How does one go from being a trolley boy to a pastry chef at a larney restaurant?
Well, you work your butt off, stick your neck out and ask, says Ferdinand October from Strand, who will be graduating from one of the country’s leading culinary schools this year.
And he has already secured a permanent job as Chef de Partie at The Lord Charles Hotel near Somerset West, where he did his in-service training.
SKILL: Against all odds. Photo: Supplied
Ferdinand, 34, left school when he was 16 and got a job as a trolley collector and cleaner at Pick n Pay in Somerset Mall.
“I left school to help my family. My father was the sole provider for myself, my mother and three other siblings. He was a painter,” he says.
“At times, there was little or no money and, wanting to better the lives of my family, I went to find work.”
But the dad of two says his dream was to become a pastry chef, and he asked the bakery manager to consider him for a post.
He soon joined the bakery and went on to do a SETA bakery skills programme.
DRIVEN BY PASSION: Ferdinand October from Strand. Photo: Supplied
But Ferdinand says his passion was to become a proper pastry chef and last year he took his manager’s advice to study further.
It meant that he would have to resign, and also save for his study fees.
It was a tough decision; he was taking care of his two kids, his parents and two sisters - one of whom suffers from epilepsy and the other who had drug problems.
But he took the plunge anyway and in October 2017 he began a diploma in patisserie at the Capsicum Culinary Studio in Cape Town.
He continued to support his family by working part-time at a supermarket on weekends.
Capsicum principal Charleen Davids says Ferdinand is “extraordinary”: “We soon became aware that long after the class had ended and other students had gone home, he was still in the kitchen using leftover ingredients and continuing to hone his craft and perfect his skills.”
Ferdinand enjoys making desserts and his favourites are the French crème brû* ée and the Italian panna cotta.
“The hard work starts now, but my life is better than when I started out,” Ferdinand says proudly.