All the way from the island city of Singapore

On a week-long visit to Westin in Pune, TGS caught up with Chef Jack Ng and spoke to him about his love for food, his personal favourites and what he has to offer to Puneites

For almost a decade and a half now, Chef Jack Ng has been cooking and serving people some of the best Chinese and Singaporean dishes. Learning the knick-knack of cooking merely by observing his mother as a child, the young man found a way to do something that he loves for the rest of his life. He was 13 years old when he first attempted to do something in the kitchen. Even though it was just a packet of instant noodles, he felt immense joy at having achieved something so big and getting it right in the first attempt. From here on he kept cooking and experimenting and currently works as a junior sous chef at The Westin in Singapore, where he oversees the hotel’s signature all-day dining venue Seasonal Tastes.

“The smile you see on a patron’s face when you serve them good food and something that they will like is quite priceless. At the end of the day, you feel that the hard work has paid off so the satisfaction from a job like this is immense,” he tells us. His personal favourite to eat and cook are the Singapore style Chilli Crab. He will serve this and other flavourful dishes at Westin, Koregaon Park as a part of the Singaporean Food Festival, for the entire month. The food has been tweaked to meet Indian taste buds but is as close to the original as it can be.

Jack believes that food allows him to understand different cultures. Every cuisine, if studied properly, will tell you about the history of the place or the kind of people that come from a particular village, city, state or country. Since the food bug bit him early on, he learned most of what he knows today by observing others cook, especially his mother and by watching videos online. He also worked with a few chefs to understand how the kitchen works and what the dynamics were on handling one. He has mastered the finer details of every dish that he sends out of his kitchen through trial and error. Prior to Westin, he has worked at Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore Marriott, and Oscar’s at Conrad Centennial Singapore.

Creative in whatever he does, he loves inventing dishes or finding out a way to take them up a notch. “Inspiration can come from anywhere. I prefer not to think about food or rack my brain to come up with something when I actually want to invent a dish. I think better when my head is clear,” he smiles. He will listen to music, go for a walk, watch a few films and maybe even talk to people around him to be inspired.

Just before we end our conversation, Jack gives us some very important piece of advice. The one thing that he feels, every chef or someone looking to become one must have is patience. It is a well-rewarding profession if treated right and given due respect. The holidays are limited so if you do take it up, be prepared to work hard to ensure that every dish you churn up is a work of art, he adds. In his case, since this was something that he absolutely wanted to do from a very young age, he started working on being patient early on. Today, Jack can’t imagine a day where he doesn’t head to the kitchen to either prepare something elaborate at his job or a quick simple meal for himself and his family.

salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow