Do you remember the last time you went for a soiree? What is the one thing that stood out for you? It is probably the food. Food can be the starter, main course, or dessert of any conversation in any event.
Food is the soul of any social gathering. It can make or break it. Behind the scenes are chefs hired for the night to make delicious 3-course meals. Their sole purpose is to impress. They are rarely seen or recognised even though most of them spend 24 hours on their feet preparing meals.
But what really goes on behind the kitchen doors?
Dickens Ouma has been a private chef for five years. During the Christmas season, his day started at 3am with menu planning and meal preparation for one of the seven events he was booked for between December 23 and January 1.
“During the Christmas holiday season, it is usually challenging because of the demand. Last month, I received quite a number of requests from clients who wanted me to travel with them to Nanyuki or Kisumu. You have to consider several factors before you decide to travel with a client. You go for the one who will pay you well,” he says.
He finds himself switching from being a personal chef to a private chef depending on the requests he receives.
Personal chefs are self-employed specialists who run their own culinary businesses. They have multiple clients and the flexibility to arrange and work their own hours and schedules. They cook for busy families, seniors, people with disabilities, and others lacking the time or ability to prepare meals for themselves.
On the other hand, private chefs typically have one client, often live at the client’s residence, are usually on-call salaried employees, and accompany clients on trips and vacations.
Dickens explains that both personal and private chefs plan meals for the day, discuss menu options with the client and take their input into careful consideration.
Their primary responsibility is to prepare meals that cater to their clients’ tastes, dietary preferences, nutritional requirements, and any specific health goals they might have. This includes knowing about a client’s food allergies, dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten-free, etc.), or cultural cuisine preferences.
Dickens Ouma is a private chef. FILE PHOTO | POOL
“We serve what is popular according to the guests we are serving to avoid wastage. Chicken and chapati were in high demand during the holiday season. People avoid white rice and would rather go for pilau. If we are cooking for people from the Central region, we know that mukimo can not miss. If the people are from Kenya's Western region, we know ugali and chicken must be there,” he jokes.
In the morning, Dickens starts mise en place which is a French term used in culinary to mean gathering the necessary ingredients and equipment needed to prepare the meals.
He visits grocery stores or markets to find high-quality fresh produce, meats, pantry items, spices and seasonings, and other ingredients.
After grocery shopping, he ensures the kitchen is clean and that everything is organised and ready to go, and then starts meal prep, which involves chopping vegetables, marinating meats, preparing sauces or dressings, baking breads, and making desserts and other meal components.
“The downside of the job is that you have long hours, standing on your feet and that you won’t get to spend time with your loved ones, especially during the holiday season,” he says.
Despite this, he prefers being a personal chef rather than being employed in a hotel because hotel chefs are always under intense pressure to handle. He only considers it during the low season when parents send their children back to school and the festivities die down.
He says that people have various reasons to hire a chef. It could range from the convenience of prepared meals to customised menus and diverse cuisines, a chef’s culinary expertise, more healthy eating, and time savings.
Some people hire personal chefs solely to learn how to cook and bake from an expert so they can become more self-sufficient and creative in their kitchens.
“Clients mostly want to spend time with their family and not worry about cooking. Others would like to enjoy the different kinds of flavours we offer.
For instance, some really enjoy getting their meat marinated before roasting or grilling which takes a lot of preparation and skill to get it right,” he says.
Chefs are rarely seen or recognised even though most of them spend 24 hours on their feet preparing meals. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
For Dickens, his price depends on the number of people he would be feeding and the menu he is expected to work with.
Similarly, Oscar Musonye switched to private cookery in 2014 from hotel management since his salary was constant regardless of whether the company made profits.
“I made the switch because every effort I make now counts. If I work harder, I make more money. That was my motivation,” he says.
“When I started, it used to be a one-man show. Soon after building a good client list, I realised I was getting more than one offer a day and it became impractical to serve all these people. I trained and mentored chefs I could trust to deliver quality like I do,” adds Oscar.
Oscar Musonye. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Now he has a team of 17 chefs who are permanently employed and can take several orders a day for deliveries.
The chefs prepare meals in the client’s kitchen or their own commercial kitchens, depending on the arrangement. They focus on cooking each dish according to the planned menu.
Oscar says his chefs pay attention to detail, ensuring flavours are well-balanced and that the food is visually appealing, often incorporating various cooking techniques and using their culinary creativity to enhance the dining experience, whether they are sautéing, baking, roasting, grilling, poaching, or using other cooking methods.
“If you ask for pilau, it will taste the same from any of our chefs. We have an agreed amount of ingredients, cooking time and presentation,” he says.
“In 2018, we had so many requests and offers to the point that we were overwhelmed. I was even able to buy my second car by making food. After the pandemic, many people never recovered financially and the current economic climate has also hit them hard.
"Lately, fewer people are hiring private chefs. And for those still able to afford, they are now bargaining for lower prices. We could spend about 30 minutes negotiating for a discount,” he says.
He recalls how end-of-year parties used to mean booming business for them but now most companies would not entertain the idea of hosting one.
“I prepared food for end-of-year parties for eight companies in 2019. Last year I only did one. It is not because I did a bad job. Most of them do not have money to hold a party for their staff members. One of the companies would have over 400 staff members and we would charge per head depending on the agreed meal options. It used to be good for business,” he says.
Some clients now belittle the work that goes into cooking, he says. Others choose to buy ingredients instead of letting the chef do it, as they know where to get cheaper but quality produce since chefs must adhere to strict hygiene and food safety standards which includes where they source their ingredients from.
“Every menu is tailor-made to the event. You can have a client who approaches you to plan an event for 50 people with a budget of Sh500,000. Cooking for a small group of people or an individual does not have to cost a lot of money,” he says.
However, Oscar contends that the hospitality industry is not regulated which has resulted in the rise of underqualified chiefs taking up opportunities that should be left to trained chefs.
“I have seen someone who is not trained in culinary arts start making videos of baking cakes and soon open a bakery,” he says.
He adds that celebrity chefs would mislead people by overspicing meals or being unprofessional in how they handle the food due to a lack of training.
“Some of the things they do are wrong from a culinary perspective but you would find that they are offered more work opportunities or exposure such as cooking shows rather than qualified chefs. Most of them cook because of the passion but you need more than that,” he said.
