COOKING UP A STORM
‘If you love eating seafood, learn the different varieties, their unique textures and tastes and just keep adding some of your favourite ingredients to create your own dish’
Lisa Williams, Royal Navy chef
Lisa Williams, Royal Navy ‘Coming from the Caribbean, cooking for me is second nature. I cook almost daily and thought, “Why not do it as a career?”,’ writes Lisa Williams, a Royal Navy chef. ‘The Navy provides the ingredients – sometimes we get what is needed and sometimes we don’t – and this is what makes what I do so interesting; I get to put my creativity to the test! Sometimes I produce dishes that turn out to be spectacular, which I’m proud to stand behind and say, “I made that”, and sometimes I make mistakes, which I learn from.
‘But in anything that I do, I do it to the best of my abilities. This has earned me a lot more recognition, but it’s also made my job challenging; everyone expects me to always produce excellent dishes. It’s motivated me to go the extra mile. I consider myself to be a very lucky individual because so far I’ve been achieving my goals and I have an excellent support system, including my close friends and family. I know without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. On days when I’m at my lowest, they push
me to look past the trials and aim for excellence.
‘Being in the Royal Navy has allowed me to learn about so many different places, people and opportunities. But nothing so far has surpassed the British seafood experiences. Since becoming a chef in the Royal Navy, I’ve seen many different ways of preparing seafood. I enjoy preparing seafood, particularly because it’s a completely different procedure and needs more love and attention put into creating the final product, making it something to be proud of. I enjoy experimenting and not following a recipe.
‘If you love eating seafood, learn the different varieties, their unique textures and tastes and just keep adding some of your favourite ingredients to create a dish you can call yours. Seafood is delicate, which makes it easier to make a mistake and ruin the dish. Turn your mistakes into a lesson. It’s easier to take criticism and make decisions that turn your project into a masterpiece! British seafood is one of a kind and has been a liberating experience for me so far. I have no doubt there are more great things ahead, but I look forward to trying new types of seafood and learning more about the spectacular flavours the sea has to offer.’