We All Scream for Chef Stream-ing: An Interview with Chef Katherine Smyth
Did you know that chef streaming has been on a popular rise? This is why we are delighted to showcase an interview with our very own Chef Kit Smyth and idea of online cooking classes was her journey from formal culinary training, to food blogger and recently to ChefPassport chef streamer.
A few chef streaming facts to get us started
First let’s flashback to 2016 when Twitch aired a four-day long marathon of Julia Child’s The French Chef, when all 201 episodes were played back-to-back in commemoration of her 65th anniversary from graduating from Le Cordon Bleu.
Now, let’s flash forward to today, where more and more real-time chef streaming providers are popping up – from Facebook Live-home cooks, to avid YouTubers, to the elite MasterClass instructors – makes you question, where should I go to get the motivation to put on that apron and hat?
Well, at ChefPassport, we believe that there is more to food than preparing and learning the technique. In fact, we believe that the food, the ingredients, the dish and, very importantly our chefs, have a story needing to be told, shared and explored in every online cooking class we offer.
I cook from the heart, from recipes handed down through the generations. I want to keep those connections alive, even if the people are only in faded photos now. To me, recipes are glimpses into the past, or the future, and into each other’s lives. Traditional and rustic food wasn’t about making food into art. It was about feeding your nearest and dearest a meal made from what was available, to keep everyone nourished. Made with love, and meant to last.
Meet Chef Kit
Chef Kit grew up in Australia, on a farm – where her family grew a lot of their own food. Her Nan was a cook in a Yorkshire manor house, where she was trained by a Cordon Bleu chef, and simply loved to cook. As Chef Kit grew up, she heard all of her Nan’s stories about her career, about raising four children during WWII while her Pop served, and then migrated to Australia. It was a natural progression for Chef Kit to follow in her Nan’s footsteps.
Back in the 90s, the best way for Chef Kit to get into her ‘black and whites’ was to do her formal training, and then complete the ‘on the job’ hours. It was a new initiative scheme at the time and a great way to consolidate what she had learned from her family.
As she developed in her career, Chef Kit eventually relocated to the United Kingdom – where she retired as an executive chef and shifted gears to food writing. In 2005, Chef Kit continued to share her love of food by offering her own hands-on classes and more recently joined the ChefPassport team.
Interview with ChefPassport
What was the first flavor or scent you remember when you were a kid?
Chef: Ooo, this is harder than I like to admit. I have a couple of ideas that stand out; dolmades – stuffed grape leaves – and my Mum’s lamb roast. Fortunately, I get the same warm-fuzzy feeling whenever I have dolmades; I was fed them by a neighbor when I was a toddler, so it’s more the care and affection I remember than the taste. Every mouthful I have today, I still feel that connection. Sadly, no matter how many times I roast lamb legs, they never live up to the memory. Mum roasts it slowly, with garlic and rosemary, it’s so tender and practically falls off the bone. It’s my life’s mission to roast mine like hers.
You are currently a Greek cuisine guru for the ChefPassport team, what drew you to this flavor and culture?
Chef: I think it goes back to being a toddler; the dolmades, and two Greek boys I went to school with. Peter and Chris, they used to bring the most amazing food for lunch, and I remember asking them about it. Of course, then I started studying history, saw the movies ‘Boy on a Dolphin’ and ‘Zorba’, and I lost my heart to scuba diving and beautiful Greece. I love their attitudes towards life; overcoming adversity, celebrating life, and don’t take things too seriously because life is transient. Greek food is an extension of that, and I love the flavors and freshness.
I hear you are a food blogger, how did that come about?
Chef: I am, I do a lot of food and kitchen writing when I’m not cooking or teaching. Whilst I’ve been travel/daily-life blogging and on Instagram for years, I’ve only just started my own cooking blog.
At the moment, LarderPantryandGarden.com
is featuring the recipes I’m teaching through ChefPassport, but I’m hoping that over the coming year to also create content about starting a productive garden, and other recipes that I love and that inspire me.
Become a digital food explorer with Chef Kit and others!
Chef Kit is a great example of passionate food and culture-loving instructor you have part of your chef streaming at ChefPassport. So, if you want to go on a food adventure and travel along with other food enthusiasts, hear their stories and learn how to cook at the same time.
Be sure to check out our online cooking course offerings.
Make Julia Child proud, and treat yourself to the world of flavor from your own kitchen, every day!
To learn more about Julia Child and other women in the chef’s hat, check out our great blog
dedicated to them in celebration of International Women’s Day 2020.
