Chef: Merrill Perry
Club: Brightwood Golf & Country Club
Years as a chef: Seven, with 20 years cooking experience
As so many great chefs did, I started my career as a teenager dishwashing at the local pub in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. As luck would have it, one shift, the chef was left shorthanded and called me up from the dish pit to help him on the line. Although I was terrible when I started and almost fired on several occasions, with the support and patience of the chef my skills did slowly improve.
From my humble beginnings working at the pub, I then found myself working at Brightwood Golf & Country Club on the cold station doing banquet preparation. After working at Brightwood for three years I left to pursue my education in Culinary Arts at Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth. During my time in culinary school I ended up with a position at one of the best hotels in Nova Scotia and had the opportunity to work under many great chefs, where I learnt so many new culinary skills.
After graduating with my culinary degree, I spent 10 years working in different hotels but always remembered that my favourite job was back at Brightwood Golf Club.
In 2014, I came across the Executive Chef job posting for Brightwood Golf & Country Club and was delighted to be offered the position. I felt that this full circle to return as Head Chef, after so many years of learning and experience, was almost destiny. After three years working as the executive chef of Brightwood, I also took on the role of Food & Beverage Manager. Brightwood Golf & Country Club is proud to have a very strong food and beverage department for our patrons.
My favourite dish happens to be the most popular item on my menu at Brightwood Golf & Country Club. It’s a Thai Rice Bowl with chili peanut sauce, marinated chicken and crispy pork belly. I have always had a strong passion for Asian cuisine because of the unique spices and bold flavours.
My biggest professional influences would have to be my instructors from Nova Scotia Community College. Prior to my education in the Culinary Arts program at NSCC, I spent seven years cooking and thought I knew a lot, but quickly the chef instructors put me in my place. Their teachings opened up my eyes to a culinary world I didn’t even know existed. The best decision of my life was taking the Culinary Arts program at NSCC.
My favourite piece of kitchen equipment is my smoker. I love using the smoking method to infuse flavours to slow cooked meats, salmon and salts. I would put our smoked ribs and briskets up against anybody’s in town. They are also some of our most popular items on our menu.
My favourite spice is cayenne pepper. I know it sounds a little strange as the obvious spices are usually garlic and onion, but there is something about cayenne that really enhances flavours in my dishes. I feel that just about every dish needs a little heat and bite, and cayenne pepper can bring that. Not the over-bearing heat, but just a little tickle at the end so you know it’s there.
My favourite things to do outside of the kitchen? As I am sure a lot of chefs at clubs do, I like to play golf. However, because I know my wife is going to read this, I’ll also say that I love to travel with my better half, who, not surprisingly, I met while working in the hospitality industry. We both have a love for food and love to travel and experience different cuisines.
My biggest kitchen fear is running out of food. At Brightwood, we do a lot of banquets and weddings and the majority is buffet style. I have had nightmares of me being at work and running out of food before the end of the buffet line is through and ruining somebody’s special day. Luckily for me this has yet to happen.
One of the strangest dishes I have made was a fried pig’s cheek torchon which was prepared at a five-star hotel I worked at after culinary school. I had to break the heads down and cut out the cheeks, pound them out and then roll them. We then proceeded to bread and deep fry them. They were absolutely delicious and the pork flavour was so amazing. However, they were a ton of work to prepare.
My favourite celebrity chef is Aaron Sanchez. I watched a lot of Food Network over the years and he always stood out with his strong Mexican flavours. It always amazed me how he could make everything appear so beautifully on his plates. I have made or re-created a lot of his recipes. Going to his restaurant, Johnny Sanchez in New Orleans, is on my bucket list.
If I wasn’t a chef, I honestly don’t know what I would be doing. Cooking has been in my life for so many years so it’s hard to say, but I think I would be in the food business in some other way.
Last bit of advice I would give an apprentice is to always set goals and try to continually educate yourself in this ever-changing world of food. We are in one of the trendiest industries in the world and things are always changing, so you can never stop learning.
