By Chef Thobeka Shangase
Chefs by nature are extremely competitive, I
cannot imagine another industry where the desire to be better then the next
person is so rampant. I remember back in culinary school, the first two months
of school we all loved each other and then fast forward four months later you
were lucky if you weren’t killed in your sleep,
peoples assignments were going missing, pages were being ripped out of
some, research was being hidden, resources being thrown away, fractions had
formed. The kitchen was the worst there was always a rush for ingredients
everyone took extra so some wouldn’t get and have to make do, oh the shit
talking was like an infectious disease.
Everyone judged everybody else’s plate, copied
plating ideas, accidentally knocked over things that were in the fridge, pastry
resting in the fridge often went missing. Culinary School was only a teaser,
professional kitchens are far worse. Being a young chef in a professional
kitchen is like being in the front line of a war zone. Life is brutal and
borderline hostile if it’s not the other staff making you do all the grunt
work, it’s your head chef or Sous Chef making your life miserable, being set up
to take a fall is a common occurrence I remember an experience when C.D.P (Chef
de Partie) had a tray of bacon grilling in the oven, she forgot about the bacon
went outside to smoke and the Sous Chef found the bacon burning to coal, who
did she blame for the cock up? ME!
In my experience I found that it wasn’t the head
chef that was hardest to please because I am damn good at what I do, it was my
colleagues, walking into a kitchen with an expensive qualification in your back
pocket and an impressive knife roll under your arm is not taken lightly by the
people in the kitchen who started off as dish washers and have slaved for
years. That is where most of the hostility stems from and chefs are not one to
suffer silently, I’ve had someone look me in the eye after seeing my knife set
and tell me that I am not worthy to have the knife set I had, as a chef you
have to earn your knives with experience, and that is why knives grow feet and
walk out knife rolls mysteriously.
People don’t realize how catty this industry is,
every chef has been involved in some rivalry, every chef has another chef they
cannot stand, you piss off the wrong person and it could be the end of your
career, people have made phone calls and purposely blocked another person from
getting hired. Screw the Real
Housewives, someone should do a reality television show about chefs and life in
the kitchen. I do think it would be too real and too bloody for t.v.
As chefs
if we aren’t talking about our experiences and the places we have worked, we
are talking about our food and how amazing it is or we are talking shit about
another chef and telling anyone who will listen how much better we are then
everybody else. There’s nothing worse than a chef who has worked at a five star
property or worked abroad, every word out of their mouth stars with, “When I s
working in London at a five star restaurant…”This is precisely the reason why
shows like Chopped and Top Chef exist, no chef could pass up the opportunity to
talk about themselves, their food and to beat other chefs.
I’m no different from other chefs, I too believe
my food is excellent and is better than most, I too believe that I’m more
talented and skilled then most around me. It’s just how it is. We feel this way
because a tremendous amount of time and attention to detail is required from a
chef, I demand perfection of myself and quiet honestly I have no respect for a
chef who doesn’t feel the same about their food. If you as chef don’t demand
perfection of yourself and will let an adequate plate leave the kitchen, you
need to strip of your whites and retire, go work at Pick n Pay and deep fry
fries for a living because you are a waist of space and a disgrace to the
uniform.
This profession is hard, but I wouldn’t have it
any other way, I like the competition, I like the back biting and shit talking.
I wouldn’t want to be in this industry if it was all about love, support and
holding hands, no way. Give me anger, give me competition, give me rivalry,
deceit and blood sworn enemies. That’s the shit I live on as a chef.
