The program themed “Islands and highlands” is a culture and culinary documentary of Vietnam. With 26 episodes showcasing Robert’s adventures from the North to the South of Vietnam, he will take you on a journey through 19 provinces, especially to islands of Ly Son, Phu Quoc, Cat Ba, and Con Dao. The program will not only describe his journey meeting fascinating people along the way, unveiling the hidden charms of Vietnam but also film his processes to learn local dishes, not just the recipes but he goes to the source and dives into the water to fish and helps farmers harvest a bounty of produce to cook with.
To create a high-quality audio-visual product imbued with national identity, the crew has been working hard to shoot most beautiful and vivid scenes of the country and people of Vietnam. During post-production, if there were some contexts not satisfying their requirements, they were willing to go back to remake for achieving best effects. However, the most impressive feature of the program is the protagonist, American super chef and photographer also, Mr. Robert Danhi. Robert himself has suffered difficulties and hard work to complete scenes such as jumping into cold waterfalls, floating on a fishing boat, snorkeling, climbing trees, catching crabs by hand, tasting the heart of a snake, catching squid in rough sea, and so on. Until now, when the program has completed the filming, his legs still have many bites of leech while wading into U Minh Ha forest to take honey.
During the last MIPTV 2014 (Marché International des Programmes de Télévision), the spring’s largest global distribution market and leading TV & online content development event, the program has been introduced and there were over 10 prestigious international distributors who wanted to negotiate to broadcast this program.
At the launching ceremony of the program in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, Robert shared: “Becoming the host of Taste of Vietnam is one of the great honors of my life. Being chosen to curate your culture, to tell the amazing stories of the Vietnamese people, places and food to the world is a privilege I will always be grateful for”. In 2009, the book “Southeast Asian Flavors” about his journey exploring cuisine of Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore was awarded as the best-seller book on Asian cuisine in the U.S. This program is expected to continue the success of the book and can promote tourism of Vietnam along with unique features of cuisine and culture to tourists all over the world.