Anton Mosimann

Speaker 20:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 20:08

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen eighty eight, and the presenter was Sue Lawley.

Presenter0:29

My castaway this week is a man who enjoys the good things of life. Whether he's polishing his vintage car, jogging through Hyde Park, or preparing something wonderful in the kitchen, he is a perfectionist. His business is food, food that is not only delicious but healthy as well. His dedication to it has taken him from a modest background in a Swiss village to being master of the kitchens in one of London's greatest hotels. He is now recognized as one of the great chefs of the world. He is Anton Moziman.

Presenter1:01

Monsieur Mosimon, do you ever feel you just can't face cooking another meal?

Anton Mosimann1:05

Not at all. I'm looking forward for the next one all the time.

Anton Mosimann1:10

I just love it and enjoy every minute of it.

Anton Mosimann1:13

Uh

Presenter1:13

So on our desert island, is this going to be a great challenge or a great joy to you to have all these raw materials, all these plants and wild animals, we hope, to choose from, to put in your pot?

Anton Mosimann1:25

Yeah.

Presenter1:25

Can't wait for it.

Anton Mosimann1:26

Which m must be wonderful, honestly.

Anton Mosimann1:30

One of the greatest challenges in life is to go anywhere in the world, go to the markets, supermarkets, whatever, and just buy local ingredients and create something with it. So I can't wait to get there.

Presenter1:44

Let's have your first record.

Anton Mosimann1:48

I like very much Rossini's Willem Tell, conducted by Herbert von Karayan. Just a little story, so.

Anton Mosimann1:55

Whenever Herbert van Karian came to Lucerne every summer for the musical week.

Anton Mosimann2:01

He loved calf's head, one of his favourite dishes was calf's head, and the chef then uh

Anton Mosimann2:10

man called Otto Schlegel, a wonderful personality.

Anton Mosimann2:13

Whenever he came back from the winter season.

Anton Mosimann2:16

To Lucerne, his first trip was to the butcher shop, and ordered a calf's head for August when Carajan was arriving.

Anton Mosimann2:27

It was such a big fuss. The whole kitchen was nervous for weeks and waiting, looking forward for the calves' head to arrive. I always remember those moments of Kariya and then coming actually down to the kitchens and saying, you know, thank you very much. I really enjoyed my calves' head today.

Presenter3:44

Rossini's William Tell Overture, played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Carrian. Well, now, Anton Mozaman, you're a a fourth generation chef. Did you always know you wanted to cook for a living?

Anton Mosimann3:56

Yes, always. I remember I was six years of age, standing in the kitchen with father and mother, helping, washing up, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the pots, and

Anton Mosimann4:08

I just knew then I'm

Anton Mosimann4:10

Going to be a chef one day.

Presenter4:11

Do you remember the first thing you cooked by yourself?

Anton Mosimann4:14

Yes, I did. It was actually spaghetti polonies. And soon after a cheese fondue.

Anton Mosimann4:21

And for friends, in fact, for grown up friends.

Presenter4:23

How old were you then?

Anton Mosimann4:25

I was then eight years of age.

Presenter4:27

And this was in your parents' restaurant in Switzerland.

Anton Mosimann4:29

Yes, it was. And every Monday our restaurant was closed, closed for the public. And a couple of friends came in and had a good clean out in the restaurant. And afterwards, I served them a meal. In fact, my parents were not there. They were somewhere uh shopping or whatever. And I just felt I must give those people something to eat and end up with spaghetti polonias or, as I said, a cheese fountain.

Presenter4:58

What sort of restaurant was it?

Anton Mosimann5:00

It was a basic restaurant, a a bourgeoise cuisine restaurant. Very simple, but very honest and very straightforward. People came in with their overalls just for a good plate of something to eat.

Presenter5:15

And it this was your home as well, and you lived in the restaurant?

Anton Mosimann5:18

Yes, in fact, my school, my my homework was always done in the restaurant. There was no living room. There was no

Anton Mosimann5:28

family uh room at all. All uh it happened was actually in the restaurant. So my growing up, my experience as a small child, I remember in the restaur from the restaurant.

Presenter5:43

But unlike in your father and your grandfathers before you, in you was a desire not just to cook, but to cook in in a big way, a grand way. You always knew that, did you? That you were going to make it big.

Anton Mosimann5:55

Always.

Anton Mosimann5:56

I

Anton Mosimann5:58

I had always dreams and uh somehow self-discipline to be just an inch ahead of most of my colleagues. And I knew one day I wanted to be a chef in a large hotel with many, many cooks around me cooking for very uh different tastes and for well known people. I I knew that then.

Presenter6:25

Well now, was that born of simply a love of of good cuisine, or of a desire for recognition, or of a desire for wealth?

Anton Mosimann6:35

I'm not quite sure which one.

Anton Mosimann6:38

I was the only child, and somehow

Anton Mosimann6:41

not spoiled like most, but I had to work very hard and I got used to it as a very

Anton Mosimann6:50

Young boy

Anton Mosimann6:53

So somehow I wanted to be recognized, yes. Money I always liked too, but it wasn't actually number one. Number one was to produce something and give pleasure to other people.

Presenter7:08

Let's have your second record.

Anton Mosimann7:10

It's the Golden Gate Quartet. Uh a nice memory when I was uh working at the Palace Hotel in Milar. I was only seventeen years of age and one evening I was on night duty and remember very well when I was able to actually push the curtains back and looking at those wonderful musicians. I really fell in love with jazz music then and I would love to hear it again.

Speaker 47:38

Lay down my bird Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my bird Down by the riverside Just very born

Speaker 48:05

Steady for steady walk on yesterday, steady, walk, oh, and steady for

Speaker 48:16

I'm

Speaker 48:17

Try on my long white road in the riverside in the riverside road in the riverside

Presenter8:34

The Golden Gate Quartet with Down by the Riverside. So, Anton, you you went off you left Switzerland when you were about nineteen in in your white sports car to work in the kitchens of Rome. You must have cut quite a dash.

Anton Mosimann8:46

Wonderful experience.

Anton Mosimann8:48

Worked very hard, but had a wonderful time.

Anton Mosimann8:53

But also I learned a lot about Italian food and the mentality of people. I always like to

Anton Mosimann8:59

Get to know the people, not only

Anton Mosimann9:01

work with them, but, you know, live with them. And what better if you actually can live in a place like Rome?

Presenter9:08

Now you look, if I may say so, extremely healthy and and fit. I mean, one expects great chefs to be large, rotund people, and you are not that at all. Um you were always keen on fitness, though, even as a young man and still are, yes?

Anton Mosimann9:22

Yeah.

Anton Mosimann9:23

Very much so. In fact I was I'm sure you're going to laugh now so but I was a wrestler when uh I was fifteen years of age. In fact I was the Swiss champion for two for two years running. It doesn't look like now, but uh

Anton Mosimann9:39

It learned me to be disciplined. It learned me to be uh again a winner. And and let's be honest, I like to be a winner.

Presenter9:49

There's a lot there's a competitive edge to you, isn't there? It's very strong.

Anton Mosimann9:52

There is, there is. Always has been and still is now somehow. But in a nice way. In a very nice way. I don't like to win.

Anton Mosimann10:02

You know, unfair. I like to put myself here and say, Hey, let's go and let's do something. You're a perfectionist.

Presenter10:07

You're a perfectionist.

Anton Mosimann10:09

Oh, very much so. I mean, every day

Anton Mosimann10:11

I wake up and say, What can I do better today than yesterday? Where can I improve constantly?

Anton Mosimann10:19

I think

Anton Mosimann10:20

Once you're used to a life of hopefully perfection, you can't live any other ways. It's the only way for me and I just love it. I adore it.

Presenter10:30

Now when you wake up, the first thing you do quite often, most mornings, is is jog off around Hyde Park as part of this this fitness fanaticism of yours. Um what do you think about as you jog?

Anton Mosimann10:42

A lot. It's actually amazing how clear your mind is early in the morning. Because you

Anton Mosimann10:48

Feel a bit hungry.

Anton Mosimann10:50

in in the morning and as hungrier you feel, as more you think about food. And quite often I create amazing dishes during my jogging time.

Presenter11:03

It's a wonderful image. Let me ask you for your third record.

Anton Mosimann11:07

It's actually something which as you know, my fish book just been published a few weeks ago, Anton's Cuisine on Fish, and I would very much like to hear something from the trout quintet.

Presenter12:14

Part of Schubert's Trout Quintet played by Alfred Brendel and members of the Cleveland Quartet.

Presenter12:20

Well, now your list of awards is is phenomenal. You are the youngest ever master chef in Switzerland. You've been chef of the year here. Gold medals too numerous to mention.

Presenter12:31

You can't of course learn how to achieve all of that. There has to be something beyond it. What is it?

Anton Mosimann12:37

I think it's a gift.

Anton Mosimann12:39

When I train chefs, there's only so much you can give them, so much you can tell them.

Anton Mosimann12:45

So much you can show them. But the rest they have to know, they have to feel themselves. And I believe it's a gift from God you have to have.

Presenter12:56

But can you describe what it is when you say it's a gift from God?

Presenter13:00

Well what is it? What form does it take in you?

Anton Mosimann13:04

You look at something and you say, Oh, that's cooked or not cooked.

Anton Mosimann13:08

Because you you feel the texture, even if you don't necessarily touch it, but you can look at it.

Anton Mosimann13:15

If you can feel it, even better.

Anton Mosimann13:17

I mean

Anton Mosimann13:18

I always

Anton Mosimann13:20

I almost cry sometimes when uh a chef touches a melon and

Anton Mosimann13:26

You know, no w with no feelings. I mean, the melon you touch like a little baby, you take it to your mouth and to your nose and you smell it and say, Mm, lovely melon. Yes, it's ripe, you can use it.

Anton Mosimann13:37

And other people just take it like, you know.

Anton Mosimann13:40

It's heartbreaking. So there's a certain feel, a certain gift.

Presenter13:46

It also, of course, has to a lot to do with with presentation, doesn't it? That you you have to have that kind of beyond the instinct you describe, you have to have a certain flair for

Presenter13:56

What goes with what, and what it will look like together, and what it will look like on the plate.

Anton Mosimann14:02

That's right, you have to have the color concept.

Anton Mosimann14:05

Quite right.

Anton Mosimann14:07

But on the other hand, you also need the tastes.

Anton Mosimann14:09

It's not good just playing with colours.

Anton Mosimann14:11

The tastes have to match as well.

Anton Mosimann14:14

I remember only a few months ago I was served a beautiful poached fish with a lovely white wine sauce, and in desperation the chef was looking for colours.

Anton Mosimann14:25

and a strawberry in the top of my face.

Anton Mosimann14:29

How sad

Anton Mosimann14:31

There's so many other things you could have used.

Presenter14:33

What about the temperament of great chefs? Again, the popular image is that he marches around his kitchen shouting at everybody and pulling everybody into line like a a great major general.

Anton Mosimann14:46

I think again, so that has changed. That image of the chefs throwing knives and casseroles through the kitchen is dead. Luckily, I mean, I used to work with chefs who were really temperamental and all the new ones shouting and screaming at you and using their big knives and this sort of thing.

Anton Mosimann15:08

I don't believe in it. I believe in being a a gentleman in the kitchen. Explain your chefs. Talk to them.

Anton Mosimann15:18

And work as a team. I had eighty five chefs at the Dorchester when I left, six hundred and fifty on the waiting list, people from all over the world who wanted to come and work with me.

Presenter15:28

Well now, Anton very important question this.

Presenter15:31

Why is it that women are cooks and men are chefs?

Anton Mosimann15:36

So I think that that's that's changing too actually. In fact, I had one or two very good chefs at the Dorchester ladies who were extremely creative, dedicated to their jobs and very good at what they've done. So I think in years to come we have more women chefs than we have now. There's no reason why a woman shouldn't be a head chef in a large hotel.

Presenter16:05

Your fourth record, if you will.

Anton Mosimann16:08

It's something from Shirley Bassey. I remember Shirley Bassey came once to the kitchens at the Dorchester. In fact, she joined us for a meal downstairs in my dining room.

Anton Mosimann16:21

Wonderful time we had together, and at one o'clock in the morning she started to sing. I will never forget that experience. In fact, many, many of my chefs stayed on till one o'clock in the morning to hear Shirley singing.

Speaker 416:37

Diamonds are forever.

Speaker 416:41

Sparkling round my little finger

Speaker 416:47

Unlike men, the diamonds linger.

Speaker 416:52

Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave.

Presenter17:00

Shirley Bassey, singing Diamonds Are Forever. Anton, you became Maitre Chef de Cuisine at the Dorchester in London when you were only twenty eight. Was that the fulfilment of a dream?

Anton Mosimann17:11

I think it was.

Anton Mosimann17:14

I remember I took over a hundred and thirty two chefs, with twenty-eight years of age.

Anton Mosimann17:21

Most of them were actually older than I was. And the first day one of my assistants came to me and said, You know, sir, my son is just one year older than you are.

Anton Mosimann17:35

I got the message.

Anton Mosimann17:38

And so often, in fact I got almost tired of it, people said, but we done it for this or that way for the last forty years, twenty five years. Why do you now want to change it?

Anton Mosimann17:53

I I didn't give up. In fact, I never give up in life. I uh

Anton Mosimann17:58

I want to be a winner And after thirteen years I knew I won.

Presenter18:05

But also perhaps a lot of people couldn't understand why someone who had such great ambitions for i in the realms of cuisine should want to come and practise it here in Britain. We're not exactly noted for our cuisine.

Anton Mosimann18:21

Now I think he has changed, in all fairness.

Anton Mosimann18:25

I think there's no reason why the day you can't eat as good here in Britain than anywhere else in the world, because all the ingredients are here, and the chefs are here too now.

Presenter18:35

You went, of course, a few years ago to to cook for a family in Sheffield, didn't you, to to to prove that they could eat well on a limited budget. What did you cook for them?

Anton Mosimann18:46

It was such a wonderful experience. As you know, we went to the market and uh were looking around what was best on that day, and came back with bags full of wonderful ingredients like uh fresh chicken, uh mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, uh potatoes, and ended up with a fricasse of chicken, fresh cabbage, cooked for five minutes and not for two hours, so we actually could taste and smell and enjoy good cabbage. Then our famous bread and butter pudding, which again uh it went down very well.

Presenter19:25

You turned it into a souffle?

Anton Mosimann19:27

Almost. It's it's almost as light like a souffle. It's still a bread and butter pudding, I promise you so. But it's uh you eat it almost like a souffle. It's so light. That of course makes a lot of difference.

Presenter19:39

Another record end on.

Anton Mosimann19:42

It's from Barbara Dixon. I love to hear Barbara sing in Memory. It's also from Katz, who's my favorite musical. In fact, I saw it four times and love to see it again.

Speaker 419:55

Midnight, not a sound from the pavement Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone.

Speaker 420:10

In the lamplight the withered leaves collected my feet And the wind

Presenter20:22

Yeah.

Speaker 420:22

Yeah.

Presenter20:22

Begins to

Presenter20:24

Barbara Dixon singing Memory from the musical Cats.

Presenter20:28

Of course, one of the great influences on cooking over the past decade has been the development of cuisine manser, a a criticism, if you like, of the the richness and the creaminess of classical French cuisine. But you didn't totally approve of cuisine mansaurs, did you?

Anton Mosimann20:44

Not quite. I think cuisine merseur was a good idea for slimming. But it used cream, butter and oil.

Anton Mosimann20:56

I then thought there must be uh another way of actually cooking.

Anton Mosimann21:01

without those ingredients completely leave them out.

Anton Mosimann21:05

And that's my created cuisine Naturelle.

Anton Mosimann21:07

A style of cooking without cream.

Anton Mosimann21:10

Without butter, without oil.

Presenter21:13

But surely you need to use some of those things. I mean, if you're going to to fry an onion or soften an onion even, you need a little bit of butter or oil in the pan.

Anton Mosimann21:20

Not necessary. You can use it in a you can use a non-stick pan, or you can soften your onions in a little bit of liquid, stocks or plain water.

Presenter21:30

Doesn't that make them quite sort of squidgy, flabby?

Anton Mosimann21:32

Not necessary. Uh you just have to be very, very careful. But the results actually are better, more honest, and proper taste.

Presenter21:42

But how do you eat vegetables without a little bit of butter on them to even if it's just to make them glisten?

Anton Mosimann21:48

You don't have though, you can actually steam them, you can poach them, you poach them in vegetable stock.

Anton Mosimann21:54

And you really taste and enjoy wonderful vegetables.

Presenter21:59

What do you say to to a man with a big appetite who in front of whom you put this delicately arranged piece of cuisine naturelle? and he says, Well, that's terrific, it tastes very nice. When's the main course coming?

Anton Mosimann22:10

You just have one or two more courses. Uh I think it's possible.

Presenter22:14

And looks who Uh

Anton Mosimann22:15

Theory.

Presenter22:15

Yeah.

Anton Mosimann22:15

Of course. Uh or you make the portions uh a bit larger. Uh you always have to adjust your your menus according to your guests. But there's no reason why even uh

Anton Mosimann22:26

Somebody who likes lots of food and and and good food can enjoy good natural.

Presenter22:32

We eat far less meat than we used to, I think, don't we?

Anton Mosimann22:36

Very much so. Fish i is in, so is poultry and veget vegetables.

Presenter22:42

And big juicy steaks are out.

Anton Mosimann22:46

in a daily uh on the daily menu, let's say. They're still in obviously once a week, maybe twice a week, but most people tend to eat uh much more fish and poultry than five, six years ago.

Presenter22:59

Well, you're going to have a wonderful time on the island, because there are going to be lots of fish if you can catch them, and if you can manage to rub two sticks together, then then you'll be able to steam them and poach them to your heart's content.

Presenter23:11

Uh will you be attempting to escape, Anton?

Anton Mosimann23:15

I think so. I think after a few days I would like to go back to my friends and cook for them again. I mean, I'm looking forward to be on the island and and and uh

Anton Mosimann23:28

you know, be by myself and and create wonderful dishes just for myself. But then there comes that time where you like to share your ideas and your food with somebody else.

Presenter23:41

and get back into the competition.

Anton Mosimann23:42

Exactly.

Presenter23:43

This

Presenter23:44

Your next record, please.

Anton Mosimann23:46

It's something by Sir George Schulte.

Anton Mosimann23:50

Again I was asked by Lady Shalty to cook his seventy-fifth birthday at his home.

Anton Mosimann23:57

He didn't know.

Anton Mosimann23:59

I came in late late afternoon with four of my chefs.

Anton Mosimann24:04

and was almost smuggled into the house, and we cooked a meal for a hundred people. And just before the guests sat down, Lady

Anton Mosimann24:14

Came in the kitchen, with Sir George.

Anton Mosimann24:17

and said, Here, darling,

Anton Mosimann24:20

Antomosyvan and his team.

Anton Mosimann24:22

He just couldn't believe it.

Anton Mosimann24:24

And for me it was such a wonderful moment to meet the great Maestro.

Anton Mosimann24:28

The moment I should never forget.

Presenter25:28

Sir George Schulte conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the overture to Rossini's Barber of Seville. Now you had, Anton, as you've mentioned, this private dining room off the kitchens in the Dorchester.

Presenter25:40

You said Shirley Bassey came in there and sang to you at one o'clock in the morning. It was invitation only. Who else did you invite in there?

Anton Mosimann25:47

quite a few actually and uh

Anton Mosimann25:50

A colorful mix of people in fact Danny Kaye was one of my greatest and best friends.

Anton Mosimann25:58

Danny would never go up to his hotel room. He would always come down to the kitchen first, and we would have a cup of coffee, and we would just talk about food for hours and hours. But Peter Ustinoff

Anton Mosimann26:13

Michael Keane

Anton Mosimann26:16

People from the film business, but also from the politics. Like we have President Regan down there one day, which was lovely.

Presenter26:23

Yeah.

Anton Mosimann26:26

You know, just to actually mix with

Presenter26:29

It's a great leveller food, isn't it? Everybody wants to talk about it and everybody feels equal to talking about it.

Anton Mosimann26:36

I think so, and everybody has to eat, and most people actually are interested in food.

Anton Mosimann26:43

There's always a conversation going somehow, their likes or their dislikes, good experiences, bad experiences.

Presenter26:50

Now it it's an open secret, too, that that you've cooked private dinners for members of the royal family. I mean, are are we allowed to ask which members?

Anton Mosimann26:59

I think most members uh only recently I was asked to cook a series of meals and most of the royal family members were actually were there. So uh yes, most of them.

Presenter27:11

You're very discreet. Have you ever had a great culinary disaster that you can admit to?

Anton Mosimann27:17

I think a few, but one I remember which was really very difficult to to uh rectify. We had a banquet for five hundred people, and they all had a soup in in a cup covered with puff pastry.

Anton Mosimann27:34

And somehow all the soups collapsed, all the puff pastry fell into the soup. And when I found out, it was obviously quite late, I ran upstairs into the ballroom and asked the manager, the banking manager, to hold the people back, give me another drink, please. But it was too late. They already walked into the room and sat down. And we had to go down and and find a solution. In fact, we had to to cover the soup with new puff pastries. We had to let the people wait, obviously, for about ten minutes. But sometimes it's better to let people wait for ten minutes than serving something which you're not quite happy with. There are obviously disasters you can't avoid if it happens it happens, but then the most important thing is to keep your nerves. I never show that I'm nervous. Especially under those circumstances, it's very important that you keep calm. Then if you as a chef start running around doing things badly or unconscious, then you know you f your staff follows. So it's very important that you keep uh calm.

Speaker 427:56

Yeah

Presenter28:46

Your seventh record.

Anton Mosimann28:48

It's Louis Armstrom, whom uh I met in Montreal in nineteen sixty seven when I was working at the uh Canadian Pavilion as a chef. A wonderful man. I was able to listen to his uh music then, and a few years later he came to Samoritz, to the Palace Hotel, where again he played wonderful music and met him again then. In fact, he signed one of his of his record for me. So I'd love to hear him again.

Presenter30:17

Louis Armstrong and the All Stars with Backertown Blues.

Presenter30:22

Anton Mosmyn, if you had to eat your last supper on our desert island, what would it be? Can you describe it to me in all its glory? Let let us say that you have all the ingredients and the wherewithal to cook it.

Anton Mosimann30:33

I think it would certainly be a steamed fish, steamed with Chinese parsley, maybe a bit of soya, and just simple steamed.

Anton Mosimann30:44

Bottle of champagne.

Anton Mosimann30:46

and they'll be my last to suffer.

Presenter30:48

No pudding, no cheese.

Anton Mosimann30:49

Not necessary. I think I could just fulfil my needs with a beautiful dish. I can smell it now already. If I find and would have some ginger, I also would add some ginger too.

Presenter31:03

And now, Anton, after thirteen years at the Dorchester, you've quit, you've left, you've left it all behind you. That must have been a very difficult decision.

Anton Mosimann31:12

It was indeed.

Anton Mosimann31:14

Sad moment in my life. On the other hand, life is not a trip in itself. It's not a goal. It's a progress. And you get there step by step. And I had happy years there, very successful years.

Anton Mosimann31:32

But there's a time where you have to make a decision, and I needed a new challenge.

Anton Mosimann31:38

That's why I resigned. And.

Anton Mosimann31:42

I have now a business of my own, a private club, private dining club. In fact, the word club is maybe not quite right. It should be a restaurant, private restaurant, where I can entertain guests, stroke friends. The advantage of having a private club is you get to know your members and they become friends.

Anton Mosimann32:06

And I want to know the likes and dislikes in much more detail than

Anton Mosimann32:12

I would ever have been able.

Anton Mosimann32:14

Though

Anton Mosimann32:15

Find out at the Dorchester thing.

Presenter32:17

The disadvantages by running a a private dining club or private restaurant is that you cannot qualify for stars in the Michelin. Now you won two stars for the the Terrace Restaurant in the Dorchester. Now you will be starless.

Anton Mosimann32:33

Yes, you're right. I would be starless. On the other hand.

Anton Mosimann32:36

I done it, I achieved two stars.

Anton Mosimann32:39

And it was nice to get up every morning and fighting for two stars.

Presenter32:43

Nothing left to prove now.

Anton Mosimann32:44

Yeah.

Anton Mosimann32:46

There's still a lot to be proved.

Presenter32:47

Who are you going to compete against?

Anton Mosimann32:49

against myself in many ways, because

Anton Mosimann32:54

I don't need to prove it towards the Michelin uh guides or uh good food guide or whatever, eigenonic uh guides. I just want to prove it to my guests that I can do it and I want to keep them happy, as happy as I can.

Presenter33:10

Let's have your final record.

Anton Mosimann33:13

It's something from Abba.

Anton Mosimann33:17

again reminds me very much of my time in Sweden, where I was working as a trainee, moneyless,

Anton Mosimann33:26

Walking round those wonderful streets of Stockholm.

Anton Mosimann33:30

With no money in my pocket, but full of dreams, and how wonderful now, after so many years, those dreams have come true.

Speaker 433:38

Like the super trooper lights are gonna find me Shining like the sun Smiling heaven sun

Speaker 433:51

Feeling like a number one

Speaker 433:54

My pursuit of true birth means are gonna blind me But I won't be a zoo

Speaker 434:03

Like I'm on break shoes.

Speaker 434:07

Well somewhere in the

Presenter34:09

Abba with Super Trooper.

Presenter34:12

Now the final moments, Anton Moziman, before you depart these shores for the sunny but deserted climes of our desert island. Now, which one of those records above all others will you hold most dear while you're there?

Anton Mosimann34:26

I think it will be memoried from Barbara Dixon.

Anton Mosimann34:30

I think will bring back so many memories of my

Anton Mosimann34:34

Youth

Anton Mosimann34:35

when I was sitting next to the lake of my hometown.

Anton Mosimann34:42

Dreaming out my future.

Anton Mosimann34:44

Looking forward. Couldn't wait to get older.

Anton Mosimann34:48

one day to be in charge of something, to be successful.

Presenter34:53

And what book would you like to have with you as you sit and dream? You have, as you know, the complete works of Shakespeare, and you have the Bible.

Anton Mosimann35:03

I think next to those wonderful books you just mentioned.

Anton Mosimann35:06

This one book I like to study.

Anton Mosimann35:08

much more in details, and that's Bartolomeo Scappi, who used to be the chef to the Pope in fifteen hundred twenty five. He wrote the first cookery book.

Anton Mosimann35:24

with wonderful recipes, and I love to go back.

Anton Mosimann35:28

page by page, and try to study it more in details.

Presenter35:32

And don't tell me your luxury is a fish slice.

Anton Mosimann35:35

No, it's a steamer. I love to have a steamer, because I cannot live without a steamer.

Anton Mosimann35:41

And even this beautiful island here, I think a steamer I need to to survive.

Presenter35:49

Anton Mozamman, thank you very much indeed for letting us hear your desertid discs.

Speaker 236:01

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk/slash radio four.