What made you want to become a chef?

[cape chef]

When I was young (younger)My Grandfather owned a couple of bakeries. Me and my two brothers would go to see Pop on Sunday mornings with our folks after Sunday school. I remember it smelled so good in the bakery and everyone seemed happy. My biggest thrill as a 4 year old was filling the jelly doughnuts, That's when I learned to use a pastry bag, and yes some made it to the shelves to be sold but most where consumed by me and my brothers. My grandfather was known for his breads...Jewish style,dense,chewy and just the right crispness to the crust. I think that's where I got the bug to cook. People who left my grandfathers bakery left happy and that made me happy. Ok fast forward 13 or 14 years, I had my fair share of trouble, not focused being a clown doing those naughty things I wasn't supposed to do. Really had lost my direction in life. Thank my lucky stars my family never gave up on me. I got the help I needed and finally finished school. One day at dinner my parents asked me point blank..but gently, So what are you going to do with your life? ( sound familiar to anyone)I said I love to cook...I want to go to cooking school I said. Well off we went to the CIA and boy did I fall in love with all the hoopla,nice campus,white hats,cool uniforms..I got excepted.. But guess what ? way to much money at that time to attend So off we went to J&W in RI got excepted there to. The culinary program was only six years old at the time and a lot less moola....so off I went to study at J&W Party at Lupos heartbreak hotel cater concerts at the ocean state and yes graduate!!! I have never looked back and love what I do. It can be the most draining thing you ever do..but I'll always remember the faces on my grandfathers customers faces when the tasted those jelly doughnuts
cc

My mother is the reason why I became a chef. She had always been interested in food. When I was a child, we never had the same dish twice in one week. She specialized in International cuisine and worked as a Chef-Instructor as well as a Pastry chef and a Garde Mange Chef. I was her teacher's assistant from the time I was a teen.
Over the years I worked in various positions for different food establishments and schools teaching cooking. Then one day I decided to go back to school. That was the best thing I ever did. I learned the whys behind the cooking I had been doing for years. As an internship, I was offered a job as an instructor. Now I have graduated and am still working as an Chef-instructor and loving every minute of it. I also specialize in International cuisine as well as home cooking.
Lorraine

i came into this business in a interesting way: THROUGH THE BACK DOOR!

My first job was at a summer resort in the catskillls in upsstate ny in the late 70's. it was in the foh. you were given room and board, 38.50 wk to satisfy nystate and tips weekly on sat. in envelopes from your quests as they were leaving. you fed the same people for a week. it was wild .. mountain midnight drinking parties.. looking like something the cat drug in.gawd was i ever green lol

then i went into the med sci field and one day after taking additional training for my field i realized i was running around with people i didn't like..i was tired of working
weekends..holidays..dealing with drunks and stonies and pushing adminstration so i started working in the biz again .
did i take a momentary loss of sanity.. what did i just say ?...............

it weas only after working in a rest. in TARPON SPGS,FL...only after being offered a sponsorship to cia( DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT I WAS BEING OFFERED, DUH!)my chef was on the board as a retired professor. i could cry sometimes..

still i didn't know what i was doing i was just hoping around. if iwanted to learn something i would go and talk a chef into hiring me. when i think of this now..I REALLY HAVE TO LAuGH AT MY NERVE. pretty fiesty. just didn't know i was .lol

i have been fortunate.. but, never knew until later just how so. i love the golf course circuit because i love the 5 star
spots.

it is truly a unique biz when you think about it.


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[This message has been edited by katz (edited 12-09-2000).]

there are other carrers????

Originally posted by Nick.Shu:
i can understand CWK - i think my problem with office work is that i cant sit still.

Oh how I know..I'm at a country club now and
I have to be honest,I'm bored because it's our off season and I'm climbing the walls.
Thank God I have another place to work at on
my off time that does a little volume so I don't get into trouble...But back to the original question.I'd like to go back to school sometime and even with my years of experince I'm allways glad to learn something new or a diffrent way of doing something that I might have never learned.Yeah,It's a hard life but I knew that when I was young.I don't
mind the uniform business, although I like loose cotton pants or jeans and sneakers untill I find something more comfy.Then again
when I'm busy that's the last thing on my mind 'cause to me it's all about good food and working to make our guest's smile.And the
wild ride a kitchen will take you on...


[This message has been edited by CWK (edited 12-10-2000).]

I wanted to become a chef because it's a heck of alot of fun. I'm currently a student at the International Institute of Culinary Arts in Fall River, Mass.

I fortunaltly had the opportunity to cook for Julia Child, and it's because of people like her that make this an enjoyable field.

What made want to become a chef ?
well I used to say it was my home ec teacher in grade 8, but it was probably alot more than that, I mean my parents started to teach me to cook when I was four years old, and I was also registered in parks and rec food programs for kids and kids food programs through the "Y". and then when I got to work in a restaurant I worked for 4 years as a busser/dishwasher until I talked the manager into letting me cook and that was just over 3 years ago. So now the main reason I want to be a chef is the fact that everyday is different, and there is so much to learn and create.

This isnn't as nearly as bad as it sounds: I learned how to cook because I had to. My mother died when I was five. My Dad worked alot and when I was in fourth grade he decided I didn't need a babysitter. I found my mothers Joy of cooking, so I started making stuff from scratch. Now, it's because the only place in the world I'm not a total screw up is in the kitchen.

Two things made me want to become a chef. The food, and all the wonderfull things that could be done. The other thing would be the commradery in the kitchen, all places have politics and different personallities there, but kitchen staff tend to be a fairly tight group. I always tell the "kids" that come into the kitchen that it is not a job, it is a lifestyle. You either love it or hate it, and 10 years later I am still cooking, still making friends every where I work, and looking forwrad to another 10 years.

Originally posted by SChef H:
Two things made me want to become a chef. The food, and all the wonderfull things that could be done. The other thing would be the commradery in the kitchen, all places have politics and different personallities there, but kitchen staff tend to be a fairly tight group. I always tell the "kids" that come into the kitchen that it is not a job, it is a lifestyle. You either love it or hate it, and 10 years later I am still cooking, still making friends every where I work, and looking forwrad to another 10 years.

I can't agree anymore.Hope you have another 10! Bill

[Chef David Simpson]

Interesting point SChef H, I know this from experience that no matter how tough the times are, we in the kitchen always take care of each other.

[momoreg]

At age 8 or so, my parents got me the Easy Bake Oven as a gift. A few years later, I started being bad and getting sent to my room a lot, sometimes for 24 hours at a stretch. If I got hungry, I would bake. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was also the only way I'd get any food.

Also around age 8 or so, I remember my father and older sister in the kitchen, attempting to make a cheese souffle. I wanted to help so desperately, but they wouldn't let me because I was too little. The souffle came out like a pancake, and the following day, I tried my hand at it, by myself. It came out great!!

I also remember baking cheesecake with my grandmother, and she kept telling me that I was doing everything all wrong. I don't like being told that, so I guess in the long run I proved her wrong. She passed away a few months ago, but before she died, I asked her if she remembered that day, and she hadn't. It made a big impression on me though.

Italian Great-Grandmother who could cook blind-folded. Always cooked for myself from age 6 on. Mac/chz, hotdogs,etc. My first inkling that I might actually DO this was age 16. First "real restaurant" job. First night. Kitchen seriously in the weeds when I arrive. A guy called in sick. I get handed a menu and told to start making salads and sandwiches. Oh and you're also expediting. Serious trial by fire. The truly sick part was....I LIKED IT. Adrenaline is by far and away the best drug in the world. Keep it coming baby. Plus, I've found it to be the only thing I'm actually good at. Everything else bores me to tears.

As with most of my chef friends and I have discovered, it is almost destiny. I owe so much to the industry, the CIA and the ACF for giving me one of the greatest and nobelist ways in which to earn a living. I know that I am doing what I was born to do because to me its not work, 12 and 14 hour days rush by so quickly that I lose track of time. From the first moment back in 1974 that I stepped behind the counter of the local pizzeria to graduating from The Culinary Institute of America and recieving my ACF certification I knew where I belonged.

[momoreg]

Hi, and welcome to cheftalk! Isn't it great knowing how easy your career choice was, when some people never seem to find their niche. I feel that way too.