Tweet
'Cooking, wonderful cooking'
Brian Lumley embarks on a career in the kitchenBY KIMONE THOMPSON Career & Education staff reporter thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 24, 2008
JENNIFER Lumley may have been surprised that her son Brian copped the Chef of the Year award but it wasn't because she thought he couldn't do it.
Lumley displays the finished roti jerk chicken wrap, a balanced meal which complements the protein and carbs with fresh vegetables. To garnish the dish, he used pieces of fresh watermelon and pineapple. (Photo Lionel Rookwood)
"It blew my mind because of his age and because those who he went up against were so experienced. I knew he was going to do something great. I didn't know what it was, but I expected something great," she told Career & Education. "I almost lost him five times when I was pregnant with him. I had to lie on my back from I was three months pregnant and when you have such difficult pregnancies, the doctors say the children are special. So I had my eye out for him. I realised he was going to be great."
Brian, just 21, walked away with top honours at the Jamaica Culinary Association's inaugural culinary competition last month.
Of the 19 chefs who entered the mystery basket category, he got the sole gold medal, as well as a trophy for the most creative use of chicken. The points accumulated from those two wins earned him the Chef of the Year title.
The dish, which he prepared in 50 of the 60 minutes allotted, was Red Thai curry chicken breast stuffed with jerked snapper and served with shrimp guacamole, vegetables and a pumpkin and potato purée.
"Looking back at the night now, it felt like I was in a dream. When I heard of the competition I didn't consider entering because of the number of qualified professionals who were entering. I must admit I was a little intimidated. But I decided to do it and I went in with an open mind," said the young chef.
He is currently ranked as a commis chef (an apprentice) but he's pursuing a level-three joint programme at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and the HEART Trust/NTA, at the end of which he'll be a certified culinarian. After that he will look to qualify first as a sous-chef, and later as executive chef. If he goes straight from one course to the next, he could achieve that by the time he's 25.
He also plans to study in any of the gastronomical meccas of western Europe such as France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland or Germany. For now, he works at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel six days per week and attends classes on Saturdays.
Senior range cook at the hotel, Christopher Williams, from whom Lumley said he learnt much of what he knows, said he saw the young man's potential from the very beginning.
"I see him as the next executive chef [here]," he told Career & Education. "His behaviour towards work is good and he asks questions over and over just to get it right. He's very eager to learn."
Brian started cooking from the age of eight, his mother said, and by the time he was 10, he was making pizzas with sausages, ketchup and pita bread.
"His started tasting better than mine," his mother said, laughing. "We used to joke and say we would open a pizza shop. He was always in the kitchen with me, wanting to learn what I was doing. When he was 16, I opened a restaurant and he wanted to help me there. I told him it was hard work but he insisted so I decided to teach him a lesson."
That first lesson was waking up early.
"Brian used to love to sleep late but he had to wake up from about 5 o'clock to go to the restaurant. I started to see from then that he had a passion for it. He's not only doing it as a profession, he has a passion for it and that's where he'll excel because he has a passion for it," she said.
Cooking apparently runs in the family, particularly on Jennifer's side since she traces the talent back to her mother, some cousins, aunts and siblings. Even Brian's two siblings, Donald and Stephanie, she said, cook well.
It was therefore no surprise that the young Lumley chose to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Of course, the handsome remuneration packages for certified chefs had a hand in that decision.
"I chose the business subjects (in high school) just because I never had anything else to do and I loved Accounts... But I wanted to be a chef," he said. "My brother did some research and we found out that in some parts of the world chefs make more than brain surgeons so I decided this was what I wanted to do."
After high school, he enrolled in the Runaway Bay HEART programme and is now well on his way to fulfilling his ultimate dream of becoming the youngest certified executive chef in Jamaica. He also has hopes of becoming a corporate chef, of which there is currently only one on the island.
He was actually accepted to both HEART and the University of Technology (UTech) but he chose HEART because, according to him, it had more emphasis on the practical side of cooking.
"I think the HEART programme is better in terms of the practical part of it. If you know you really want to get into the chef world, it's better you go to HEART and get the hands-on and first-hand feel of it. Especially in the first year, they send you out to spend a month at the hotels that are known for their success in the different areas," he said.
Brian Lumley embarks on a career in the kitchenBY KIMONE THOMPSON Career & Education staff reporter thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 24, 2008
JENNIFER Lumley may have been surprised that her son Brian copped the Chef of the Year award but it wasn't because she thought he couldn't do it.
Lumley displays the finished roti jerk chicken wrap, a balanced meal which complements the protein and carbs with fresh vegetables. To garnish the dish, he used pieces of fresh watermelon and pineapple. (Photo Lionel Rookwood) "It blew my mind because of his age and because those who he went up against were so experienced. I knew he was going to do something great. I didn't know what it was, but I expected something great," she told Career & Education. "I almost lost him five times when I was pregnant with him. I had to lie on my back from I was three months pregnant and when you have such difficult pregnancies, the doctors say the children are special. So I had my eye out for him. I realised he was going to be great."
Brian, just 21, walked away with top honours at the Jamaica Culinary Association's inaugural culinary competition last month.
Of the 19 chefs who entered the mystery basket category, he got the sole gold medal, as well as a trophy for the most creative use of chicken. The points accumulated from those two wins earned him the Chef of the Year title.
The dish, which he prepared in 50 of the 60 minutes allotted, was Red Thai curry chicken breast stuffed with jerked snapper and served with shrimp guacamole, vegetables and a pumpkin and potato purée.
"Looking back at the night now, it felt like I was in a dream. When I heard of the competition I didn't consider entering because of the number of qualified professionals who were entering. I must admit I was a little intimidated. But I decided to do it and I went in with an open mind," said the young chef.
He is currently ranked as a commis chef (an apprentice) but he's pursuing a level-three joint programme at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and the HEART Trust/NTA, at the end of which he'll be a certified culinarian. After that he will look to qualify first as a sous-chef, and later as executive chef. If he goes straight from one course to the next, he could achieve that by the time he's 25.
He also plans to study in any of the gastronomical meccas of western Europe such as France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland or Germany. For now, he works at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel six days per week and attends classes on Saturdays.
Senior range cook at the hotel, Christopher Williams, from whom Lumley said he learnt much of what he knows, said he saw the young man's potential from the very beginning.
"I see him as the next executive chef [here]," he told Career & Education. "His behaviour towards work is good and he asks questions over and over just to get it right. He's very eager to learn."
Brian started cooking from the age of eight, his mother said, and by the time he was 10, he was making pizzas with sausages, ketchup and pita bread.
"His started tasting better than mine," his mother said, laughing. "We used to joke and say we would open a pizza shop. He was always in the kitchen with me, wanting to learn what I was doing. When he was 16, I opened a restaurant and he wanted to help me there. I told him it was hard work but he insisted so I decided to teach him a lesson."
That first lesson was waking up early.
"Brian used to love to sleep late but he had to wake up from about 5 o'clock to go to the restaurant. I started to see from then that he had a passion for it. He's not only doing it as a profession, he has a passion for it and that's where he'll excel because he has a passion for it," she said.
Cooking apparently runs in the family, particularly on Jennifer's side since she traces the talent back to her mother, some cousins, aunts and siblings. Even Brian's two siblings, Donald and Stephanie, she said, cook well.
It was therefore no surprise that the young Lumley chose to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Of course, the handsome remuneration packages for certified chefs had a hand in that decision.
"I chose the business subjects (in high school) just because I never had anything else to do and I loved Accounts... But I wanted to be a chef," he said. "My brother did some research and we found out that in some parts of the world chefs make more than brain surgeons so I decided this was what I wanted to do."
After high school, he enrolled in the Runaway Bay HEART programme and is now well on his way to fulfilling his ultimate dream of becoming the youngest certified executive chef in Jamaica. He also has hopes of becoming a corporate chef, of which there is currently only one on the island.
He was actually accepted to both HEART and the University of Technology (UTech) but he chose HEART because, according to him, it had more emphasis on the practical side of cooking.
"I think the HEART programme is better in terms of the practical part of it. If you know you really want to get into the chef world, it's better you go to HEART and get the hands-on and first-hand feel of it. Especially in the first year, they send you out to spend a month at the hotels that are known for their success in the different areas," he said.