Cooking for the Lady

How did the democracy icon eat under house arrest? Her former chef tells us about a hidden kitchen, meal deliveries past the military, and more

By KYAW PHYO THA

When he took over sole responsibility of cooking for Myanmar’s most famous resident in 2004, U Myint Soe’s first job was to find a secret location where no one could see what he was doing.

His next job was to buy a small gas stove, some pots and pans, and then he got to work. Every morning around 9:30 the chubby man with a speckled-gray ponytail emerged from the unmarked room, holding two large plastic bags of food and setting off across Yangon to University Avenue.

“It was my secret kitchen. I can’t let you know where it is. Nobody knew,” the 61-year old told The Irrawaddy. “It was for her safety.”

The reason for all the secrecy was that U Myint Soe was preparing and delivering food for pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her house arrest. If anyone knew where his kitchen was located, he was afraid someone might poison the meals.

U Myint Soe, also known as U Pho Lay, originally became the personal cook for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in July 1995, taking over from her long-serving family chef.

Up until her house arrest in 2003, he prepared food at the Nobel laureate’s lakeside villa kitchen, but when her detention began, the Lady was held incommunicado with two female companions.

On her request in 2004, U Myint Soe and one of his friends were ordered to prepare food outside and deliver it.

“During those years, I missed my duty only one day, when Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon on May 3 in 2008, because all the way to her house was totally blocked with debris,” he said.

In preparation for his job, U Myint Soe had to learn the “dos and don’ts” of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s menu from his predecessor.

“She doesn’t eat red meat. She shuns MSG and oily food. She wants less salt in her food. Fish, prawns and vegetables are her meals of choice. Plus, chicken and duck,” he said.

For breakfast, he brought some traditional Burmese food at around 8 am or 9 am every day. He prepared a small portion of rice, soup, vegetable salad and meat curry for her. She usually ate lunch around noon and dinner at 7 pm.

“She is very health-conscious,” he said. “She told me to use sugar as a substitute for MSG. She doesn’t want to be fat, either.”

U Myint Soe actually had no formal training when he first took on the job of feeding the country’s most famous person. But he was a keen helper in his mother’s kitchen as a young man, and his cooking skills became well known among his friends and fellow party workers.

“When she said she wanted a new chef, my friends simply nominated me and I became her cook. She never made a comment on the food I prepared for her, nor told me what she wanted to eat,” he said.

The cook recalled the tedious security arrangements he passed every time he made his deliveries to 54 University Avenue, with a group of plainclothes military intelligence personnel camping inside a building in front of the house.

“They always inspected the meal to make sure I brought only food, not something else, and took pictures. They did it every day!” he said.

After the security check, he would hand over the plastic food containers at the front gate of the villa to one of the women staying with Daw Aung San

Suu Kyi, making the transfer under the watchful eyes of the police standing next to him. Then he would jot down the list of items that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wanted during the next visit.

“I made the daily delivery on purpose because it was the only way to know whether Ama [big sister] was OK or not,” he said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Gen U Aung San, was a childhood hero for U Myint Soe, who remains a staunch supporter of the National League for Democracy and was the 15th person to join the party when it formed in 1988.

“They are ‘like father, like daughter.’ I just admire those who sacrifice their lives for their people and nation,” he said.

The chef has earned a reputation for his commitment to the democracy icon.

“Given his decade-long daily service to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and hardship he endured at that time, everyone can easily gauge how loyal Myint Soe is to her,” said U Win Tin, one of the cofounders of the NLD.

Since Daw Aung Suu Kyi was released in November 2010, U Myint Soe is no longer the only cook for the NLD leader. Now in his early 60s, the chef is trying his hand at writing. His recent memoir about the democracy icon and her close friends, “Aung San’s Daughter,” became a best-seller.

“I have surrendered my duty to someone I trust. I believe they can do a good job for her,” he said. “Now I have time to document Ama’s life. As one of the people who had lived very close to her, I have so many things to write about her.”

Old habit dies hard, though.

“I still cook once or twice a month for her when she is not attending the Parliament in Naypyitaw.”