Well, it's so unbelievable that I with the rest of my classmates are reaching the end of level 1 in cuisine. I have definitely had my downs, grown tremendously from them. Actually, I'm being really unfair with myself, I shouldn't call them downs but instead; maybe, points where I felt like I had to crawl. I am now feeling as though I am at the point of almost standing, probably slunched over a bit. But, once I fix my posture then there is no doubt in my mind that I will be a celebrated chef. Is Master Chef-dom in my future. That takes years of experience in the kitchen. Actually, not for everybody. At least not so painstakingly that it seems to rival Christ, at least that's the way people make it out to be. But no, in my Career Explorations class I've come upon some great, who I call Master Chefs, who have definitely been in the culinary field since childhood but their steps to stardom so-to-speak was rather natural. It just came with the territory as they went about their daily lives. Like breathing, their love of cooking was natural and inspired and they just ended up in this wonderful place in their lives. So you've got Master Chefs who have worked their hands raw to the bone to get to where they are, no sleep, no social life, all sacrifice mingling with Master Chefs who went from an Easy Bake Oven to just having fun cooking anywhere, wherever the Universe sent them and maybe a few sacrifices along the way but it was all their choice, in their control and sometimes not even a necessity or not thought of to be. In other words, their goal was not to be a Master Chef, it was just to cook, to showcase something that was sentimental to them, to pass-the-time, to just simply entertain. Failure wasn't an option because a huge success wasn't their goal. So while the same caliber of Chefs had to walk on hot coals to achieve success, sign their name on the dotted line in their own blood at tribal rituals called over-worked, under-paid and under-appreciated, others went a very different route.
And, I'm not saying that people should go the easy route. There is no easy way into this field, and laziness will get you nowhere no matter which route you take. I am just talking about the mind-set going forward, and how you can become a Master Chef with great effort, very hard and often thankless work and how you can also achieve it by purely loving to cook, entertain. My goal in culinary school is to become a great food writer, I want to put; and please excuse my verbage here, sex on a plate in words and in pictures. But as I draw near to the end of Level 1.5, I find that maybe, possibly, as I'm achieving my goal I could be one of those Master Chefs that happened upon the status of Master Chef inadvertently. I can hear the interview now with Food & Wine magazine;
FW: So, did you always know you would become one of the world's most celebrated Master Chefs?
Me: No, I just knew that I loved to write, I love to take pictures, and I love science, eating and cooking. I really had never cooked for a large crowd. I went to culinary school, that's where I learned technique, skill, mastery, patience. I already had dedication, heck I had that before I entered the military, oh-ummm in '97 so over 16 years ago. I stayed in for 8 years, but my love, understanding of food started as a young child and never left. So, after culinary school I began writing more, cooking & entertaining my friends and family more. I got some cool catering gigs and then decided to go bigger. Just to see what would happen. I just wanted to test my own limits in that way, and this is where it brought me. I have been blessed to be surrounded by my family who all love to entertain and eat, I love entertaining and I come from a family of chefs, and foodies. So, it was definitely a natural, and totally enjoyable progression for me. But, I wouldn't be here, doing this if it wasn't fun. It's not my career, it's just what I love to do!
FW: What is your greatest dish that you have cooked?
ME: Potage Saint-Germain. It's a puree'd green pea soup. I received accolades from the most discriminating of palates (French Chefs who are palate experts and culinary students who are palate experts in their own way). I received an 'Excellent' from Mr. LeNotre who owns the school I went to. He is a great, celebrated French Chef as was his father. My instructor, who is also a great French chef, was quite pleased as well! Of all the 3 or 4 dishes from my class, many from International Cuisine, and Baking & Pastry of which I am certain were all delicious. My Potage Saint-Germain was the first to go! Everyone loved it. It was my first time cooking it. We'd never even heard of it before. So, I'd say the girl who started off the one most likely to Not have fried chicken on her menu because it takes too blanked long to fry it, is a lot better at this thing called cooking than I ever even thought. And, the one thing the Potage required of me, mostly because of my perfectionism, er-ummm discriminating palate is .... patience! Yes, the girl who had none, is the girl who has a lot now. I never had patience, then enlisting in the military full-time was a perfect fit for that because I used that and my determination, perfectionism, passion to have fun, and get me through it. Then after I got out, my mindset was still there, I didn't know how to 'relax' and enjoy my roses. Just a little later on in my life I met my friends, who'd tell me to relax, sounded like some unidentified foreign language to me. I didn't realize how frantic my day was, for no reason. Or; even, how uncomfortable I was even at rest. Now, I am delicately approaching each day, each moment and enjoying it every second of every day. My culinary education at the school I attended has taught me something much more than cooking, or even technique. My education, the chefs that was handed the Holy Grail of teaching and doing it expertly well, my classmates of whom we've learned so much from each other has all taught me to Become which is a beautiful set of skills. The Potage Saint-Germain that I cooked has taught me that now, in my skillset, I have patience. Something I could never get my hands on because it just always seemed so elusive.. like trying to hold smoke in my hands.
So, this post isn't about the steps different people take to become a Master Chef or about the Potage Saint-Germain, it's about reaching the end of Level 1.5 in cuisine at the culinary school I attend. It seems like we just started! I had more fun, more accomplishments in Level 1.5 than I did in Level 1. It's not an uphill battle, I don't see roadblocks to painfully stub my big or pinkie toes on, and I don't see ever-increasing battle scars developing either. In fact, it's getting better! Better than better! A natural progression in something I love that may take me to Master Chef level or maybe being a Master Chef in my own backyard with my family and friends. Either way is highly desirable to me because it's not about the title but the joy of cooking.
Culinary Institute LeNotre is a school where you are full hands-on in a chef instructor hands-off environment. The foods, ingredients we cook with and eat are all on the fine dining caliber. The Potage I cooked would cost you more in a restaurant than you'd probably be willing to pay for a meal.. that's the level I am learning at. I also love that when we present what we cooked, everyone sits down to eat, yes even guests to the school, we can take meals home. But here's the cool part, we pay only $5 for however much we can fit into the take-out container provided, which is a very generous size. This money goes to help fund the school scholarship that helps struggling students to fulfill their dreams whether they are enrolling or are already enrolled but need a little help. My school does fundraisers and all sorts of things and it offers lifetime career placement which is awesome because it meets the caliber of what we've become accustomed to at this school. So, whichever direction I take after this level I know I have lots of support in getting there and getting through to the next.
