Cook your career to perfection as a chef!

If you happen to be a fine diner in Dhaka, chances are you have tried Chef Ahmed Hossain's culinary art at Dhaka Regency Hotel at least once. As mesmerising as his culinary skills are - which he has been honing for the best part of a half-century - his beginning was a modest one.

Becoming a professional chef usually requires proper culinary education first. Chef Ahmed, however, took a different route. He began as a server in 1981 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon.

His story, although unconventional, shows that the path to becoming a professional chef is long, and every aspirant must brave through its entire length to earn the title.

In 1984, Ahmed moved to Mövenpick's indoor fine dining department in the Middle East. Chefs there were mainly European – French, Swiss and German – all of whom came on two-year contracts. The dedication to their trade and all the perks they enjoyed enticed Ahmed.

"They're very professional and highly skilled," said Ahmed. "Two years into working there as a server, I'd heard about cross-training there for the first time. I expressed my desire to a French chef to learn cooking in my leisure time at the age of 32, although not to become a chef. I trained for three months."

Bangali families don't get the difference between a chef and a cook. To them, both mean baburchi [cook]

Chef Ahmed

Ahmed was trained in Hospitality and Tourism in 1980 to qualify as a server in Pan Pacific Sonargaon, leaving behind a government job. But becoming a chef required a culinary diploma, which he did not possess. Nonetheless, with the French chef's assistance, he was allowed to practise in the kitchen right after his initial training.

"There was a catch though. Bangali families don't get the difference between a chef and a cook. To them, both mean baburchi [cook]. So I had to take up the offer without telling my parents about it," Ahmed added.

The difference between a Chef and a cook, as Ahmed puts it, is that a Chef is a General and a cook is a foot soldier. In other words, a Chef – as the word itself in French means Chief – is the head of a kitchen and the cooks are the Chef's assistants.

Once he landed this opportunity, Ahmed started to collect books and handouts, which his new colleagues studied in their culinary diplomas – slowly gathering scripted knowledge of the art of cooking.

"Besides learning practically, becoming a chef is also about intensive studying," he said.

A fresh culinary graduate can earn around Tk25,000 in Bangladesh currently, according to Ahmed.

From Movenpick he joined Marriott as a Sous-Chef (the top assistant in a professional kitchen) in 1991, working there till 1996. He came back to Bangladesh to join Biman Flight Catering Centre (BFCC) as a chef that year.

"You see many culinary schools around now. The picture was quite different in the 1990s and 1980s. The only two global standard hotels back then were the Pan Pacific Sonargaon and Sheraton, and the only school teaching cooking was the National Hotel & Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI)," Ahmed said.

Only a limited number of people who had a diploma from NHTTI could do an internship in either hotel. To improve the situation, Ahmed lobbied to allow more culinary aspirants into BFCC as interns. These interns later went on to practise and learn cooking abroad and returned to become chefs in the budding hotel industry in the early 2000s.

Luxury hotels like the Westin, Regency, Le Meridien, Radisson, Sarina, etc, were popping up around Dhaka, later spreading to other divisions. The need for educated chefs was on the rise. So were institutes that could train chefs.

"The number of proper chefs now is a lot higher than when I began. They're making a good living from this profession, which in turn is gradually changing the society's dismissive outlook about it," Ahmed added. He joined Dhaka Regency in 2006 and has continued as Chief Chef since.

One popular institute which provides culinary diplomas is the School of Hospitality Integrated Education Epicentre (Shinee), situated in Progoti Shoroni, Dhaka.

"Becoming a professional chef in Bangladesh is mostly about learning to cook through years of experience. But the more conventional and effective route to that is through a culinary education. One can call themselves a Chef de Partie (a chef in charge of a particular area of production in a restaurant) only if they take culinary education," said Nayeem Ashraf, the CEO and culinary instructor of Shinee.

Nayeem completed his culinary diploma from the renowned culinary school Le Cordon Bleu's Malaysia branch. Then he joined Umai as Head Chef, a Japanese restaurant in Gulshan, also serving as an audition judge for the cooking reality show Shera Radhuni earlier last year.

Shinee, affiliated with the American Hospitality Academy, provides a culinary diploma that spans nine months, followed by a six-month internship at many international restaurants and hotels around Dhaka such as Le Meridien, Renaissance, Six Season, Intercontinental, etc.

"I witnessed during the reality show that there are a lot of people who want to get into the culinary industry and there's a huge scope to provide an education on it. Then I, along with my partner, started looking into the culinary education sector and one thing struck me is culinary schools here don't provide hands-on training," Nayeem said.

But cooking cannot be taught like that. "At Le Cordon Bleu, we practised everyday. From that, I understood the importance of providing hands-on training," he added. At Shinee, the instructor teaches and students all practise in real time.

Both Ahmed and Nayeem stressed the fact that if students start at a culinary school right after their post-secondary education, they get plenty of time to experiment with what wing of cooking they want to explore and build their career, which takes around 10 years.

But a culinary internship is not the same as a corporate placement. A student must apply all that they learn in their diploma. The internship sets the template for your career as a chef. Nayeem did his internship at Nobu, one of the best Japanese restaurants worldwide.

"It wasn't easy to get into Nobu but I got in through my internship. I worked there with due diligence and that's where my career as a chef took off," he said.

Tabassum Mehjabeen Mobarak is yet another shining example of how she turned her knack for cooking into a full-fledged career. Tabassum loved to cook from a young age. She catered through the online platform Cookups around 2016 and now has her own Thai cooking institute titled CooklyDhaka.

Her love for cooking began at home at the tender age of only 10.

"My mother let me make a mess in the kitchen. The turning point was when she handed me ingredients and asked for a dessert. The praise from guests fuelled my passion and I ended up training in places like the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Rajasthan, India later in life. The cooking bug bit me hard."

In 2016, she started catering various signature dishes in Thai, Indian and Bangali cuisine through Cookups.

Tabassum believes being a chef is not just about cooking, it is a lifestyle and about creating experiences. It is not just an alternative but can be a fulfilling and financially rewarding career.

During the pandemic, after much research, Tabassum decided to take professional chef training from ICI International Institute, Dhaka, under Chef Daniel Gomes.

"In 2022, I moved to British Columbia, Canada. I did a few short courses here, which helped me to get a job quickly as I already had eight years of experience in the culinary space," she said.

What is the scope of building a career as a chef in Bangladesh?

"The culinary scene in Bangladesh is thriving. People here appreciate good food, and there's always room for creative chefs; and there's always room for innovation. However, coming up with fresh ideas is critical and with the right skills and passion, the sky's the limit!" she replied.

It is worth noting that globally, culinary skills can open doors beyond traditional kitchens; in North America, individuals with culinary expertise sometimes transition into roles like dietitians and nutrition experts, addressing the global demand for specialised diets.

Currently, Tabassum serves as a Second Chef at Finns Fine Dining, a famous fine-dining restaurant in British Columbia.