Chefs

When we students get together for a drink or dinner or a sightseeing tour, the conversation inevitably turns to discussing which chefs we like, we don't like, we are scared of, and we hope will be teaching another one of our classes soon.

It is almost like high school again when everyone had the same one or two or three teachers for each subject and in the lunch room, you would compare each teacher's grading and teaching styles as well as take advice from all-knowing older students on whom to request for the next year or semester.

We do not get the option of choosing certain chefs, they are already assigned to us.

The chef today is considered one of the "better looking" chefs, but you better not get too interested in his looks because you will rapidly find yourself lost in his spit-fire quick, heavily accented directions.

One chef, a sort of substitute one day did not give anyone in class any tips or verbal grade for our finished products.

One chef is always looking to help and wants you to ask more questions than to just follow your directions.

Some chefs feel more like kind grandfathers passing on a trade, others' mere presence in the kitchen causes me stress and future years of massage therapy to remove the knots I have created in my tense shoulders.

One chef always teaches by adding wine pairing advice. "What wine would you serve with this dish? You must debate principal ingredients and quality!"

One chef that my practical class seems to keep getting is one of those stress-inducing chefs. I'm sure that if I ran into him on the street he would be more than kind, but in his kitchen- it's a different story. At first, I dreaded the days that I saw him walk into the kitchen because I knew that I would come out of the kitchen not only physically drained, but also emotionally drained.

But, this chef gives the most detailed feedback while he is tasting your food; he corrects EVERY mistake he sees you make and watches until you do it correctly; he also publicly humiliates calling everyone close to peer at someone's (hopefully not yours) HUGE mistake while he says things like

"I would NEVER serve this in my restaurant. What did he/she do wrong?"

But, I am starting to hope for this chef because I want to show him that I can produce a perfectly cooked, seasoned, and plated dish. That I can prepare it in perfect form with a clean workstation and in the correct production order. That I can and should be here.

Until then, we'll just be commenting on and judging which chefs we had that day for demo or prac.