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January 2013 Gulf Gourmet
January 2013 Gulf Gourmet
brought to you by
chef of the Month
creating dishes, teaching the guys,
this is something I miss.”
That said, Andy loves the excitement
of working outside the kitchen. “There
is a lot more to think about,” he says.
Moving the conversation to the
newly-formed Young Chefs Club in
the UAE, he says, “What I would like
to say to them is don’t try and do
too much in the beginning. Make
sure you reach out to your peers
within the hotels. Make sure you
include as many people as you can
and make sure you make the senior
guys help you. And you have to do
that little bit extra because your
volunteered to become a member
of that committee, which means
that outside your normal day’s work
you have to do something extra for
the youngsters. We work to get our
salaries and we work in voluntary
organisations because it’s the right
thing to do.”
He adds, “It’s good if they take a
leap. They have the full support
of the senior committee of the
Emirates Culinary Guild. It’s up to
them to push themselves to do one
activity or 2 activities. We have
seen them very much involved
in the Dubai Summer Surprise
at the Young Chef of the Year in
BurJuman. We are going to see that
again at the Salon in 2013.
Talking about his own family, he says,
“I am very lucky to have the people I
have in my life. I met Josephine when
she was in the Hilton. We got married
in 1993 and Kyle came along in 1997.
He is now 15 and my other son Cody is
12. Josephine works for the Guild which
is a great advantage for the Guild. We
are very organized today because she
manages the administration while we
pretend to be doing all the hard work.
My family is these 3 people who make
it very special and worthwhile and
make it possible for me to work and do
my other stuff as well.”
dream
Wings to a
Mukesh Tugnait, the Executive Chef at Emirates Flight Catering
(EKFC), tells us why impeccable standards, instant reward and a
perfectly presented plate and taste is so important to him
Why did you choose this
profession?
I come from a family of defence
personnel and joining the defence
services would have been the
obvious career path for me. But I
was never interested in it. I wanted
to see the world, explore life beyond
“do this”! I wanted to choose where I
lived and what I did. I did not like the
idea of being dictated to.
The thought of doing something
that would allow me to reach within
while exploring the outer world
excited me. Being a people person,
I thrive in a company with goals,
targets, results and team work.
Hotel management lent the perfect
wings to my dream.
During my management days I did
odd jobs at hotels to pay for my
education. That’s when I had my
first exposure to life in a kitchen. I
instantly knew I belonged here. I was
in awe of the team work, the energy,
the pace, the hustle and bustle,
companionship, creativity and above
all the ‘perfection’. The result had to
be impeccable standards, instant
reward and a perfect looking and
tasting plate.
Andy Cuthbert and his wife Josephine
flanked by their sons Kyle and Cody
I must admit the white chef coat is
all I wanted then. But I had to earn
it and so the journey began. I wore
my Chef’s uniform 26 years ago with
pride and the charm hasn’t faded
ever since.
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