I just started watching the new season of MasterChef Australia and I must say I was a bit worried about all the dramatic changes in judges, after Melissa Leong's departure and Jock Zonfrillo's tragic death. One of the new judges, a Frenchman in a dark suit, looked a little stuffy, but I want to report that six episodes later, I am bowled over by Jean-Christophe Novelli. He even manages to hold his own against Jamie Oliver, also a guest judge on the show.
Novelli, the son of a seamstress and an electrician, has had a very varied hospitality career full of accolades, including four individual Michelin stars. He runs a successful cooking academy where he likely fine-tunes his mentoring skills. Think of him as the anti-Gordon Ramsay, though two decades ago on Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, if some reports are to be believed, Novelli was a different man. "…he punched a plate of wild mushrooms in anger, then brought a rack of utensils crashing perilously close to the retreating derriere of his trainee," The Guardian newspaper reported then. But two decades is enough time for a rethink and on MasterChef Australia, there's no sign of that version of Novelli.
On the show, he savours tiny bites, is uncomfortable eating with his hands (except the one time he licks his fingers after eating panipuri) and shakes the sauce in a teaspoon before tasting it delicately with reverence usually reserved for wine. Everything about Novelli is measured, except the way he offers feedback to contestants. "I love watching people doing well," he said in an interview once.
Indian bosses could learn a thing or two from this chef, starting with how to shed their legendary reputations for being stingy with praise and credit. One consultant writes here that she was taken aback when a manager shared their feedback and motivation strategy: "Training our employees like that won't work. You have to be more strict with them. If they make a mistake, point it out! Point out their faults publicly to make them ashamed so they will improve." Praise is often rationed in tiny portions because bosses are convinced their employees will demand more money or promotions if they are too nice.
Novelli's critiques, too, sound like praise. "The way you cooked your breast, maybe I would have cooked them on the bone and then retrieved them to keep a lovely shape," he tells one contestant. He always begins and ends a critique with something nice such as, "I really respect you". When a dish is too spicy, he'll likely cough, describe the chilly as 'generous' then say: "Very exciting, very tasty, I think it's a good effort." Except, he will add a couple of verys before the phrase 'good effort'.
His critiques instantly put the receiver at ease. There are no harsh words, nobody thinks the chef is critiquing their food because he doesn't like them. You don't see their smile fading as he shares his feedback. They know he's rooting for them to do better.
"I can understand," he says when a contestant messes up their dish. "That's sad, that's very, very sad," he says when the squid is undercooked. Here's another Novelli style gentle reprimand: "I can see you've got vision, clarity…but it's lack of execution".
When he's critiquing, he wants you to know that he's personally invested and that he believes in you. "I think you've got to come with a little more imagination because I know you can do it," he tells a contestant. "And if you don't, you will let me down and I will be very upset." Another time, in response to a plate of charred pancakes, he says: "This is definitely not representing who you are."
Novelli's praise is invariably superlative. His sentences are liberally laced with words such as incredible, unbelievable, fantastic and brilliant. And he knows all the commandments of praise—make it specific; don't compare; don't focus just on the end result.
"Stephen, it's just incredible, I love the way you cook, the way you made your little gigolettes of quails, it was fantastic. The courgettes, they are sliced perfectly, cooked perfectly," he says. "Very technical too, very consistent. You get seduced by the whole package. It's brilliant."
When he has one sentence, he says something like, "You can trust me this is fantastic" or "Honestly, I don't think you realise how good you are" or "I have never experienced that before in 62 years, it's just brilliant" or "I don't like it…I adore it".
Why just Indian bosses, everyone can learn a thing or two from Novelli. I've always been a person who says exactly what's on her mind but in just a few episodes, I learned a few lessons in kindness from Novelli which I plan to practise on my family.
And here's a Novelli tip that I think works especially well for married folks. Every once in a while, use a French accent when you're talking to each other. Use lots of g and z words and replace both sounds with zh. Stretch out the i and e and do the opposite with u. Voila! Even the harshest words no longer have the same impact.
Priya Ramani is a Bengaluru-based journalist and is on the editorial board of Article-14.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of NDTV Profit or its editorial team.
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