Parental Role Injustice For Next Generation

As a mother of three achieving teenagers, I have put into place a strategy that may give them a leg up in the coming years. This plan of mine isn't done just because I am a chef, but I have seen that there is a informational gap forming on many levels and types of education that our children are not receiving. I have seen this more readily now that I am a culinary educator of other's parents children.

It is no longer a pervasive standard of parental expectation that children are expected to participate in completing chores, household repairs, and cooking duties. This has established bad habits that won't be easily broken. I seldom here of the Saturday mornings filled with cleaning the house, Spring cleaning, yard work, or any other type of productive duties that a family should be doing together. It is our duty to send out into the world at large young adults who have the skills to survive. I never wanted to live in situations where my kids would drop off their laundry at my house for me to do, or having one that come and eat or pickup dinner from my house because you didn't learn these skills before moving out. And I don't want to have my adult kids return home to live rent free in my basement because they can't maintain themselves in the real world.

Do I expect any of the my kids at home to become a chef or work in my industry? No way. However, I want to see my kids having the ability to cook at home, not being dependent upon corporations to feed themselves, understand how to manage a successful household, paying bills, and raising their own children in a healthy environment. We often set our kids up for defeat, poor health, shorter life spans, and a inability to function. Those of us that do not develop our children's potentials are not the only ones that will suffer in the long-term. Our grand kids and our daughter or son-in-laws often have difficulties with a parent or mate that is ill equip to deal with the day to day of adulthood.

I am the perfect parent? Do I only eat a restrictive diet? Do I know everything about everything? NOT TRUE. But I believe that when you don't share your knowledge on any subject with your children, in a age appropriate manner, it is a cold meal of injustice you are serving up. We parents have been given a charge, these aren't just kids we are raising, but in fact, they are the next wave of leadership we are growing. We are charged with the duty of their safety, education, development, and identity, we have a huge responsibility. Almost everything that our kids grow up to be is in fact our fault, good or bad. Some people never grow up, they just become old children and others become anxiety ridden over achievers who never get the hang of intimate relationships. Yes we must take the blame as well as the credit.

School isn't were kids learn about adulthood, that happens in the home. Teachers can teach algebra or science, but it's isn't their job to raise your kids. Manners, respect, honor, and loyalty must be taught in abundance along with hard skills of paying bills, being a reliable employee, and being a fully actualized adult prepared to take a significant role in a family or their own.

Cooking your meals has many benefits. It is cheaper than restaurant food and it gives you control of what goes in your food. The savings and the versatility that cooking at home can bring is beneficial to your bottom line and your waistline. Fast food and processed foods are designed to be made as cheaply as possible while being highly addictive and while our younger folks cannot see any reason not to eat that way. Those of us who are a bit further down the road have begun to feel the effects of a American diet rich in empty calories and large amounts of fat. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and a host of other aliments attributed to this eating style. Since the days of Jane Fonda workout, we have become more unhealthy while spending more and more money on diets, supplements, yoga pants, and health club membership that you don't use.

Not teaching your children some survival skills is not a good option. I know that you can do it faster and better, but they need to practice, so they will be able to do and teach it to their offspring. And do I need to mention the habit fosters a greater sense of responsibility? Creating a mess and not cleaning it up is telling them that they don't need to take ownership of what they have done and it also says 'don't worry, Mom will fix everything', While they are little it should be that way, but as they age, year after year, it becomes a very bad idea. Stop coddling yours so much that they have a stunted emotional growth.  

Healthy eating starts with healthy cooking, eating at a regular schedule, and understanding the basics of nutrition. Do everything you can to equip them for the future instead of spoiling them in the presence. I see teenagers every day that have no idea why they think they don't like to eat this or that. My program is an exposure program in which they cook new dishes and eat food they may not have ever heard of before, giving a lot better toolbox of personal experience.

I have heard my students say things like 'I didn't know mashed potatoes didn't come in a box", "I always thought I didn't like coleslaw", "Chef, I really really liked the green beans." all of which I count as a victory!

I do know that giving something away that you don't posses isn't easy or nearly impossible but I want you encourage every parent, even the ones that don't know a lot about cooking. Grab the bull by the horns, and learn with your kids if necessary, and learn better habits. Live a healthier life while giving one to your next generation.

Master chefs, Exec. Chef training, and other advanced training...

Long ago, when Jesus was a boy, there were only a few culinary educations that a student could attain without going overseas to Paris or London therefore I, like many others, took the routes that were available at the time. As I worked in the industry, longer and longer, I began to come across chefs who held titles that I had never heard of, Certified Executive Chef.  An organization called the American Culinary Foundation seemed to be at the heart of this accreditation.

ACF was founded by three chefs in New York to help promote culinary education, offer certifications and training, networking and the like. Here in Chicago, the ACF is getting more popular but as a hospitality industry worker for the last 20 plus years, it has only been within the last few years that I have noticed chefs using and working within this organization.

No matter where or when you receive your educational background that is focused in our industry, what you come away with is really determined by you as the student. I can take three kids to train and mentor, and after we are done, I will see three different skill levels within the students. Our industry is very skill based, and no matter who you are taught by, your skill level is truly your own. I say this, to many students, don't base your selection of schools based upon the price, famous chef instructors, or any other tangible matrix, but do so based upon your motivation and drive, and what you want to do with your career. What do I mean? It can get very expensive, well it has gotten in the last few years, seeking a culinary education. The popularity boom of chefs and the creation of the celebrity chef has opened many new schools who offer courses, certificates, and degrees in culinary.

No matter what is taught, and by who, the student's ability will grow with time and coaching.  If a student enrolls with no cooking experience,  they are somewhat behind than other students, but their raw ability can propel them to the top of the class. I entered into a culinary college with a very small population and without a huge reputation, 90% of what I do well, I learned from repetitive practice on-the-job.

The only advice I can give the aspiring chefs out there, study, practice, practice, practice. A school can teach technique and a foundation of skills. It is up to the chef to take off and sore. No two chefs have the skill or styles even after the same training. It takes time to realize what it is that makes you special and the only way to find it is to listen to customer and management critiques. I say this because if you are anything like me, most chefs only focus on the mistakes of a project, while other eyes see the glory. I am my own worse critic. I spend, literally, hours on a cake project and when I have stopped I can only see those things that could have been done better or those aspects that I would have liked to change, so often I am pleasantly surprised at the positive reactions of my clients. Go figure.

I am a huge supporter of higher educations. In my family, there was never any language of doubt about attending a college. It was always "when you go to college" not "if you go". I also know that not every person is suited to pursuing a PhD in philosophy. Trade skill are still needed and teaching programs are still required even with our nation's trending towards a intellectual model. Handcrafts will always be in demand.  

The best chef that I have worked for was one without any higher education. This titan of pastry had 40 plus years at the Palmer House. He began as a dishwasher and worked his way up to Exec. Pastry Chef. My chef was hardworking and hard on his staff, not in a mean fashion or abusive, he had one standard for us all, "Good work that is Palmer House good." We worked everything from butter, sugar, flour. We didn't use pre-made or mixes ever. The best days in that kitchen were days were we all worked in symphony and chef had nothing to complain about or correct. I learned a lot while there, including my passion for real scratch baking.

Chefs are broken before they are made, and the best instructors, will help students to build upon what they know as they teach them new tools in their toolboxes. Pursue your passion vigorously and wisely. Practice is the best teachers in this business and whenever you get to practice, especially with someone above your skill level, take it.

A chef has a lot of plates to spin, human resources issues, financial duties, order management, licencing, insurance, schedules, transportation, delivery, receiving, inventory management, vendors, networking, client requests, billing and invoicing, and all of this before the creation of sale items. We love what we do, no one would do this if they didn't, and we all take on much more work than can be done in a 8 hour workday. 

45 and counting...

It took me 45 years of life, good and bad, great and sad, to get to this place. A destination, a fate, unseen and unknown. I had just a glimpse  that I wanted to teach, but not be a teacher in the traditional sense. I worked on myself and my skills, and now my days are dedicated to sharing what I know with the next generation.

I don't just want to take them down culinary road but also expand their thinking, increase their knowledge of themselves, improvements even more important than just being able to feed themselves. Understanding cooking is learning about self. How, what, when, what you like, what you don't, what you can, and what you can't do successfully.

Everyone needs a looking glass, a mirror, somewhere that they can clearly see their own reflection. We need to be able to see several views of oneself, how we think we look to others, how others see us, and lastly we need to see our true reflection, good, bad, or otherwise. Many activities that humans do regularly can be that mirror. Culinary is mine. It shows me my strengths and demands me to be patient, a hard issue for me most of the time. My creations often show me my moods, as they can fail when I am not at my best, and can be light and extraordinary when I am in a good space mentally.

No one is perfect, we all make mistakes, fail at attempts, and need to start over from time to time. When you find the place where you belong, your whole world can reflect your efforts and heart. Find your place. Find your talent. Find your heart.

Respect Yourself, even if no one else does.

A lot of the time, if you talk with chefs who have been in the industry more than a couple of years, you will hear a few horror stories about bad practices, bosses, and/or jobs. There are some that will stay in a job until the bitter end. This position of not wanting to do a job search and interview procedures can lead you in position where it is no longer beneficial to yourself and/or the company. Waking each day with a dreadful disposition and coming home the same is not healthy, no matter who you are professionally.

Respect yourself enough to understand when it is time to move on and stop being afraid to step forward into something new. Fear of the unknown and fear of rejection can keep the best of us from making changes in our lives. But if you are not in a place that you can nurture and it nurture you, then the place you are occupying is killing your spirit and in turn you are probably throwing shade on other people instead of uplifting them.

I have been guilty of these negative actions myself. Dragging my own pitiful butt out of the bed every day, dreading what I was possibly walking into, and knowing that I would not be happy at all at the end of the day. Why torture yourself and others?

Even if no one every tells you your worth, still respect your value. You have trained and studied to become who you are, so why do you think less of yourself? Take little time out of your day to do a job search to see what opportunities are available. Sometimes you will find that you didn't know that your own company has put out ads to hire new people and sometimes the job of your dreams is out there waiting for your resume to get on their interview list. Yes, you need to act upon your own abilities, knowledge, ego, faith, financial needs, or whatever else it takes to get you motivated enough to seek out your destiny.

I was taught to adhere to a very blue collar outlook at the job site. Keep your nose clean, do your work, don't let co-workers know too much about you, don't date at the job, and stick there until you earn that retirement package and the gold watch. Unfortunately, most of that wisdom isn't valid anymore. Chefs, especially, find that they will be on to the next position in about 5 years time, often. The company doesn't have a lot of benefits offered, might not be totally full time, and with the fickle customer base, they don't want to have such continuity. Is the whole industry like this? No, but it is a fairly consistent experience within and outside of the culinary world. Most of us chefs can have a hard time writing a resume that is limited to 1 or 2 pages.

Please understand that the same skills that got you hired in your current position, are the same skills that will get you hired elsewhere, and if you have added to your skill base since you were hired, then your stock price has gone up and you maybe a more qualified candidate than you were before. Add to this, if you are seeking new ground while still employed, you are not as pressed for time as you would be unemployed.

I have skills that are needed by organizations, families, communities, and what have you. I have worked for homeless shelters, schools, charities, churches, restaurants, hotels, sport arenas, and a few bars. I have ever starved working in this food city and in this industry. I have been paid less than I am worth, I have worked with horrible people, bad bosses, and ungrateful companies. But, know this, they can take away your employment but no one can take your skills and knowledge.  

Bad Example

Okay, bad example... How many times have you heard this? Well, if I had a nickel for every time I have heard it, I would be sipping alcohol out of a pineapple on the beach for a living.

I teach kids about culinary. I often tell them that there will be times when a recipe doesn't come out right and when it happens, they remember that more often than the triumphs they get. Kids can be brutal with their teasing.

While a bad example is not the way we wish things to go, but they often teach us more than a good one.  If we never fall down, we will never learn to get up.  Never making a mistake will make it so that you will never know how to make correction or receive criticism.

Proper critique language can, at times, but difficult to grasp with the young ones. Lots of people are quick to respond negatively by use of hard language, but this leaves the recipient with little information, and often it can come off as rude.

In another aspect of life, we can use a bad example as motivation.  If you have grown up around the hustlers and criminal elements, their stories can propel you in the opposite direction, if you use it wisely.  You may not yet know what you want to become, but you have in front of you, an example of what not to develop into.

We all stumble and fall, but the best of us, get up and try again. You can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs.

Teaching at CPS

As you may know, I teach at a community center and a Chicago Public School. This year, the Chicago Teachers Union, have been working without a contract for a year and the possibility of a strike is very high. I am supportive of whatever decision they make and I will not be crossing the picket line, if it comes down to it.

I don't teach in a effluent neighborhood or at a selective enrollment school. I attended a select enrollment school and the difference is striking. I find myself asking, in my mind, was I as bad or clueless as the kids I teach. I am still not sure of my answer, but I do know that my kids are experiencing things I did not when I was in high school.

The kids I teach are negatively impacted by drugs, both by using and viewing the effects, incarcerated loved ones,  gangs, and abuse. They don't have it easy. A lot of my students have deficits in math, reading, and logic. Following instructions can be difficult to almost impossible. I see anger issues, rebellion against authority, a lack of parental support, a hosts of mental illness. I tend to arrive early to my school so that I may get a glimpse of what is going on on campus and check on the kids I teach in the event that they have been disciplined since I saw them. I totally support any action that the staff feels the need to take and if any of my students are in trouble, I do not allow them to come to my class for the day.

So what's my point? I knew, but now I really know, what teachers are up against and how vital it is to receive a quality education. I have met a 6th grader who cannot read. I am heartbroken at least once a week and when I had an offer to work just for the center at a higher rated than I receive in my role for CPS, I couldn't feel right about leaving them with no class at all, as getting a replacement instructor would have been too hard, I stayed to help make the needed changes for that programs success.

I am in support of the teachers union, and the teacher's efforts to make a safe place for their students to learn. I will not cross the picket line nor will I just throw the baby out with the bathwater and adopt a negative thought about the teacher's being selfish, or however else that they get painted negatively.

  

Leadership without Loyalty

Can you be a leader without inspiring loyalty in others? A chef is much more than most people know, not only must a chef be a great cook, they also must be an artist, understand some engineering, run a business with P&L and ROI responsibilities, order supplies, and handle the HR issues. It is the chef that can make or break a food business.

Many executive chefs do very little cooking due to all the additional responsibilities that comes with running a kitchen or a business. It is a bad day for the whole crew of chefs when the head man in charge must come out of the office and get on the line, as it signals that the symphony is out of tune. The executive chef is the conductor of the orchestra, and must also be able to play, write, and read music.

Leading a kitchen brigade into culinary battle isn't easily done. There's a lot of trust that needs to be built up before you will be a strong leader. All chefs have strong personalities, and some even are egomaniacs, and yielding to another chef can be hard-fought. The best of us know their strength and their weaknesses. Some chefs are fabulous on a bench but are not well suited for paperwork and running the business. Some chefs are not adapt at customer service and should limit their customer contact. No matter what gifts you have been given, do not abandon them for the sake of something else.

I have met chefs who could make the most incredible artistic works but as their business grew, they got a bit of a limelight and stopped working as a chef in order to bask in the glory of ownership. These ill-equip people stop doing what gave them notoriety. They take on the role as the face of the business and end up doing customer service and paperwork without a skilled hand.

The question still remains as to loyalty. Teamwork begins with skill and strength but can end rapidly with over-inflated egos and lack of communication. To get other chefs to follow your lead isn't easy because it isn't easy to get them to trust you. They must know you, and know you well, and understand that you will not walk away when everyone is in the weeds. Leave no man behind. And somehow along the way, you have to show them that your decision making is sound. Every order must be understood and wise because even a slight misstep will have the brigade lose faith in your leadership.

Skilled chefs can be a hard bunch to tangle with and if you are taking too much time to enforce the rules, expectations, and goals to a chef, you will not have any time left to answer customers requests. Understanding yourself, were you work best, how to make the biggest positive impact for the organization, can change your life and your career.

Kitchen leadership comes from a magical place where your skills, personality, authority, confidence, respect for your co-workers, knowledge, and respect for teamwork, all comes together. As a team leader, often times you have to protect the team from the obstacles in their path. If a customer needs something from the chefs and you are the leader, it is your job to keep the customer out of the team's hair, and handle the customers needs, which makes the day run smoother for everybody. If the product order comes in, it is your job to make sure that the team has everything that is needed to perform. If someone takes a sick day, as a leader, you will be expected to put the team in the best possible place by calling in a replacement or by filling in yourself. The leader has to wear all the hats they can and make the day run smoothly for everyone involved. Without this type of effort, the team will run you down and take total control away from you because it will be declared that you can't handle the responsibility. If you become sick and don't show respect to your crew by way of calling ahead, asking someone to cover for you, or leave them with an impossibly hard day, you maybe forgiven once or twice, but they will stop trusting you if this becomes a pattern with you.

There are so many variables involved that I am having a hard time trying to define what is leadership in a professional kitchen. It is something that naturally surfaces with unanimous physic vote of the whole. I have been a crew member, but not a leader, and something would happen and the whole crew will turn and look to me to solve it all of a sudden. Can you take information and discern how to assign work to the best team member possible to get the job done? Can you jump in and help in every position there? Can you brake down a job into smaller pieces so the burden is shared by the team instead of leaving the whole weight on one or two team members? Can you communicate with customers and put them at ease that their issues will be handled correctly? Can you communicate with the waitstaff or beverage department or any other department within the organization successfully? Does your presence bring with it a sigh of relief from your team instead of negative feelings and them wishing it was your day off?

Loyalty is something given, and not given easily. You can give someone or something your loyalty but you cannot demand it from others and most of the time expecting it from others can leave you disappointed. Loyalty cannot be built up without honesty and responsibility.


Saluti

Michelin Star Rating System

Most people in the food business has at least heard of the Michelin star rating system, however, most probably don't know its purpose or history. From time to time, I will hear culinary students wish to make the attainment of owning a Michelin star rated restaurant one of their career goals, but often they don't fully understand what it is that they are setting their sites upon. To wit, I always ask them what it means and how they plan on achieving this goal.

I personally never set my sites on this benchmark. My career goals are smaller in scope but never too small to be significant. I have always thought of myself as a work in progress, I strive to achieve progress everyday, to be better tomorrow than today, while hoping to become a owner of a nice bakery. I love food exploration and education. I love to occasionally expand my talent and knowledge while keeping up to date on the industry and in touch with colleagues who have helped me along the way. I had to teach myself how to work with fondant as it was not a medium that was available while I was studying my craft. I took to television and online tutorials to figure out how the medium work and some tricks and tips.

Chicago is a very fabulous city to work in food as we mid-Westerners have always taken pride in our food scene. This city is among the most segregated cities in the world as most folks cluster up in neighborhoods by ethnicity, but at the same time we have such a wide list of diverse groups that you can find all sorts of food offerings to satisfy your cravings. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chilean, Brazilian, Thai, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Chinese, Polish, Irish, Italian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Russian, Ethiopian, and I am sure I have not named them all. Chicago has its issues but we here often commune with each other plate by plate.

If you think you have heard the Michelin name before but it didn't have anything to do with food, you are right. Michelin stars rating system began with the Michelin tire company. The owners of the tire company wanted a way to encourage long road trips because the more worn out tires, the more sales the tire company could earn, makes sense. So they thought about what people would need in order to drive longer and longer distances. They concluded that a traveler would need to know two very important pieces of information, where they could sleep comfortably and where they could eat. So around 1900, they began issuing star ratings for restaurants to highlight excellent locations to visit.

In American history there have been 173 stars awarded, a small number over the last 116 years, and in that list of American stars, Chicago has only been awarded 22. Earning a Michelin Star can dramatically change the way the world looks upon your restaurant and its chefs. These ratings can literally push your efforts into the stratosphere and adds your name to the list of the most accomplished in your craft.

Is having this as a goal as a student a good idea? I will never ever discourage anyone from striving to be their absolute best, however, I do tell students to get a plan in place to make this dream a reality. 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.' Do your research, find out how the chefs before you have earned their stars, figure out where you should study to give you the best odds of earning one, find a great place to intern in order to get some hands on experience with a great chef, look into who invests in restaurants and may want to help you open your own doors after a long period of study, figure out new ways to reach the gourmet audience, understand your skills well, be honest with yourself about where you are is light of where the heavy hitters are, know your audience, seek answers about what your limitations are. Every chef must, not only figure out what others can teach them, also understand what tasks they do best and what work they should leave for other chefs to do as no one chef can do everything perfectly.

Just getting in to a culinary program and graduating can be hard to do for some students. I have seen some who were cocky going into a culinary training program and washed out before completion. I have also seen chefs graduate from a study course with enormous egos and confidence in their skills but got a wake up call at their first real job in the industry as others chefs ended up deflating that ego because they didn't know what they didn't know.

In the last few years, we have witnessed a enormous boon in the number of colleges that a chef can study. The popularization of food related television has made our jobs more attractive to the common watcher. And while thousands of kids, instead of a few hundred in years before, actively seek a place to start their food careers, not all programs of study are equal. Some interns that I have had the pleasure to work with don't all finish their education with the same amount of skill, ability, knowledge, and experience as all the others.  Hell, some do not possess the right personality traits to survive in a professional kitchen.

No matter if you want to swing your bat in the big leagues or if you want to be a small business owner, DO YOUR RESEARCH. These careers do not materialize over night nor are the dropped in your lap because you have a culinary education. The restaurant business is VERY competitive and the amount of time you need to put in at work to become the best chef you can be is HUGE. This industry seldom allows you to have a good work/life balance, especially in the beginning, and a chef never stops learning. Once a chef becomes proficient with producing the master sauces, they still don't have mastery of the yeast bread, for example. Customer demands change all the time and the food outlet that is the hottest ticket in town today can have a empty reservation book tomorrow because the food or diet fad has changed course.

Work hard, study hard, never stop learning, and dream big. BUT, do your research, write a plan, rewrite it often, make it plain, and plan, plan, plan. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. It is a fool that doesn't do their homework before jumping into the pool. Is it shallow or deep? Is it clean water or contaminated? Are there rocks at the bottom? Be deliberate and sure of what you are shaping before the sculpture collapses.

Here are some links that may help you investigate the Michelin star ratings: http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-michelin-guide-2014-10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michelin_starred_restaurants#United_States

Roots and Wings - Mentoring the new generation

For about a year or so now, I have began teaching kids culinary skills at a high school and at a youth center. The age groups are 5-8th graders and 9-12th at a CPS high school. Along with that work, I have been working with the NAACP ACT-SO South side of Chicago Scholarship program for the last two years and I now sit on that volunteer board as the Secretary after helping out when my eldest child was a competitor.

While I had anticipated doing some mentoring, and hoped to build into my business plans to find a way to develop an internship, I did not think that I would be, at this point of my life, doing as much as I am for and with kids. I have not yet finished raising my own children and now I am mentoring many more.

After a loss of position and a downward turn in my health, I was grateful for the needed time to investigate my medical problems. A return to working near 20 hour days for a business that was simply providing a hourly wage, making others much richer, and me only slightly better off, didn't seem possible or practical. I am not the same hardworking chick I once was and when the opportunity came to try my hand at teaching culinary, instead of only producing large quantities for service while my health worsened from the stress of the job, I accepted.

Both populations of kids have their associated issues of behavior, which is different for each group, but they have never done anything outside of the typical actions of their age groups. Pre-teens and teens have the prerequisites of talking too much, listening too little, short attention spans, easily distracted, thinking only about a response to questions instead of listening to the information given, and let us not forget the attention-seeking actions that express need for attention and acceptance from peers, adults, and members of the opposite sex. All that aside, let's talk to their needs for stability and the need for dreaming big.

The kids in my classes, and others to whom I speak to often, either have big dreams of their futures or none at all, it seems. Leaving them to either desire to do the impossible or misunderstanding that nothing is possible. I haven't seen much of a middle ground with these kids. While some wish to fly on wax wings too close to the sun, others are too scared to make attempts.

Every dreamer needs a good dose sense and solid foundation and every bird scared to leave the nest needs a firm push outward to test their wings. My high school kids are learning much more that culinary skill, if they attempt to pay attention to lecture and conversations, as I spend time teaching life skills, nutrition, household management, diets, social commentary, current affairs, and what else seems important at the time. Food involves aspects of culture, socialization, economy, mathematics, applied chemistry, art, tempting of all our senses, and transmitting care, love, and survival.

No matter what a young ones' desires to do with their years, grounding them in understandings, wisdom, and careful practices is doing them the service of your knowledge about life in our society. But be careful not to plunge their path into utter darkness and fear, so that they never attempt flight for in doing so, you steal the life blood from the innocent. It is not easy to strike a balance, give wise council, and fair warnings to individuals that think they know everything, hard headed, and stubborn. But to fail, or refuse to try, lending your experience to them so they may avoid the potholes and pitfalls is a sin. Failing to do your duty to inform the next generation leaves them to reinvent the wheel again without diagram or Allen wrench to assemble that which they bought at Ikea. Sad.

Too many wish only to complain and too few are willing to help; which camp is your tent pitched in?

Conversations About Food - Podcasts

As a companion piece to this blog, I have launched a podcast of the same name. There I will explore the roots of, the relationship of, and the changes of people's relationship with food. Everyone has a history of eating, cooking, loving, and hating some foods. There are all sorts of traditions, religious restrictions, feasts days, fasting days, dieting, likes and dislikes surrounding folks intimate connections with eating and cooking. It's aim will be to talk to professional chefs, homemakers, athletes, musicians, the whole gambit of professions and phases of life.

I will update this list as I post the broadcasts. Please subscribe and tune-in regularly: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon

Ep#1: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon/2016/01/18/conversation-with-chef-yehoshuah-yehudah

Mise En Place

Mise en place (French pronunciation: ​[mi zɑ̃ ˈplas]) is a French culinary phrase which means "putting in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces,par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift.^[1]

On my mind today is the constant search for the correct place, the true home of a chef, in this huge universe of food. A chef's skills move with the chef and the life of many a restaurant has been made or broken by the chef or lack thereof.  Finding the right place to work and thrive is very often hard to do these days.  The downturn in the economy was a big moment for the whole industry as belt tightening was required of every citizen and often we see that dining out and tourism are quickly reduced and seen as a luxury.

Not every kitchen and restaurant is well suited for every chef. The size, pace, menu, audience, and management all factor into how successful a chef can be under the specific environment. Chefs are like police in that we are often from a certain personality type and have loads in common but the differences between us can be very large. Some are much more the corporate chef or the rigid fine dining chef then there are ones like me of the more artist explorer type.

I am oh so familiar with the search for my place in this world in almost every way. I have had jobs both in the front of the house and back of the house. I have taken many opportunities that were not keeping me on a true chef path, however, since I have always wanted to be an owner and not just a worker, taking these chances to learn all that I could about my industry was a must for me. I have practiced excellent customer service for years, and have been called upon to use it in some of the most difficult of situations.

For the last year, perhaps a bit more, I have been trying my hand with teaching kids culinary skills at a couple of different locations, and with a group of high school teenagers and a group of 5-8th graders. Each group has their set of challenges and differing impacts to behavior. I have been enjoying teaching and now that I am a bit older and not in the best of health, I might have to teach nearly exclusively.

Every interview any chef goes to will have elements of a rose colored picture painted to entice the chef to accept an employment offer, that is if the interviewer wishes to hire said chef. Every chef needs to weigh what they have heard during the interview, what they have learned researching the company, and what their personal needs are in making a decision to accept or reject an offer. Lots of times, both parties, employer and employee, both walk away from the negotiating table with no offer due to a sense that their isn't a match being made. Sometimes, a one-night stand happens, i.e. chef only works at said place for a few weeks and either walks away or it is deemed that they aren't a good fit for that particular situation.

When I exited culinary school, I had already worked for a while with a couple of outlets, this had given me my early sea legs, so to speak. I worked for a wise chef that pointed me in the direction of the pastry department. I didn't have an interest in pastry, at the time, and thought of its' additional need for precision as something that I didn't want to embark upon. Needless to say, someone was right and I was wrong for once. My big moment that convinced me that I needed to be in a bakery was at one banquet I was cooking for, the time came to cut the wedding cake, I was disappointed by the bakery that the cake came from, and was not about to leave customers with such poor options for their big day.

The cake that day was following a very nice meal and good service. The fact that the cake was sub-par made me all the madder since it was to be the last thing they would eat. A cake is supposed to be that sweet high note of the evening not a major disappointment. This cake was cute but the cake didn't taste good and the way it was assembled made cutting it and platting it nicely nearly impossible. I was clear, right then and there, that I could do better an offer a product to people that tasted great and looked great. I had found my place in the spot light.

Hopefully, everyone can find their place on the wheel of life, in and out of the industry. Many people that I know are great in the kitchen but not always are they willing to work in the industry, not everyone in the industry want to be owners, or even have customer contact, and not every chef can bake or teach. We all have things we can naturally do and those things we can learn to do well, but nothing is more important than finding where you belong. Doing so will prove to be the most beneficial to your own sense of self worth.

Competition is how you see it.....

I am the secretarial chairperson for the NAACP Act-so scholarship program South-side branch and I have been working with our young people in this program and others. My eldest child, Jacqueline, competed two years and went to nationals. In this role, we do a lot to prepare them for competition and I keep finding myself talk to them about their nerves and who they are competing against.

It's natural to feel some trepidation about presenting a project or performance that you have pour time, energy, and bit of your soul into foe others to review, however, often times their focus is pointing in the wrong direction. I find that most kids fixate upon the other competitors instead of competing against who they were yesterday.

No matter what the activity or project, the only true way to measure your progress is compete against yourself. Steel hones steel and while you are counting the number of steps your colleagues, you miss count your own. This should be the foundation of your education, getting better and better piece by piece. Framing your picture in another's framework will not work. My favorite saying about this is "If I am busy being like my sister, then who will be busy being me?"

Young people have so much to consider, take on, overcome, decide, and to become. It is not a small thing for a teenager to decide to go to law school and make steps in that direction. With those words, you are trying to determine what the next 40 years or more of your life will become, having only lived just a few. Missteps and uneasiness are always apart of the learning process but can often deter a young person.

I have no magic wand to make everything okay, however, when I changed my focus from other's progress onto my own it helped me tremendously. It allowed me to be honest with myself about where I was on my journey and how much further I wanted to go. As a chef, the next chef on my team is not going to be happy if I can't hold up my end, or will be unwilling to pick up my slack, whereas when I am on top of my skills and work outputs, other's can then rely on my work and seek me out for advice or leadership beyond my work requirements which can make my participation a blessing instead of a curse. Hold up a mirror to yourself, not to groom your appearance, but instead to groom your ability. Life is not just about the destinations, it's about the journey. I don't expect perfection from others or myself, I expect progress.