Personality Profile: Adolf Pereira
Adolf Pereira, the celebrity chef of the Discovery Centre, is recognisable for his easy manner, friendly approach, attention to detail and for wearing bling: ‘I love my bling.’
Born and raised in Kenya of Portuguese parents, one of nine children, Adolf decided, at the age of 16, to hitch from Africa to the UK: ‘Well, that’s the sort of thing you do when you’re that age.’
Once safely arrived in the UK, Adolf enlisted in the Green Jackets as a sort of latter-day Sharpe. Subsequently he worked as an engineer for Wadham Stringer and then joined the Royal Mail as a driver – ‘I don’t know what was more dangerous, being in the Green Jackets or driving Royal Mail vans.’ He spent nearly two decades behind the wheel ‘On Her Majesty’s Postal Service’.
Married to Mandy and with two stepchildren, Robin and Lee, Adolf first became interested in cooking and developing his culinary skills while working for the Royal Mail. As head chef ‘and bottle-washer’ at the Cathedral’s Discovery Centre, Adolf is now responsible for whatever’s cooking. ‘We do lunches, dinners, snacks … And although I do say so myself,’ Adolf freely admits, ‘my Spanish paella, like all my dishes, really takes some beating.’