Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 594
Chef Sonia Cuffy shared with Mélange
About her background About cooking tips I was born and raised on the beautiful island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a stratospheric paradise of rolling streams, rivers and an unending haven of black and white sand beaches - an ode to idyllic harmony. My first recollection of putting “pot to fire” was at the tender age of ten. As I reminisce, I cannot help but smile. We were not rich growing up and you definitely ate what you were given – period, but I was always looking for more. My mom was at work that day, so I hurried into the kitchen and stole some rice, secured a pot, along with the necessary ammunition of matches, and grabbed a few other random ingredients. Always the culinary ringleader, I assembled my siblings under the awning of the big mango tree in the yard, got some stones and an array of sticks and twigs which we used as our improvised stove, and proceeded to cook. We couldn’t figure out why the rice turned out so hard, and sadly, we had no choice but to feed it to the chickens as we certainly could not eat it. But we did have a good laugh. I fondly smile at this memory which is etched in time on the fibers of my mind. Through this experience, a curiosity for perfecting my cooking was born. I’ve been cooking since that day, at every opportunity. Follow your heart. That gut instinct will guide your hands to create masterpieces. When following a recipe, always think outside the box. Feel free to tweak it as you see fit, adding spices of your choice - make it your own. Be daring and play with the spices a s you can dress up or down, do not be shy - express yourself through your food, become bold and be creative. About her cuisine It is an eclectic world-flair fusion of foods from around the globe, fused together with soul, love and an endless array of spices. About a favourite dish she loves to cook Most definitely that will be Paella. This dish dates back to the 19th century and it is history plus diversity that allows for such versatility. For me, this dish presents me with a blank slate to work and I can produce many variations of it, be it Tropical, Italian, Thai or other - a culinary ode to this spectacular dish. About her special recipe Ricotta-Citrus Cheese Cake is a recipe which is very dear to my heart. It was my first claim to fame. My cheese cake was featured in the made-easy edition of ingredients by Saputo, a registered trademark company of DairyLand Canada. The company, through its affiliations with George Brown College, where I was a student, came in and offered us students an opportunity to create an innovative recipe using three or more of their products. It was the height of summer so I was inspired and decided to put a citrus spin on ricotta - I consider ricotta to be the "the tofu of cheeses” as it adapts well to any flavours added to it. It was a success, winning me the coveted 1st place and validated my yearning to take on and conquer new challenges. That winning streak continued throughout my tenure at George Brown, earning me a place on the Dean's Honor List. I graduated with Honors and went on to win Chopped Canada in 2015. I am also proud to say that my protégé, Evan Kirlakou also won the Chopped Junior Champions in 2016. Hence my belief that “When you challenge yourself, the sky is your only limit.” I hope you can have as much fun making my Ricotta-Citrus Cheese Cake as I did creating it. Remember to think outside the box and put your own spin on it. Bon Appetit.