Over the years it has become the norm as a chef to prepare a dish in front of your interviewers for them to taste. This gives them an understanding of your skills when you are cooking, your presentation and most of all whether your food tastes good.
This can be a daunting experience for chefs both new and old but if you are prepared and stay calm during this experience it can be just as useful for you as a chef. You can spend time in the kitchen where you could potentially be working, you can familiarise yourself with where things are but also it will help you decide whether you want to work in that environment. Think about these questions to yourself: Is it clean? Is it safe? Were you told about the correct health and safety procedures that you may encounter? Is there room for you to work? If there are staff members present do they seem happy in their jobs?
Being prepared for this kind of interview will help you to present yourself the best to your future employer. There are a few things that you can do to prepare, the first thing you need to do is find out what the tasting interview will be – is it a random box of ingredients, do you have to make a specific dish, design a menu or can you make a signature dish? Try and find this out in advance.
If you are going to be given a random box of ingredients it is a great idea to practise cooking with ingredients that you don’t normally include in dishes, try different flavour combinations but remember to think about your presentation.
If you are given a dish in advance or asked to create a dish yourself then it will be much easier to prepare. First of all, if you can choose a dish, choose one that shows off your skills but you one you know looks and tastes amazing. Take into consideration where you are applying for, if it a very typical and traditional establishment try serving a dish that you think reflects this, whereas if it is modern and cutting edge, take risks and be creative – try and show them something they haven’t seen before.
The key to preparing is practising, practise making the dish and presenting it perfectly, this way it will be second nature when you come to make it in your interview. Don’t forget to practise your basic skills as well though, interviewers like to see good technique and skill when you are in the kitchen, this includes dicing, multi-tasking and chopping.
Our biggest tip for a tasting interview is to pick a dish that you are confident in making but save a part of the tasting where you can be creative, this may be an element of the dish, a side or even an additional dish – show them something they haven’t seen before or weren’t expecting.
