{"id":50272,"date":"2024-12-13T08:48:15","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T22:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/?p=50272"},"modified":"2024-12-13T08:54:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T22:54:16","slug":"seasoned-from-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/blog\/seasoned-from-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Seasoned from the heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"aMag_Sum24-Blog-Feature\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hospitality is built on a bedrock of committed professionals, each with a fire burning deep inside them. These are individuals who have worked hard and maintained a laser focus on their careers to reach the top of their game. In this field, the key to success lies in maintaining self discipline while also keeping an open mind, open ears and an open heart. For this edition of appetiser. magazine, we spoke to three of the hardest working chefs in the country so they could share their stories and insights.<\/p>

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When Graham Krueger walks into a room, there’s a palpable shift in the air \u2013 a calm energy that belies a tough exterior, combined with genuine care for others. As Executive Chef at Dubbo RSL Memorial Club Group, Graham oversees six venues and leads a team of 85 chefs. His nearly four decade long career is a masterclass in passion and progression, beginning in Qantas\u2019 catering kitchens at Mascot, Sydney.<\/p>

\u201cI was 18, working under 75 different chefs and learning foundational skills from each,\u201d he recalls of his apprenticeship. \u201cIt was a classic brigade system under great chefs like Rudy Shearer and Adrian Fetherston.\u201d Graham values paying respect to mentors and elders. \u201cWe prepped food in a group of 20 young chefs \u2013 peeling, slicing, dicing and perfecting knife skills through repetition. Some days were spent turning hundreds of potatoes by hand or cutting oranges into perfect slices.\u201d He remains immensely proud of having cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and the King of Thailand during his time with the flying kangaroo.<\/p>

After four years with Qantas, Graham became a sous chef at a rugby league club before moving on to The Log Cabin, a historic hotel in Penrith overlooking the Nepean River. At just 22, after six months of cooking for up to 1,000 covers a week across two function rooms and two dining areas, Graham became head chef. \u201cI learned early on that leading by example was essential,\u201d he says. \u201cI also realised I didn\u2019t know everything and needed to learn from those more experienced. Two older chefs, casual staff with years of skill, became my mentors. They\u2019d give me generous feedback at the end of a shift, advising me to \u2018keep cool, keep calm, keep direction.\u2019 Their patience and respect were invaluable.\u201d<\/p>

By 27, Graham owned two restaurants in Sutherland Shire, where the transition from chef to owner was a major learning curve. \u201cAs an owner, you have to look at every cost, beyond just food costs. You consider superannuation, WorkSafe, rent, energy, insurance and more.\u201d<\/p>

For the past two years, Graham has led the kitchens at Dubbo RSL, one of the busiest hospitality businesses in regional New South Wales. \u201cBuilding trust between kitchen and front of house is crucial. The pass isn\u2019t a barrier,\u201d he explains. \u201cI get chefs and front-of-house to understand each other\u2019s roles, solve problems together and move forward to give guests the best experience.<\/p>

Graham is also passionate about creating career pathways for chefs to progress. \u201cYou need someone pushing you forward and leaving space for the next role. I\u2019ve trained 38 apprentices over my career, and all have qualified. Just this month, three messaged me to say they\u2019ve become sous or head chefs. Progression is essential and at the heart of it is leadership.\u201d<\/p>

Reflecting on his career, Graham emphasises the importance of mentorship. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have succeeded without my mentors. Now, we must become mentors ourselves, leading by example. We need to ensure those around us do their best and help them get even better,\u201d he adds. \u201cAfter 36 years, I still wake up eager to go to work. I still love my job.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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That passion for looking after people fuels many in this industry. Sometimes, like in the case of Graham Krueger, it involves guiding young chefs through successful careers. For others, it\u2019s about making people happy by serving great food. One such person is a quietly enthusiastic chef, working at one of the nation\u2019s most popular sports and entertainment venues.<\/p>

Princess Anne Uy walks us around Melbourne\u2019s Marvel Stadium. Footy\u2019s over for the year and the backstage crew is bumping in a K-pop band. She is the Executive Sous Chef at the 53,000-capacity stadium, responsible not only for the high-end \u00e0 la carte menu served to members but also for the ordering and logistics of more than 16 different quick-service retail food outlets inside the grounds. \u201cWe can turn over more than half a million dollars on a game day,\u201d says the chef, a woman who never ceases to smile. \u201cBut when it comes to other events \u2013 like this one,\u201d she says, pointing to the stage being erected, \u201cwe cater to the market. We need to be flexible. It\u2019s part of my DNA to make sure people are looked after.\u201d<\/p>

That DNA comes from a long line of women in Princess\u2019s family who have dedicated themselves to feeding others. While she was born in the Philippines, Princess\u2019s mother and grandmother were both from Pampanga, the culinary capital of the nation. Both were exceptional cooks, preparing specialities like Philippine paella or bringhe and lechon or suckling pig.<\/p>

Princess keeps close to those cultural roots with her side gig, a small catering business\/private chef service called Marcez, which focuses on Filipino food and caters to friends and the community with the dishes they know and love. She finds her inspiration at Footscray Market \u2013 a lively, colourful and exotically fragrant wet market. \u201cI go to the Vietnamese butcher and buy pork to make pork adobo and sisig,\u201d she says, referring to the rich pork dish seasoned with onions, chilli and sour citrus. She also cooks dishes like lechon or suckling pig and palabok, a dish featuring smoked fish sauce used to dress rice noodles.<\/p>

Princess worked at Nobu for eight years, eventually taking on the head chef position at the Melbourne outpost of the global Japanese\/Peruvian fusion restaurant. That role saw her travel around Japan to learn the dishes and complex culinary traditions. \u201cI love Japanese cuisine,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is a simplicity to the food underlined by a complexity of technique; the food looks so pure, but behind the scenes, there is so much work, so much tradition.\u201d Her work took her to Japan, where she watched a soba master hand-pull delicate buckwheat noodles. And to Hida Prefecture to observe wagyu farmers tending their cattle. \u201cIt\u2019s true! They do massage the cows,\u201d says Princess. \u201cEspecially around the shoulders where those delicious blade muscles lie.\u201d<\/p>

One of Princess\u2019s significant responsibilities is cooking high-end dishes and creating menus for VIP members and their guests. \u201cPart of my family\u2019s culture is hospitality,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing in hospitality means you need to be hospitable. It\u2019s something I teach my staff. It\u2019s as important in the kitchen as it is in front-of-house. When you\u2019re smiling with your guests and making them happy, they leave the dining room still smiling,\u201d she says. \u201cHappiness is also essential. When you are in a happy mood, with a good heart, you can imagine so much more when it comes to cooking. As my grandmother said, cook when you are happy and always cook with your heart.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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While Princess forged a successful career by following a family passion to cook and care for others, another top Australian chef found a different route to make his mark. Samuel Burke is energetic, effusive and ebullient \u2013 an unstoppable force. And his favourite subject is meat. In his role as Meat & Livestock Australia\u2019s Corporate Executive Chef, he lives, works, sleeps and eats lamb, beef and goat. And his passion for ensuring Australians and people around the world enjoy Australian-grown steak, lamb koftas and goat curries is unparalleled.<\/p>

The hardworking meat expert began his career as a milk boy in Sydney\u2019s inner west at the age of ten, later working at McDonald\u2019s at 16. In his later teens, he worked after school at a butcher shop before starting a culinary apprenticeship with a commercial caterer. \u201cI had this tough Yorkshire-born chef, Phil Gilroy, who worked us hard,\u201d remembers Sam. \u201cWe learned to make terrine, breads, pastries \u2014 all aspects of \u00e0 la carte fine dining. Then, after a solid day\u2019s work, he\u2019d make me do office work. But that gave me the confidence and ability to become a business unit operator. \u201cYou need to be good on the tools, but you also need to understand a spreadsheet, a roster and a menu plan suitable for the audience,\u201d he says, before adding, \u201cI used to flip burgers at Maccas; now I travel the world helping companies grow demand, from great burgers to show-stopping steaks with Aussie beef.\u201d<\/p>

There is no exaggerating the passion Sam has for cooking, eating and promoting Australian meat. \u201cLast week, we cooked over half a tonne of steak in Toowoomba at the TSBE Darling Downs Beef Battle,\u201d he says. He and four other chefs cooked 540 kilograms of sirloin steaks on flat grills for 500 attendees, who assessed them on taste, appearance, juiciness and tenderness. He followed this with masterclasses for TAFE QLD students studying commercial cookery. \u201cIf we are going to process animals, then we need to know exactly how to get the very most yield from each carcass using the right cut for the cooking method. This is about sustainability and respecting the animal.\u201d<\/p>

Sam speaks with great pride about putting Australian beef and lamb in the sky through his work with an airline catering company, which produced four out of five of the 64 million meals served on planes departing Australian cities each year. \u201cWhile passengers up the front enjoy a great beef eye fillet, the real volume is in economy,\u201d says Sam. \u201cThere\u2019s only 9% eye fillet, scotch, sirloin and tenderloin. The rest are non-prime cuts like blade, chuck, shin, skirt and brisket \u2013 we call them \u2018masterpiece cuts.\u2019\u201d Working with development chefs and culinary directors to explore cooking methods for these cuts, like stir-frying, grilling, roasting and braising, they create dishes like tagines and beef rendang, each bite brimming with the team\u2019s passion. \u201cThe lower and slower you cook meat, the less moisture is lost and the higher the yield,\u201d adds Sam. In doing so, he not only creates delicious inflight meals but also provides value for the business and broader markets for Australian producers.<\/p>

One of those producers is Sam\u2019s mate Macka (Robert Mackenzie), who has a large farm in Gloucester raising Aberdeen Angus. \u201cI love spending time in the country and seeing how well Australian red meat is raised,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it gives me a chance to pack the chainsaw and collect firewood for the barbecues.\u201d Sam has 15 barbecues, from a small Japanese charcoal burning hibachi to a massive two tonne Argentine-style parrilla. His latest favourite is an Italian gutter-style Ferraboli long skewer grill. \u201cI love cooking rump caps on churrasco skewers \u2013 with heaps of char-grilled peppers, field mushrooms, roast kipfler potatoes and chimichurri. There\u2019s something special about cooking over fire.\u201d<\/p>

You\u2019d expect that after 50 – 60 hours a week cooking and working with food, Sam\u2019s downtime would involve pans down. This is not the case. \u201cI love cooking for my family because it\u2019s an opportunity to bring conversation to the table, to communicate over good food. For me, cooking at home is about quiet flames \u2013 entertaining people and not necessarily eating the food but watching others\u2019 enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>

Ultimately, Sam shares the same reason, passion and motivation that Graham and Princess hold dear. \u201cWhy do we do it? We do it to make other people happy.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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As seen in summer 2024\/2025<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSee more<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Graham Krueger, Princess Uy and Samuel Burke are three incredibly passionate chefs shaping Australia’s culinary landscape. From leading kitchens and mentoring young talent to promoting sustainability and cultural heritage, their stories highlight discipline, innovation and a love for food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-50272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-appetiser-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50272"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51247,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50272\/revisions\/51247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}