French chef abandons law career to follow passion

AMMAN — A couple of years ago, Claire Verneil was an established lawyer specialised in criminal cases, a career that many dream of, but she decided to follow her heart instead and become a pastry chef.

“When I changed my life I was 35, so it is never too late… I was not in my 20s and I am blessed with my new career now,” the French chef told The Jordan Times.

Her passion for cookery prompted Verneil to leave 18 years of studying and practising law behind and become a chef.

“I studied law for 10 years and practised for eight years. I was a member of the bar’s council, specialised in criminal cases, but the more the cases were difficult, the more I wanted to get out of it,” the 38-year-old chef said, noting that cooking was her “way out” when she was under stress while practising law.

“Being a lawyer, I loved it, but it was so hard and I was out of my mind during the night… it was cooking that was so overwhelming to get [my mind] off work.”

Verneil, who is in Jordan along with five other French chefs as part of French Gastronomy Week that concludes on Tuesday, started learning how to cook when she was three years old with her grandmother, who studied household arts.

But passion alone was not enough, so she decided to take cooking classes while practising law, until she took part in and won a cooking tournament in her town.

As part of gastronomy week, organised by Institut Français in cooperation with the Greater Amman Municipality, Le Club de la Table Française and Euro-Toques France, French chefs are serving their best recipes at six of the country’s restaurants.

Verneil said she wants to “take part of Jordan” back with her, so she learnt a falafel recipe from one of the chefs she worked with at the InterContinental Hotel.  

“It’s been two years and I have been doing what I love, thanks to a lot of work and meeting lots of people.”