StrEATFood Awards interview

What’s your everyday role?
I work as a sous chef for Bennett Hay at Milbank. Milbank LLP is an award-winning, premier international law firm with 12 offices worldwide. The company has a longstanding people-centric culture. Within its sector, it is recognised for its progressive stance on diversity, equity and inclusion. Milbank and Bennett Hay’s values are aligned, making for a strong partnership. 

My role mainly compromises supporting our head chef. I also run the breakfast a la carte service and lunchtime hot counter service for the Milbank team. 

Does street food feature a lot on your menus?
It features heavily, with at least two or three days a week spotlighting street-inspired dishes from across the world. We go from curries and bao buns to burritos and amazing vegan dishes.

One thing that we, Bennett Hay, are very focused on is sustainability of our cooking. We work with Angry Monk, who are helping us to reduce as much surplus in the food chain as possible. It means we’re cooking with market fresh fruit and veg that is surplus due to seasonality, or looking slightly odd and wonky. 

What was your signature dish and how did you come up with it?
A Gujarat tiffin box. The dish is comprised of a slow braised mutton curry served with bhel puri. Bhel puri is a crispy spiced potato dish with puffed rice. I accompanied the curry with three chutneys – tamarind for sweet and sour, a red chutney for heat and a green chutney for freshness – with a pickled green papaya salad.

To come up with my dish, I spent a good amount of time researching on the web and using my extensive street food cookbooks. I was set on creating a dish with three distinct components to represent the three layers of a tiffin box.

And your technical dish?
My technical dish was my version of a bò né. This is a popular Vietnamese brunch dish, it translates to ‘dodging beef’, and is a great example of Vietnamese and French fusion cuisine. I based my dish around steak and eggs with a toasted baguette, paté and grilled tomatoes with lots of fresh herbs. I came up with the idea while talking about breakfast specials with my head chef and manager.

How do you stay calm when competing?
When I’m at a competition, I generally find it to be much like my day-to-day working environment. It’s fast-paced, expectations are high and only the best counts!

Did you enjoy the event?
The awards are great for seeing what my peers are up to. Much like the whole street food movement, the awards are a melting pot of cultures and techniques. They are also a good opportunity to meet the judges and get some feedback. It's always good to see other people’s take on street food, which is why I enjoy going to the awards.

You can enter the 2024 awards now - but applications close next week!

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