By Bae Ji-sook
The kitchen was full of aromas ㅡ vinegar, lemons, tomato sauce and garlic among others filled the air of the kitchen of the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill’s Italian restaurant, “Cucina Del Vino,” Wednesday.
However, instead of all the heat and shouting expected in a top-class hotel kitchen, it was full of people with notebooks and pens, listening carefully to a man with a white hat.
Paik Nam-seok, sous chef at the hotel’s signature restaurant “The View,” was lecturing on making the perfect Caesar dressing. “Salad dressings are all about the marriage of oil, vinegar and egg yolk. Stir it quickly but softly,” he said, while presenting the actual making of the dressing.
Unlike the ordinary cooking classes for socialites, the students were social enterprise cooks providing school meals or lunch box services to underprivileged people. The lecture was a pro bono event by eight of the hotel chefs donating their talents and knowledge to people who hardly have access to such luxury.
The chefs shared their secrets in a variety of fields ㅡ Korean barbecue sauces and spicy chicken broth, Chinese fired shrimps with mayonnaise, Japanese Udon soup and more.
Fifteen cooks or nutritionists, who cook and are in charge of more than 400 meals a day, were eager to learn how to provide hotel-style food to their recipients. They took notes, volunteered to assist the teacher and raised their hands to ask questions such as “What is a recipe for pork chops?” among others.
The students were excited. They sliced lettuce and mixed pickles, mayonnaise, canned tuna and other ingredients to make their own sandwiches. They giggled and shared notes, while taking pictures of the presented dishes.
“It’s a rare opportunity to learn from masters. Their recipes are perfect and are high-end, which we would like to apply to our own charity meals,” Shin Hyun-mo, an employee at Haengbok Doshirak, a social enterprise providing lunch boxes at low prices, said. “I can’t wait to add this thousand island dressing to our salad!” he said.
“It’s quite nice for them to share their skills. I’ve heard that you can make a fortune with a secret recipe,” said Cha In-hong, project manager of SESnet, the organizer of the event.
“Their questions were quite sharp. They know how to cook and know how to satisfy a large number of people every day. They also know how to apply the recipes to other dishes because they have to make different dishes every day,” Paik said, explaining the main drive to his dedication to the charity work.
Paik and his colleagues have been involved in the pro bono activities for the past couple of years, sponsored by the hotel’s mother company, SK. They have visited orphanages to make kimchi and other side dishes on weekends and held classes to encourage more people to enjoy quality food at reasonable prices.
“We have learnt our recipes from our seniors who always said food is for sharing love and joy. This is the least we can do,” he said.
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