Three years ago, Sergio Herman made a culinary road trip in at the side of Axel Daeseleire Of the map on VTM. That tasted like more, and look: from this week you can join Sergio across the border. In it, the Dutch top chef travels to ‘the corners of all of Europe and beyond’ with a different well-known companion on the route, from Jeroen Meus to Ella Leyers to Marco Borsato and – after all, taste is debatable – Regi Penxten. Is there also a master interviewer in the master chef?
Sergio Herman: “Now that Axel wasn’t there all the time – in one episode of Across the border will he return – I was completely on my own. But it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. While enjoying good food, the interesting stories often come up naturally, don’t they.”
With Jeroen Meus you started eating Croatian frog legs. Did they eventually make it to the menu of one of your restaurants?
Hermann: “No! (laughs) When I was little and went out to dinner with my parents, you often saw frog legs in garlic butter on the menu. Jeroen and I wanted to experience that one more time, but I’d like to keep it that way. It may taste a bit like chicken, but a frog just doesn’t belong on your plate.”
Have you eaten any more dirty things?
Herman: “In the Faroe Islands, where there are more sheep than people, I ate a slice of fermented lamb. Unfortunately it was downright filthy. I almost couldn’t swallow it.”
And what was the top?
Herman: “One of the highlights was the turbot I ate near San Sebastian. The local chef even incorporates parts of the head and backbone into his dish. It was indescribably delicious.”
Making a culinary travel program in full pandemic: it was probably no laughing matter.
Herman: “Due to the corona conditions, we mainly had to stay within the European borders. But that didn’t really matter, because there’s a lot to discover here too – every trip was a fantastic experience.
“We did make a trip to Morocco. It’s unbelievable what a completely different culture you will find in just a four hour flight. You see people riding on donkeys there, there is harrowing poverty, but at the same time an enormous amount of beauty.
“We had to convert the planned trip to South Africa with Wim Lybaert into a road trip through the Netherlands.”
To the.
Herman: “Of course I know the Netherlands well, and yet that trip surprised me. In Rotterdam we met people who make soy sauce in a traditional way, but so well that it brings tears to your eyes. We ate mussels and oysters in my own Zeeland, we bought the largest eel I ever saw in Volendam, and ate delicious street food in Amsterdam. Anyone planning a trip to Mokum simply has to taste it.”
Sergio across the border, VTM, Tuesday, 8.30 pm
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