Chief on the Rise
Chef Bailey, known affectionately as Chef Rummy, is a 19-year-old pantry chef at Couples Sans Souci where he has been honing his skills for the last year. “I am very passionate about food and take the cooking of food very seriously,” he tells Thursday Life. It’s no idle boast!
Bailey’s foray in the kitchen commenced at the age of four when he fried his first egg — he’s not looked back since. “To me cooking is an art,” he continues. “There’s no limit to what you can do and create.” It was at his alma mater, York Castle High, encouraged by Food & Nutrition tutor Angela Mais, that the decision was made to become a well-rounded chef. Graduating at the top of his class — he was the CXC Top Achiever in Food & Nutrition, as well as passed eight subjects (four with distinction) — Bailey placed himself in good stead to enrol at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel & Training Institute. He, with the help and exposure afforded him by Chef Kenrick Stewart and Chef Dennis McIntosh, launched the Runaway Bay HEART Culinary Club under the auspices of the Culinary Federation of Jamaica, of which he was the president.
Bailey, whose ambition is to become a celebrated pastry chef and who is currently studying at Runaway Bay HEART — he has his sights set on becoming a certified pastry chef — is the 2012 Best Dressed Taste of Jamaica Culinary Competition winner of Best Student Pastry Chef of The year for his avocado banana cheese Charlotte served with a tropical sauce.
Encouraged by Couples Sans Souci’s renowned pastry chef Linval Green, Bailey re-entered last year and copped gold in the Junior Pastry Chef Of The Year category, this time for his Mango Scotch bonnet Indulgence served with a mint caramel sauce.
My larder must-haves are…
fresh local fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs and spices, especially those that are in season so I can be creative in the preparation of my dishes.
What keeps me passionate about food is…
the wide variety of dishes that can be created from a simple fruit or vegetable. It boosts my adrenaline to further explore the possibilities in the culinary world as there is so much one can learn and create.
Jamaica is a great food destination because…
the food has its own natural authentic taste and flavour; the result of our seasoning, flavouring and taste when preparing our fare.
We could be greater…
if we use more local foods to prepare mouth-watering dishes. I think there are quite a few items of local produce that our chefs are just not making use of when preparing and creating dishes, something that would not only lower food costs but would lower the amount of foreign exchange needed to cover current food importation costs.
We’d be greater, too, were the food and talents of our chefs recognised more.