Hi, Welcome to Fay Olinsky’s diary of a Personal Chef.

My working day is spent shopping and cooking, presenting fabulous (and ordinary) dishes to clients, prizewinners, busy working families and many others who just want to sit back and enjoy a culinary ocassion without the need to work or clear up afterwards. On some ocassions I get to demonstrate cooking and culinary skills to others in some very interesting situations. Recently I did a Ready Steady Cook style event at the fabulous Bovey Castle for Nabim the National association of British and Irish Millers. I am not one to enjoy ‘getting a laugh’ out of voluntary contestants, however enjoyable it may be for the audience. I plan and make ready a programme so that all possible scenarios are taken into account and whatever the contestants do they cannot fail to produce something edible and tasty, even if they make it look like an Eton Mess. I will often sacrifice myself and make big mistakes in order that the contestants look good. (making tagliatelli pasta where they get better results and I get lace curtains!) I do not mind people laughing at me but contestants can become very wary and unwilling to take part if too much fun is made of them. Humiliation is not everyone’s cup of tea. Going away from one of these events with a newly aquired skill and a new passion for cooking because you have ’succeeded’ is for me, the whole art of demonstration. What is the point of putting people off using your product just to get a cheap laugh?

Some of the more interesting jobs are done in TV and Film studios all over the country. The New Paul O’Grady Show is one that I get enourmous fun from. I have cooked everything from Marigold Tarts, Brawn, Dead Man’s Fingers, an enourmous pastry Cornucopia full of fruit to a beautiful Baked Alaska which they promptly asked me to burn! They are always asking for jellies etc that will fall off the plate when turned out…not as easy a task as some would think…a bit like asking someone to deliberately sing out of tune. (you try it if you don’t normally do it Despite some major problems with my eyesight last year resulting in me having to wear some weird prism lenses, I have had a wonderful time this year with some of the most interesting jobs I have ever encountered. A session in Dublin for Ogilvy Mather preparing and presenting a six course Russian Banquet for 25 top food writers and journalists to celebrate a Smirnoff event. A fabulous party in Mojacar Spain where myself and a butler were flown out to shop and cook for a grand 40th birthday. That resulted in another wonderful ocassion for the same client where we cooked and served a fabulous gourmet 6 course dinner at the Lexus Showrooms in Ipswich The whole place was transformed into a glittering occasion and we enjoyed a standing ovation from the geusts. Wonderful! This year Barbeques have been the most popular event, starting in April which is unheard of normally. By the 27th May which is normally the first BBQ of the year I had already done five. Gourmet BBQ’s are the thing this year. Not because they are cheap, because a good barbeque ocassion is the same cost as a great dinner party but with the extra cost of providing equipment and shelter etc. The reason they are popular is the fact that you can entertain a few more people on the terrace or in the garden than you can sitting at a formal table. If you do not want to go away from home for the celebration and you have a good few relatives, BBQ’s are the best bet. There is no dish that I cannot prepare using BBQ equipment so you are never stuck with just burgers and drumsticks.   Traveling all around England for Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice prize of Win a Chef For Christmas was one of the best things ever. I met and cooked for some truly wonderful people. Some who would never ever have thought of having the services of a Personal Chef and Butler in their own home. These contestants have all had wonderful dining experiences and been over the moon with their prizes. Of course, as in all walks of life, one gets the odd problem. The prizewinner that insists they want cash not the actual prize indicated. Those who try to sell on a prize even though it is not transferable. Others who insist the prize is for 10 and not the 6 specified on the voucher…or that the two bottles of champagne are a case…yes you get them all from time to time! Still there are always the delightful balance who have a prize for 10 who can only fit 6 at their table…so can they have extra wine or extra courses…or lobster starters…of course they can..it’s my pleasure! I recently attended one cookery theatre booking, arranged by an event management company, where absolutely no facilities had been arranged…not even one demonstration area or table! I had also been asked to supply a finger buffet for 100 people…there was no table for that either. Eventually they brought out two wallpaper tables (the folding kind) and expected me to perform on those and serve the buffet too. Obviously this was an impossible task but I was not sure if it was a charity event so I carried on not wanting to dissapoint the 100 geusts. It got worse…They had not provided a microphone or any form of speaker for me to convey anything in an extremely large showroom where people were seated at least 30 yards away from me…near the very sparse bar! The whole evening was a torment for me…I was not even offered a glass of water after driving for 3 hours my voice was cracked and obviously struggling. The flimsy table made it impossible for me to perform any spectacular, (or even ordinary) culinary demos especially as my oven was balanced precariously anyway. I asked for some water….the girl brough me a bucket of it…well at least I could wash my hands! Then someone had kicked the cable out of the plug in the background…the lamb I had placed in the oven 25 minutes previously had only cooked for 5 of those. I really felt as if I had been ’set up’ To cap it all at the end of the evening the Event company that booked me told me they had forgotten my cheque! I smelled a big rat and insisted I was paid before leaving. Someone issued a cheque reluctantly and I left for a 3 hour journey home…without any liquid sustainance of any kind and certainly no food because they ate everything…even the demo bits! I paid the cheque in the next day…and yes, you guessed,  they bounced it. I put that down to my own stupidity and the fact that I should have heard the warning bells long beforehand when the term ‘finger buffet’ was suggested..I DON’T DO FINGER BUFFETS! In retrospect I should have walked away the moment I realised there were no facilities. I am too nice! Flipping heck! call yourself an event management company…you couldn’t manage the proverbial! I would like to name and shame but I am sure this company has now learned it’s lesson. Clarins who were also booked for the event didn’t even turn up and I was left to hold the whole evening alone. The event Management company were asked to pay back the whole fee they charged which must have been considerably way beyond the paltry 50% of my fee that they had paid in advance. Serve them right…they should never be allowed to manage events again! Amateurs! This week I will be cooking at Kenton Synagogue…just as assistant chef. I like to do this sort of thing from time to time to ‘get my hand in’ so to speak. I often do a night at the local Thai restaurant…just as a stand in chef if someone is let down. It is good to go back to grass roots. A great leveler and learning curve. I see things that I had not thought of and I see things I would never think of…ever! so it keeps me up to date and familiar with all sorts of situations. That is an essential skill for a Personal Chef…every job is different and you need to ‘be prepared’. I love my job! Fay