Culinary Achievers

Winning the student chef of the year award It isn't where you come from, it's where you're going that counts………….. Winning the student Chef of the year award is a great milestone that I’ve passed in my journey to become a renowned Chef one day. Achieving this title is not something that I would have never thought of five years back but it was made possible with the guidance and support of my mentors and chefs at the Culinary Academy of India. Being part of such a prestigious academy gave me the confidence and instilled the skills in me that I required to be part of such a competition. The training for the competition began with a intra college competition in which all the students of the final year participated. Once I was selected to represent the Academy, I was asked to plan a menu which was scrutinized and adjusted to meet the current trends and international standards. I had wonderful training sessions with Chef Sudhakar N. Rao, Chef Akshay, Chef Khajaram, Chef Sanjay, ...

IS KITCHEN STILL A MAN’S WORLD? For too many years a woman’s place was in the Kitchen – except when that kitchen happened to have a restaurant attached to it. Though every woman was expected to be a good cook, conventional wisdom declared that men would be great Chefs. It is a known fact that women have to make life decisions that men are not asked to make. Rather, they are being forced to make the decision. Will I have a family or a job? And that…. is the base line. The present ambitious generation of women has undoubtedly opted for the later. Then… why is it that we still do not see more women chefs than men? It has always been a misconception that “It’s harder in the culinary profession than in others because our hours are strange”. The challenge of balancing career and family life is especially difficult in the restaurant industry. Well, I do not buy this argument at all? What about the timings & work in call centers, MNC’S, IT Companies and Banks? The pressures are mind boggli...