Brendan Murphy's A Taste of the World is the perfect mix of recipes, culture and travel. It is a unique book written by Chef-Explorer who has travelled from places like Devon to Gibraltar and France to Nevada. It is an incredible read and in this blog, Brendan tells us a bit more about his experience...
About the Author, by the Author
Brendan Murphy aka The Chef Explorer
Home Town: Manchester, UK/ Now living in: Perth, Australia
What ‘exactly is the ‘Chef-Explorer’?
Ever since self publishing my first book, ‘A TASTE OF THE WORLD’, in 2010, I have continued to cater as a Chef, demonstrated the fine arts of cookery as a Chef-Lecturer and participated in lots of local cookery related events. I have also presented promotional talks and readings from my book at several venues around the city. At these events many people have asked,
“What ‘exactly’ is ‘The Chef-Explorer”?
Good question!
Really it is a combination of what I am, firstly as a Traveller and then as a Chef. I explored the world of culture as well as cuisine and being a prolific diary writer kept 30 years of Diaries and travel journals along the way!
I created the concept that is ‘The Chef-Explorer’ about 10 years ago as a business name in which I catered as a chef, taught as a lecturer or wrote cookery columns. Prior to that I had been teaching as a Chef-Lecturer in a variety of TAFE colleges in Western Australia and England and qualified as a TAFE (College) Lecturer at Curtin University in 1996.
After re-settling in Western Australia with my family, my writing developed further when I studied part time for the ‘Diploma of Travel Photojournalism’. Meanwhile, my regular local newspaper cookery columns developed into true short stories published by ‘The Swan Magazine’ and it was with them that ‘The Chef-Explorer’ seemed to take on a more definitive role.
From there I have since moved into Freelance Travel articles commencing with a Chef-Explorer inspired family holiday adventure based in Tropical North Queensland, which was published in Australia’s ‘Way2Go’ magazine in 2010.
During 2011 and into 2012, I continued to teach with a college in Perth, whilst writing a new series of short stories for ‘The Swan Magazine. I have also further developed my radio show “The Chef & Music Explorer Show” with my local community ‘Radio Ellenbrook 88FM’, including a new segment “Chef-explorer does Every Country in the World!” This is an A-Z of the world exploring each country and a recipe which I post on Facebook and onto my website.
During 2013 and continuing at present, I teamed up with the popular, dynamic and excellent Sophie Budd (who trained with the likes of Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver) and her ‘Taste Budds Cooking Studio’, delivering my ‘Taste of the World’ cooking courses for Adults and Children, all of which are regularly sold out! Taste Budds also recently was awarded NO 1 for Kids Cooking Classes by ‘Scoop Magazine’!
I have also joined forces for the next 12 months with ‘Mirrabooka Square’ shopping centre to present ‘A Taste of the World’ Cooking and Travel series. During 2013 we presented 3 months of ‘A Taste of Africa’ then’ ‘A Taste of Europe’. I present a series of Blogs, recipes and cookery demonstrations on their World Stage. At present during 2014 I am in the middle of ‘A Taste of Asia’!
In 2013 I also attended FACET (Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-Tourism) conference in Manjimup and became a member of a Culinary/Tourism Network that should help me develop ‘Chef-Explorer Tours’, a concept originally dreamed up with my local ‘Travel Manager’ Business in which I would act as a guide on a ‘Foodie’ adventure in a chosen holiday destination. The overall aim will be to educate the need to use local quality foods, reduce ‘Food Miles’, support local farmers and the environment as well as re-connect with the land! In a much broader International level, that will mean protecting local culture and indigenous food.
I am also continuing to present various Master Class presentations with the local schools, with an emphasis again on re-engaging youth and record a regular cookery segment on ‘The Couch’ TV series, broadcast on Aurora TV.
As a young lad growing up in the North of England I was fascinated by the world outside of where I lived, so as soon as I was old enough, I put on a back pack, joined forces with a couple of school mates and explored that nearest of continents; Europe. I did it on a shoestring but had a ball! The sense of adventure, the music, the scenery, and oh yes, the cuisine! What a huge variety of delicious foods! But what really enthralled me were the people and the way they lived their lives! Soon, I was back in England at Catering College training to be a Chef, but still working my way around my own country to again discover much great food and culture. I qualified as a Chef in 1985 and went off again on my travels, first back to Europe to work, then further a field to Asia and Australia.
All around the world people think, act, eat, dance, laugh, talk, dress….well, just live differently to me and you, and I just love it!
And 30 years later after scribbling my observations in my travel diaries, I still do!
One time, back in the ‘80’s, high up in the Alps of Switzerland a wise old guy said to me and my traveling mates:
“You're not tourists, you're travellers!”
That statement sums up what my Chef Explorer books are all about, including true stories of life as a Chef and the crazy Hospitality Industry characters world wide, cultural observations and adventure, food and recipes.
Above all, both my writings and my Chef-Explorer Events have an overall aim of promoting REAL food as opposed to fast or processed food, especially for children, so as to get families back around the table, not just eating healthier food but enjoying life as it should be, and maybe planning to travel to their favourite cuisines origins or even go for a walk around their own local environment.
Of course, food is the greatest cultural and language barrier breaker of all. When I talk food at a local market in Bali, or at a Taverna in Greece or to one of my International students from India or Africa, where I discuss a dish I know from their home town, a smile appears as if by magic, and any awkward communication barrier is broken! Suddenly we are friends forever, well, at least for that day anyway!
It’s a pity the World as a whole cannot learn to use these tactics to break down those cultural barriers. Maybe 21st Century Diplomats should all take a Chef-Explorer Cultural course before taking a seat at the UN?!
What inspired you to write?
My observations of people and the world as I see it. When I have traveled and worked as a Chef, I just had to record what I observed! I was also nicknamed BB (Bookworm Bren) as a child because I was always a big reader, and started keeping my diaries in 1971 at Age 10!
I have since kept diaries for the last 40 years!
What are your books about?
True stories based on my travel diaries as a traveler and as a Chef. I used my Chef-ing ability to travel the world. It’s like a combination of James Herriot, Bill Bryson and Anthony Bourdain.
Why should I read it?
If you love to read true stories which are entertaining like Bill Bryson, and you also love to travel and are fascinated by different cultures then this is the book for you! Throw in real foodie knowledge, authentic recipes and Chefy observations and you have all the ‘ingredients’ for a light hearted travel companion/book. A ‘Recipe’ for success!
Book Synposis
“Someone should write a book about this crazy Industry!”
I have heard that exclamation many times over the last 30 years in which I have been employed as a Chef in the Hospitality Industry. And yes, a few books have been written, but not quite like this one! This is not a cookbook from a Celebrity Chef, but more of an exploration of what it’s really like to work in the Hospitality Industry, and especially as a Chef. Combine this with traveling and working all over the world as a Chef, Lecturer and Writer and somehow keeping nearly 30 years of diaries to research from!
The Hotel and Catering Industry worldwide is full of the same crazy characters that even the best imagination would be hard pressed to dream up! My Diaries are full of them, as well as true drama, humour and travelling that enthralled me over the years. From my College roots in Manchester, England, to the City of London, from the ski slopes of Switzerland and Germany to the Outback of Australia and from the Greek islands to the Thai island of Phuket. I have especially spent over a decade as a Chef in Australia from Sydney to The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and in Perth, Western Australia where I arrived in 1990, and finally settled in 2002.
Food and cookery is also about life and culture, and as a chef working around the World I have learnt more about different peoples and their culture than I ever could have at school and college! And the best is still yet to be because as a cook you NEVER stop learning.
Many years ago as an older teenager living in a grim city struggling with massive unemployment rates, I was on the dole and uninspired. I decided to hitch-hike around Europe. Suddenly I got a ‘Taste of the World’, just a taste, but enough to inspire me so much, that I felt unstoppable in my quest to become a fully qualified Chef and travel the world. Thirty years later, I may have slowed down a bit, but I’m still travelling and still tasting!
This first book in a series is as it is titled, just a ‘Taste’ of the World and probably more of a Travel Book than a cookery lesson. However, the stories are all true and include authentic recipes and a brief cultural profile of each country that I either worked or travelled in. My aim is to mix the essential ingredients of a true Chef-y and Traveller story or cultural experience thrown in the pot with a dash of humour, to hopefully make it a richer experience for you, the reader, who is about to embark on a bit of Chef-Exploring of your own!
You can buy the ebook in the following places:
Amazon Kobo
About the Author, by the Author
Brendan Murphy aka The Chef Explorer
Home Town: Manchester, UK/ Now living in: Perth, Australia
What ‘exactly is the ‘Chef-Explorer’?
Ever since self publishing my first book, ‘A TASTE OF THE WORLD’, in 2010, I have continued to cater as a Chef, demonstrated the fine arts of cookery as a Chef-Lecturer and participated in lots of local cookery related events. I have also presented promotional talks and readings from my book at several venues around the city. At these events many people have asked,
“What ‘exactly’ is ‘The Chef-Explorer”?
Good question!
Really it is a combination of what I am, firstly as a Traveller and then as a Chef. I explored the world of culture as well as cuisine and being a prolific diary writer kept 30 years of Diaries and travel journals along the way!
I created the concept that is ‘The Chef-Explorer’ about 10 years ago as a business name in which I catered as a chef, taught as a lecturer or wrote cookery columns. Prior to that I had been teaching as a Chef-Lecturer in a variety of TAFE colleges in Western Australia and England and qualified as a TAFE (College) Lecturer at Curtin University in 1996.
After re-settling in Western Australia with my family, my writing developed further when I studied part time for the ‘Diploma of Travel Photojournalism’. Meanwhile, my regular local newspaper cookery columns developed into true short stories published by ‘The Swan Magazine’ and it was with them that ‘The Chef-Explorer’ seemed to take on a more definitive role.
From there I have since moved into Freelance Travel articles commencing with a Chef-Explorer inspired family holiday adventure based in Tropical North Queensland, which was published in Australia’s ‘Way2Go’ magazine in 2010.
During 2011 and into 2012, I continued to teach with a college in Perth, whilst writing a new series of short stories for ‘The Swan Magazine. I have also further developed my radio show “The Chef & Music Explorer Show” with my local community ‘Radio Ellenbrook 88FM’, including a new segment “Chef-explorer does Every Country in the World!” This is an A-Z of the world exploring each country and a recipe which I post on Facebook and onto my website.
During 2013 and continuing at present, I teamed up with the popular, dynamic and excellent Sophie Budd (who trained with the likes of Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver) and her ‘Taste Budds Cooking Studio’, delivering my ‘Taste of the World’ cooking courses for Adults and Children, all of which are regularly sold out! Taste Budds also recently was awarded NO 1 for Kids Cooking Classes by ‘Scoop Magazine’!
I have also joined forces for the next 12 months with ‘Mirrabooka Square’ shopping centre to present ‘A Taste of the World’ Cooking and Travel series. During 2013 we presented 3 months of ‘A Taste of Africa’ then’ ‘A Taste of Europe’. I present a series of Blogs, recipes and cookery demonstrations on their World Stage. At present during 2014 I am in the middle of ‘A Taste of Asia’!
In 2013 I also attended FACET (Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco-Tourism) conference in Manjimup and became a member of a Culinary/Tourism Network that should help me develop ‘Chef-Explorer Tours’, a concept originally dreamed up with my local ‘Travel Manager’ Business in which I would act as a guide on a ‘Foodie’ adventure in a chosen holiday destination. The overall aim will be to educate the need to use local quality foods, reduce ‘Food Miles’, support local farmers and the environment as well as re-connect with the land! In a much broader International level, that will mean protecting local culture and indigenous food.
I am also continuing to present various Master Class presentations with the local schools, with an emphasis again on re-engaging youth and record a regular cookery segment on ‘The Couch’ TV series, broadcast on Aurora TV.
As a young lad growing up in the North of England I was fascinated by the world outside of where I lived, so as soon as I was old enough, I put on a back pack, joined forces with a couple of school mates and explored that nearest of continents; Europe. I did it on a shoestring but had a ball! The sense of adventure, the music, the scenery, and oh yes, the cuisine! What a huge variety of delicious foods! But what really enthralled me were the people and the way they lived their lives! Soon, I was back in England at Catering College training to be a Chef, but still working my way around my own country to again discover much great food and culture. I qualified as a Chef in 1985 and went off again on my travels, first back to Europe to work, then further a field to Asia and Australia.
All around the world people think, act, eat, dance, laugh, talk, dress….well, just live differently to me and you, and I just love it!
And 30 years later after scribbling my observations in my travel diaries, I still do!
One time, back in the ‘80’s, high up in the Alps of Switzerland a wise old guy said to me and my traveling mates:
“You're not tourists, you're travellers!”
That statement sums up what my Chef Explorer books are all about, including true stories of life as a Chef and the crazy Hospitality Industry characters world wide, cultural observations and adventure, food and recipes.
Above all, both my writings and my Chef-Explorer Events have an overall aim of promoting REAL food as opposed to fast or processed food, especially for children, so as to get families back around the table, not just eating healthier food but enjoying life as it should be, and maybe planning to travel to their favourite cuisines origins or even go for a walk around their own local environment.
Of course, food is the greatest cultural and language barrier breaker of all. When I talk food at a local market in Bali, or at a Taverna in Greece or to one of my International students from India or Africa, where I discuss a dish I know from their home town, a smile appears as if by magic, and any awkward communication barrier is broken! Suddenly we are friends forever, well, at least for that day anyway!
It’s a pity the World as a whole cannot learn to use these tactics to break down those cultural barriers. Maybe 21st Century Diplomats should all take a Chef-Explorer Cultural course before taking a seat at the UN?!
What inspired you to write?
My observations of people and the world as I see it. When I have traveled and worked as a Chef, I just had to record what I observed! I was also nicknamed BB (Bookworm Bren) as a child because I was always a big reader, and started keeping my diaries in 1971 at Age 10!
I have since kept diaries for the last 40 years!
What are your books about?
True stories based on my travel diaries as a traveler and as a Chef. I used my Chef-ing ability to travel the world. It’s like a combination of James Herriot, Bill Bryson and Anthony Bourdain.
Why should I read it?
If you love to read true stories which are entertaining like Bill Bryson, and you also love to travel and are fascinated by different cultures then this is the book for you! Throw in real foodie knowledge, authentic recipes and Chefy observations and you have all the ‘ingredients’ for a light hearted travel companion/book. A ‘Recipe’ for success!
Book Synposis
“Someone should write a book about this crazy Industry!”
I have heard that exclamation many times over the last 30 years in which I have been employed as a Chef in the Hospitality Industry. And yes, a few books have been written, but not quite like this one! This is not a cookbook from a Celebrity Chef, but more of an exploration of what it’s really like to work in the Hospitality Industry, and especially as a Chef. Combine this with traveling and working all over the world as a Chef, Lecturer and Writer and somehow keeping nearly 30 years of diaries to research from!
The Hotel and Catering Industry worldwide is full of the same crazy characters that even the best imagination would be hard pressed to dream up! My Diaries are full of them, as well as true drama, humour and travelling that enthralled me over the years. From my College roots in Manchester, England, to the City of London, from the ski slopes of Switzerland and Germany to the Outback of Australia and from the Greek islands to the Thai island of Phuket. I have especially spent over a decade as a Chef in Australia from Sydney to The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and in Perth, Western Australia where I arrived in 1990, and finally settled in 2002.
Food and cookery is also about life and culture, and as a chef working around the World I have learnt more about different peoples and their culture than I ever could have at school and college! And the best is still yet to be because as a cook you NEVER stop learning.
Many years ago as an older teenager living in a grim city struggling with massive unemployment rates, I was on the dole and uninspired. I decided to hitch-hike around Europe. Suddenly I got a ‘Taste of the World’, just a taste, but enough to inspire me so much, that I felt unstoppable in my quest to become a fully qualified Chef and travel the world. Thirty years later, I may have slowed down a bit, but I’m still travelling and still tasting!
This first book in a series is as it is titled, just a ‘Taste’ of the World and probably more of a Travel Book than a cookery lesson. However, the stories are all true and include authentic recipes and a brief cultural profile of each country that I either worked or travelled in. My aim is to mix the essential ingredients of a true Chef-y and Traveller story or cultural experience thrown in the pot with a dash of humour, to hopefully make it a richer experience for you, the reader, who is about to embark on a bit of Chef-Exploring of your own!
You can buy the ebook in the following places:
Amazon Kobo
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