KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — It sounded awfully glamorous on paper: four up-and-coming Asian chefs would travel to Europe and cook a dinner at each stop that showcased their skills.

But the chefs of “Great Dinners of the World” had to overcome quite a few obstacles along the way; everything from kitchen chaos to unavailability of certain ingredients to coping with extreme, unfamiliar situations.

The episode that first drew my attention was when the four chefs – Sho Naganuma, Malcolm Goh, Johnny Fua and Sherson Lian  — were at the Glenlivet distillery, Scotland. They stepped into a bare kitchen here, devoid of the equipment they needed, and discovered that the dining room was 300 metres away! 

Malcolm had to push the trolley of food over that distance a few times, screaming “Arghh…!” all the way. I laughed and laughed watching this episode. “It was a sunny day, but the cold wind was a killer,” said Johnny.

This AFC series of six dinners, sponsored by Pernod Ricard Malaysia, took the chefs to the home of Chivas, Royal Salute and Glenlivet whiskies in Scotland, and that of G.H. Mumm champagne and Martell cognac in France. And the dinners they cooked were paired with these fine whiskies, champagne and cognac.

In the team of four chefs was Sho Naganuma who is Japanese, and is the executive chef at Hide Yamamoto, an exclusive, multi-concept restaurant at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

The other three chefs are Malaysians. Malcolm is the culinary executive/supervising chef at Berjaya University where he teaches practical and theory classes as well as work as a competitions trainer.

Johnny is the executive chef at Tanzini restaurant, at the G-Tower in Kuala Lumpur. Sherson, who is based at his family resort El Sanctuary in Malacca, is the host of a popular TV3 cooking/lifestyle show "5 Rencah, 5 Rasa."

The chefs’ first stop was at Chateau de Chanteloup in France, the home of Martell, and from there they went to Scotland, first to Inveraray Castle (Royal Salute), then Glenlivet and Strathisla distillery (Chivas). It was back to France for the Michelin-star Fouquet’s Restaurant in Paris and GH Mumm in Reims.

Sherson has this hilarious story of how they were shocked at the very small kitchen at Inveraray Castle on the first day there. “It’s a house kitchen. It was Sho’s dinner and he asked to see the plates. Not knowing the duke was present, he complained about the gold-rimmed plates with elaborate designs on them. Some of them were like gold and felt heavy. We gave them back. The second day the duke walked in and said, 'We have not been properly introduced.' Sho was flabbergasted.”

“It was amazing how we clicked together,” said Johnny. Their first meeting was at Tanzini, where they discussed the menus and who was to do what.

Sherson said of Sho: “It was funny meeting this samurai-looking, fierce chef with tattoos, and he asked for a Coke the first time!

“Each of us brought a special vibe to the show. We had mutual understanding and respect for each other.”

It was collective input from everyone that made each dinner a great success. “Before the dinner we would hang out together in a room. If it’s Johnny’s dinner, he would delegate the work,” said Sherson.

“I would share my ideas and they would have their own take on them instead of just following my way,” said Johnny. “And it turned out great.

“A lot of dishes were created that we had never done before. On paper we can sketch them out but on the real location we don’t have this or that, or it’s a small kitchen and there are no tools. Then we ask  each other what to do. I had a lot of sketches of what I wanted to do but it was not to be.” (Johnny used to be in an architecture course in university.)

They were never allowed to look at the kitchen beforehand, as surprise was part of the storyboard for the show.

It didn’t help that it was very cold in Scotland. They had arrived there in early October. The dinners in Scotland were back to back. There was only one day where there was no dinner because of the weekend and they could go to the market.

The greatest challenge, according to Sherson, was the first dinner at Chateau de Chanteloup in France,  not knowing what to expect. “We were in a tight place with four chefs and the crew shooting. If they didn’t get the shot they wanted, we had to do it all over again.

“In the middle of the cooking, they would pull you out and talk for 15 minutes which is not part of the cooking routine for us.”

But after the first two dinners, the chefs got into the rhythm of things.

At their first dinner, they also hit a language barrier. “Sho was trying to explain to the butcher how he wanted his spring chicken. They were almost spitting in each other’s face. Luckily a photographer from Martell came to help.” 

They also had problems getting the ingredients they needed. When it was Sherson’s turn to lead, he had a mango sago soup on the menu. “I put Malcolm in charge of it – he’s fantastic with desserts! He wanted to make a sago ball and stuff the mango inside. He used cling wrap to get the sago into a ball, tied it up and froze it. But when it was time to serve, the cling wrap got stuck in the grooves, and we had to use tweezers to get the plastic out!”

Sherson had a baguette dipped in a shrimp paste as an appetizer, but Sho and the other chefs turned the recipe on its head, dug out the baguette and stuffed the otak-otak filling inside. “Somehow they brought it to a different level!”

For the last two dinners, all four came out with one dish each. At the last dinner at Fouquet, Johnny asked Sherson to do a Curry Apple and Parsnip Soup. “It was a good idea but the recipe went through a great disaster! I didn’t know how to do it. Johnny’s recipe was for 10 and we were cooking for 17. That was when Sho cursed the dish.”

Johnny: “I cursed the most in the show but it was always Sho who was captured cursing. However, one of the French chefs had a big bowl of the soup and said it was nice.

“It’s very stressful. You can plan as much as you like, but it never turns out the same.”

What next for the chefs? Is another series in the pipeline? Aida Phang, brand manager of Pernod Ricard, was mum on this. But she said that some exclusive, by-invitation dinners featuring the chefs are being planned. The dinners, limited to 20 guests, will be sold to corporate clients. They will begin soon.

"Great Dinners of the World" will be shown again on Astro Ch 703, on Jan 28 and Jan 29. For the times, visit http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/greatdinners/