Adam Liaw’s work has taken him around the globe. He has travelled everywhere from Singapore to Scandinavia to showcase the world’s best dishes on TV, and ventured to Africa’s Great Lakes region in his role as a Unicef ambassador for nutrition. At home in Sydney he samples cuisines of all kinds on The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, the SBS series he has hosted for more than 700 episodes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given his profession, Liaw’s holiday ritual is seeking out a great meal everywhere he goes. Here, the cook and TV presenter tells us about the dishes he goes for in each destination, as well as sharing his thoughts on what makes – or breaks – a travel companion.
Who makes an excellent travel companion?
Someone who makes suggestions and quick decisions, but who can also be flexible. One of my pet peeves when travelling is people who say they’re happy to go with the flow. People say that because it sounds like they’re easy-going but in my experience it’s the exact opposite.
Even if it’s trying to work out where to go for dinner, a decision-maker will suggest ideas and put some thought into how to bring that idea into reality but the “go with the flow” people are the ones who will expect you to put in all the effort that goes into working out where to go and what to eat, and then tell you they “don’t really feel like eating that” and expect you to come up with another option for them to approve.
After a while that gets maddening.
What’s your earliest childhood holiday memory?
Camping trips to the Flinders Ranges with my family. The smell of the sleeping bag, campfire smoke in our hair and hot oats with butter and brown sugar for breakfast.
Describe your most memorable travel meal – good, bad or just surprising.
I was visiting Burundi for Unicef last year and spent some time with the Mamans Lumières (Light Mothers) who teach childhood nutrition in the rural areas. Burundi is the poorest country in the world and we were hours away from the capital in some very remote villages teaching young mothers how to prepare a nutritionally balanced version of a traditional Burundian melange – a stew made up of beans, vegetables and dried fish. It was a meal that had a lot of purpose and not one that I’ll ever forget.
What’s the most relaxing place you’ve ever visited?
Perhentian Kecil in Malaysia. It’s a small island and I stayed there scuba diving for about a month. These days it is all quite developed but when I was there 25 years ago it was absolutely pristine. It didn’t even have regular electricity and we spent our days scuba diving and swapping books to read and then cooked freshly caught seafood every night.
And the most stressful?
Los Angeles. I’ve probably been to LA 20 times (admittedly, mostly for work) but it’s always struck me as a place where everyone is concerned with what everyone else is doing. Not a relaxing place at all.
What is your holiday ritual?
It differs by place and it’s always food-related. In Kuala Lumpur it’s eating hokkien mee on the first night we arrive. In Tokyo I always have rokurinsha ramen at the airport before departure. On the bullet train it’s a katsu sando.
What’s one item you always put in your suitcase?
An Opinel No 8 pocketknife. It’s incredibly useful for everything from slicing saucisson from a French weekend market, to fixing a broken bicycle in Laos, to cutting the tags off clothes from a Shibuya shopping spree. Just make sure it isn’t still in your hand luggage when you check in for your flight home. I’ve lost a few knives that way.
What’s your top tip for enduring long-haul flights?
Noise-cancelling headphones. People underestimate how much the constant noise of planes and people affect your stress levels. Being able to tune that out is a gamechanger.
The Cook Up with Adam Liaw is available to view on SBS On Demand
