Basque, Bordaeux, Edinburgh
'I quit a violent partner, I quit my job, and started an eight month training course in French classic cuisine'
The Basque country in the South West of France, known for it’s Spanish-French fusion styled cuisine, is where Emillie Perez spent the first 18 years of her life. The 35-year-old grew up surrounded with food. Baskets filled with the vibrancy of fresh fruit and vegetables whilst freshly picked herbs filled the kitchen with their fragrance. ‘I've always been surrounded by
Emillie Perez, Chef de partie, Southside Scran
people cooking, like my father, a cook as well. I would make cakes as a mother daughter activity on Sunday's when I was a little girl. My two grannies made amazing, tasty food. We used to have fresh vegetables from my grandpa’s garden, who used to raise chickens’ pigeons and ducks and we would make foie gras all together once a year.’. After turning 18, Emillie moved to Bordeaux to study theatre at university dreaming of becoming an actress. It was at this point that, unknown to Emillie, she would stumble onto a path into a world of fine cuisine.
'I started to plan my way out'
‘During my 4th year of studies I decided to work to help pay for universty so, I took a part time job in McDonalds’. Emillie remained with the chain for ten years working her way up to a managerial position coaching teams. However, as her personal life changed she could no longer see where the position could take her in the future and ‘So, I started to plan my way out.’. For Emillie, it wasn’t simply a case of only leaving her job at McDonalds. In the year following, she would ‘revolutionise’ her life, ‘I quit a violent partner, I quit my job, and started an eight month training course in french classic cuisine and pastry, part time in class and part time in restaurants.’ Picking four restaurants to work in whilst in training, Emillie chose to diversify her learning as far as she possibly could choosing high standard dining and catering to help increase her understandings of the industry. Additionally, choosing to work in ‘one(restaurant) that was particularly important to my heart because it was there, having a sumptuous meal, that I considered for the first time that I may, one day, want to be a chef, a long time ago in my twenties.’. After completing her training, Emillie was offered a position in the restaurant that once stole her heart and so, she returned to her home in the Basque country. Working in Chilo, the chef continued her training under ‘an amazing old-school chef’ who ‘taught me good classics techniques a good basis for what was about to come.’ A year later Emillie landed in the Scottish Capital.
Now resident Chef de Partie in Southside Scran in Edinburgh’s vibrant Tollcross, Emillie is working for the great scottish chef Tom Kitchin. ‘This is a good quality restaurant warm and family friendy with a french bistrot twist, you will be able to order french classic dishes made with fresh products Scottish from our local suppliers.’. The position has allowed Emillie to work on her skills and continue her love of quality food using fresh produce whilst working within a close knit team, ‘We are a small team but we are like familly now, we all support each other… a great team and good food are inseparable for me.’. For Emillie, customer
'We are a small team but we are like family'
Basque Country, France where Emillie grew up
'An amazing old-school chef'
The original Southside Scran kitchen team
'playing
with knives
and fire'
With so much passion and energy expelled in the kitchen, Emillie prefers to take things slower when at home favouring making hearty soups and slowly roasting Bœuf Bourguingnon for hours. ‘I like to make myself fresh salads and big breakfasts at the weekend. I discovered porridge in Scotland and I like it so much with honey and fresh fruits, even if I still enjoy tartines and french croissants.’. The down to earth chef also enjoys to train herself in desserts, making her favourite lemon meringue tart and french crêpes with the addition of rum. However, Emillie says her go to is homemade french fries and says she is ‘always down for a good fish and chips from the corner of the street.’.
For Emillie, the three ingredients for success in the kitchen will always be, ‘salt, pepper and love’. Seasoning and tasting everything she cooks religiously helps the chef to improve and reflect on her cooking, ‘It's one of the first thing you'll learn at school. You need to season and to taste what you do to check the flavours otherwise your food is flat. Every chef, even the most famous one, will ask you to taste systematically, and put in love.’ As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to tear through every sector of British economy, hospitality has been one of the worst hit but Emillie longs to
'Salt,
Pepper
and love'
get back in the kitchen and hopes ‘the customers will be there to support restaurants in all countries when they reopen'. As for now, Emillie has found
a home in Scotland ‘Sometimes I think that I’m feeling at home in Edinburgh and in Scotland. It is almost like where I come from. A lovely locality landlocked between sunny beaches and green mountains shared between France and Spain.’. Settling well into Edinburgh, she is ‘allowing myself to enjoy my life here and what I've accomplished.’. However, this is a young chef who has a yearning for travel in a position where she can work anywhere in the world. Japan, the USA and Canada sit patiently on her list of places to go, but Emillie says she doesn’t ‘want to plan to much. However, one day, I would like to be a cookery teacher in adult schools for those who would like to do the same journey than me.’
Cheques at Chilo, Basque Country
Dish prepared by Emillie at Southside Scran
Emillie learnt classical teqniques in France
satisfaction is top priority for her. She says that with no customers there would be no chef and says that, ‘Being a chef is being the guardian of they're safety and pleasure.’', finding nothing more rewarding than seeing the smiles and happiness of her customers. However, it’s passion which drives this young chef through the long, hot hours spent in the kitchen. It’s about having a ‘big heart and tough skin.’, and a dedication to the art form believeing that in the industry, your skill set will only push you forward so far. ‘Beyond the technical skills, being a chef is 15 hours on your feet, in the heat, under preasure, playing with knives and fire, being disciplined, saying ‘oui chef’, sometimes shouting, sometimes sweating, sometimes crying but also, being a chef is being a leader and being consistant. You must be passionate to be a chef.’.