do you believe that hunger is the best sauce?
Actually, yeah. Despite my culinary arts background, I really enjoy making simple yet nourishing food. That lentil recipe I've mentioned a couple of times? I pretty much live on that, fruits, veggies, eggs and sardines on bagels. Oh, and cereal and milk.
I love to cook more complicated things, but I just don't have the time or money lately. So I live in very simple things, and they usually taste the best and give me a lot of pep.
---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:13 PM ----------
What was the coolest thing about culinary school?
The coolest thing was all that stuff I had free reign over. Any time there wasn't a class, I could just go in there with my knives and practice chopping or some cooking technique. The labs were really expensive, because they expect you to take advantage of all the resources. I could literally go in there several times a day and use all the carrots and potatoes I wanted to practice doing a julienne or a perfect dice. Plus, after every class, we had a big meal. Of course, that's part of how I gained 50 damn pounds
. But most of it's gone now.
What was the worst?
Cooks can kind of be assholes. I mean, when I have to share a kitchen, I'm an asshole too. Most people there were kind of prima donnas, and everything had to be done their way. The expression "too many cooks spoil the broth" is so true, because we often did.
Learning to cooperate with each other and get over out power trips was way harder than the actual dishes and techniques. I'm glad I'm out, honestly. I was there hoping for a community but we were all kind of at each other's throats all the time. I expected to start hearing people say, "I'm not here to make friends!"
What's the coolest thing about teaching?
The coolest thing about teaching is being bombarded with questions. I love children. Not because they're oh so cute, but because they're honest--sometimes to the point of callousness. And if they are genuinely curious about something, they will usually ask. That's how everyone should be, no matter what the age--constantly seeking. I love feeding that. It's more satisfying than any job I've ever done before.
What's the worst?
Probably all the administration stuff you have to deal with, followed closely by kids who come from low-income or abusive homes. In Louisiana, everything rides on our Grade-Level Expectations, and some schools are more strict about how you teach them than others. At some schools they require you to use a certain lesson plan. Plus there's so much emphasis on passing the LEAP test that sometimes I feel like the kids can't focus on learning.