Chef! Part 2

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.

Orange Vodka Cheesecake

Base

225g coconut biscuits, crushed finely

110g unsalted butter, melted

30ml Peach schnapps

Filling

2 fresh oranges

225g mascarpone cheese, room temperature

450g cream cheese, room temperature

62ml vodka

25ml gelatine

100ml water

300ml caster sugar

5ml vanilla extract

Topping

2 oranges

100ml orange juice

30ml vodka

3 tablespoons sugar

25ml corn flour

Combine the biscuits, butter and schnapps and mix well, press into a greased round cake tin and place in the fridge to set.

In a pot boil 1 orange until soft for 10-15 minutes , remove from the pot allow to cool. Roughly chop the cooked orange including the rind, remove all the pips. Place inside a blender and blend to a smooth puree and leave to cool.

Finely zest the second orange.

Sponge the gelatine in the water in a metal bowl.

In a bowl whisk together the cheeses and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add in the vanilla and whisk in.

Place the bowl with the gelatine over hot water to dissolve into a liquid, pour that liquid into the cheese mixture. Add in the orange puree, orange zest and vodka into the mixture and whisk on low until well combined. Pour into the biscuit case and place in the fridge to set.

Peel and segment the oranges for the topping. In a pot add in the orange juice, sugar and cornflour. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cornflour and cook until boiling and thick. Remove from pot and stir in the orange segments and vodka. Mix in well.

Spoon the mixture on top of the set cheesecake and place into the fridge to set for 2 hours.