What International Chefs Day means

Mohamed Siddiq, Executive Chef Taj Club House I've been in this field for 25 years. All this shows we've moved from a time when the chef was just a cook. Those were primitive times, but now we are out in the public in front of the guests. We want to give back on this day, and it's great to have this day on which chefs are recognised. We are going to have a competition for the chefs within our unit with the theme 'Chicken and spinach' and they'll have to create different main courses.Girish Kumar, Executive Chef, The Courtyard by MariottThis is a day to salute the professionals involved in satisfying a primary need of a person, irrespective of who he is. I consider it a divine job to feed people to their satisfaction, as hunger is a need that no technological advancement has been able to address. The International Chefs Day is a day to celebrate and honour those involved in this special work.Samir Mulaokar, Executive Chef Vivanta by Taj, Fisherman's Cove The best part of the job  is satisfying people from different backgrounds and different tastes — It's like catering to a 1000 different palates. This can be done only if you have a passion for the art. We are going to create a new dish to mark the day : The Bay View Pickle Spice Prawns and will be serving to our guests (fresh catch tiger prawns) Seetharaman, director-Culinary, GRT Hotels and Resorts In India, chefs are still considered cooks. There is no great respect or regard for us. So it feels good that a day like this is being observed for us. Irrespective of the hotels that we work for, chefs from across the city will get-together on this day and indulge in feeding needy mouths.Praveen Anand, Executive Chef, Sheraton Park Observing a day for chefs is a great idea. Unfortunately, in our line of work, we are always working to please someone else. Caught in our work all the time, we seldom have time for ourselves. I would love to catch up with other chef friends and spend the day trying out good food from outside, but work beckons here and we have internal audits to maintain.