Using other peoples recipes (rant)

Um, no? People/chefs/cooks have been doing it for years. Not every chef is an innovator. Not every chef strives to be an Artist. Not every chef is a Keller, or a Bolud, or an Achatz, or Robuchon. Some chefs just make the same dishes, over and over, and don't innovate or experiment...nothing wrong with making good food and running a successful restaurant and kitchen and making people happy.

And hey, the classics are the classics for a reason. They work. Tomato goes with basil, beef goes with red wine, chocolate goes with peanut butter, bacon goes with everything, smoked salmon goes with cream cheese, etc etc. 

Not to be offensive, but maybe you should learn the basics first before trying to add raspberries to beef. Someone who has only been cooking for two years and wants to do something like that probably won't earn my trust or win me over. If I went to Alinea and they wanted to serve me beef and raspberries, I'd probably welcome it. But you? Probably not...sorry.

Listen, don't be cocky. If you think you've somehow come up with a bunch of stuff that no one else has done ever, I've got news for you: You haven't. Somewhere, sometime, someone has probably done what you are going to do. There is a reason we don't often serve raspberries with beef...it's gross. When you think you've come up with a new dish or a new flavor combination, it might be a good idea to bust out Le Guide and see if Escoffier beat you to the punch (and hell, maybe Careme beat Escoffier). Most of the "innovation" you see now days isn't really new, they are mostly rediscovering old ideas or giving a new twist on a old recipe. Maybe you've had lox and cream cheese a thousand times, but probably never anti-griddled, flash frozen creme fraiche/cream cheese and microplane'd frozen smoked salmon? Hey look, old idea, new way to serve it. 

There is nothing wrong with trying new things...making mistakes and learning how to fix them is a cornerstone for learning how to be a great cook. Just don't run before you can walk, and don't fall into trying to be innovative or "cool" or experimental, or whatever, just to do it. 

I think Someday was really rough on you.  Nothing wrong with experimenting, have at it!

You sound rather young as does your friend.  My advice to you has nothing to do with cooking at all, more so to do with friendship.  Friends are great however when you work in the same industry as your friend you have to learn to keep to yourself a bit more.  If your friend is mocking you for your experiments then turning around and "stealing" them and then taking credit then I'm sorry to say that he may not be a true friend.  Perhaps don't try to be so honest with him, don't share too much.  And remember, if he's criticizing you harshly it's only probably because he wants to make you doubt yourself which makes him feel superior.  It doesn't mean he's a bad person, it just means that you need to rise above it.  Live and learn and keep making beef with raspberries - if you can make that work as a chef then you may well be the next Achatz.

I hardly think you're wrong, except in not answering your friend with more decision! 

I remember this attitude when i was studying my own field.  People with small minds tend to say you are nobody and can't have opinions of your own.  Then what's the point and anyway, where did the "greats" get their ideas then? 

You seem to have success, so why let this kind of mentality get to you?  Except when he steals your technique and takes credit for it.  What does that tell you.  Maybe he's envious. 

If you don't experiment you won't make mistakes.

But if you don't experiment you won't achieve anything better. 

Looks like he has an ego problem. Andre Soltner the former chef owner of the famous Lutece'  restaurant in NY and now one of the princibles in the French Culinary Institute said many years  ago  "No one realy invents a dish, they just add to or alter one that was done before"

Well.... I worked in kitchens in the late 80's that served a strawberry and black pepper sauce with grilled beef filet.  Raspberry, in connection with an acid, like a nice vinegar would probably work.  It will work well on salmon, that was done alot in the 90's.

Yes, the OP does have a bit of an ego, yes the OP experiments and loves to experiment, and this  is good, and yes the O.P needs to learn more, read more, research more.  Whatever you do at home is fair game, what you do at work should be tried and tested--the customer isn't paying to be a guinea pig, he's paying for tried and tested results.

P.S. I stole the idea of strawberry and black pepper, and used it in my line of chocolaes--a butter ganache with strawberry puree and fresh cracked black pepper, enrobed in white chocolate.  It works well, sells well.  Almost every idea was thunk of before, just recycled and face lifted

You have a different approach to cooking than your more experienced friend.  It's certainly valid.  At least I hope so, because it's how I roll as well.  Bear in mind that not all original ideas work out well; the line itself might not be the best place to experiment; and that a new recipe is no good to a restaurant (or home cook) until it's perfected to the point where it can be followed exactly with consistently good results.   

Getting back to the kitchen:  Remember that when you're working as part of a team the only good attitude is NO attitude.  If your friend criticizes your methods AND borrows your recipes, he's already said everything which should and should not be said.  Don't be a bad winner, buy the after-work beer.

BDL

We are all in the kitchen for different reasons. Your "friend" is obviously not in the kitchen for the same reason as you are, man. The credit thing is just petty and makes for a petty person that you probably don't want to be around. Just ignore it. Is it possible not to have to share recipes with him anymore or do you work together?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Volpe 

. Is it possible not to have to share recipes with him anymore or do you work together?

If it's on the menu, EVERYONE has to prepare the item the same way.