Marlon Walter Chanjan Ghio, Gastronomic Promoter

Marlon was born in Lima, Peru. He has always enjoyed living a healthy life style since he was a child. He has studied medicine, public health, nutrition, sport, and gastronomy.

When did you realise you wanted to become a chef?

When I realised my patients could not manage to cook healthy recipes. At that time I only knew what ingredients are healthy but I did not know how to cook, so I decided to learn it.

What’s the best thing about being a chef?

Travelling around the world representing your national culinary culture.

What are your main responsibilities?

My main responsibility is to be very well informed about the history of our culinary heritage in orden to be ready for any promotion event. I also have to investigate about nutritional value of our Peruvian ingredients, the wide variety of our food products, Peruvian superfoods, new tendencies, opportunities of exports, and finally to cook for important events organized by the embassy that could be for few or many people.

Is there anything that surprised you when starting the role?

Yes, when people start to call me “Chef” instead of calling me “Doctor”.

How do you work with your team? Any management tips?

I prefer to work developing horizontal network instead of a hierarchical structure. A Leader has to be part of the team, not a boss.

Why did you choose Le Cordon Bleu Peru? What does Le Cordon Bleu represent for you in one word/sentence?

Because the institution is one of the best in the world. I have inherited a very important culinary tradition which is rooted in the long Peruvian history. What I needed to know were cooking techniques to enrich even more my heritage. The perfect place to develops those skills is the Cordon Bleu, which represents for me “the door for a global experience as a culinary ambassador”.

How did studying gastronomy help you to achieve your current role? What’s your fondest memory from Le Cordon Bleu?

Studying gastronomy was crucial to change my working life.

What’s your fondest memory from Le Cordon Bleu?

My fondest memory was to be surrounded by talented students, full of energy and passion for their careers. This made me feel a little bit intimidated, however on the graduation day I was honored with the maximun recognition, the Cordon Bleu to Academic Excellence.

What's the best piece of advice you’ve received? And/or what advice would you give to anyone looking to follow in your footsteps?

I received many pieces of advice from my closest friends during our studies. I think each advice was the best one because was made in the right time. My general advice is “be humble, help your friends, focus on what is important, be obedient, and always live with faith”.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

I do not have any specific person who is my biggest inspiration, I think I receive a certain amount of inspiration from each person I meet with.

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