Salad leaves

I started working in the restaurant trade after completing high school, initially waiting tables during my student days, before managing a fishmonger's shop which also served seafood cooked in diverse ways. A range of salads and mezze to accompany these dishes was also prepared in-house from scratch. I learnt to prepare all these dishes and, occasionally, presented demonstrations to cooking schools.

A change of employment led to a career in retail fruit and vegetables as well as some wholesaling of fresh produce to restaurants and cafes. In consultation with some of the chefs of these establishments, we devised salad mixes that combined a number of leaves in the mesclun style, which originated in France, as well as salad mixes that would complement Asian fusion food.