“The name is Sunny, Sunny de Ocampo,” this is the greeting delivered by the man who calls himself the James Bond of cooking
Chef Sunny de Ocampo has got James Bond’s charm and the cooking skills of…well…his mother
“The name is Sunny, Sunny de Ocampo,” this is the greeting delivered by the man who calls himself the James Bond of cooking. Either Sunny has a wacky sense of humour, or he’s very confident of his abilities.
Master chef, Roberto (Sunny) de Ocampo, possesses both. Blessed with a sunny (pun intended) personality, and a 100-watt smile, he puts you at ease immediately with a Namaste.
A Filipino by birth, chef Sunny’s tryst with cooking began at an early age. “My mum tells me I was born in the kitchen, so I decided to stay there,” he says. At an age when most boys were heading out to sport camps, seven-year-old Sunny went to cooking classes.
“I was the only kid amid a sea of mothers, who loved pulling my cheeks and gushing,” he says. Bruised cheeks aside, little Sunny wowed everyone with his cooking skills and his acting ability, which landed him a few soy sauce ads. At the age of 15, his family migrated to Australia; a journey that heralded Sunny’s cooking career.
“I always dreamed of wearing a chef’s whites, and the toque,” he says. His dream came true, when he apprenticed at the Parmelia Hilton Hotel, in Perth, under the guidance of master chef Cheong Liew. Sunny eventually left the Hilton to start his own business.
Today, Sunny has his own Sunnyside Up catering service, providing personalised cooking classes and chef services. He has also authored a number of cookbooks. Sunny also heads the Cravings Food Club, that teaches cooking, but in an interactive manner: “I take everyone out, teach them how to buy ingredients, take them to different eating places to learn how the food is cooked, and then get them back to my studio and teach them to cook.”
A frequent traveller, Sunny has trotted the globe, learning about different cultures and cuisine. For him, the best way to learn about a particular cuisine is by talking to the people, searching for the ingredients, and learning about the history and culture of the place.
“Chefs are story-tellers —each of them comes with their own different take on food,” he says. His forte is seafood, although he is well-versed in all types of cuisine. Cooking, for him, is going back to the basics, but with a touch of the modern.
Sunny likens cooking to courting a lady: “You cook in the same way you would treat a lady: You have to serenade her, compliment her, and handle her gently.”
Chef Sunny is in India as part of the Three Cities Australian Seafood and Wine Festival, organised by the Australian high commission. The aim of the festival, according to Sunny, “is introducing Indians to Australian seafood”.
While in India, Sunny is eager to take in as much as he can about Indian food and spices. He is also brushing up on his Hindi, which is evident from the practiced manner in which he mouths ‘theek hai’, ‘shukriya’, and ‘namaste’. Sunny’s future plans include a world tour, as part of his show, and maybe later, starting his own restaurant. For now, though, he is content to wander the world and spread the word of ‘culinary friendship.’
l_joanna@dnaindia.net
The Australian Wine and Seafood festival is currently on at the Trident, till Nov 25.
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