Being a chef is not an easy job. It can mean long hours, burnt and/or cut fingers, and not much pay — at least to start with. But it’s also a career with a lot of responsibility — towards your colleagues, guests, and the environment.
Those who choose to make this their career take it seriously. In the F&B industry, there is always the need for innovation, as well as keeping an eye on the latest trends.
Caterer Middle East was in Milan for the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016, and through interviews with chefs, and viewing the dishes on offer from the young 20 finalists, uncovered the top concerns for chefs in the industry, and the advice they have for others planning to make this their career.
Vegetarianism
Concerns about sustainability when it comes to the beef production value chain have long since been discussed. Issues around greenhouse gas emissions, efficient use of land and water when it comes to rearing livestock, and the environmental footprint have been in the news. The chefs at the event were all keen to emphasise the importance of thinking about vegetarian ingredients in a creative way — from a health, as well as environmental, standpoint.
French national Dominique Crenn is the restaurateur-chef behind Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, and also won the title of ‘The World’s Best Female Chef 2016’. At S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016, she was mentor to the winner, USA representative Mitch Lienhard. She touches on the issue of serving vegan and vegetarian food, and says: “I am neither [vegan nor vegetarian] but I love that aspect [of food]. Chefs need to understand that there needs to be a change in the way that we’re producing meat and fishing.
“I believe in climate change and we need to go with a different way of looking at things. I have a restaurant that just does vegetables and fish. I believe I was one of the first to serve a vegan tasting menu if someone wanted it. We need to be open with diversity and embrace it. It’s a challenging way of looking at ingredients and being more open minded. Look at what’s going on in the world and what we’re producing. We have been very narrow minded in that we have had to have meat and fish on our dishes.
“I think meat is not better than vegetable, I think a vegetable is the rock star. Nature gave us incredible ingredients so let's use it.”
On the vegetarian trend, Chantal Dartnall agrees. She is the head chef at Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient in South Africa, and was the mentor for Africa & Middle East’s representative, Grégoire Berger from Atlantis the Palm.
She tells Caterer: “I became a vegetarian when I was quite young and the rest of my family weren’t, so I started cooking for myself. And through that I discovered a lot of different vegetables and how to incorporate them into my dishes, and then incorporating herbs and flowers — not just from a visual point of view, but how these influenced your health. Because with limiting meat and protein out of your diet, you need to look at alternative sources of energy. And that’s where my journey began.
“That’s how I ended up being a botanical chef and even today I don’t use flowers and herbs just for the visual appeal but from a holistic approach.”
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