In the latest mouth-watering issue of DISH magazine editor Victoria Wells has an interesting chat to Molten restaurant owner and author of the latest NZ-published cookbook to hit the market.Here is the beginning of Victoria's piece:
Michael Van De Elzen is not a man afraid of hard work. When we meet, he is halfway through two days of teaching masterclasses, has just come out of fronting a television series, is about to release his new cookbook and is running one of Auckland’s top restaurants.
And then you discover working hard has always been a part of his life. Growing up on a chicken farm in West Auckland’s Henderson, Michael spent his spare time helping his parents and two elder sisters looking after the chickens and cleaning out the sheds.
“It had its rewards because I got to earn very good pocket money and I got to be with my parents. My father didn’t go off to work somewhere every day and come home late at night; I always knew where my parents were and I could always see them at any time.”
Michael’s start in food came about through family tradition – following in his sisters’ footsteps he got a part-time job washing dishes at local restaurant Tony’s. Captured by the buzz and excitement of hospitality he completed School Certificate to appease his mother then left school and started full–time at Tony’s.
Now 38, Michael has spent more than half his life in kitchens. After gaining his Trade Certificate in Professional Cookery he worked at Kermadec (“It was the first time it opened my eyes up to working in a structured brigade”) and then as head chef for his sister and brother-in-law at their Dominion Road restaurant. But after a couple of years at the helm, Michael discovered how much he still had to learn.Read the rest of the piece in DISH issue 38 now on sale - $9.70. It is a great magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment