Me and Chef Jacques Pepin
This is what I’ve been up to. I’ve been attending culinary school for the last few months and it’s been great. It’s pretty intense and fast paced, but I love everything that I’ve been learning lately. That’s me eating a chocolate hazelnut cake and it’s as delicious as the description.
I know I keep saying that I am going to update more and I haven’t been. But I will try to update my flickr account with all of my treats from school. For the first time, I’m genuinely loving school. I have to say, I’m pretty fortunate to be working in an industry where I could have the opportunity to work closely with people that I admire and have the utmost respect for. It’s pretty cool.
Modernist vs Traditionalist Discussion @ FCI
Pictured: (from right to left: Dave Arnold, Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Andre Soltner [blocked by Dorothy Cann Hamilton], Wylie Dufresne, Nathan Myhrvold, Marion Nestle, and Johnny Iuzzini)
I just came back from a discussion at the French Culinary Institute. The topic the controversy of Today’s Culinary Revolution, what is the idea of “modern cuisine.” There’s a cook book out there called the Modernist Cuisine and it costs over $400 on Amazon. I saw some of the pages inside - it’s worth every penny. I’m not going to lie, I want it for myself. I mean, Christmas is almost around the corner, hint hint.
The discussion was very informative and interesting, it’s just so mind boggling when chefs share their opinion and experience on the subject of cooking. Even though they agree on the same wavelength, they have different approaches on the matter. While the younger chefs like Wylie, Johnny, Dave and Nathan are classically trained with modern techniques. Andre Soltner seemed more like a purist and stuck with the basics and classics - ain’t nothing wrong with that. But he didn’t seem closed minded to the techniques of modern cooking. It’s just interesting to see them comparing and contrasting notes with each other. My favorite quote of the night is from Wylie Dufresne: “Cooking is dangerous!”
I’m sure you noticed Johnny Iuzzini in the panel. Yeah, I know I just saw him a few days ago, but what can I say? My (creepy) school girl crush got the best of my inner fan girl. But in all seriousness, I really do admire the guy and all these chefs I’ve had the privilege of meeting or eating their food. I would eventually like to have a successful career like them - don’t most aspiring chefs want to be just as good as their admirers? I’m sure we ALL want to be like Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Eric Ripert, etc. But hey, a girl can dream, right?
The more I surround myself with these amazing chefs (who’s knowledge and palette just blow mine out of the water), the more I feel like Wayne in Wayne’s World - I’m not worthy! Grant it, I’m still learning the ropes and getting my feet wet - I’m looking forward to learning everything I can, to be exhausted from working or going to culinary school, to have my ass kicked, to make mistakes, and just growing. Maybe right now I’m romanticizing the surface of it, and still learning the meat and bones (no pun intended) of the culinary world cause I’m still relatively new to the world - so it still has the shiny / new feel and smell to it. Nonetheless, I’m excited and really looking forward to what this whole new world has in store for me.
To view more pics from the discussion, go to my Flickr Page
