PREPARING mouth-watering and tantalising dishes that capture the hearts and palates of foodies here and across the world is what Sous Chef Dionne Gordon dreams about these days. That wasn’t always the case for this Central Village, St Catherine native who eventually fell hopelessly in love with cooking in her grandmother’s kitchen.

Gordon, who is now kitchen manager at Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records, never imagined that she would be a chef, and is proud of the leaps and bounds she has made in her career. Known for her gift of creating exciting recipes, Gordon’s skills have opened many doors, including her most recent work with the ‘It’s Guinness Time’ cooking series.

Crediting her early knowledge of the culinary arts to her grandmother, Gordon reflected on her initial attempts at cooking a meal from scratch.

“I remember each Saturday I had to go to town, buy the ingredients and then go home and start the soup pot. I could not use any powdered seasoning in the soup or else my grandmother would be very upset. She always said that using the right ingredients and techniques is all I needed to create a tasty meal. My grandma is the building block of where I am today. I cooked for the family and my family was very judgmental when it came to food, so I had to make sure I was giving my all,” Gordon laughed.

For this innovative maestro in the kitchen, her most memorable culinary experience to date was her entry in a cooking competition in 2018, where she placed second.

“I made a strawberry pasta. I sautéed garlic, onion, white wine, coconut rum, heavy cream and strawberries. I puréed the strawberries, and the judges were so amazed by it,” recalled Gordon.

Motivated by the will to bring her ideas from imagination to creation, Gordon aims to ensure that everything she prepares is done to perfection. The Tracks and Records chef was delighted when she was approached by Guinness to prepare a Guinness-infused meal for the ‘It’s Guinness Time’ campaign. Gordon created a Guinness-marinated jerk salmon with shepherd’s pie as her main course, coupled with an invigorating Guinness bread pudding topped with a tortilla, dusted in cinnamon sugar and a Guinness-infused punch.

“This was not my first time creating a Guinness meal, but I was very excited when I was contacted to be part of the campaign,” Gordon expressed.

“When I’m creating a dish, I like to play with the tastebuds, so I’m looking for spicy, sour, sweet and I try to combine all three or even four elements if possible; and Guinness has the elements I was looking for. That beverage was just a perfect combination when creating the meal; it provided a stout bitterness that I found complemented the dishes very well.”

Destined for more, Gordon plans to use the knowledge she gained at HEART Runaway Bay to realise future dreams. In the next five years, Gordon hopes to own her own restaurant where she would marry foods from different cultures while still adding that Jamaican flair which consumers have come to know and love. Though the talented chef has worked assiduously to master her craft, she is aware that there is always room for improvement and will stop at nothing until she becomes better at what she does.