Chef Spencer Tan has been the executive chef of The Club and Food Services at BYUH since 2007. He has a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from BYU–Hawaii. Tan is from Malaysia and said he has been cooking since he was 17.
What made you decide to become a chef?
“I had a goal when I was a kid. I told my mom I wanted to see the world. To see the world, you need to have a skill that can be used in any way in the world. Everyone in the world needs to eat, so I decided to be a chef to travel around the world. Even in Europe, you need a chef to cook your specialty, and even in Asia, you need a chef to cook Asian food. “
The desire is there, and I did have a goal when I was younger that I wanted to be the best chef in the world, knowing there is no such thing as the best chef in the world. I know that when I aim high and fall, I am still good.”
What are some of your responsibilities as executive chef?
“The director, manager and I put our heads together to come up with events like Fijian Club or Fiji Culture Night, for example. We plan the whole thing – the food and the decorations. We get the club involved. “
In January of next year, I’ll be doing the Chinese New Year, which is a big thing because a lot of countries have a Chinese New Year. Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia all have [a Chinese New Year]. . . We try to get the clubs involved. We can’t do it all by ourselves. And [the clubs] are proud too because they sometimes see their flag up in the cafeteria, and when they see their flag, they feel proud of it.”
What is your favorite dish or food to make?
“My favorite is curry, any curry. On Fiji night, I made my own lamb curry. I eat a lot of lamb curry. I can smother it on my noodles, rice or eat it with naan bread.”
What is your goal or hope for students here when you are putting together menus and recipes?
“Honestly, it is their health I am worried about. When I first came here, I changed the oil to zero trans fat oil. Before, they used trans fat oil. In most cooking, there is a lot of oil, but now we use virgin oil while cooking stir fry. It is healthier than sunflower oil or canola oil. “
Our selection is different every day. We try to make it healthier, but of course, I cannot get rid of bacon. Some people love bacon and ham. So, we give them a healthy choice, like spinach every day and kale. We offer yogurt every day so people can get their probiotic. . . We want to keep them healthy so that they can go on missions.”
How has being a chef blessed your life, and what have you learned the most from it?
“I would thank God that I can make good food to eat. When I prep something, I can taste it first. When the President comes, I make sure to taste it a few times. I know I take it for granted, but when I see people eating poor meals, I think about how blessed I am.”
Can you tell us about the devotional lunch and the preparation that goes into the food for that?
“We want to make the speaker feel special. They get to choose their food, and we want to find out if they are allergic to any foods or if they have kids or not. For every Devotional meal, I study the plate of Sister and President Tanner to see what they do and don’t like.
“We try to keep every meal different. Every devotional is different. We never see a repeat meal. We also try to cook the vegetables last, so the colors stay vibrant. When we serve the salad, we have three minutes to get it out on the table. We try to keep it very fresh.”
Why do you feel appreciation for trying new foods helps people become more experienced and tolerant in the world?
“The cook gets to learn a new recipe and understand the culture of other countries. For students, it’s good to know that BYU–Hawaii is a melting pot. You see the [flag] circle there? There’s all those flags. Here [on campus] can be the first time they try something like taro leaves with coconut milk. They would probably never have that in normal life.“
It’s a cross-culture melting pot to learn about other cultures. People tend to adapt and try new foods and find out they like it. . . So, not only do people get to eat, they get to learn. Learning through food is very important. When [the cook] works hard, [the student] learns.”
What’s the first thing you notice in restaurants that you visit and eat at?
“Usually the ambiance. When you step into the restaurant, you look for ambiance. Sometimes it’s musty, and the furniture is smelly. I want to smell the food more than the furniture. I want to go and pay money to enjoy the ambiance more than even the scenery. When the ambiance is bad, I want to chew my food fast so that I can get out of there as soon as possible. The ambiance is what makes you want to come back to that place.”