It is often said that “Cooking is the best style of giving,” and for most cooks across the world, they do so not for the money, but for the passion and satisfaction on their customers’ faces.
Celebrity chef, Kai Chase once said, “If cooking is what you love, do it with great vigor, pride, and excellence. It pleases me when I see guests conversing, noshing, happy and satisfied. I savor all the flavors of life.”
The same is true for Executive Sous Chef, Robert Schielke, whose experiences span two decades across several countries. Chef Robert, who has traveled various continents, has had an illustrious career starting out as a Commis de chef in Park Hyatt Zurich to becoming Hyatt Regency’s (Addis Ababa) Executive Sous Chef. Capital caught up with Chef Robert at Hyatt Regency for insights into his life experiences as a chef. Excerpts;

Capital: Tell us about yourself? How long have you been in the culinary arts space?
Chef Robert: I have been a chef for more than 20 years now. I joined the culinary arts industry of Ethiopia when we opened the first Hyatt in Addis Ababa. I began my journey in 2006 when I got hired in Switzerland. Since then, my journey propelled me to numerous countries such as Ukraine where I worked for six and half years after which I moved to Istanbul. My journey did not stop there, I moved to Muscat in Oman, and currently, I am based in Addis.

Capital: How has the chef-life been throughout the years?
Chef Robert: In my line of work, chefs get to travel the world and experience different cultures and cuisines. Of course, life experiences vary from country to country. Each and every country has its pros and cons but the beauty of being part of new cultural experiences balances it out.
It’s a big thrill, to get acquainted with new cultures for example in Ethiopia there is a great sense of brotherhood or family and lots and lots of deep culture and tradition. Where I am from, that is, Germany, we have a deep-rooted culture for caring for our family but the one in Ethiopia is higher and extends the same virtue even to the neighborhood which makes it an even better place to work in.

Capital: What led you to be passionate and have a career in culinary arts?
Chef Robert: When I was young, to be honest, I did not have the passion and zeal to become a chef. At the time it was everyone’s dream including myself to be a formula one driver, an astronaut and other amazing and fancy careers. When I grew up, I enrolled myself in culinary arts school and in my first year I did not like it that much since we had to stand for long hours. But when the second year came, the fire of being a chef started growing in me and so did the passion.
Making so many dishes out of one food such as potato and making great plate presentations really had me excited. The same goes for chocolates, for example, you can make a mousse out of it or even ice cream or chocolate decorations, and this sparked creativity in me, which still exists to date. Waking up every day to make amazing dishes and getting to be creative with food is a great joy.

Capital: In your opinion, what do you believe makes a great chef?
Chef Robert: To be a great chef and stand out from the rest, you should never compromise on quality. That means you should always have the right product and the right recipe in order to serve an exquisite dish. Of course, the chef must also be talented and also bring charisma to the dish. But the quality of the product is very crucial. The quality of your product will always distinguish you from the rest, and this is what I believe separates me from the rest as I always put quality first.
A good example of quality comes when you are preparing say, creams. You must be precise in order to have the desired consistency and if not prepared well it can also affect you when you’re preparing a mousse. Where you source your ingredients matters and, in our kitchen, we bring all our ingredients fresh and of the best standard and quality.

Capital: What is your evaluation of the development of the industry in Ethiopia?
Chef Robert: The industry in Ethiopia is fast developing with many creative chefs on the rise. Of course, there are famous chefs like chef Yohannes and chef Marcos who are masters of their crafts and often go the extra mile to come up with great dishes. The pastry shops over a couple of years are also becoming better and better which is great to see.

Capital: What are some of the challenges of being a chef in Ethiopia?
Chef Robert: The limitation of knowledge and experience and getting the right product and tools are some of the challenges. In pastry, it is absolutely crucial to have the right molds and cutters, and if they are not present in the kitchen, they present a huge challenge.

Capital: What are your plans for the future?
Chef Robert: Even though one cannot predict the outcome of the future, as long as I will be living in Ethiopia, I plan to give the opportunity to all the up-and-coming chefs by helping them harness their skills and talent in the kitchen. I hope to share my life experiences in the kitchen with others and get better and better in my craft.

Capital: Do you serve Ethiopian food in the Hyatt regency?
Chef Robert: Yes, we do serve Ethiopian food. We have at least one national dish in our main restaurant and we also provide Ethiopian cuisine in our room service. Similarly, when we host events and banquets, fifty percent of the food being served are Ethiopian dishes whilst the other half is international dishes.

Capital: What is the most challenging meal you have cooked and why is that?
Chef Robert: At this very moment, it is difficult to say that I have a challenging dish, since over time through experience everything becomes 99 percent easier. In my early days, however, I had a huge challenge when it came to making the mousse because of the elemental techniques involved

Capital: How can you describe the last 20 years of your experience?
Chef Robert: If I could have not left my country, I could not have been exposed to the great culture and traditions of other countries. For the past two decades, I have been able to meet amazing people, and experience culture, tradition, and cuisines.
Most people get to travel the world for just a few days, but for us, as chefs, we get to learn in detail the culture of the people in the countries we travel in. We get to learn their favorite food, how they prepare them and what they like and don’t like which makes it even better.

Capital: What is the best piece of advice you can give to Ethiopian chefs?
Chef Robert: My best advice is always to strive to have the best product and tools for your dish to be of high quality. A great meal tends to always sell itself. Secondly, it’s to broaden one’s culinary creativity by learning and bettering one’s craft through educational cooking sources such as YouTube and eBooks.
The cooking journey is always fun and full of creativity, and I encourage them to keep being creative.