Get lean with Green
By VIMALA SENEVIRATNE
sunpeople@nst.com.my
He doesn’t look it but celebrity cook Daniel Green was once an obese teenager. He tells VIMALA SENEVIRATNE how creating delicious, low fat meals has changed his life
TALL, dark and well-groomed, Daniel Green looks every inch a model. But English-born Green, a former model for Gucci, prefers to downplay this and instead, focus on his current image — that of a cookbook writer, a television cook and an advocate of healthy, low-fat cuisine.
Since 2004, he’s been the host and on-air chef for ShopNBC, a cable home shopping television network in the United States.
Green, who does all the cooking when he’s at home with his wife and young daughter, says that for him, cooking is not just a job but a life changing experience.
He may not look it now but when he was 18, he weighed 91kg and wore size 38 pants. “I was an obese teenager because I ate all that junk food,” he says.
The day of reckoning came when he was shopping for new trousers. “The shops didn’t have trousers with a 101cm (40-inch) waist, so I thought I’d better do something about my weight.
I had reached the low point of my life. I was feeling miserable. I had to get back into shape.”
But instead of going on a crash diet, he did research on how different foods work to ensure maximum health benefits. In the process he learned to create tasty meals that were low in calories.
As he continued to experiment with recipes and to live a more active life, the fat melted away. After three years, he lost 25kg and looked decidedly slimmer.
He also developed a passion for cooking and for making gourmet meals using fresh, healthy alternatives to cream, butter and other fattening products.
“The real battle is to keep the weight off permanently,” says the 38-year-old who loves Asian food. “More than 90 per cent of people who lose weight, put it back on again. You need to take the fat out of the food.”
He decided to use his own experiences to help others by focusing on healthy, low-fat food. To reach a wider audience he submitted his recipes for a competition to find a TV chef. He impressed the judges and won, kick-starting his career as television host for UK Food Network in 1991.
He has also filmed a series of documentaries around the world for Good Food Live for BBC and other television food programmes and makes regular appearances on BBC2’s Saturday Kitchen.
Green has written three cookbooks — Green’s Cuisine – Low Fat Food With A Taste Of Thailand, Green’s Green – Mostly Vegetables With An Oriental Twist and Healthy Eating For Lower Cholesterol. The books mean a lot to him, he says, because “they have so much more longevity than television”.
Green’s Cuisine highlights the use of Thai ingredients to create low-fat dishes with excellent flavours. “My trip to Thailand in 1991 was an eye opener where cooking was concerned. That’s where I discovered flavours.”
Building on the success of this book, he went on to publish Green’s Green which focuses on vegetarian cuisine.
His mother was a good cook too. “We spent so much time together when I was younger. My two older brothers were busy with their careers (one is a businessman and the other an artist who designs sets for television productions).
His businessman father is always active. “At one time he flew his own plane, ran three marathons, sailed and played all kinds of sports.
I am the opposite. Give me a beach and a chair any day of the week,” says Green.
When not in front of the camera, he prefers to spend time with his family and loves to cook for them.
“We’d rather eat at home. I make three types of meals because we all like different things.
“My daughter eats early and rice is a must for her. I prefer a sushi salad and my wife, something non-spicy. She can’t cook, so it’s all up to me. When I travel, she’s in a bad way – it’s take-outs every night!”
He encourages his daughter to try all the different foods that he cooks, which are mainly from his cookbooks. He’s happy that she likes sushi (without the raw fish) and that “Asian food is right up her street”.
He has also tried his hands at Indian dishes but admits that he needs help in that area.
Green says his favourite kitchen utensil is tongs. “I can’t do without it. You can use it to toss, turn and pick up anything. It’s like using your fingers on food that is too hot to touch.”
Though he is now a diet guru for many health conscious people, he is not too rigid about sticking to a diet. “It’s fine to have a day off healthy eating but don’t make that too often.”
Does he have a favourite comfort food? “Cheese,” he declares. “French cheese with crusty bread, which I have about once a month. Cheese has a lot of fat, so it’s only for special occasions.”
Is it always sunny in his kitchen? Not always, says Green who admits to having had his fair share of kitchen disasters.
Once, during a live programme, he set his notes on fire.
“I had to do a little river dance to put it out,” he says, laughing. “And on the Terry And Gabby Show, also aired live, I set a pan on fire. They had to open the windows. I don’t think anyone followed that recipe!”
Green, who has worked with many well-known chefs, dreams of working someday with Australian chefs Bill Granger and Kylie Kwong. “I just love their food,” he says.
Where does he see himself 10 years from now? “In a small, sunny island with a little restaurant and a house where I can relax and spend time with my family. No, that will never happen… Just enjoying the important things in life with no stress,” he says.
Green will be in Kuala Lumpur from July 4-8. He will do a 10-minute cooking session on ntv7’s Breakfast Show.
On July 5 and 6, he will be at Times Bookstore, Level Six, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur at 2.30pm and 4.15pm for a healthy food cooking demonstration.
He will also prepare a healthy lunch and dinner at the Gulai House, Carcosa Seri Negara, KL, on July 5 and 6.
Diners will be presented with an autographed copy of Green’s Cuisine. On the menu are crab cakes, lemongrass and corn soup, lime leaf chicken and miso seabass, Thai caramel bananas, sticky rice pudding with mango and Asian fruit salad with papaya sorbet.
For reservations, call Carcosa Seri Negara at 03-3228 21888.