Michael Psilakis at work ©Tim Calver for BBC AMERICA
For city boy Michael Psilakis, jet-setting to the farthest corners of the world was truly an eye-opening experience. The New York City-based chef, restaurateur and cookbook author is known for his Greek cuisine, and is one of only two Greek chefs in the world with a Michelin star. He tells us about his food philosophy, hunting iguana with a slingshot, and the unforeseen dangers of cooking on the edge of a cliff.
And if you like what you read below, tune in to BBC America’s "No Kitchen Required,” a new food travel adventure series that takes chefs and viewers to some of the most remote, exotic locations across the globe. Premieres tomorrow at 10pm Eastern / 9pm central only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to like No Kitchen Required on Facebook. (Continue reading to watch an exclusive trailer.)
What attracted you to "No Kitchen Required?" Why did you sign on for this adventure? A few years ago, my father passed away. I had this grieving time dealing with it that, and it changed the way I approached my philosophy about food. For a long time, I cooked very cerebral food, and I used it as mechanism to express my emotions or thoughts. When my father passed away, I realized food was a way to create memories. I started using that as my platform—using food as a catalyst to create memories with the people I was experiencing it with.
I had a phrase called ‘plating the seed.’ I was using food to get people together to convey certain things, so I could plant the seed of their memory of the times they spent together. The show was about that for me. Me trying to connect with people from different cultures and places. Hopefully when that seed blooms, it will bring back the memories of those times we shared.
Did you feel prepared? What were you expecting before you left? The show was a vehicle for me to be able to educate people about my philosophy, and the philosophy and tradition and customs of others. So to prepare, every time we went into a culture, I tried to really look at who these people were, and create a meal that identified who they were on a philosophical level. I was really interested in using food as a vehicle to capture the essence of a person, in my opinion. It was interesting to see how they reacted to what my thoughts about them were. Food is the one unifying thing we can honestly share with one another, and the show really proves that.
Did people respond well to your interpretations? It was interesting. I remember going to some of these remote places and asking a man, have you ever eaten anything outside of your village? Have you ever had food beyond the place you know is home? And he said no. So you step back and think about that, and say, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to cook a meal that’s going to be completely different from anything he’s ever experienced.’ Seeing them react, both positively and negatively about it, was very interesting. For me, what was wonderful is that when somebody ate your food and responded to it, it was almost like you were making a very intimate connection, and that dialogue wasn’t even spoken. That’s really special. It’s hard to put into words how intimate these experiences really were.
The show goes much deeper than what you expect. It’s more than top chef survivor show, you get to be a part of these people. We shared time with them. I brought a present for each of my guides, so every time I did a hunt, I would give them a gift of thanks. And almost all the time, these people cried. One guy said he’s never received a present in his life. Think about that for a second. It’s not about the item they got, it’s the first time he’s ever felt a gift. How do you put a value on that, the exchange of a memory? That memory is planted in his mind, and every time he thinks about it, he’s going to think, tell it, and that person he tells it to will grow somehow.
What new ingredients or foods did you encounter that you’ve never worked with before? A lot of the stuff, even simple stuff like coconut milk or cilantro, I’ve never cooked with it before. I cook Greek food! I cooked with grubs, which are basically the larvae of the beetle. I hunted iguana with a slingshot off a boat in Belize. I went wild boar hunting, that was pretty intense. All we had was a knife. You had to stab it with the knife. I shot a bow and arrow to kill a wild turkey. I went spearfishing in a coral reef with these handmade spears. There were a lot of firsts.
What was your favorite thing you cooked? The boar. I really wanted to represent how important I thought it was, when you’re killing something, to really pay respect to the life that was taken by using everything it had to offer. I remember thinking, how can I do everything I possibly can with this animal? And after the three hours were up, I had made 11 dishes. I couldn’t believe I’d done so much, outside, with just an open flame and a chef knife. I was so focused on what I wanted to do, and I accomplished it, and I felt like I really captured the essence of this animal and what it represented to these people.
Without giving too much away, what was the craziest thing that happened? It felt like being a kid again because a lot of this stuff was like adrenaline junkie things, you just got so juiced up because of where you were and what you were doing. We jumped out of a helicopter then had to climb down a cliff. I’m just thinking to myself, I can’t believe I’m actually hanging off this cliff right now, I’m looking down at the ocean below me, and seeing the wind whipping the rope around I never saw myself ever doing it.
What's the one kitchen tool (apart from a knife?) you'd take on a desert island? I used an item that I thought helped a lot—a meat grinder. I know that sounds weird, but depending on whether you want to try to cook something, it allows you to do more than you expect.
What was hardest challenge? Cooking outside was very different for me. This is all real. There is no controlled environment. The elements really changed everything. In Dominica, we were on this bluff, and the wind was so intense that I was trying to pour olive oil out of a bottle and it was coming out of the bottle and blowing parallel to the ground. It wasn’t even falling onto the pan 2 inches below. And we were trying to cook a meal. I was chopping herbs they were just flying everywhere.
What will you be bringing back to your own kitchen from this experience? It’s hard to name just one thing. I don’t usually venture outside of that Greek food zone. To be introduced to Asia, the tropics, all these different indigenous cultures, totally changed the way I perceived things. To say I’ll bring this into my professional kitchen is not as big as me saying I’ll bring it to my personal kitchen. For me to be able tell my wife and kids about these experiences, that’s the best.
Like what you've read here? Tune in to BBC America’s "No Kitchen Required,” a new food travel adventure series that takes chefs and viewers to some of the most remote, exotic locations across the globe. Premieres tomorrow at 10pm Eastern / 9pm central only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to like No Kitchen Required on Facebook. Over at Anglophenia, they let you know what goes into the English Breakfast.
