Gutsy represents the dreams and passions of both our founder, Isabelle and her mum, Mrs. Ma aka 豉油婆 & 帶子囡.
Mrs. Ma emigrated to the UK with her husband over 50 years ago and like most HK-ers at that time earned a living working in Chinese take-aways and restaurants. She realised she had a talent and love of cooking Chinese food and learned classic techniques from HK banquet chefs in Chinatown who had also emigrated. Confident in her culinary abilities, Mrs. Ma took a gamble and set up her own Chinese restaurant in a small town, Fleet in Hampshire. Isabelle grew up watching her chef mum command the restaurant kitchen, her weapon of choice, her trusty wok. Mrs. Ma got the nickname 豉油婆 in the kitchen because she was the boss and got the respect of other chefs for the tasty food she was able to create. Mrs. Ma endearingly called her daughter, 帶子囡. Mrs. Ma ran her restaurant for over 40 years and only sold the business in 2023 so she could come back to Hong Kong.
Origin Story of 帶子囡
What about Chef Isabelle? She grew up with a pretty typical BBC (British Born Chinese) story; university, law degree, solicitor in Hong Kong. Things took a turn for the unusual when after five years as a solicitor, she decided to pursue her innate passion for cooking, in particular, pastry and quit law. She spent three years studying and working in Pastry and Boulangerie in world renowned institutions in Paris, London and Hong Kong. Life steered her in the direction of bread and sourdough and she then spent four years building a bread empire in Nanjing, training a team of bakers in a central kitchen to supply sourdough and baked goods to four bakeries. Business was good and she was building herself a name in Nanjing as a Pastry Chef and Baker. Then Covid hit.
During the covid years, 豉油婆 was in the UK and 帶子囡 was in Nanjing. Both Mr and Mrs. Ma got covid and Chef Isabelle researched what her parents could eat to help them avoid long covid and better improve their health. Thats when she discovered the importance of Gut Health and Gut Bacteria. She is now studying a diploma in Nutrition and the Digestibility of Sourdough.
Origin story of Gutsy
Chef Isabelle didn’t get to see her 豉油婆 for three years and she promised herself that when the borders opened again, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her mum. So when Mrs. Ma decided she wanted to sell her business and move back to Hong Kong, Chef Isabelle decided she would do the same with her Nanjing business. Isabelle thought what could she do in Hong Kong that could utilise her extensive knowledge in bakery and gut health and also allow her to spend time with Mrs. Ma and finally learn all the culinary experience Mrs. Ma had acquired over 50 years. The idea of Gutsy was born. Gutsy is a platform for Chef Isabelle to share her passion for good quality bread and pastries with a healthy twist but is also a place where 帶子囡 and 豉油婆 can experiment and share their knowledge and techniques to come up with unique fun fusion food. We hope you are able to share in our love for food and join us on this Gutsy journey.
