It was only for 5 years…and yes I knew it was going to be
over soon…
If I am a morning person or late night person, it just
depends on my schedule for the last few weeks. So, today also I wake up early,
as my body pretends to go to work & do some *cooking*. But alas, from today
onwards I won’t be cooking anymore. Lunch, dinner or breakfast buffet, ala
carte—it is a freedom from all the slogging in the kitchen. The relation was
bittersweet—but then, it is time to say goodbye to my love, without who I never
imagined of doing something else
Let me get to the point. I am done with working in hotel
kitchens. It was for about 5 years (only???). And yes, I will be still cooking
…but high above the sky & for selected people only. I quite clearly remember
the day I started working in the kitchens, esp., since it started in Grand
Hyatt, Mumbai, India. My profile was a “commis chef” with a salary of almost
US$1000 (Rs. 5500) & meals while on duty (no other benefits provided! ). I
didn’t have a house in Mumbai, so it ended up in living on rent, for which I
had to shell out almost US$750(Rs. 3500)a month, mostly it ended up being my
mother sending me money, than I save something for home.
As many people will tell me, looking at my changing
tendencies, “you are a butterfly!” , I had to look for jobs on the first month
itself. In about four weeks, I had an interview in the newly opened Four
Seasons Hotel, in Mumbai. It was a long interview & well, I didn’t get
through. One of my many goals were to work out of India (no matter where
possible). So, I started applying wherever I could. So, I landed up with my
first offer abroad…Atlantis in the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE. I saw it as a
fantastic opportunity & immediately resigned once I signed the offer
letter.
However, God had some other plans. Recession hit Dubai &
rest was history…
**Fast Forward to February 2009**
Got an Interview in Chennai with ITC Chola Sheraton. Got the
offer & soon I got bored there. Secondly, the executive was just too much
for me..I left that job in October, in search of greener pastures. And two of
my dreams got materialized. Dream Number One- Got an opportunity to work out of
country, in Dubai, UAE. Dream Number two- Career opportunity to work in World’s
Number 1 Luxury brand, Ritz Carlton.
The start with Ritz Carlton was good. Different people from
across the world (the dominion were mostly Indians) & lots to learn. And
yes, my initial assignment was taking care of breakfast for 138 rooms. When I
joined, it was busy as hell with 100% occupancy (and sometimes oversold!)—the
visitors mostly Russians (since it is a beach property) & also Europeans.
“Dobroe Utro”…well what is the lady talking about?
“Da”…ok, I have no idea about that…or even “Aaamliyette”…
Understanding Russians (who seldom communicate in English)
was the tough job, while working in the egg station. And then, it was Germans,
French & many nationalities. I loved to interact with people to learn more
about their culture, language, etiquette etc etc.!
After 7 months in breakfast, I got the opportunity to work
in ala carte section—Lobby Lounge Kitchen, but as the kitchen rule goes..we are
flexible. “If you have nothing to do upstairs, come down to the main kitchen”,
was the unsaid order. Otherwise, come early to work—without any compensation. I
did all, I tried all—but life was losing its meaning. Work, Home, Sleep and
Work—was like a daily routine. My partner in crime for my day offs used to be
Eric Gozal, an Indonesian –to tag along on day offs for movies, hanging around
or just anything else to do. I love Asians (as I am an Asian too), but
surprisingly, whilst I am out of India for almost 4 years now (47 months
running), I have more Asian friends, than Indian counterparts. I love the
entire Chinese community with its counterpart from Hong Kong as well (about
that, we’ll talk later).
I knew that my time in Ritz Carlton would come to an end
soon. I was looking for a change, the question that would always haunt me, “Are
you growing? You are getting old…”, and soon an opportunity popped up. No, two
opportunities. The first one was from Park Hyatt, Dubai whilst the following
one was from Sainte Anne Resort, in Seychelles. The former was offering me a
commis position (a junior staff in the kitchen ranking, fyi), whilst, the
latter was willing to give me a chef de partie (kitchen supervisor in culinary
lingo) position. I was not confident, to be a supervisor. Reasons: I cannot
confidently clean tenderloin. I am not proficient enough with meat temperature.
Otherwise, I needed to learn more skills to be a confident chef de partie.
The initial months in park hyatt were full of bollockings
and I believe, if I have not received those, it would not have made me the
person, what I am today. “Always work on the timing—the food has to be in by 15-20
minutes” was the rule of thumb while working in the room service kitchen, where
I started working first. Where Ritz
Carlton was more into Core values, philosophy & ethics, I have a feeling
that Hyatt is more into actions—work, work & work. Firstly, I learnt how to
cook seafood (an essential for a chef to learn to grow high up in the ladder).
Secondly, how to work with the orders of three different outlets at the same
time (My opinion: I used to the call that same kitchen as “whorehouse” ) &
thirdly, how to make a horse out of a donkey.
Here also I made a couple friends quickly. My first Korean
friend—Michael. When I saw him first, I had one feeling—this guy is Chinese, he
must be a chef de partie & will give me a lot of shit. So, going by my
feelings, I greeted him in Chinese, “Zao An, Ni Hao Ma?”, but to that he
replied in english. Soon, got to know, we have the same position, he is Korean
(of course from the South, and not Chinese) and used to get shit rather. And
even though he is back in Korea now, we are still good friends.
Ban—I thought he was Indonesian, but only to find out he is
Cambodian (the only one, I came across till date).
Now, there was one more person, who I would always gaze at,
just because of his weird *dress codes*. I didn’t him well, who he was, except
his name. Though, I invited Cem, my counterpart from the room service, there
was he tagging along with him. Ivan Ho, my first friend from Hong Kong and on
our first meet, he was blown away with the pork belly, which I cooked on my birthday.
Perhaps, the turning point in my culinary career was when
the then Executive Sous chef of the hotel, Chef Franck came and told me,
“Gaurav, I want you to work in Traiteur. It is not confirmed—may be from
October”. It was a heaven sent opportunity & of course, I grabbed it &
didn’t let it go.
I had no clue of cooking meat, until I joined
traiteur—different temperatures to cook beef filet (aka tenderloin), lamb
fillet (butchered from the saddle), and different sorts of meat too! Never
cooked rabbit before, so I was initiated to cook lapin ala moutarde –a French
classic & a must for every Friday brunch. By the way, did I tell you TGIF
is so apt in middle east (but not so apt
for those who are slogging their butts for hours in front of the stove). Every
Friday would be an ass slogging session from 7-7:30 am in the morning, followed
by the brunch from 1230 hrs till 1600 hrs & then later dinner service &
closing the kitchen for the week (fyi, we used to be closed on Saturdays). So,
then go to sleep by 2 or 3 in the midnight & have a long sleep 2 or 3 in
the afternoon.
In the grill section I was literally getting grilled
everyday—just because I was taking too much time to get the temperatures right.
I don’t like to use thermometers to check the temperature—just go by the
feeling with the thumb & index finger. “I have got to get it right”, often
I would tell myself.
 |
Cooking the perennial classic
Sole Meunierre |
But my interest was more in the sauce section—I used to
read, the chef saucier is always the next chef in-line to go up in the ladder.
The sauces were challenging to make—in the sense, with so much cooking & reducing, the yield was too less, but
worth of putting on the plate. Duck jus, Lamb Jus, Beef Jus, Chicken Jus—and
yes, shortly after 3-4 months in the grill, I was put into saucier. But this section
doesn’t mean you would only make sauces. Aye, cook fishes, prepare all the hot
starters, mainly, snails (with which I fell in love with), bouillabaisse (and I
love it too!) and the French Onion Soup.
“I can just see a beef steak in front of me”, my boss would
tell me, while tasting the beef jus—till date I am not sure, if it was a
compliment.
Shortly, after running the fish section, it was my chance to
be in-charge of brunch mep (and I must tell you, it was hell of a headache,
mep=mise enplace) & same time, cold section. I have a love and hate
relationship with cold section. I love preparing little stuffs, but mostly,
those little stuffs are the most time consuming.
“You have done almost all the sections, and now you have a
month left. I want a happy ending with you in the Side section with the
gentleman (nickname for a colleague)”, my chef told me. I was really unwilling
but then what to do. My tenure in Dubai was for only few weeks!
Moving to Abu Dhabi & stepping on to a supervisory shoe
was not an easy task. Things were different compared to what I saw or worked
with. Sorry to say, there were people above me with almost no or zero skills.
Heart breaking isn’ t it? But I guess this is not new to me. I have seen people
who are ranking high up in the kitchen, but when it comes to cooking skills,
they are even worse than a commis. But onething I actually don’t prefer to cook—cooking
for the buffet. And yes, hell lot of things to do. Generally, I was scapegoat for
any issues in my area albeit; European but the senior had high expectations. I don’t
know if I met any.
 |
| Last Day in Fairmont as a "Chef" |
However, there was something for sure—I had a feeling. I had
a feeling of not cooking anymore. The thought afterwards was what shall I do if
I stop cooking?? So, by chance, I cracked the interview at the national airline
of UAE as “In-flight chef”….
But I must tell you something; I really miss working in the
kitchen, a kitchen which is busy as always, all orders lined up, with the chef
screaming out to read the orders, the line cooks ever busy on the line & a
restaurant full of guests!
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