If you want to fiddle with your taste buds, you have 10 thousand of them and countless ways to
sensate them with. Experimentation is the way to discover new things. And so, if you want to
eat, it is only fair that you know how to cook as well.
Amit Rahman, a recognised Bangladeshi chef in Paris, says the best place to ‘master the culinary
art’ is in the capital of France. In an interview with Dhaka Tribune, he shares his life’s
experience.
What inspired you to approach this line of profession?
Well around 2004, when I went to Australia as a student, I was looking for a job. Everybody told
me to get a kitchen-hand (dish washing) job. Because they believed that we (people from a third
world country) are not good enough to do other jobs. I listened to them, got a kitchen-hand job
and started working hard to get noticed. After sometime, I asked my manager to cross train me
each and every section, and I was the second person to get that training in that restaurant’s 33
year history.
In two years I became the youngest Bangladeshi Manager in the biggest restaurant in Sydney.
City Extra Company, later on, sponsored me for further training.
What motivated you during this time of struggle?
I always wanted to be better. I want to represent my origin at an international level in the world
of gastronomy.
When I look back, I think about working in a busy Michelin star kitchen at The Hôtel Bristol. It
is one of the most expressive hotels in the world and number one in Europe for the last five
years. Communicating with 25 other chefs at the same time, without knowing French, was the
craziest thing I had to overcome.
What do you love about your profession the most?
The fact that I am working under one of the best chefs in the world, Chef Eric Frechon, in Hotel
Bristol makes me feel blessed all the time. And that’s what I love about my profession the most,
learning from a maestro I have admired for so long.
Give us a bit of an insight on the life of a chef in Paris?
Paris is very exciting for chefs. This is the best of the best. So you know people expect the best
from you. 16 hours working days, six days a week is very normal for a chef.
But It’s over for me now. I have my own private chef enterprise. It has only been a year, but we
have already started getting lots of attention in local TV, news, magazine and apparently, even on
Brazil too!
Paris is the best place for gastronomy. They do it better than anybody, No doubt! Once you have
the skill than you can go somewhere else and put your own personality. But France has the best
schools for gastronomy.
Now that you’re independent and have the free time to engage in other activities, do you
have any specific plans?
I would like to work with young children. I would like to help them to learn a skill that they can
depend on and make a living from.
How much impact do you think culinary arts has?
We, chefs, bring happiness to people's lives with food. We can express our culture and identity
with food. Furthermore, I believe food brings people closer. That's why there is no celebration
without food.
Do you have any advice for the young culinary enthusiasts?
You really need to find the best possible chef in your country and work with them. And you need
to learn as much as you can from them. As long as you work hard and remain passionate about
the profession, you can only go up from there.
