CHEFs 'behind' February 14 -Valentine Dishes!!!!!!!
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BEHOLD-14th February Quiet CHEFs
Behind the Dishes!!!!
14th Feb-Valentine’s Day is an excuse for some to eat good food prepared by someone else out
with –select people that matter to them on that day! It is also a great excuse
to eat good food with people you love. Unfortunately for Chefs, they don’t
usually get the opportunity to do this on Valentine’s Day. Often they are found
preparing ,shuttling around their kitchen, purchasing and planning ahead, up
early before the ‘Val birds’ are up, to start their day so as to prepare the
exotic and exquisite ,dazzling meals we folks order!
If we consider that this year will even be extra
busy for them- as the song goes –‘IMAGINE that’! They will be on roller skates this Val
weekend! As it falls on a weekend-Have
you made your reservations!
Thus, it crossed my mind & dawned on me Valentine will be a GREAT TIME to CHEER & RECOGNIZE such people who won’t get to enjoy this –cosy and popular day- some use
for good intentions and some for bad intentions. Thus, I opted to do what i
love doing, and with this DAY interacting with PEOPLE- all unique beings!
This time interviewing EXQUISITE CHEFS! I asked due to time constraints THREE TOP CHEFS that I know who have also
being impacting on the GIRL-CHILD dear to my HEART.
I asked them some questions to put
them in the limelight, one of whom I know may have preferred to remain quietly with
his dishes ensuring all Val folks have a great meal on the 14th of February!
This has been done to CHEER & RECOGNIZE them. But, to also get them
to share the fact that they ARE REAL PERSONS- ‘behind the pots & Pans’ the
make the February 14th DISHES COME ALIVE, who may have wanted to
enjoy Val day also!
To get them to speak about what their ideal Valentine day might have looked
like if they weren’t working. What role they would play on this next Val day? Restaurant
they love visiting? What cooking meant to them? Destinations they would love to
visit?,etc
And of course comment about HOSPITALITY! Oh mine! Their answers may just surprise, inspire and
thrill you as I have been, as I re- DISCOVERED another ‘side’ of HOSPITALITY-
its access- PEOPLE that Matter!
This is because a hotel is not the building it
is – The People in the building. And I believe they need to be cherished & recognised as Treasures.
These are answers all from PASSIONATE, HARDWORKING AND
‘HIDDEN’ CHEFS behind the VAL DISHES!
o
Meticulous
in their description and answers
o
Passionate
not only about food but family, youngsters and Women farmers! ‘Part of the love
of my life’
o
Incredibly
multi-skilled Leaders of the KITCHEN very much in charge & control of
things from their words!
o
Well-groomed
& Immaculate outside the KITCHEN!
o
Customer
focused.
o
With
the presence of mind to understand the importance of attention to details SEEN
in their food DISPLAYS!
o
Detailed
with dishes, none ‘churned out’
o
With
the ability to make dishes ‘come
alive’, etc,etc,etc SAID – THE KING & I
Let’s
celebrate them with our comments and well wishes for
past Val dishes, those to come and the contribution they may have made to make
that SPECIAL occasion of yours in
the past MORE SPECIAL were you had them still ‘hidden’ from view- meticulously delivery ‘eye
spectacular’ dishes that thrilled you!
Or maybe Chefs have made a difference as- PEOPLE to your establishment as they keep your diners returning
beyond the –VAL!!
BEHOLD
THE QUIET DONs BEHIND ‘14th FEBRUARY' DISHES!!!!!!!!
CHEERS & READ ON @ H & M don’t
drop your GLASS!!
FIRST LEARN that-
An Executive Chef- Chefs also known as Chef Manager is the person in charge of a Kitchen.Everything
that goes out of the kitchen is his responsibility & should have
complete control of the kitchen and command respect!
A Sous Chefs- is
the person ranking next after the head Chef in the kitchen.There is
also the term sous-chef de cuisine( French for "under-chef of the
Kitchen") is a chef who is " the second in command in a kitchen, ranking
next after the head Chef" both with a lot of responsibilities.
Now enough of my introductions- HERE are the DONs OF THE KITCHEN BEHIND THE VAL DISHES to come!!!! Happy
reading.
My very first is Chef Shine-I would dear to describe Chef Shine
with my so far interaction with him as ‘a
People and Social Chef’, an Illustrious and true breed Culinary Trainer also,always ready to
attend to your –hospitality culinary needs and impact knowledge on others!
His dishes- ALWAYS Dazzling
and full of fascination! On this day a shout out from me at H & M to them all here in these
exclusive interview, and all the GREAT Chefs out there –meticulously READY
to deliver & serve 14th February -Val dishes yet to be seen –come TOMORROW, with for sure amazingly presentations and desserts of course! so as you ‘twitter’, ‘whatups’,
‘Facebook’ and post your comment
MOST OF ALL, on this platform, post your comments to CELEBRATE THE PASSIONATE & GREAT CHEFS out here till after
midnight Valentine - beyond!!!!!!
Akintunde Adeshina
( popularly known as
Chief Shine !)
Position
-
Executive Chef at Orchid Hotels and Event Center Lekki
Job
description - Responsible for the general coordination of all the kitchen and
food related units including menu writing, costing and execution.
Daily
schedule & likely schedule on Val’s day!- My day is just like every other
would like all other disciplines, except most times my day starts much earlier
while few people are still sleeping! And I still work much later than most
people... I’m quite used to it now after 15 years...I have jumped into it and
rolled with the tide...that’s how we tend to describe our day....It’s always
hectic and requires a lot of concentration and attention to details.
“as you know we play a major role in ensuring
the Val day is what its suppose to be......Valentine theme menu,waoh factor
presentation to impress and to create a lasting dinning experience for those
concerned......so you could tell it sounds like a hectic day already”
If you
were not working on Val’s day what would your ideal Val day be like-? Or would
you rather stay at home? Why?
“I
will rather stay at home and be cooked for or better still fun cooking with my
partner making indulgence dishes........
Which
restaurant do you enjoy dinning at in Lagos?
Lagos
restaurant.......quite a few of them e.g. Yellow Chilli, La Giara Italian
restaurant, FourPoints by Sheraton.....but to be honest with you, I prefer to
eat basic street foods and sometimes local bukas! (smiles).
What
would you want as a dinner menu on Val’s day if you had a chef to serve you!
I am a
very simple eater...i just appreciate good healthy combinations and sauce
pairing!!!
...simply put the taste of the pudding is in
the eating!!!!
If you had to travel to spend Val day with
family which destination will you chose?
London
UK
Chef which
dish do you most times ‘churn’ out of your kitchen?
It’s a
difficult one because as a chef you need to give each dish going out of your
kitchen equal amount of attention, as they carry your name!
What do you love most about cooking?
......woah....cooking allows you to define or express your inner passion,
energies and activates your creative mind and sharpens your expressive skill i.e.
food style and presentation
Your favourite quotes!!!!
1.
....whatever is worth doing at all, it’s worth
doing very well
2.
. The Chef is always right...even when he is
wrong, He is right!!! I dunno if you understand that!!!
What
do you love most about your job as a Chef in the hotel in Nigeria?
...knowledge
imparting to younger generation of chefs and cooks alike... there is nothing
more rewarding to me than seeing young Chefs growing to become great and
passionate gourmet cooks.
The Agricultural industry is a feeder to
your kitchen production what crucial ingredients in your dessert comes from
this industry, please comment
Let me
bring that to your attention the need to recognize thousands of people who are
very instrumental to the industry but whose voices are never heard or faces
seen...The FARMERS!!? The government and the corporate world should encourage farmers to help with
the propagation and increase in production
of agricultural produce e.g. if you look at some of the great looking
dishes in our restaurants and hotels, most of the ingredients are imported
thereby increasing production cost, selling price and ultimately affecting
affordability...for example consider exotic fruits like strawberries, kiwi and
ingredients like eggs, milk in my dessert enclosed and a host of other
ingredients like that..... if the smallholder farmers could be encouraged to
grow some of this, not only will their means of livelihood be improved and
sustained...more jobs get created in the process of growing, harvesting and
getting them out to the market and ultimately end users like us and even the
government saves its foreign reserves as a result of cutting importation of
those produces. Thank you...I remain Chef Shine.
( @H & M- SPLENDID!!!!!! we
share a passionate concern of MINE- Agriculture! a third love of my life)
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| Behold a Transformation @H &M! |
Other
comments on Hospitality in general you want to share
....Hospitality
potentials still remain largely untapped and unexplored...thou its a lot better
than what it use to be several years back...so I implore our government to
invest more in the industry...help with regulatory institutions to sanitize the
industry so that it becomes more attractive for the younger generations and
they would be proud of themselves and stand tall among their contemporaries in
other discipline.....
Thank
you and God Bless ...keep cooking!!!!
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| Oop! Behold We Cheer a Chef in the Limelight! |
CHEF
BOBO
–an understatement- he is THE QUIET CHEF- now in the limelight! Wait for his
Val displays! Chef Bobo will not be found in the limelight so I was delighted
to bring him out! to share this splendid
piece with you all!
Full
name -Adetunji Adewale (popularly
known as Chef Bobo!!)
Position- Sous
chef at the Fourpoints by Sheraton Lagos
His typical day at
work
- my typical day at work, i get to the
office before 7am,check on the breakfast made by the breakfast chefs, check the
entire corners of the kitchen, open all chiller and freezers of all sections of
the kitchen for temperature, availability and storage, also the dry store for
availability of items, check availability of all chefs via schedule, do a recap
on the menu for the day if need be to be revised due to availability of item
with the executive chef, quickly prepare a requisition form for items needed
for by each section for production to be picked up, then I start cooking for
the day, times I cook and lecture when not that busy and when busy I cook for the
success of the day, in the mist of this period i go receive items been supplied
as I had raised request for those items that day or days before and also raised
again if need be before the closing of the day.
Likely
schedule to have on Val’s day- Definitely i would have
started cooking and making arrangement a day or two before 14th of February day so I will be cooking
heavily on that day at the early hours of the , and at the later hours, I will
be attending to the customers to make
sure they have a splendid time, and making sure the food doesn’t run out.
If you
were not working on Val’s day what would your ideal Val day be like?- i
will be spending it with my family as i hardly stay at home to spend time with
them, as most festive time and occasional periods am always at work
Or
would you rather stay at home? Why? –this would be determined by
my family cause am not at work, so definitely i will be with them if they prefer we stay at home, then we will
make a kitchen festival, go shop and start all sort of cooking and if they want
us to go out, out it is! ( @H& M- Nice one!)
Which
restaurant do you enjoy dinning at in Lagos- though I don’t eat
out at all except I go for food tasting in other restaurants.
What
would you want for your dinner menu on a
Val’s day if you had a chef to serve
you!- a nice oyster
grilled lamb chop or lamb rack with some caramelize onion, broccoli, some
potato wedges top with a port wine demi glaze.
What
message do you have for Val guests out there that may want to consider dinning
at your restaurant on Val’s day- an exclusive romantic music
and colourful ambience, ease with a classic fine cuisine, you just want to stay
and enjoy the rest of the day all through!!!
( @H
& M – Interesting- Grab it if you can)!
If you
had to travel to spend Val day with family which destination will you chose- The Mediterranean blue sea at Greece or Miami
Chef
can we know the dish you love most to ‘churn’ out of a kitchen-actually
I believe a dish is a replicate of its chef, churn out a dish to me is as if
saying move out the chef!
( @H
& M- OGAJU- meticulous MIND ? cooking? )
What
do you love most about cooking- cooking is dealing directly
with nature, its colour, varities, life itself, texture and nutrients, when you
mix them together with tenderness of what they are and their value, it’s
amazing when you see the outcome and the expression on people’s face, i just
want to keep cooking!!!
( @H & M – confirm if your piece of
chicken in your plate on February 14th ‘COMES ALIVE’! smile!).
What’s
a famous quote you like- Life is simple for those who see it and
take it simple!!!
What
do you love most about your chef job in the hotel in Nigeria-
Highly challenging but gives you a platform for you to express yourself and
grow extensively
Other
comments on Hospitality in general you want to share- hospitality is not a job, it’s a way of life, if
you are not ready to accept the very next unknown person that comes your way,
then you can’t work in hospitality.
CHEF
ALFRED for me is simplicity ‘walking’, a down to earth ‘fruity
Chef’ that ‘dazzles you with fruits! A patient trainer of the Girl-Child .Check
it out!
Full
name
- Chef Alfred Osaghae
Position
at work presently I am a Sous Chef. I have worked as a Chef for
over 12 years from renowned hotels like Federal Palace hotel,Golden Tulip
Festac Hotel, Oriental hotel and Four point by Sheraton. Presently I am a
trainer and Consultant.
What is likely schedule you could have on
Val’s day!
I will be working on Valentine day because I have an
outdoor catering to coordinate.
Which restaurant do you enjoy dinning at
in Lagos?
I like dinning in Protea Hotel Lead Way, Ikeja Lagos.
What would you want as a dinner menu on
Val’s day if you had a chef to serve you!
I enjoy eating
Captain Steak, and some juicy fruit and vegetables
My
message for my guest on Valentine’s Day is to wow their spouse and
give their children the best treat they can afford since this season of love
comes just once in a year.
What message do you have for Val guests
out there that may want to consider dinning at your restaurant on Val’s day?
And if my guest were to eat in my restaurant I will advise
them to eat nice chicken dishes like Chicken princess or Chasseur with Basmati
rice and seasoned vegetable, as this dishes are very nutritious and easily
digestible. Then top it up with juicy fruit like giant apple and rip
watermelon.
Other comments on Hospitality in general
you want to share
My hospitality comment is that the hospitality industry is
a welcoming and nice place to be. That is why it is referred to as home away
from home for those that can that can afford it. It also is a place where you
can socialize, because you will meet people from different parts of the World
under one roof. It is also a place where you can get business connections
because you can be privileged to meet someone who you can exchange business
ideas with. It is also a place for fun and recreation. Most hotels have
recreational facilities, like swimming pool, lawn tennis court, gym, snookers, etc
It is also a place to eat good and nutritious food as there are varieties to
choose from e.g. the buffet service
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| Watermelon 80k......! |
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| Dishes with Details! |
The
Agricultural industry is a feeder to your kitchen production what crucial
ingredients in your dessert comes from this industry, comments please-the
crucial ingredients in my dessert are simply ripe watermelon and papaya as this
two juicy fruit can be used to prepare different kinds of desserts like fruit punch,
marmalade for Swiss roll, fruity syrup, fruit cake, fruit platters, etc These two
mentioned fruits are getting recognised for their health and nutritional value.
I think I will advice the government to encourage the farming of this products
especially to increase the income of small holder farmers mostly Women, and
also encourage it’s development as it will promote export trade, which will in
turn promote foreign earning, besides helping the hospitality industry food
production and service operation. Thank you.
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| Relax it seems to say! |
(@
H
& M- don't you think Chef has 'garnished' and just made it more
'fruity' & @topped' it up nicely? Agric........a love I have- stay
TUNED @H& M and you will hear it!)
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From H & M CHEERS .NOW POST YOUR COMMENT while you DRINK A TOAST TO THE CHEF behind February 14th DISHES!!!!! 
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