Discipline

The hardest part about writing a blog on cooking, is that when I am done work, I don't want to think about cooking.  I Know that a lot of cooks love their jobs, and I am one of them, but to write about it? Well that takes a certain kind of discipline that I am trying to maintain.   

I am going to try to start posting recipes and  procedures.  I am going to start with simple stuff and work my way to more complicated things.  Look for these in later posts.

Take-out

As far as I am concerned, 2 of the most reviled words in the english language.  Never have 2 words made my skin crawl more than those.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that i have a problem with people taking my food home to enjoy, I mean why not? If you would rather enjoy it at home in front of the HDtv then be my guest.  But I truly hate the use of styro foam.  I don't have any solution for it, I just really hate it it.  Enough said.

Sometimes I ask myself why I got into cooking.  I mean, the hours suck, the pay for the most part sucks, and there is always some kind of personality conflict. 

Well I got into it because I truly enjoy the art of it. And I believed that if i worked hard enough and did what I was told, then success would follow. As Buddha said, "success is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success.  If you truly love what you are doing, you will be successful"

 

When I first got into the business, the chef that I was working with turned to me and said "Scott, cooking is a dying art."  Those were the first words of wisdom ever imparted on me from a chef.  It's those words that have been reverberating on my psyche ever since.  He was right, it is a dying, if not already dead, art.  It is a shame, because most of the chefs that I know are craftspeople.  They enjoy taking the time to prepare something that makes them feel good and that gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.  They wouldn't enjoy taking the left over garbage of someone elses failure and mashing it together to try to pass it off on the people playing them for ignorant rubes.  When the true crafts-person is forced to do that, it makes them die a little inside.  It makes them second guess there chosen career path, and generally makes them miserable. These are the people that become frustrated and leave, compounding an already serious problem of staff shortage in this business.

However, I persevere.  I will continue on and still maintain my standards. It may not be in the place I am in now, but I will continue on.  As my Jamaican friend says "I'm a soldier."

My website has a new address: http://www.culinaryideals.com
I've changed things quite drastically.  I decided to switch to something that I am most familiar with.