Q: Why Egg Wan’s Food Odyssey?
A: My Taiwanese friends call me Egg and Wan is my surname, and I’m on a mission to try as many foods as possible all around the world
Q: What is your background?
A: Chef turned illustrator. I went to culinary school in Taiwan, worked as a chef for many years but got sick of the lifestyle so occasionally still work as a chef and do the odd cooking class here and there but now I work as an illustrator
Q: Illustrator?
A: Exactly that. My husband is a professional photographer and loves working in the arts. I’ve always loved drawing/painting/designing so signed up for some courses and flew from there
Q: Who does the photography?
A: Mostly Chris. I do the cooking, plating etc and he photographs everything. I try to take some photos but he’s way better than I am at taking photos
Q: What kind of camera does he use?
A: Nikon D4. He was using Canon cameras until the end of 2013 but made the switch to Nikon.
Q: Lenses and lighting?
A: Nikon 24-70 f2.8, Nikon 70-200 f2.8, soon to be purchased macro lens. 95% of the food photography we do is with natural lighting with a lot of reflectors bouncing light back in. Sure we could use studio lights no problem at all but we like our food to look as natural as possible
Q: What’s your cooking style?
A: Funny thing is I have trained and worked as a fine dining chef and while I can and do sometimes make fancy food at home most of the food we eat, just as we do in China/Taiwan etc is really simple. One night I might make a teriyaki chicken dish and the next day I’ll take the leftovers and turn it into a fried rice dish. But then the next day I could make a beef or lamb wellington or some Taiwanese restaurant style food. So we really eat everything
Q: What kind of knives do you use?
A: Mac knives at work and Global/Henckels at home. I’ve had the Henckels knives for 10 plus years and they’re still really good to use. The Global knives are super sharp but need to be get sharpened all the time. The Mac knives are the best by far and are like a combination of the Henckels and Global knives. Very powerful and super sharp
Q: How did you get your publishing deal?
A: Marshall Cavendish contacted me and said they had seen my (old) food blog, loved my recipes and asked if I wanted to do a cook book. Many emails later pen was put to paper and we were cooking and photographing the book
Q: Where is the book available?
A: All over the place. Basically if your country has Amazon you can buy it in your country. It’s also available through Waterstones, Book Depository and Barnes & Noble to name just a few
Q: What does the future hold?
A: Lots more cooking, eating, travelling and who knows. Right now I’m busy making new recipes, working on my illustrations and watching my daughter grow up. There’s talk about a second cook book which would be truly awesome so who knows watch the future brings