Jack Yap: The one thing that really inspired me was learning the importance of understanding the ingredients. I was intimidated by the thought of getting creative with vegetables because I was only taught a few ways of cutting and cooking them. During my internship, I was inspired by how much thought and care was put into each ingredient — from choosing the best soil and environment to grow it into harvesting it at the right stage and experimenting with different cutting and cooking techniques.
As we were dealing with more than 100 different types of vegetables and herbs every day, whenever we were unsure about the taste or texture, we’d taste it to understand the ingredients better and find out the best way to prepare it. I started practising this and it definitely improved my knowledge of many ingredients to a great extent.
While it may seem like all glitz and glam interning abroad at well-renowned restaurants, it’s not without its own hardships. Jack recounts, “It’s extremely normal to meet chefs that throw things, physical and verbal, in the name of helping us improve. In this harsh environment, we face a lot of pressure and tough moments but when you go through this, remind yourself to not take things too personally.”
He continues, “No matter how passionate you are about something, you’ll definitely have times where you get demotivated and start doubting your passion. Whenever you feel like it, take a step back to remind yourself why you chose this path and how you fell in love with it.”
The kitchen life may be too hot to handle for an unprepared young chef. For many, the challenges faced without prior training might result in them leaving what they love to do. So what’s the best way to keep that passion burning?