"TASTING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE"
By Henry Carpenter writing in the

Nov 4, 2003

For someone who's never left his country, let alone his continent before, the verdant pastures of Shropshire must seem a long, long way from the arid scrubland of Tanzania.

Safari lodge cook Emmanuel Amnaay pictured in his homeland of Tanzania. Photo courtesy Shopshire Star.

But that's what Emmanuel Amnaay, a 31-year-old Tanzanian from the village of Karatu, decided to undertake and he has now just returned to his homeland having spent a month working at some of the leading restaurants in the county to further his understanding of western food.

For Emmanuel is the head cook at one of the Sopa lodges in Tanzania - three luxury safari lodges within some of the country's most beautiful national parks, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire.

Listening to him enthuse about the month he spent in the area, it has clearly been time well spent. There are three Shropshire chefs who have welcomed Emmanuel into their kitchens: Steven Linsner at Weston Park, Stuart Phillips at the Hundred House at Norton, and Shaun Hill of the Michelin-starred Merchant House in Ludlow."

However, it wasn't just the culture change in the kitchen that Emmanuel found so interesting and enjoyable - the whole experience and social diversities between the two countries will also stay in his mind for years to come.

"The time spent in Shropshire was very good, green and beautiful with friendly, smiling people," says Emmanuel. "Everyone I met was so excellent and made me feel very welcome. I especially liked Telford with its shops. Before I left Tanzania I did not know what England would be like but I now see that it is very fast with everyone talking so fast, lots of vehicles and it is very cold. The biggest difference is that everyone moves so quickly here and always seem to be rushing to get somewhere. Something that makes me laugh is how long people take to prepare their food here in the restaurants and then people eat it so fast and leave.

"He admits to thoroughly enjoying the days he spent at the Hundred House, where it was "very excellent and busy all the time."

Furthermore, he had the chance to work with the fresh herbs, which have become one of the restaurant's trademarks, and understand how important they are to recipes, as well as cooking with some new ingredients such as shark, monkfish and venison.

As he says: "I especially liked their venison with bacon dumplings.

It was not a one-way appreciation process, however. Stuart Phillips at the Hundred House admits that Emmanuel was "great, very affable and pleasant to have around and, I think, quite an intuitive cook. He worked with my Australian sous-chef so it was a truly international kitchen! We went through a lot of basic things and taught Emmanuel a few of the simpler dishes and recipes that he had never come across before, such as beurre blanc and steak and kidney pie, as well as some of our staples such as risotto.

"He was constantly writing notes and picked everything up pretty quickly. I think the pace of life here is quite a bit quicker than Emmanuel's used to in Tanzania but it wasn't something he couldn't cope with."

Read the full article on the Shropshire Star Web Site