Well, in my last post, I mentioned something about posting again in time for Top Chef. I can dream, can’t I? To be fair to myself, I no longer have cable and so have to download all of the episodes before I can watch. This puts me a few days behind but I can then watch at my leisure.
Anyway, I wanted to set forth my qualifications for commenting on this show before I begin to share my opinions. While I enjoy Project Runway, I can never really get too fired up into the critique. I can say “That’s a pretty/ugly dress.” or “…it is not constructed well…”, but I can’t speak to the “fashion” of it. That is why I took to Top Chef better.
I started my cooking career fairly early. I can remember the X-mas when I asked for an easy-bake oven (what budding homo didn’t want one). I was about 8 or 9 and received a good amount of ribbing from my older brothers. I will give my parents props for how they handled it though. Instead of the cheesy item I requested, I received a full bake-wear set. A couple of layer cake pans, a sheet pan, utensils and a large assortment of Jiffy baking mixes. Needless to say, I received far less ribbing after I began to turn out cakes, cookies and brownies for the family.
From there, I began working with my Mom and grandma when they were cooking. My grandma was an old-fashioned granny, who baked pies and made jams, jellies and preserves. I learned a lot of basics there. My mom was more of a practical cook. Everything tasted good, but was simple by necessity. I have nine brothers and sisters, so learned early on how to cook for the masses. When I hit 12, my mom went back to work and I started to do a good share of the cooking. It was usually just heating things and making mixes and such, but I slowly started to experiment and elaborate on classic white trash cuisine.
When I hit 16, it was time to go to work, so I picked up jobs in local diners where I learned the art of short order (I thought that was a great challenge last season!). I also did my requisite time in fast food land, spending a couple of years at a KFC and Big Boy. Believe it or not, but KFC was a very good learning experience. I learned all there is to know about frying and spice blending.
Things didn’t really pick up until I went to college in Ann Arbor, MI in 1986. I was on scholarship and work study, but still needed to work as I didn’t receive any money from anyone else. I spent three years at a place that specialized in Northern Italian cooking. I worked for a great chef there and was already on my way up the food chain and reached a point to where I was beginning to have a say in the specials and developed plates for the menu. I ended up leaving there (OK, I was fired) because of general disagreement with new management. From there, I spent another year in a small bistro, where I was exposed to French Country. Not sure if it was a chicken/egg thing, but I worked out that those two cuisines are representative of the type of food I enjoy. Quality, seasonal ingredients, minimally processed and cooked properly. I can certainly appreciate more elaborate preparations, but will always go for taste over an overworked presentation. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than a dish that takes four minutes to describe…” a blah-blah filet, marinated in some esoteric something, served with the currently trendy ingredient, drizzled with hah-falutin-foofoo…” Drives me up a wall!
This is Gratzi in Ann Arbor
I followed that with a gig running the kitchen for a catering company. I moved to Chicago in ‘92 and did a little here and there, but eventually sold my soul to Corporate America. Since then, I’ve mostly done catering, which gives me more freedom than a restaurant job. As mentioned before, I get to cook for my neighborhood bar and I have a standing offer to my numerous nieces and nephews (more than 40 at this point) to cater their weddings at cost. 3 down, XX to go!
Well, there you have it! My 600 or so word description of my cooking experience. I plan on being very opinionated, as I can be. Feel free to share yours.
