From the crease to the kitchen
Kyle Marshall is bowling over guests with his cooking skills
When Kyle Marshall was 23 years old, he was faced with a toss-up: play cricket professionally or study to be a chef.
He chose to do both and in 2013 while playing for Easterns Cricket Union, he decided to also sign up for a part-time cooking diploma at Capsicum Culinary Studio’s Boksburg campus.
The Benoni resident soon found himself alternating between batting and batter and bowl and bowling.
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A year later, Marshall enrolled for the school’s part-time pastry diploma in order to get well-rounded experience in the kitchen.
After graduation, Marshall went to England for six months to play club cricket for Barnoldswick Cricket Club and while there got his first taste of working in a professional kitchen with a part-time job in a little 20-table café in a village in northern England.
When Marshall returned home from the UK in 2015, he landed his first hotel job at the Southern Sun Hyde Park Hotel, where he worked as a commis chef.
“It was a good introduction to working in a fast paced, high demand environment,” he said.
A year later he moved to 54 on Bath in Rosebank and met his mentor, Matthew Foxon.
“This is when I learnt to be a chef, with long hours, plenty of coffee, striving for perfection and the kind of camaraderie I’ve only ever felt in a team change room.
“I also learnt independence and leadership and the importance of taking ownership,” said Marshall.
After three years at the Rosebank-based hotel, he moved to Palazzo Montecasino, where he says he learnt how much he could achieve on his own, which gave him the confidence to be where he is now – creating and executing his own menus.
So what is the 31-year-old chef up to these days?
“Last year I was sitting at home during lockdown waiting to go back to work when an old guest phoned me and said he was tired of cooking for himself and asked me to cook a few meals for him. Out of that I decided to launch my own business, which is called your_ownchef.
“It’s a personal chef service where I design a menu, do all the shopping and prep and go to the client’s house and serve a fine-dining meal in the comfort of their home. Menus centre around fine dining, but can be personalised to the guests liking. Here is where I have really been able to spread my wings and find my own cooking style, with my goal being to serve the best food in the country and create a memorable food experience for the client.
“If anyone wants to get hold of me, they can do so at your_ownchef on Instagram and Facebook or email me at kylemarshie12@gmail.com”
Marshall’s favourite go-to recipe for a really easy, simple but totally delicious meal is his bacon and mushroom penne.
“It’s right up there on the top of my list if I had to choose my last meal ever,” he said.
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Kyle Marshall’s bacon and mushroom penne
Ingredients
400g cooked penne
½ red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic (made into a paste)
250g mushroom, roughly chopped
250ml cream
100ml white wine
150g bacon, diced
50g grated parmesan
Handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Method
Bring a pan up to high heat and add the chopped bacon. Allow the fat to render and the bacon to brown slightly.
Next add the onions and garlic and sauté until golden.
Once golden, add the mushrooms and cook until most of the moisture is out.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook until the wine has completely evaporated.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the cream.
Bring the cream up to a slight rumble and then add the cooked pasta and fold it in.
Add the parmesan and chopped parsley and fold in evenly.
Plate and enjoy while watching a game of cricket on the telly.
