Growing up, Shanay Roelfse loved hanging around the kitchen while her mother was cooking or baking, because she was always asked to taste the different elements of the meal – whether it was a sliver of ham, a teaspoon of sauce, a chunk of homemade bread or, best of all, licking clean the remnants of a bowl of chocolate icing.
“It’s where my love for cooking started,” says Roelfse, now 27 and living in Delft in the Western Cape. “My mother instilled the passion in me and made me realise that food is a real labour of love.”
Following matric, Roelfse decided a career in cooking was what she wanted to do fulltime, so in 2015 she enrolled at Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Cape Town campus for a two-year combination course of Professional Cookery, Patisserie and Sugar Craft.
“I loved my time at Capsicum,” she says. “Prior to enrolling, I had I visited various other culinary schools, but I felt most comfortable with the space of learning and the staff members who were warm, funny and welcoming.”
During her time at the school, Roelfse and few of her colleagues were afforded several opportunities to venture into private cheffing and even found themselves part of the judging panel for the Championship Boerewors Competition.
In 2017, when she was in the last stretch of her studies at Capsicum, Roelfse was offered a permanent position as a Commis in Pastry at the renowned 5-star Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel.
“Working at the Belmond Mount Nelson was a real eye opener to the demands of the industry. I woke up every morning at 3am and was collected by the allocated work transport at 3:30am to arrive at the hotel at 4:30am for a 6am start.
“My duties initially consisted of preparing the scones and packing the buffet items in the designated holders for the popular ‘Afternoon Tea at The Pink Lady’ and then replenishing those items throughout my shift. After a few months I was given more responsibility by helping to develop the requested dietary requirements alongside the Sous Chef.
“My duties would end at 3pm when the morning shift would break down to give a decent handover to the afternoon/evening shift. Traveling home in peak traffic would take around two hours and, after a shower and a quick bite I’d crawl into bed at around 9pm. That was the schedule for five days with two days off per week.
Roelfse stayed for three years and, during that time, was promoted to Demi Chef De Partie of pastry.
“I really enjoyed working at the hotel and met so many interesting people,” she says. “But the lure of travel was too strong, and I applied for, and got, a position as a Demi Chef De Partie onboard a new cruise liner called Virgin Voyages that was undersigned by that well-known business mogul Sir Richard Branson.”
Her days on the ship could not have been more different to what she had experienced in her previous job.
“A typical day onboard would start at 8am with a shower and a light breakfast before commencing my shift at 9am. A quick morning meeting with the commis chefs that worked for me would give them an overview of what was needed to be done for the day and what could be advanced for a function or service. A detailed handover would be given by the nightshift and preparation time would kick in until around 1pm.
“Mandatory lunch would be taken to comply with the MLC rules for compliance on humane practices and, if we had a successful prep time and all items were in stock, we were allowed to go on an afternoon break for about two hours, during which time most of us would go out and eat or explore the port of call we were docked in on that day.
“If working an a-la-carte outlet, the usual time for closing and clean up would be between 10.30pm and 11.30pm. On the replenishing outlets, usual ending time would be sometime between 11.30pm and 1am. On the unfortunate days when there was no one assigned to nightshift or the designated person was ill, I would have to step in as the senior of that section to complete those tasks and then take a rest and come in for my assigned shift at 9am.”
Roelfse worked for the company for five years, rising to the position of Senior Chef De Partie in Pastry and working on board all three of the ships in the fleet, during which time she literally saw the world – visiting Dubai, the US, the Bahamas, Honduras, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, the UK and many more countries.
After recently returning home and getting engaged, Roelfse has had time to reflect on her career and has decided to take a break from life onboard ships and in hotel kitchens and refocus on her future.
“I’m currently busy with my assessor’s course to hopefully enter the lecturing field of my profession and hope to be equally as successful in that. Maybe I’ll be fortunate enough to end up back at my old alma mater,” she laughs.
In addition to her talents in the kitchen, Roelfse is also an accomplished musician and artist.
“I grew up around music my entire life and I am considered an ‘old soul’ when it comes to my taste. I love the way instruments individually have a significant part to play. Classically, I play the violin and was a member of the University of the Western Cape Orchestra (UWCO) back in 2008. I also enjoy drawing in my spare time but have resigned those talents to designing novelty cakes.”
So where does this multi-talented young woman see herself in five years’ time?
“I hope to have achieved my lecturing dream and be in a position to shape and mould more young minds to love and appreciate the craft as much as I do.”
Before Roelfse could escape, we posed a few quick-fire questions and asked her for a quick easy recipe.
What’s a favourite snack when you’re feeling peckish?
KFC Zinger Wings!
Did you get to meet anyone famous when you worked at the Belmond Mount Nelson?
Yes, I met Jude Law. He was nice but elusive.
Do you have a favourite celebrity chef?
I have three. Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and Gregory Czarnecki.
What would you make to impress someone
My decadent chocolate cake (like Miss Trunchbull’s chocolate cake in the film Matilda)
Do you have a simple recipe that you can share with the readers?
Here’s the recipe for my delicious Buttermilk Rusks
(Yield: 66 pieces)
Ingredients
1.5kg cake flour
20g baking powder
10g bicarbonate of soda
300g sugar
3 XL eggs
500ml buttermilk
50ml milk
500g butter (melted)
5g salt
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare two large oven trays. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk then add the melted butter and stir to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir, but do not overmix. Stir in the milk. Divide the mixture between the two trays. Bake for 30- 45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, before portioning. Lower oven to 50°C with the base element on and dry the rusks out for 2-3 hours. Remove and allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.
