It's no secret that being a chef is a cut-throat occupation
“What was getting me up in the mornings was not sending out a beautiful plate of food,” Jackie Cameron says. “It started becoming about my staff and seeing their upliftment.” While the food industry is competitive, she dreamt of leading other chefs to success. So instead of just plating meals, Cameron focused on serving people skills too. With an Advanced Diploma in Teaching, Training, and Assessing Learning from City & Guilds in London, Cameron was prepped to start a new path. In 2015, she opened the Jackie Cameron School of Food & Wine in the picturesque KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Under her mentorship, budding South African chefs spend 18 months earning an internationally recognised certification. Cameron restricts her intake to 15 people per course to provide individual guidance. For her dedication, she received the title of Food Educator at the 2019 FOOD XX Symposium and Awards. Yet passing on the acclaim to students is what matters most. “It’s now about them going out into the industry and winning,” Cameron says. “A meal can be wonderful but a legacy tastes much sweeter.”
Photos by Karen Edwards were used in the creation of this film.