After dancing back and forth between using tumblr and some other blogging sites, I've decided to try this again. We'll see how it goes.
I realized something today, and it wasn't all that nice of a realization. In fact, it was really disheartening and discouraging, and I'm not really sure what to do about it. What I realized was this: most people aren't as passionate about culinary arts as I am, even in culinary school. They don't always appreciate food as art, and in most cases, culinary arts certainly isn't their first choice. (Notice I say in most cases. Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone). People go into culinary arts for a variety of reasons: because they couldn't think of anything better, because their Plan A didn't work out, or because they simply like to cook or are foodies, and decided to pursue it as a career. I feel that it's very rare for people to go into culinary because they genuinely are passionate about it.
I realize this might be offensive to some culinary students, and I apologize. I acknowledge that this doesn't apply to everyone, and I simply want to state my opinion. And with that, I continue my spiel.
One thing is for sure: regardless of why you went into culinary, you didn't go into it for money. It's not exactly a high-paying job, nor is it something that pays enough to live off of. So we know that everyone who goes into culinary has enough love for food to be able to accept the fact that they probably won't make that much money.
Why did I choose culinary? I don't know, really. Maybe it's because I grew up around home-cooked meals on a daily basis. Maybe it's because when my mom bought me my first cookbook at age 11, I learned how to make a roux and mac n' cheese from scratch. Maybe it's because it's something I know I'm good at, so why not? Maybe it's cause I'm not good at anything else. Maybe it's all those reasons, and then this: I love food. I love the way someone can take two completely different ingredients and put them together in a way you've never heard of. I love the satisfaction of hearing someone say "I don't normally like ____, but that was amazing!" I love knowing that I can make people happy with the food that is on their plate. I love knowing that I am successful at something, that I am good at something. I love positive feedback because, honestly, it boosts my ego, and I love negative feedback because it still means I have something new to learn. I love being creative in my own way, and knowing that I can come up with some new, unheard of combination of food on a daily basis. I love being in charge, being taken seriously, being able to prove to the people around me that I am not a helpless, weak, small, little girl. I love the fast-paced work, the heat, the time crunch, the stress of "will I get it done on time?" or "will this turn out okay?" I love the feeling at the end of the day when your feet hurt, and you smell bad, and you step into a hot shower and think, "You know what? Today was actually a good day," because you got everything done and you accomplished something and there wasn't a single complaint from your customers and in the end, everything was okay.
So yeah, I'm passionate about food. I love the industry I've chosen to go into, and regardless of the people around me and their reasons for being here, I wouldn't have chosen anything else. I don't regret any of the choices I've made leading up to me being here, in New York, at the greatest culinary school in the country. So people can look at me crazy and call me weird when they realize how much I love what I do, but then they can answer this question themselves - Why are you here?
