From my book # 4. Enjoy !
Great inside views by Jonas and Gil.
The sad thing is that the so called “Education Industry” has seemingly
unlimited marketing funds and still pulls in thousands of culinary students
every month all over the country with their illusionary tales about the
wonderful life of a “chef”. Their ads are seen by millions of people daily,
while cautionary comments like ours are seen by a few dozen. While job
opportunities dwindle,the amount of new cooks multiplies. Many very
young, unexperienced or older chefs are forced to take any job available
to them, at any salary, just to survive.
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
For Them, a Great Meal Tops Good Intentions !
THEY are two of the world’s most acclaimed chefs, each with a raft of awards,
a constellationof stars and schools of kitchen alumni spreading their gospel.
So when the American chef Thomas Keller and Andoni Luis Aduriz of Spain
sat down last week for a joint interview,they were in a position to back each
other up while slicing through some of the profession’s favorite platitudes.
– Supporting local agriculture and food traditions?
Far too narrow a goal, they said.
– Chefs’ obligation to help save the planet?
A lofty idea, they agreed, but the priority is creating great, brilliant food.
“With the relatively small number of people I feed, is it really my responsibility to
worry about carbon footprint?” Mr. Keller asked.
“The world’s governments should be worrying about carbon footprint.”
Excerpt from the New York Times. To read the whole article, click here.
Enjoying a light, delicious and healthy soup for lunch.
Cream cheese & parmesan raviolini, spicy veal meatballs,
shrimp and broccoli rabe in chicken broth.
Life is Good ! 🙂
” RAVIOLINI EN BRODO “
Enjoying a light, delicious and healthy soup for lunch.
Cream cheese & parmesan raviolini, spicy veal meatballs,
shrimp and broccoli rabe in chicken broth.
Life is Good !
What differentiates a
” Good Chef ” from a ” Bad Chef ” ?
By Chef Hans D. Susser
This is a question which many young cooks have asked me over the years.
Obviously, there can not be one single, complete, all-defining answer to this.
However, over the years it has become clear to me that if a professional wants
me to look up to him / her, there is a number of things which together will
combine to form that special person to which I can relate with respect, admiration
and, sometimes, awe. Here are a number of attributes which, in my opinion,
define a ” Good Chef ” :
– Skills
– Vision
– Fairness
– Experience
– Knowledge
– Compassion
– Decisiveness
– Sense of urgency
– Ability to multy task
– Objective self critique
– Commitment to quality
– Ability and willingness to teach
So then, what makes a ” Bad Chef ” ? A lack of the attributes above, which
unfortunately, is profound in too many so-called chefs of today. However,
there seems to be an emergence of a new type of chefs altogether. Young,
with a sense of professionalism and hunger for quality, with a willingness
to work hard and endure what it takes to become a truly outstanding professional
and individual. Maybe, at the end, not all is lost and there will be a new
guard of chefs who understand and are willing to keep the flame of our beloved
profession alive and strong. To the rest, all I can say is this : The higher you build
without the proper foundation and attitude, the more likely it will be that your house
of achievements will crumble into rubble.
P.S. Interestingly, you can replace the word ” Chef ” with many other words, such as
“Manager”, “Politician”, “General”, “President”, ” Teacher, ” etc.
Long live culinary knowledge and skills
From CC.I Newsletter 10 / 2011
Today’s lunch.
Keeping it simple but delicious 🙂
Great Dinner Tonight.
Life is Good !
ChefsOpinion 