Ken Hom 2 (of 2) - Politics, influence and the future
The Food Programme
BBC
4.4 • 977 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2014
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this second of two special editions recorded at the Bristol Food Connections Festival, Sheila Dillon talks to Ken Hom about his extraordinary life through food. Today they focus on what Ken has been doing since his early BBC career and about how his political beliefs have developed over the years. They also discuss the changes in China and his fears and hopes for the future.
In yesterday's programme, Sheila and Ken discussed the impact his first BBC series 'Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery' had when it aired in Britain in 1984. They also talked about his very early influences from his childhood in Chicago's Chinatown.
In the 60's though, Ken moved to California and became something of a hippy; dropping out from University and even declaring himself a Maoist for a while. He never admitted this allegiance to his mother who had very anti Communist views.
Sheila discusses his political motivation and how that has changed over years. They also talk about his landmark 2012 TV series 'Exploring China', which revealed much more about China than just the state of its food. In the programme Ken was reunited with his father's family who he had not seen for over twenty years.
Ken also tells Sheila about how much teaching means to him, and how he intends to carry on inspiring the next generation of young people, through a passion for food.
Producer: Sarah Langan.
Transcript
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| 0:58.2 | This week the food program is all about someone who's had and is still having an extraordinary life through food. |
| 1:05.7 | So extraordinary that we couldn't pack it all into one program, so this is the second of a two-part |
| 1:11.0 | edition all about a chef, broadcaster, restaurateur, and perhaps above all else, a teacher. |
| 1:18.0 | A man who's had an enormous influence on our food, Ken Homm. |
| 1:23.0 | I feel free. |
| 1:25.0 | In yesterday's program, |
| 1:30.0 | in yesterday's program we heard about Ken Holmes' early days in the United States, |
| 1:35.0 | brought up in what he calls a Chinese bubble, Chicago's Chinatown, |
| 1:40.0 | not speaking any English at all until he was six the only child of a single mother |
| 1:45.5 | with very little money then the University of California Berkeley in the |
... |
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