The Many Paths of a Chef

For the past few weeks, I have started to do many things with my life. I have been put in charge to help make the culinary world a better place. I have been assigned to help start a new radio show, featuring ROC and Im enjoying it so far.

It hasn't been started yet but we are making progress. We started to talk about doing podcasts and doing more multi-media for the organization. As I started to look more into it, I really started to enjoy using the internet to bring out my voice. I experienced new ways of communicating with other people using the social media to spread my message and the message of the people to the vast landscape that is the internet. I also really like to talk to people and making videos of different things for many different reasons. I started to use twitter more fequently and write about many other adventures for all to see.

It may seem, I could possibly make a career change someday. Although, I am here to tell you that a true chef is never measured by the chef coat, the many famous restaurants that he/she may worked at, or by how well you can cook eggs. A true chef is someone who is willing to explore deeper into the culinary arts and create many different dishes and presentations to make people enjoy the simpler things in life or to push new ideas forward for the next generation ahead. My love for cooking will still be there and I always appriciate all the friends I made along the way. I just think that maybe theres another path I can take instead the traditional route of a chef.

For as long as I can remember, I always take a different route from the other students who gone through the public education system. I remember that I was always in smaller groups working differently from everyone else and when I look back, I started to appreciate that lifestyle. It gave me a chance not only learn more effectively, but to really see life through a different perspective and discovering new and amazing things. I made great friends who also took different paths and find true happiness by doing what they love to do, no matter what else said.

Im not saying that my time as a culinary student was a waste. It gave me perception, knowledge, and inspiration to look deeper into my passion. I now realize that I could not stay in the kitchen forever, but I will return to my own pleasure. Maybe I could become a radio host in the day and become a reagade chef at night. Although, its more of a thought and not really guarantee. Im just simply looking more towards the future of what I really want to do. Im still pretty young (21 years old) and I want to explore the many things before I'm too old to do anything.

We all have different dreams and as we grow sometimes our dreams change but it could be a good thing. It could give us a chance to see what else lies ahead. It could be disastrous and maybe ruin you but in the end you can say that you truly do what you always wanted to do. You can say that doing what you want can even be the true meaning of life: to explore and enjoying every single minute of it.

Im just simply venting out my thoughts right now. Im not sure if I quit the industry or maybe try something new. Im still working in the industry right now and I enjoy some of it, but Im just wondering what else I can do to truly enjoy life.

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What exactly is Seasonal?

I went downtown to the Chicago French Market today and I run into some sort of a conundrum.

I saw that there were strawberries were on sale for about ninety nine cents and I only see strawberries were that cheep during Strawberry season. (Although I would like to note, that I do know that strawberry season is between Mothers Day and Fathers Day.) Yet, it seems that its was too early for strawberries to appear organically.

So I decided to ask the nearest clerk about the strawberries and why they are so cheap. The clerk told me that there was a surplus of strawberries and when I asked her if they were in season, the clerk told me that she does not know.

From there, I started to question myself: "What exactly is seasonal and why we have forgotten about it?"

From as far as most people understand it, seasonability is when a particular food is in the right time to eat. Yet, I start to think that in America, we are starting to lose our sense of seasonability. Since more foods are becoming available all year round, we forgot what exactly is in season and the true flavor of the "peak" of the season. It sounds somewhat idiotic at first, but if you really think about it we don't tend to think about how fresh a certain item is and how seasons can really effect our food.

For example, if there are blueberries in the winter and they looked like they were just picked, what exactly did the providers do to their berries to look like that?. It just doesn't really make much sense once it start to notice because you start to think how those berries are processed to look like during that time. Im not saying that every single supermarket does this but this is somewhat of an issue that has to bring into light to many consumers.

If you think about all the chemicals, time and money that is invested to just keep a certain product available all year around; its really not the best thing for health ,taste buds, or the wallet of the consumer. Once you start to piece together all those factors, we are not just wasting money on expensive produce that is not fresh but you are eating chemically treated vegetables that might hurt you in the long run. Im not saying that grocery stores do this because their evil, it just mostly business to provide food. So please don't raise pitch forks and torches towards them. Its just business. Although this does bring in to question about quantity over quality.

As a chef myself, I always encourage people to eat seasonably because not only the product has reach the peak in flavor but because all the nutrients and freshness is perfectly in tuned for anyone who is willing to change ones health for the better and to truly experience that particular food. Plus, this also gives the dinner the true experience of eating a strawberry on a warm late spring day and to give that true sense of pleasure.

I just want to bring on this issue just to bring seasonability to light and to maybe see what you have to say on the subject. That brings me to a question I want to ask to you. "What is Seasonability mean to you?" Feel free to Facebook, Tweet or provide the answer below in the comments about this issue.

As always I bid you a-do and eat seasonally not just because its healthy, but because its tastes so good and so right.

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