Blog

STREAT is starting a series of blog posts by the STREAT trainees, as they reflect on their journey and share some of their passion around the skills they are learning. Here's the first example of the series, from Jamie, a STREAT trainee.

I was watching Masterchef recently, with special guest Adriano Zumbo who brought in one of his signature cakes called the V8 cake. He used white tempered chocolate to make spikes, of different heights, almost claws, on top of the cake. There were eight different layers of vanilla. Watching it, I felt like I wanted to do what he was doing. It looked so perfect. It’s something that I’d want to make for my family some day. For me, to cook for my family… my grandma has always cooked for me, and I’ve liked everything she’s made. Both my grandmas are sort of chefs, so they both cook. I’d be happy to cook for them one day, because they’ve cooked for me for 17 years.

I decided recently that I want to be a pastry chef. I talked to a couple chefs and they reckon pastry chefs are really good because there aren’t many good pastry chefs out there, and I like a challenge. Dessert is my favourite food. Dessert looks better than other food— it looks more clean. It tastes better. I reckon it’s very hard to make everything look so good.

Like most backpackers visiting bustling Bangkok for the first time, back in 2005 I found myself on the Khao San Road. A Mecca for budget travellers the area is a melting pot of cultures and accents from all the around the world.

In the evenings the road is pedestrian only. You can perch on a plastic stool at one of the pop-up street cart bars in the middle of the thoroughfare and enjoy ice cold beers while sampling some of the best hawker food in the world.

The smells of Thai cooking mingle with the sticky heat of the night: grilling chicken, fish sauce, nose-tingling chilli. Most meat dishes are cooked on skewers over white hot coals, while Pad Thai noodles are tossed lightning quick in giant woks.