A Weltevreden Park resident’s working experience and knowledge from award-winning chefs in the US has brightened up his future in the cooking industry.
Tyrone Geduld, who now works as an executive chef at Morell’s Boutique Estate in Northcliff, said he feels his international experience, together with having learned two new languages – French and Spanish – has definitely given him a great advantage in the market here at home.
“The international references will always benefit me and is something I will certainly make use of during the course of my career,” said Geduld.
He said his family contributed to his inspiration for cooking at the early age of 18.
“My mother and my grandmother encouraged me to cook. When I completed my high school education, I enrolled for a two-year study at the Chef School for Food and Wine in Krugersdorp,” he recalled.
After having worked at various hotels in Johannesburg as a chef, he went overseas and worked as a chef at various hotels in different countries.
“From 2008 to 2009, I took part in the Workaway International programme in the United States of America (USA). Workaway International is a recruitment company that has placed over 14 000 South Africans in five-star country clubs in USA. When the opportunity to join the programme came, I knew I had to grab it with both hands.”
Geduld said there have been challenges within the industry but he has managed to overcome them.
“As a chef, you have to try and please a lot of people that you are cooking for every single time. You have to ensure that there is sufficient stock for the venue from where you are serving the people. Also, you have to provide fresh food.”
As an executive chef, Geduld said he is in charge of the cooking and he is pleased that he has managed to serve delicious food as required by his customers.
He often uses what he learned through his experience at Workaway to create exciting new dishes and experiences for his patrons.
“The programme made me realise that I love working with different people. When I went abroad I was an introvert and now I’m an extrovert,” a content Geduld concluded.