It is a moving story that Soumaïla Siby delivered in the columns of South West. At just twenty years old, the young cook left his native Ivory Coast to realize his dream : meet the most famous Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the most famous in France, Philippe Etchebest. Indeed, in his show Top Chef objective, broadcast every day on M6, Dominique Etchebest's companion tries by all means to find the rare pearl who will integrate his brigade in the next season of Top chef. In order to secure this first place on the podium, the young Ivorian took immeasurable risks. So much so that the clerk endangered his life aboard a makeshift boat to reach France. Safe today, ready to do anything to make your dreams come true, Soumaïla Siby tells about her journey.
"I had to start working in the fields when I was 10, I went to Mali for a very strict education. If I learned to respect the elders there, I didn't want a life under heavy pressure from family and religion ", explains the young man. When he was fifteen years old, Soumaïla Siby decided to give up everything to reach the French coast. Thus, Soumaïla Siby joined Burkina-Faso, crossed the Niger desert with twenty-four other migrants in the back of a pick-up before arriving in Libya. There, nothing will happen as he imagined.
"I saw people shot in front of me but I never gave up"
The young man, who became a minor in a village, discovers forced labor and is even shot and wounded: "I saw people shot in front of me but I never gave up : I could not come back having failed ", he confided. After a month spent in the middle of the Mediterranean, he delivers five hundred euros to local smugglers and reaches Europe.
Soumaïla Siby finally reached France by train via Nice and ended up in Bordeaux, her final destination. It was a few months after his arrival that the young cooking enthusiast participated in the show Top Chef objective. If his West African mafé and his eggplant steak did not seduce Philippe Etchebest to the point of choosing him, he did not lose everything: "I keep the contact details of all these people in my address book … And Soumaïla marked me. I was very touched by his speech, his passion and his courage which commands respect. He is a wonderful example and shows that willpower, selflessness and effort, with a touch of luck, pay off. " To be continued …
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