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Why did you become a chef?

28K views 43 replies 31 participants last post by  chef brah 
#1 ·
The title say's it all!!
I wanted to become a chef because of the respect that was shown, and the mysterious image of the person cooking your food while you was in a resteraunt.
What about you?
:bounce:
 
#8 ·
My mom taught me how to cook for the family when I was 7 because she worked the night shifts.

It started with ramen noodle soups, graduated to Kraft Mac & Cheese, then went to making tacos with rice & beans.

I originally was planning to go into a computer/technology oriented field as I work well with them, but cooking just stood out as something I really enjoy doing.
 
#11 ·
I'm not a chef yet, but I'm on the path, definitely.

As for why, it runs in the family. One grandfather was a European trained French chef, grandmother was a cook on a private estate, both parents involved in the service/private estate caretaking industry, and growing up eating Chinese and French food.

I love that I cook for a living. Love it!

But I also have to admit one of the initial draws for me ended up being a naive assumption: I thought the industry was some kind of ultimate meritocracy, but I'm finding it's no less free of politicking than any other workplace. Shame that. Guess I'm going to have to learn how to play this stuff after all, and that bums me out.

Pat
 
#13 ·
:lips: i just love it !!!

it's make you feel happy to make other people happy.
and the best part is : you don't have to say anything...
when they will take a bite from what you make for them, the smile on there face will do it all...

when you cook with love the magic is working...
 
#15 ·
To offer a more serious answer......

I believe I am one of those people who was meant to do exactly what I did. Even with all the poking and prodding by my family to choose another path I stayed on track. Well most of the time.

Most here have already said "I just love it". Well that is and was only part of things for me. Especially since there are many things I love to do but very few of them would I have made a career out of given the chance. That's because so few of those things could keep me in a challenged state for as long as cooking has.

Although I hadn't really learned this until later in my career....For the most part it didn't matter what type of food I was asked to prepare as a Chef. Yes I did enjoy the fancey schmacey stuff in fact who out there doesn't? But there was something about trying to and being told by the guest that they just had the best Reuben, plate of wings, burger, or even slice of pizza they ever had. The simplest was also the most fun especially since that's how we eat around here. As long as I could set a high level of standards, execute things according to what the guests enjoyed and desired as well as be given the opportunity to create menus and interact with the guests I was always happy to ( and would still today be happy to) remain a Chef. :bounce:
 
#16 ·
Dad dragged me out of school at 15 to work in his cafe. (I was rubbish anyway) He was a good, if odd chef himself.
Spent the next 10 years blagging it as a chef. Always wanted to do my own thing though and reckoned qualifications would give me the confidence with the credentials. 4 years at college and 20 years later i acheived my goal. Woo hoo!
Seems no-one cares if i'm a qualified chef, so long as i keep providing the service we offer. But It means a whole lot to me and it does help with the confidence when meeting new clients.
 
#17 ·
It's a very simple question for me. I was born and bread to be in the industry. Father used to manage kitchen's before I was born, Grandfather was a food critic, and my uncle's all run or own their own. I started dish washing in my uncle's kitchen at the age of 12 (under the table of course). Just watching the way the Chef and the cooks worked seemed so savy and cool to me. Then after I read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" I was hooked, and have been cooking ever since. Wouldn't do anything else even if I had the chance.
 
#18 ·
i grew up my dad working out of the house and my mom working the normal 9-5 ( my mom was the better cook) so when my dad made mac N cheese and frozen pizzas every night i had to learn how to cook. so i learned how to cook and i started knowing what good food is. and now i have working in in the kitchen for 7 years and i love in and I'm in culinary school and i cant see my self doing any thing else
 
#20 ·
First off I am not a trained chef, I have my own restaurant, I cook all the food and everyone calls me chef. Having cleared that one up I feel qualified to respond to this thread.

Ever since I was a kid I knew when I was eating good food. Anyone can cook, people cook every day at home but to prepare something special, something that will make you close your eyes and make that "Mmmm" sound, that is what it is all about for me. There are those who live to eat, and those who eat to live. The former are an absolute pleasure to cook for and worth going the extra mile for, as for the latter...well forget it, they won't appreciate it anyway.

I have a big square window in my kitchen door which looks out onto the restaurant. Most of the time I am so busy that I dont see the window but sometimes, I will watch a waitress take food to a table. The diners look up and smile, the food is placed in front of them as the visual impact is taking place, almost immediately the aromas are reaching their senses and their anticipation builds. The smiles are now in abundance as they are asked if they would like any condiments, and although they reply...smiling, they don't appear to be listening. Now they examine their food with exaggerated neck craning, a finger points, first to their own plate and then their partner's, I see a mimed explanation of what it is on their plates. Then finally, the first mouthful, yes! the closed eyes and the all telling "Mmmm" sound, the exchanging of forks and the nodding of heads. That is what its all about for me.
 
#21 ·
If you run the kitchen and do all the cooking and make the menu decisions, you're a chef. Congratulations! You might not have formal training, but chef you remain. Welcome to the fraternity.

BTW, are you the Bazza from the Hero Boards?
 
#22 ·
The cool answer - So I could start my own catering company and eat for "free"

The not-sp-cool but real answer - 9/11 happened and the job market dropped out just when I graduated from college with a BA in the very useful field of Sociology/Anthropology. I always liked to cook so...

It worked out beautifully. I really was lucky to find my passion!
 
#24 ·
rotfl.....Jack you are a funny guy.

cooking is an art form to me, a tactile way to express myself.....almost always exciting, as challenging as I want to make it.....there are so many different aspects of cooking....such as today, got to the pc kitchen at 10:45 am with groceries in tow, the housekeeper showed up at 11 saying I had until 1 to finish the week's cooking.....so it was figure out what dishes to make and slam um out. Normally I have a pretty good idea of what I'm making when i shop, but occasionally I'll reconfigure the ingredients and rift.
Speed cooking. Wouldn't want to do it every day or even every week, but it sure keeps you on your toes.....pots, pans going on all the burners, both ovens baking, micro in use.....

Chef...there is nothing nicer than hearring a firm, loud, "yes chef"......gotta love it.
 
#25 ·
Thank you.

The truth is, my grandmother (that is, my father's mom) was a self-taught chef who ran her own restaurant from 1947 to 1984 (when she retired at age 79). She taught me everything I ever knew about cooking. I worked in kitchens through high school, then for some reason decided I didn't want to cook for a living. My grandfather (that is, my mother's dad) paid my way through law school. He was a lawyer, and I guess he was envisioning some sort of "family tradition thing", because a lot of my cousins on that side are lawyers.

So I got my degree. Got my license. Worked as a lawyer for about two years. Then got tired of it and went back to working in a kitchen. Never looked back, and now, decades later, I'm comfortable that I'm where I was supposed to be all along.
 
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