“主席”的名号在此处多少有些怪异。其实将“甄能煮”改为“真能煮”岂不更好。甄大师确实“真”能煮！