It doesn’t stop there, Shane is also
involved with the ‘Cook for your Career Competition’, a national competition
providing people from any background the opportunity to realise their dream of
becoming a professional chef. The winner
has the opportunity to complete a full cooking apprenticeship with Shane at his
restaurant Maha. “Good apprentices are
really hard to find, especially now.
I’ll take someone who is 100% motivated over someone that is 100%
talented because I can show them that if they work hard they can have it
(all)”. Shane believes meeting the
parents and the family of his apprentice chefs is incredibly important. He can draw on his own experiences as an apprentice
working long hours in this cut throat industry and acknowledges without the
encouragement or support from his family he may not have been able to keep
going some days. His advice to an
aspiring chef, “Your new job is your new life, get entrenched in your
work. Go to work to work if you wan to
be a chef at the elite level. Give it
everything!”
At the age of 16 Shane started his cooking apprenticeship at
‘Eden on the Park’ in Albert Park, Melbourne.
He says he participated in ‘everything’, every cooking competition
around, which is where he met George Calombaris. George was working at the ‘Hotel Sofitel’ and
not long after their meeting Shane followed George where they both worked under
young French chef Gabriel Martin who had trained with the likes of Marco Pierre
White. Martin went on to open his own
restaurant, ‘The Treasury’ on Collins Street in Melbourne in 2001 where he
hired Shane as Chef de Partie (third in charge). Twelve months later Shane
moved on to be the Sous Chef (second in charge) under his friend Executive
(Head) Chef Anthony Sekita at ‘Chateau Yering’ in the Victorian Yarra Valley, Shane
was now 21. A year later Sekita resigned
and Shane was now at the helm as Executive Chef, a position he enjoyed for five
years. It was during this time that
Shane experienced travelling and cooking in various countries of the world and
he began to see new domains of cooking.
All roads have lead to here, where Shane is currently filming
his very own SBS TV show that enriches and showcases all of the experiences and
hard work that he has fulfilled to now.
The set of the show is a beautifully decked out Moroccan inspired
kitchen. Colour is bountiful and the
aroma of the spices is incredible. Shane
looks relaxed and comfortable in this makeshift kitchen and in front of the
camera. He jokes and shows no
displeasure when he has to retake a scene many times over. He is shooting a dessert where peaches and
saffron are the feature. “He brought
back about two kilo’s of that saffron from this old man in Iran. Watch what he does with it”, the director of
the show informs me, “he’s a magician!”
Every dish on the show is specifically created for this new
series and they are created straight from Shane’s head and his heart from his
recent travels. Shane tells me that none
of the dishes have been attempted before; he plans them then creates them on
the day of the shoot and perfectly every time.
As the shoot for this episode draws to a close, Shane has delivered five
delectable dishes. That’s pretty
magical!
“I can’t fail…can’t fail.
I have too many people that rely on me”, Shane informs me, “I’d let too
many people down and too many people have sacrificed a lot for me to be
here. My grandfather did coming over
(from Malta), my dad did coming over.
Everyone has given so much so that I can have these opportunities”. The fear of failure is very strong for Shane
Delia. It drives him to get up every
morning, it pushes him to keep improving and it energizes him to continue creating.
Over the years and since the emergence of the celebrity chef, it
would be fair to assume the stereotype that all chefs are hot headed, obnoxious
and egotistical. There has been many a
television cooking show that has displayed this type of behavior and led people
to believe that chefs are more than just a little unhinged. Shane Delia breaks
this perception, maybe even smashes it into a million pieces. He’s passionate and driven but humble and generous. He’s innovative and creative but grounded and
authentic. He’s a giver rather than a
taker. He’s kind and loves a joke.
A son, a husband, a father, a boss, a mate, an Ambassador, an
all round nice guy on the eve of airing his very own cooking show on TV. There is already much hype in both mainstream
and social media about ‘Spice Journey’.
It’s been predicted to be one of the top food shows on television in
2013. What does Shane Delia think about
all of this hype and his celebrity status? “At the end of the day I’m just a
chef. I’m really happy being a chef. There is nothing else I’d rather do.”
Shane Delia’s Spice Journey - Thursday's 7.30pm on SBS ONE.
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