Skilling for the Future (2020 Update)

Another shining example is Jayson Tang. At just 30 years of age, Jayson is already the Chinese Executive Chef at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, an international five-star hotel. Of his studies at the CCI, Jayson notes, “Apart from being taught basic culinary theories and techniques, we frequently took part in large cooking competitions. This gave us the opportunity to exercise our creativity and put what we learned into practice. We could also learn from the dishes of others and mutually improve our techniques.” In 2006, his entry of “Hot braised beef tomato with bananas and prawns” won silver in the Hong Kong Young Chef Chinese Culinary Competition. This dish, which combined Sichuan and Cantonese cooking techniques summed up the essence of the entire course at the Institute. “There is undiscovered talent hidden away in the Institute with many accomplished chef masters selflessly passing on all their knowledge. Our instructors frequently reminded us to learn until mastery was achieved. They stressed that cuisine styles should be complementary, thus giving me unlimited inspiration in creating my dishes.” “We also had to learn operational knowledge which boosted our ability to go up the career ladder at work. Now I am an Executive Chef and can make good use of my management knowledge.” Mr Jayson Tang Graduate of CCI, now the Chinese Executive Chef at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong Grooming the Next Generation Workforce 87