The Nation Newspaper

Tag: chef

  • BBN: Why I chose to be a chef, by housemate

    BBN: Why I chose to be a chef, by housemate

    •As Efe is crowned Head of House

    For announcing his flair for cooking at last Sunday’s launch of lifestyle reality show, Big Brother Naija, Miyonse Amosu Oluwaseyi, a Mass Communication graduate from University of Lagos, caught the attention of many who wanted to see how his chosen profession will play out in the house.

    Miyonse’s chosen career became the subject of discussion when, on Monday, housemates decided to share their personal experiences after dinner. They all talked about growing up, work, career path as well as family.

    Miyonse was asked why he chose to be a chef and how it is different from being a caterer. He spoke about how he knew he wouldn’t get fulfillment from a nine-to-five job, which was why he confided in his sister about attending a culinary school with particular interest in Chinese cuisine.

    ‘I have always had interest in Chinese cuisine and when I shared it with my siblings, they laughed and wondered what I wanted to achieve by being a cook, which was looked at as a girl’s job,’ Miyonse said. He however, kept at it even after the first culinary school he registered in got burnt the very day he was to resume. With support from his elder sister, he persevered and registered with another culinary school. Today, he is a chef and not a caterer and the money is certainly not bad. ‘Wetin you come dey do here’ quipped TallThinTony, a statement which elicited laughter across the room.

    Miyonse explains that a caterer is proficient in Nigerian dishes and prepares a variety of dishes for an occasion but a Chef has culinary skills which transcends Nigerian dishes and makes a full course meal plan before he begins cooking. From being a Sous Chef, he is today the Head Chef where he works in Abuja.

    Bisola, the actress, talked about her days in boarding school and how she didn’t even have exercise books to do her school work. Her story was however, cut short when housemates moved to the garden lawn to work out after which Tripple T (TallThinTony) led them in salsa dance lessons.

    Day one in the Big Brother house was very exciting with lots of drama as Efe was crowned the Head of House.

    There is more drama to come as Big Brother is giving tricky tasks to the housemates.

    Biggie, as he is fondly called, has instructed HOH Efe and the other housemates that anyone who wants to dethrone the current HoH can do so; but he warns that this coup can only be performed with guile and cunning. The HoH can take off his royal ornaments, but he should keep them locked up in the royal box. Losing the key to this box will mean that whoever has the keys, and opens the box will automatically become the new HoH.

    Fans of the show await how this plays out, knowing the other housemates will be secretly scheming to become HoH, if only for the immunity of being evicted by this Sunday.

    Unknown to them, instead of an eviction this Sunday, Biggie’s plan is to have two additional housemates join the competition.

    The dairy sessions shall unwittingly unveil what strategies the housemates may have to guarantee they end up as the last man or woman standing.

  • Intercontinental Hotel unveils Chef Kong

    For many Nigerian diners, the Chinese cuisines have become food that they have grown to love. This has led to many Chinese restaurants springing up and the Nigerian public has taken to their meals.

    Intercontinental Hotel says it is introducing a new and vastly experienced Chinese chef that specializes in modern Chinese delicacies and fusions of Chinese food with local food spices and flavours. The hotel unveiled its new Chinese chef, Mr.  Chua Kong. He will be preparation modern Chinese cuisines at the hotel’s Soho Restaurant.

    Speaking on the new chef, the director of food and beverages, Mr. Ahmed Raza, said it was part of the efforts to offer the Nigerian diners the best: “We have a new chef on Chinese cuisines. He has come with vast experience from different parts of Asia. He was worked in India and Malaysia. His main area of expertise is modern Chinese cuisines. The idea is that Chinese cuisines are very popular in this part of the world, especially Nigeria.

    “A lot of families come to us and what we want to give to them is Chinese food with a Nigerian twist. We will be focusing on the spices and we want to make authentic Chinese flavour with the Nigerian flavour. That is our target market. We want to reach out to the local Nigerian diner who loves Chinese food and we will make sure we give them the best Chinese food.”

    On his target market, he said: “Obviously, our main target is the local Nigerian market. That is our ideal focus. So, if that is our target market, why not create flavours that they will appreciate? That is the exact idea behind this.

    “That is the reason we have hired a new Chinese chef, Shua’s great experience in blending flavours. He has done that in India, China and Malaysia, and I am sure he will approach this task with the same zeal and enthusiasm. We revisit our tastes and we pander to the taste of local Nigerians. I am sure Shua has the ability to really conquer the hearts of Nigerians.”

    Chef Kong said he was excited and that the experience in Nigeria was “very good experience because of the culture of the people in Nigeria, the flavour. In other countries, the taste is different. Here your food is more spicy. So, now we come with menus that have more variety in terms of spice.

    “We have dishes for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Our cuisine is a modern Chinese cuisine with authentic sauce, but we do the fusion to come up with something exciting and different. We have about 27 sauces and all the dishes are different and unique. We serve the dishes with the sauces.”

  • Mr Chef partners Bridge Academy on scholarship

    Bayswater Industries Ltd, producers of Mr. Chef seasoning cubes and powdered seasoning, has increased the number of scholarships it sponsors at Bridge International Academy (BIA) to provide quality education for the less privileged in the country.

    BIA is the world’s largest education innovation organisation using data-driven and technology-enabled platforms to serve over 700 million families whose median income is less than N30,000 per month in countries around the world.

    For the 2015/2016 academic session, Mr. Chef awarded 54 scholarships to pupils, who demonstrated exemplary academic performance in BIA primary schools in Igbogbo-Ikorodu, Badagry, Igando, Ajangbadi and Ijegun, all in Lagos.

    Nine pupils in each of the six schools received the awards.

    By July 2017, the firm will increase the number of scholarships to 60, when the number of BIA schools will have increased to 20.

    It will also avail about 12,000 parents of pupils in the schools free samples of Bayswater products including the master brand, Mr. Chef and the latest product, Choco Love cocoa beverage drink, which was formulated to promote the sharing of family love.

    Bayswater Industries Ltd Managing Director, Mr Piyush Nair, who made these known in his keynote address at the prize-giving ceremony of BIA, Igbogbo-Ikorodu, said his company supports primary education because it is the most critical foundation for moulding young people who would emerge as leaders in the next two decades.

    He said: “Success in the quest for excellence is not determined by age but by an ability to quickly key into visions of future greatness, especially from foundational levels. The success of BIA has shown that excellence in education is easily achievable through a collective and committed involvement of parents, teachers and learners as well as donors.

    “Mr. Chef has invested significant amount of money in our partnership with BIA as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the field of education. Apart from scholarships, we have also donated playground equipment to 20 BIA schools as part of our objective of encouraging physical and mental development of children.”

    He announced that Mr. Chef would present branded lunch boxes and sets of cutlery to pupils of BIA in September at the resumption of the 2016/2017 academic session in order to improve the quality of hygiene in the schools.

    In her response, expansion director of Bridge International Academies, Ms. Olu Babalola, thanked Bayswater Industries Ltd for its support to BIA to continually provide quality, inclusive education for less privileged children.

     

     

    A parent Mrs Toyin Oguntuyo, whose son, Caleb, a Primary 3 pupil won a scholarship, had this to say:

    “I am very happy with Mr Chef for offering scholarship to my son. Given the prevailing economic situation in the country, the scholarship will help me and my family to cushion the effect of the harsh economy. It will also encourage my son to work harder in his academics.”

     

     

    Another parent of a recipient, Mr Charles Urobuchi, said: “This scholarship will encourage our young ones to excel more in their performances at school. God bless Mr Chef.”

     

  • Chef ‘steals’ lover’s N100,000

    Chef ‘steals’ lover’s N100,000

    A 28-year-old chef, Emmanuel Udoh, who allegedly stole his girlfriend’s N100,000, was yesterday  granted a N100,000 bail.

    An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, which gave the ruling, also asked Udoh to provide two sureties in like sum as part of the bail condition.

    Magistrate Omolade Awope said the sureties must, in addition, show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

    The accused, who resides on 34, Ofada Street, Mowe, Ogun, is facing a charge of stealing.

    Earlier, prosecuting Inspector Ezekiel Ayorinde told the court that the accused committed the offence on June 1 on 11 Olusoji Street, College road, Ogba, Lagos.

    He said the accused went to the complainant’s house (name withheld) and stole the money, while she was at work.

    “The accused sometimes spend some nights in the complainant’s house because he claimed he had accommodation problem.

    “After she had left for work, he collected the key from where it was usually kept and stole the money from her bag,” he said.

    The offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 285 prescribes a three-year jail term for offenders.

    The magistrate adjourned the case till October 10.

     

  • Chef woos male students

    Chef woos male students

    •School launches catering magazine

    An executive Chef with Leadway Hotel, Maryland, Lagos, Mr Wayne Mitchell, said schools and governments must find ways to encourage more male students to become catering and hospitality professionals.

    He said in an interview that it was erroneous to think the profession is mainly for women, as is the case in Nigeria where more women train in the profession than men.

    “My biggest fear is that I am seeing more women than men coming into the profession.  In South Africa where I come from, it is actually a man’s job.  It is a lucrative profession and more boys need to get into it in Nigeria,” he said.

    However, regardless of whether they are males or females, Mitchell said they need to work hard and pursue excellence to be recognised worldwide.

    That was why when he had opportunity to deliver the keynote address at the 2015 Catering Day of the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, where he shared the story of how he rose to prominence through hard work, diligence, and creativity.

    Apart from speeches and entertainment, the highlights of the Catering Day programme were the cooking competition and the launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a magazine published by the Catering Section of FSTC, Yaba.

    Unoma Omenyi of Queen’s College, Yaba, won the cooking competition.  Her Beef Oha soup with Semovita got her an industrial cooker, courtesy of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

    FSTC’s Chinomye Onyebuchi came second for cooking a delicious pot of Assorted Meat in Igbo Egusi and won a deep freezer sponsored by May and Baker, makers of Mimee Noodles.  Another representative of FSTC, Emem Akpan, came third with her fish in egusi soup and semovita.  She got a gas cooker courtesy of the FSTC PTA.

    Zaynab Ganiyu of the Federal Government College, Odogbolu came fourth with her Orugbo Soup served with Amala.

    The launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a publication of the Catering Section, FSTC, was a milestone that Mrs Chinwe Nwaka, head of Miscellaneous Trades was happy that the department achieved last year.

    In her address, she said the magazine would showcase the college’s achievements in the area of catering and hospitality management and demonstrate the viability of the profession to students.

    “This magazine is borne out of the desire to educate and enlighten the students of Hospitality and Catering on the ethics of the industry,” she said.

    The publication featured articles on nutrition, career potential in hospitality, leisure and tourism industry, interview with Simon Hague, Executive Chef, Eko Hotel and Suites, recipes, as well as reports of two landmark events that are fast defining FSTC as a reputable institution for training hospitality management professionals, the world chef day and the catering day.

    Mrs Nwaka said the school has proven to be a reputable institution for training in catering and hospitality as a result of the competition and organising the World Chef Day of 2014.

    A Culinary specialist from Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr Kefas Punshak, who also judged the cooking contest, praised the organisers for the event, which he described as a ‘catch them young’ initiative.

    “Over the years, a lot of people have not seen it as a career but today we are testimonials. And that’s why we want to showcase and to be able to say our stories and then the younger ones will be able to see that there is a future in this career,” he said.

    Principal of the school, Rev Chris Ugorji, said the Catering Unit was adding value to the school’s mandate of practical training.

     

  • Chef woos male students

    An executive Chef with Leadway Hotel, Maryland, Lagos, Mr Wayne Mitchell, said schools and governments must find ways to encourage more male students to become catering and hospitality professionals.

    He said in an interview that it was erroneous to think the profession is mainly for women, as is the case in Nigeria where more women train in the profession than men.

    “My biggest fear is that I am seeing more women than men coming into the profession.  In South Africa where I come from, it is actually a man’s job.  It is a lucrative profession and more boys need to get into it in Nigeria,” he said.

    However, regardless of whether they are males or females, Mitchell said they need to work hard and pursue excellence to be recognised worldwide.

    That was why when he had opportunity to deliver the keynote address at the 2015 Catering Day of the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, where he shared the story of how he rose to prominence through hard work, diligence, and creativity.

    Apart from speeches and entertainment, the highlights of the Catering Day programme were the cooking competition and the launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a magazine published by the Catering Section of FSTC, Yaba.

    Unoma Omenyi of Queen’s College, Yaba, won the cooking competition.  Her Beef Oha soup with Semovita got her an industrial cooker, courtesy of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

    FSTC’s Chinomye Onyebuchi came second for cooking a delicious pot of Assorted Meat in Igbo Egusi and won a deep freezer sponsored by May and Baker, makers of Mimee Noodles.  Another representative of FSTC, Emem Akpan, came third with her fish in egusi soup and semovita.  She got a gas cooker courtesy of the FSTC PTA.

    Zaynab Ganiyu of the Federal Government College, Odogbolu came fourth with her Orugbo Soup served with Amala.

    The launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a publication of the Catering Section, FSTC, was a milestone that Mrs Chinwe Nwaka, head of Miscellaneous Trades was happy that the department achieved last year.

    In her address, she said the magazine would showcase the college’s achievements in the area of catering and hospitality management and demonstrate the viability of the profession to students.

    “This magazine is borne out of the desire to educate and enlighten the students of Hospitality and Catering on the ethics of the industry,” she said.

    The publication featured articles on nutrition, career potential in hospitality, leisure and tourism industry, interview with Simon Hague, Executive Chef, Eko Hotel and Suites, recipes, as well as reports of two landmark events that are fast defining FSTC as a reputable institution for training hospitality management professionals, the world chef day and the catering day.

    Mrs Nwaka said the school has proven to be a reputable institution for training in catering and hospitality as a result of the competition and organizing the World Chef Day of 2014.

    A Culinary Specialist from Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr Kefas Punshak, who also judged the cooking contest, praised the organisers for the event, which he described as a ‘catch them young’ initiative.

    “Over the years a lot of people have not seen it as a career but today we are testimonials. And that’s why we want to showcase and to be able to say our stories and then the younger ones will be able to see that there is a future in this career,” he said.

    Principal of the school, Rev Chris Ugorji, said the Catering Unit was adding value to the school’s mandate of practical training.

     

  • Chibok elders: Fed Govt has failed us

    Chibok elders: Fed Govt has failed us

    Elders of Chibok community in Borno State, where 234 girls were abducted by  Boko Haram gunmen,  yesterday alleged that the Federal Government had failed in its responsibility of rescuing the girls, two weeks after they were taken hostages.
    Leader of the Chibok Elders Forum (CHEF) Dr. Pogu Bitrus, said 43 girls  escaped from their captors; others are still being held in the forest by suspected insurgents.
    He said: “As the Federal Government has failed to rescue these abducted girls, we as elders; have now handed our case over to the Almighty God; because government has already dashed our hopes on releasing the girls immediately and unconditionally to join their parents, who are still grieving with “hopelessness and fear”.
    Bitrus said last week’s expanded security meeting hosted by President Goodluck Jonathan yielded no result even after expressed commitment to securing the release of the girls.
    Bitrus said: “We are not also aware of any serious effort to secure the release of the girls. We heard that the military moved troops to the forests days back but we don’t know what they are doing.”
    The Chibok elders said rumours that the insurgents were marrying off the girls to themselves may be true because of the report they got from those who escaped and joined their parents last week.
    “All we know is that 234 of our daughters are in captivity. We are waiting on government, which is supposed to provide security and welfare for its citizens, to get them released and return them to their parents,” he said.
    He added: “Government has not provided succour to the parents and to the girls themselves by getting them released. It is very disappointing when I read in the newspapers that America is trying to assist. What is wrong with Nigeria? We have a lot of unanswered questions and, as parents, we are still waiting for what the government will do to its citizens… these poor girls in their schools who were kidnapped. It worries us and this is now getting to two weeks.”
    Speaking on parents’ mood, Bitrus said: “All parents are traumatised and since the parents went into the forest in search of their daughters before they were warned not to jeopardise the lives of their children and themselves, they retreated.
    “We started having hope when the President hosted the expanded Security Council meeting where they said they were all committed to seeing that the girls were released, but up till today, nothing has happened, because we have not heard anything relating to the release of any of the girls .
    “We are still waiting and we have surrendered everything to God, but the government should know that it has the primary responsibility to its citizens to secure the girls and return them to their parents.”
    The fate of the abducted school girls also yesterday attracted the attention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
    Vice-President of the NLC, Comrade Lucy Offiong speaking in Abuja yesterday during a Pre-May Day briefing described the security situation in the country as worrisome, saying groups willing to participate in the workers’ Day march past must undergo pre-accreditation.
    On the abduction girls, she said: “The fate of these teenagers represents the future of our dear country. If a country cannot account for the whereabouts of young school girls who were, as reported by the news media, taken by armed men dressed in military uniforms in a convoy of several vehicles, then the universal belief that our collective future is in the hope that children will grow to do better that what older people are doing is hollow and hopeless.
    “Our government and its security agencies must work round the clock and exert more energy to locate and rescue these children in record time before any harm is done to them as such harm should be considered as collective harm and a blister to our collective quest for progress and national greatness.”
    She added: “The current siege on some parts of the country has had a lot of implications for both our economy and freedom to life and also the right to work. It has not only threatened lives and properties, it has also threatened productivity as workers now find it difficult to get to work and when they do, they conduct themselves under excruciating fearful circumstances,” she lamented.
    On the May Day event, she said vehicles would park over 200meters away from the venue.
    “Everyone coming to the venue must not carry bags because of the security situation. Vehicles should be parked at least 200meters away from the the Eagle square. We are also saying that as part of those measures, we are not going to allow just any group to come to the arena, and come and take part in the march pass.
    “We have said that any group that wants to march that day at the arena should come and register with the protocol committee of this 2014 May Day so that they will be properly identified and accredited for security reasons.”
    The theme of the 2014 May Day, according to her, is “Building enduring peace and unity: panacea for sustainable national development.”
    She described the explosion at the Nyanya bus station as “the most  devastating among several others, given the location and timing.”

  • World renowned chef hosts reality show in Nigeria

    World renowned chef hosts reality show in Nigeria

    Personal Chef to two past presidents of the United States; George Bush and Bill Clinton is in Nigeria to impact what he called certified world training through a reality cooking competition.

    Master Chef Edwin Sholly, who is said to have over 15 years experience cooking for President George Bush, President Bill Clinton, and the Queen of England among others, is the host of the show called “Making of a Chef Nigeria, which has already trimmed contenders to eight.

    Scholly said at a press conference in Surulere, Lagos Monday that it was necessary to have home-groomed chefs, who can hold their heads high anywhere in the world. He noted that the ability to cook world top dishes should be considered as one of the tourism potential of the country. He said the show, which has the endorsement of the Federal Ministry of Tourism, would reward the eventual winner with $30, 000.

    Organised by Rhodium Chef Global Nigeria and Anchor Digital Media, the event is a derivative and combination of ‘Top Chef’, ‘Iron Chef’ and ‘Heel’s Kitchen’ as seen on TV.

    The show is a live 30 episode cooking competition that showcases 20 cooks shortlisted from an entry of over 200 Nigerians.

    Scholly said the final 20 would be given a chef jacket and knife kits signed by him, plus a certificate of participation, while the three finalists are to travel with him to Italy, where they will be for further training on different international cuisines.

    The show is being supported by Chicken Republic and Spar.