Eat My Words – Simon Majumdar

Simon Majumdar is the co-writer of Dos Hermanos, one of the UK’s most widely read food blogs. He is a great example of a food blogger who has managed to break into the mainstream media. He is the author of two food/travel memoirs, Eat My Globe and Eating For Britain, and is currently based in the USA where he is a resident judge on The Food Network’s very popular The Next Iron Chef as a judge.
Mise En Place caught up with Simon amidst his very busy schedule filming for The Food Network to have a quick chat about writing and eating around the world!
Do you feel the line between traditional food writers and bloggers has become obsolete?
I think that it is definitely harder to define what a food writer is these days, particularly as so many of those whose careers began with blogs (including mine) have go on to write professionally.  I think there were at least a dozen books published last year that originated from food blogs and I sure there are more to come.  In the end, I think it is all about if the writer is any good not where they originated.
What was the last restaurant you ate at? Was it any good?
I had a meal with some of my Food Network chums at a new place called Mo’ Chica in Down Town LA last night.  It is a Peruvian restaurant and the chef, Ricardo Zarate is, in my opinion one of the most talented in the US.
Do you find there is a marked difference between critiquing food in front of a camera than with the pen?
Definitely.  People would be surprised at how little time there is to form an opinion of the food we judge on a TV show before we are asked to express it.  A couple of bites is about it before Alton Brown or The Chairman says “Simon, what do you think?”  So, there is none of the luxury of rewriting and editing.    Often, people with great food knowledge can be poor TV judges because they are not able to express their opinions lucidly and in the soundbites needed for TV.
Does the nature of the filming effect the quality of the food, ie. cold food etc?
Obviously, the nature of filming does impact the food put in front of you.  However, the culinary teams at The Food Network are pretty exceptional at getting food out to you in good order and, as judges, we do make some allowances for the fact that we are not in a restaurant.  That being said, there are some flaws with a dish that have no relation to the environment in which it is being served (seasoning, acid, concept etc) and those are the things we would look for and comment upon.
You have recently been in Thailand, we are big fans of their culture and cuisine. What were the stand-out dishes?
I am a big fan of Thailand and its people too, so it was a huge thrill to be asked to go back there to film.  I got to eat some amazing dishes, but my favourites remain the simple street dishes like the fried chicken at Chatuchak market in Bangkok and the Ka Soi from the night market in Chiang Mai.
What’s the biggest mistake a restaurant can make?
All restaurants make mistakes, I tend to judge them by how they deal with them.  That being said, for me the biggest grievance with some restaurants (particularly here in LA) is that they often forget why they exist in the first place and treat customers as a necessary nuisance.  Servers too sometimes forget that the clue to what they do is in the name.
How does the LA food scene compare with London’s?