The SMS Cooking Team ready for action!
Serving with Love: Raj Baidwan’s 35 Years at SMS “It’s Butter Chicken Day!” When that phrase reaches students and staff lined up for their daily lunch at Alexis Hall, faces light up–and with good reason. Each year, in yearbook write-ups and at graduation ceremonies, SMS girls mention that they will miss the Butter Chicken. The story behind the signature dish is that of SMS’s longest-serving employee, Raj Baidwan.
As head of food services at Alexis Hall, Raj is responsible for feeding hundreds of people every day. Students, staff and guests enjoy food cooked by an international staff who bring the taste of home to boarders and global flavours to day students. Raj’s commitment to buying from local producers demonstrates SMS’ commitment to nurturing healthy girls inside and out.
Raj started as a kitchen helper at SMS in September 1975, working the evening shift and weekends and by the second term of that year she was asked to replace an ill cook. Raj, and her husband of 42 years, Gobinder, put their daughter, Sabrina, through SMS from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Their son, Jasbir, also attended Kindergarten at a time when SMS offered co-ed Kindergarten.
Head of School Cathy Thornicroft appreciates Raj’s expertise and enthusiasm: “Raj embodies the core values of this school and of the overall ambience and working conditions. She demonstrates commitment, and she is leaving a legacy.”
When Raj started at SMS, the kitchen was in the old Junior School, where the Finance office and dance studio are now. There were 65 girls in residence, and 150 girls at the school. Lorna French, the Headmistress from 1967-76, would do the weekly grocery shopping. Now Raj oversees daily deliveries, her staff cooks in the spotless Alexis Hall kitchen, and girls eat in the recently refurbished dining room.
“The kitchen staff all do a wonderful job,” says Raj. “Patricia Mann does great salads. Joan Keller does the Canadian meals. Doris Young cooks Chinese dishes, and Akemi Akutsu prepares Japanese foods. Also, Davinder Thandi, Daljit Samra and Parveen Dhatt cook East Indian food.” Many of the kitchen staff have been at SMS for over 16 years. “Raj’s commitment to the school, and to her staff, is unbelievable,” says Thornicroft.
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Raj Baidwan’s photo from 1990-91 SMS yearbook
Once a month there is an international meal; students present a menu to Raj and her staff, who carefully prepare food for girls who are far from their family kitchens. “It’s a taste of home. We try to keep them happy,” says Raj. As a parent, Raj appreciates all that SMS offers students. “I like the environment here,” she says. “I think it helped Sabrina choose what she wanted to do.” In her Grade 12 yearbook, Sabrina wrote that she planned to pursue a career in child psychology. She did, earning a degree at the University of Victoria. Sabrina now works as a counselor with children aged pre-primary to Grade 12 in addition to raising a family. Raj enjoys going to work each day. She works Monday to Friday, and pops out from the kitchen to say hello to diners at lunchtime. “I have a nice staff working for me. They are hardworking. The teachers come, and it’s nice to feed them. I like making people happy,” she says. They are especially happy on Butter Chicken Day.