At my place, Sean Kettley became famous when I served his Couscous Salad to my granddaughter Ashley and her cousin, Laura Swim. Although these young university students had never heard of couscous, or at least had never eaten it before, they were impressed. (The recipe, originally published in Saltscapes' May 2004 issue, was such a hit that it was reprinted in Your Best-Loved Menus.)
But the chef's fame does not stand on couscous alone. As a teacher of culinary arts at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), Sean has earned the respect of both students and faculty, especially those who eat in the full-service dining room at Akerley Campus. It's here that he teaches fine restaurant cookery to the first-year culinary students who operate the dining room during the week. It's where he wants to be.
"There is no other job that I can think of where I get to cook exactly what I want to," he says. "In the hotel business you have to sell a lot of sandwiches for every 'fun' dinner you get to work on. In the college I put new dishes on the menu every week because I believe that others will enjoy them and, very importantly, that the students will walk away with some knowledge from having prepared them."
Sean has racked up a lot of experience in his 34 years, about half of which he has spent in the food service industry. As a boy, he loved to "make a mess in the kitchen" preparing eggs and pancakes, and helping to make cookies.
He was only 15 when he applied for a job as kitchen helper at the Clipper Cay restaurant in Halifax. Eager to get involved with food preparation, he badgered the cooks to let him help. They did, and it wasn't long before he saw the kitchen as a place where he could carve out a career, and do it well.
This ambition led him to study culinary arts and baking at NSCC Akerley Campus, in his hometown of Dartmouth, NS.
Still a student, he worked for a year as a pastry chef at the Halliburton House in Halifax, and learned much from the experience. All good? Not really. Every cook has a story to tell about a major disaster. Sean's most memorable gaffe was when he left 24 cheesecakes in the ovens overnight.
"One of the cooks called in sick and I was alone on the line. I guess I was a little too anxious to get out of there and just completely forgot," he says. "The chef called me at home at six in the morning to rib me about how badly they were blackened!"
Not yet 20, Sean graduated from both NSCC programs and set out to cut a few notches in his whisk, working at various Halifax hotels and training with accomplished chefs.
"Dale McCarthy was the restaurant chef at the Sheraton when I was hired there," Sean says. "He was the most meticulous chef I've ever worked for. He taught me to be precise, clean and organized with my cooking."
Sean also has great admiration for Stephen Huston, who for a long time was executive chef at the Prince George. Sean worked under him for two years.
"He taught me to have fun with food, and step outside the box a bit. But most importantly, he taught me how to wring every gram of flavour out of what you were cooking. He was simply amazing at doing that."
Anxious to share his talent and enthusiasm with others, Sean captained the Nova Scotia Professional Culinary Team from 2000 to 2003, winning gold two out of three times. Since then he has been coaching the provincial Junior Culinary Team. These teams, both senior and junior, are made up of chefs who earned their spot by competition. They then compete against teams from the other Atlantic Provinces.
There seems to be no stopping Sean Kettley. Having been recommended by Culinary Team Canada's manager, J.C. Felicella, he became a member of the national team and competed at the Americas Chef Competition in Miami last November. Up against teams from North, Central and South America, Canada won first place in the overall competition, while Sean and his partner, Joerg Soltermann, came out with a silver medal.
Among the dishes he created for the competition were Pecan and Panko-Fried Oysters, Butter-Poached Lobster with Lobster Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, Torchon of Haddock and Mussels with Smoked Salmon and Tarragon, and a Carrot and Ginger Foam.
What lies ahead for such talent?
"I hope to secure a full-time position with the national culinary team and compete at the Culinary Olympics," he says.
And he still dreams of having his own place with a small dining room and an area to grow produce. "I'd use the dining room to teach private dinner classes as well as provide a service to my guests," he says. "I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to make that happen."