Making of Star Chefs

Dynamic & crafty, Jason DeSouza made a name for himself in the culinary world at a young age, and today he is treading a much participative path – teaching people to cook gourmet star-stunners
Chef Jason DeSouza
Chef Jason DeSouza

It was in the midst of the pandemic when Jason decided to create a niche for ‘Gourmet Cooking Made Easy’ as a platform on YouTube as well as Instagram, to aid a novice or experienced home cook in creating star-stunner dishes while shining through with simple ingredients, food hacks, flavours, and tricks. For the once youngest Executive Chef in the country at the age of 25, Jason’s culinary world is vast, having worked with some of the 'Culinary Gods' (top chefs) of the world and a few of the best brands in the hospitality business.

According to him, starting his brand  ‘Jason DeSouza’, knocked as an opportunity at the right time. “The lockdown did manage to bring about a culinary shift with many venturing into the unknown territory of cooking. This formed a habit that people thoroughly enjoy nowadays, but without the right resources it can be tough,” he notes.

Gourmet Cooking Made Easy is a platform to enable food enthusiasts to shine like a star, either at home or when entertaining guests. “It teaches you how to exploit ingredients, cooking mediums, and techniques without the added stress,” Jason says.

During the first lockdown, he kick-started his initiative on Instagram, helping people cook with just five ingredients, daily cooking videos, and treats on the weekend. “With groceries and necessities in scarce supply, this was a hit where we went from 30k followers right up to 90k in 3 months,” he mentions.

"Cooking healthy is coherently ingrained in our DNA. It’s all about just activating our senses. The best principles to follow is to remember what our mothers and grandmothers did.

Every diet known to man comes with an expiration date but clean eating is a way of life that enables you to indulge with the principles and discipline one has in life by extending it to our nourishment." - Jason DeSouza

While he enjoys growing the community both on Instagram (@jasondesouzaofficial with 220k followers) and on YouTube (Jason DeSouza with 5.55K subscribers), Jason’s goal is to build a coterie that is evolving yet sustainable. “As we evolve into the future, while we have established our intangible assets, we are working on building tangible products that enable gourmet cooking to become much easier for you,” he says.

Jason, a teacher extraordinaire, is the only front running advocate on 'Clean Eating' where he teaches how to indulge in food, adapting to the principles and discipline one holds in life with our food. Jason has curated an intense yet practical Master Class on the same lines with a renowned social media platform, ‘SocialSwag’.

“Currently, with the concept of working from home disrupting the work-life balance, we offer ‘Easy Cooking with Jason’ on SocialSwag making cooking simple and easy, yet stylish,” he says.

The brand Jason DeSouza is currently in the phase of building a library of star creations that fall into categories that include ‘Boys Night In’, ‘Date Night Delights’, ‘Festive Fancy’,  ‘Binge Worthy’,  ‘High On Health’,  ‘No Stress Impress’,  ‘Fab FamJam’, and  ‘Posh Pyjama Party’—the terms telling it all.

According to Jason it is important to cook because ‘the love that you share, transcends from you to the food you cook for the people you love’.

While he is working towards building his library of starry wonders, Jason is soon going to enable gourmet enthusiasts to explore a range of sauces & marinades, making it much easier. “With globalisation, India is open to exploring, experimenting, learning and evolving around the finer nuances of food, I am just here to help form that perfect bond one must have with food,” he says.

For easy access to a fantastic library for Gourmet Cooking Made Easy creations, check out www.jasondesouza.com

Jason’s Journey

• Youngest of three siblings, born on 11th August 1981 in Mumbai.

• Favourite childhood pastime – mother’s kitchen utensils.

• Studied in Don Bosco’s High School, Matunga, Mumbai.

• Always drawn to his mother’s kitchen, as a child particularly fond of making Black Forest Gateaux.

• Finished his Culinary School in India and was selected as a Management Trainee for the Taj Group of Hotels.

• Worked with seven Taj Group Hotels.

• Finally posted to Taj Holiday Village as a Sr Chef De Partie.

• Pre-opening Sous Chef at Chancery Pavilion, Bangalore.

• Youngest Executive Chef in the country at the age of 25 at Royal Orchid Hotels, a 5-star hotel in Bangalore.

• Pursued his culinary education further with a Grande Diplôme in Food Production & Pâtisserie with
Le Cordon Bleu London.

 • Worked in London as Sous Chef under Chef Gordon Ramsay & as Chef De Cuisine under Chef Alaine Ducasse.

• Came back to India in 2014 and was F&B Director with Della Resorts on the outskirts of Mumbai for a period of 3 years.

• Relocated back to Bangalore with the launch of his own restaurant on MG Road called White Plate by Chef Jason.

• Forayed into the health domain in 2017 as the Culinary Director with CureFit Healthcare handling 97 kitchens across the country.

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