The first generation of students at HRC Academy is on the way to graduation! Two years and a half after their first step into the Culinary Arts program at the Academy, most of our students have just few months more on their internships before their official graduation.
The ceremony is planned for the autumn 2010 and meanwhile you can browse through our "Students" category to read more on the students opinion and life at HRC Academy!
CONGRATULATIONS, SIDONIYA!
Interview with Sidoniya Radeva
CA: How did your love to cooking grow?
SR: It is something like a tradition in our family, which by the way, is quite big. My grandmother loved cooking, my mother did and of course I grew up with the love towards cooking in my heart. It was a combination of necessity and curiosity and I have put into practice hundreds of recipes, handwritten in notebooks.
CA: When did you decide to start cooking professionally?
SR: Believe it or not, I decided to make cooking my profession once the Academy was established. Before that I was working in my mother’s restaurant, where I had to prepare dishes for 250-300 people. And there is quite a difference between making a soup for so many people and making one portion but with all the techniques required to make it a high-class one. So I saw the opportunity for me in HRC Culinary Academy. It is an international institution, the instructors are foreign professionals with huge experience all over the world, the education is in English, there are amazing internships included and all this gives you a big step in front of the others.
CA: What impressed you the most about HRC Culinary Academy?
SR: I was very impressed by the very process of the whole education. It combines practice and theory in an unique way – you can learn about business communications, calculations, supplying, delivery, how to hire and train staff – all these very important things if your dream is to become a chef or a restaurant owner.
CA: What is the thing you are not going to forget about your education at HRC Culinary Academy?
SR: I won’t ever forget the practical part of the studies, the opportunity to work with such professional equipment and of course, the presentations at the end.
CA: What would you say to the current and future students of the Academy?
SR: I won’t lie that it is not difficult, it is extremely difficult. But they are given a chance to prove themselves, to show they are ambitious and to follow their dreams, so they should grasp it and never let it go. There is no room for hesitation, it is a great professional education with great chances to travel abroad and see and experience different places.
CA: Mentioning that, how did your internships go?
SR: During the fourth semester I was in the USA, in a one Michelin-star restaurant. It wasn’t the typical internship as people might expect – they trusted me, they encouraged me to try different things, to believe in myself. I loved the job, the atmosphere, the informality among the staff. Chefs are in favour, they cook with their hearts for the clients. The relationship with the client is of great importance and often chefs are being congratulated for their creations.
CA: How did it happen so that your dessert was chosen to be in the menu of a one-star Michelin restaurant in the USA?
SR: As I already said, people there encouraged me to experiment. So it was a great opportunity for me – I was trying almost everything, made mistakes, then tried again and it was a great chance for me to come up to their expectations. One day they made a small competition with preparing a strawberry dessert. So I made Chocolate puff pastry with chocolate ganache cream, mint ice-cream with chocolate chips, strawberry carpaccio and chocolate tuiles which they called Strawberry carpaccio for short. Very rarely, if you ask me, you can see a Mexican asking how something is done, but with this creation I made one ask. They loved it, they were amazed by it and instantly decided to include it in the menu. In addition they made me prepare a dessert of my choice for every Tuesday, which was the Special chicken menu day. Not only that but they were wondering whether not to change the whole dessert gamut so that it corresponds to my dessert. The feeling was indescribable, a dream made true. Now my next dream is to develop the restaurant I won in Lord of the Chefs show in such a way that it soon receives a Michelin star.
CA: What is the thing that helped you win the title Lord Of The Chefs?
SR: What helped me the most is what my chef-instructor Chef Robin Villarreal taught me – to see cooking as art. I’ve learnt from him to put all my energy, my passion, my love and even part of myself in the process of cooking. That’s when things are really happening well.
CA: What was the most difficult part of the competition?
SR: The clash of personalities and the hypocrisy.
CA: Thank you very much for this interview. Is there something you would like to share with us?
SR: I would like to thank the team at HRC Academy and especially my chef instructors.