Young Chefs Dream Big
Young Chefs Dream Big
“Dream big … there is never a dream that is too big.”
'Dream big … there is never a dream that is too big.'
That was the message from Wonderbag founder, Sarah Collins, at the graduation for students at Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine on Saturday July 16.
“Chefs are one of the most significant players in the world today,” she added, “[especially] as we face the challenges of food insecurity, poverty, food sustainability and the cost of food prices. It is for chefs and people who work in the field, as you do, to help come up with those innovative solutions that this world so desperately needs.”
Collins also told the students that they had been given a huge set of tools by Jackie Cameron and her team and this would enable them to discover their own foodie niche.
“Keep listening to your gut and following what you know and remember what Jackie said. She equips you for life. What a gift, and you have all embraced it so well,” she added.
Collins also urged them to create partnerships and alliances in both life and business adding that these networks are critical for success.
“Do what you love. Dream big – there is never a dream that is too big, and please don't forget the little things. Those little things make life very rich,” she added.
Collins also shared with the students, their families and other guests the story of how she came to create the Wonderbag in 2008.
“I remember as a child, growing up not far from here, at the top of the hill,” she said. “I grew up in a very patriarchal, male dominated world and my grandparents and my dad were very Victorian in their way of thinking. So, if we wanted to have dinner at the main dining room table, we had to wear dresses and the boys had to wear a tie and a jacket. Now, I didn't do dresses, so I spent a lot of my time eating at the kitchen table.”
“It was a place that I loved being in. There was the Aga fire and in misty Hilton there was no warmer place than being in that kitchen, and it gave me time to spend with people that I loved – the people who looked after our home, our chef, our nannies. They all congregated around the Aga and all sat and chatted in Zulu. They were special times and much better than sitting with the grown-ups with the starched dress that was too tight and my grandmother who said: 'Well just don't breathe dear'.”
Collins recalled being fascinated by a box next to the Aga into which the chef would place pots and then later take out.
“I have spent most of my life in social development and finding entrepreneurial opportunities that look at supporting the people that are living on less than a dollar a day,” she said, adding that one of the issues she wanted a solution for was to reduce the need for grandmothers to cook over open fires and suffer health problems as a result.
“During the loadshedding [in 2008], I woke up during the night and I remembered that box in my grandmother's kitchen,” Collins said. “That box was heat retention cooking, so I brought in the Wonderbag and now it's around the world.
“It's an ancient technology but it needed to be brought into the 21st century to deal with so many issues that we are facing.”
For the 10 students from the class of 2022 the graduation event was the culmination of 18 months of hard work and negotiating the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, of loadshedding, which played havoc with the presentation of their final dinners.
This year's culinary student of the year was Aimee Hohls, who received the coveted copper pan trophy from Collins, as well as a Weber Braai and her own Mauviel saucepan from France.
Hohls was also named ELBA overall top practical student of the year, winning an ELBA cooker for her efforts, and was the inaugural winner of the top final dinner prize, for which she received a Riedel Performance wine-tasting set.
Speaking at the graduation, she said: "What I have learned from this course is how important it is to be truly passionate about something. All of us students are in the really rare situation of being able to do what we are truly passionate about. We have had the courage to venture away from the herd and pursue a career that is full of the craziest hours and, arguably, some of the toughest work, but it is also packed with the wildest people and most insane skills.
"I'm thanking my lucky stars that I am one of the few people to work a 16-hour day that I am absolutely batty for and with colleagues that make me cry with laughter and work that keeps me inspired, enthusiastic and on my toes."
Other special awards were presented to:
• Joel van Rooyen, who won the Geochem hygiene and kitchen management award, Champagne Valley best student baker and the Defy top cake icing student prize.
• Gian Jeffers, who was named the Waterford Estate Wine top wine student.
• Saxon Tilling, who was the runner-up for the top final dinner and received a SousChef Sous Vide machine.
• Jade Busse who won the Defy best pastry practical which culminated with a high tea.
• Kiara Axelson who was named as the Defy top overall pastry student.
All the students left with the certificates they earned over the past 18 months as well as a variety of gifts and a Wonderbag each.
YOUR JOURNEY WITH FOOD BEGINS HERE.
Email: jackie@jackiecameron.co.za; Phone: 072 241 8421
Author & Photography: Estelle Sinkins/Village Talk