On Masterchef Malaysia & Us, The Culinarians.

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*the opinions below are entirely my own and do not reflect the entire chef community.
*and because i'm an egomaniac, i'm going to pepper this posts with pictures of me, my students and the stuff we've been doing in culinary school.

 The Masterchef series has been launched in Malaysia, to much public joy. And yet after watching the first few episodes, I cannot help but feel frustrated.

"Edwan, did you audition?"

No, I did not.

"Edwan, why didn't you audition?"

Because apparently I'm over-qualified (but since my brother works for Astro, I couldn't even if I could. Sucks.).

A menu I created. 2010.

 

You see, I consider myself a CHEF. I was taught the Culinary Arts, I earned the theoretical and practical know-how of the Culinary Arts, and I worked as a CHEF, and now, I am passing on that knowledge to another generation of what I hope will be future CHEFS.

myself, teaching, in class. Garde Manger, 2011.

Teriyaki Duck, with Fried Potatoes, Snow Peas & Sauteed Zucchini. One of my students.

 

 

 

Pan-seared salmon, with soy reduction, red basil, cucumber-rice 'sushi' and ikura. One of my students.

I think most people are seduced by the glamor and the popularity of celebrity and TV chefs. I admit, I was, too. Chef Wan, Anthony Bourdain, Jamie Oliver and my favorite, Gordon Ramsay, have given most of the general public (and I speak locally) a perception that life as a chef is glamorous, and that it pays well.

this gentlemen quit engineering to become a chef. started all over. from scratch. he's doing very well.

 

 

Salad of Crab, Avocado and Tomato Salsa with Balsamic Reduction. Recipe: Garde Manger, WILEY. Made in class.

 It's not. And no, it doesn't pay well. It's a tough, tough line of work, where you work sometimes all day long, sleep 4 hours a night, and have to prepare food for hundreds of different people of different tastes. It's a life where the people you serve rarely get to see you. Most times, you're nameless, faceless behind the kitchen-wall. Professional cooking is NOT for the faint of heart. It is NOT for people thinking that it's an easy job (which, even in this day of celebrity chefs and culinary schools mushrooming, a lot of people seem to think it is).

a colleague, Chef Fazlina Zulkifli, demonstrating how to finish a dessert, mille-fieulle.

No. The road to actually becoming a top chef is hard-fought, and filled with physical, mental and emotional turmoil. SUSAH SANGAT, to be honest. Yeah, sure, there are that lucky few gifted enough, and strong enough, to make it UP THERE. But for the majority of us, it's something like this:

1. Enrol/Endure at least two years of Culinary School. Cooking+assignments!
2. Apply for internship. Be a slave for three months or so. Literally.
3. Graduate.
4. Apply for job. Be a (better paid) slave, for a few years.
5. Continue slaving. Move up the ladder. Quickly, if you're good or you're a suck-up. Slowly, if you're average or not a brown-noser.
6. Continue work. HARD. Earn an average salary of around RM2000.
7. Fight your way to the top. Sleep 4 hours a night. Work 8, 10, 12, 16-hour shifts.
8. Be tired. On off-days, look at the sky and think: "What's that bright thing up there?"
9. Get insulted or ridiculed or looked down upon by A LOT of people.
10. Repeat, for YEARS.

You think chefs are a guaranteed path to wealth? Reality check. Just like any other job, most chefs (and I exclude the gifted) only really make good money when they're 40 onwards. You think it's glamorous? Like Chef Wan seems to portray? It's not.

It's not.

What has this all got to do with Masterchef Malaysia?

Hear me out. But first, a disclaimer: in no way am I saying that the contestants are terrible. They are amateurs. Of course I don't expect them to be Michelin-star quality. Now, that's out of the way, so here goes:

I feel that Masterchef Malaysia should have opened itself to us, CHEFS. If they were worried about an unfair advantage, then perhaps they should have limited it to those with, say, less than FIVE years experience. Better still, place the priority on CULINARY ARTS students. If professionals were allowed to compete together, it would be awesome to see amateurs against them; amateurs, who rely a lot on tradition and skills passed from generation to generation, against professionals who learned cooking formally. THEN we can see a true MASTERCHEF.

Maybe this opinion is skewed. I felt a bit frustrated about not being able to audition due to the fact I’m a ‘professional’.

But, as I pointed out above, a lot of us (us, being people who studied the culinary arts professionally) had to go through at least 2 years of culinary school, and after that, slave our way from the bottom rung of the kitchen ladder to get to wherever we are today.

some of my culinary arts students.

one of many kitchen classes. the students go through a LOT.

who knows, maybe one of them will be the next Ramsay?

 We work long, hard, shifts. We earn peanuts.

Seared and roasted Dijon glazed Striploin of Beef, with Spring Vegetables, Pommes Frites and Black-Pepper and Lemon Sauce. My own creation.

And there are so many of us who are talented, but in this ultra-competitive industry, it's difficult for us get national renown and recognition. I will admit that a lot of the professionals disregard the TV show, but I still believe that shows such as Masterchef Malaysia can play an instrumental role in the recognition of CHEFS in Malaysia. We have earned industry acknowledgement, we earn it constantly. But the general public? How many of them knew about Culinaire 2011? CAM? Youth CAM?

Then Masterchef Malaysia comes along, and will eventually crown a layman with no kitchen experience as ‘Masterchef’; said winner gets RM100000 (!!!) (the entry level salary for a hotel chef is around RM1400… and stays like that for a year or two…) and a book deal. Maybe a TV show?

Please realize I am not saying it's a terrible show. For the general public (admittedly, the target audience) it's great entertainment. And I acknowledge that shows such as Masterchef Malaysia do their part to increase the credibility of the Culinary Arts in Malaysia. Seeing Chef PapaJoe and Chef Zubir is a treat. Watching the contestants go through a condensed version of what I had to go through is great fun (although sometimes irritating).

Shows like Masterchef would have been great for us in the industry, especially to the young ones to showcase their talent.  But as it stands, we'll have to wait on the sidelines for that opportunity to be nationally renowned.

And though I realize most of us will actually prefer to do it the hard way (and repeat the steps I mentioned above), I still think there are some of us, especially at a very young age, who deserve recognition now.

It's about time.

Here I would like to take time to appreciate the efforts of The Chefs Association of Malaysia, as well as it's youth branch, The Youth Chefs Association of Malaysia, for their constant efforts to do good in the name of The Culinary Arts. To those people with passion, keep up the good work. Keep fighting the good fight.



- Edwan