Martin FrimetJust a chef
March 15th 2007 09:38
After reading some earlier posts and fearing i've become or have almost become one of those wanky food writers i decided to get back to basics and remind myself who exactly i am....for this i've decided to post a few words from a great chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain, this excerpt comes from his book The Nasty BIts, this man has a way with words and hits the nail on the head when talking chef....cheers tony..
"If you catch a chef in a quiet, reflective moment over a drink, and ask what the worst aspects of the job are, you'll probably get the following answer: "the heat, the pressure,the fast pace, the isolation from normal society, the long hours, the pain, the relentless, never ending demands of the profession."
If you wait a while, maybe two more drinks,and ask again, this time inquiring about he best parts of being a chef - more often than not, the chef will pause, take another sip of beer, smile...and give you exactly the same answer.
Cooking is, and always has been, a cult of pain. those of us who've spent any time in the business atually like it that way. Unless we've goe kurtz-like over the edge into madness, and started believing, for instance, tha we are no longer cooks but responsible for elevating the eating habits of a nation, then we know who we are: the same people we have always been. We are the backstairs help. We are in the service industry, meaning that when rich people come into our resturants we cook for them. When our customers play, we work. when our customers sleep, we play. We know that we are not like our customers, never will be like our customers, and don't want to be, even if we put down a nice score now and again. The people in our dining rooms are diferent from us. We are the other thing and we like it like that. We may be glorified servants, catering to the hims of those usually wealthier than us , but we are tougher meaner, stronger, more reliable and well aware of the fact that we can do something with our hands, our senses, the accumulated wisdom of thousands of meals served, that they can't. When your tired after a hard day in the kitchen and some manicured stockbroker is taking up too much room on the subway, you have no problem telling the stupid prick to shove over, You deserve it! He doesn't;.
"If you catch a chef in a quiet, reflective moment over a drink, and ask what the worst aspects of the job are, you'll probably get the following answer: "the heat, the pressure,the fast pace, the isolation from normal society, the long hours, the pain, the relentless, never ending demands of the profession."
If you wait a while, maybe two more drinks,and ask again, this time inquiring about he best parts of being a chef - more often than not, the chef will pause, take another sip of beer, smile...and give you exactly the same answer.
Cooking is, and always has been, a cult of pain. those of us who've spent any time in the business atually like it that way. Unless we've goe kurtz-like over the edge into madness, and started believing, for instance, tha we are no longer cooks but responsible for elevating the eating habits of a nation, then we know who we are: the same people we have always been. We are the backstairs help. We are in the service industry, meaning that when rich people come into our resturants we cook for them. When our customers play, we work. when our customers sleep, we play. We know that we are not like our customers, never will be like our customers, and don't want to be, even if we put down a nice score now and again. The people in our dining rooms are diferent from us. We are the other thing and we like it like that. We may be glorified servants, catering to the hims of those usually wealthier than us , but we are tougher meaner, stronger, more reliable and well aware of the fact that we can do something with our hands, our senses, the accumulated wisdom of thousands of meals served, that they can't. When your tired after a hard day in the kitchen and some manicured stockbroker is taking up too much room on the subway, you have no problem telling the stupid prick to shove over, You deserve it! He doesn't;.
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Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner
Cheers,
Nick