Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home as
well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...

What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?

My guess is:
European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
African
Middle Eastern
South Asia (India region)
East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
American

Scott Jensen
--
Like a cure for A.I.D.S., Alzheimer, Parkinson, & Mad Cow Disease?
Volunteer your computer for folding-protein research for when it's idle.
Go to http://www.distributedfolding.org/ to sign up your computer.

Do you want chefs from all over, or chefs from all over with great cuisines?

I'm not sure what a great cuisine is, exactly. I guess that it's got to
have a wide variety of main and minor ingredients, and cooking techniques,
and tasty dishes from formal banquets to hearty rustic food. On that basis,
we can start with France and China, and don't ask me to rank order them.
Well, maybe put the French a little ahead for the variety of breads and
desserts.

After that we go to the second tier. Here, I think we have to look at
places that have the widest variety of fresh ingredients and have developed
a cuisine that makes the most of nature's bounty. Let's say Japan, Italy,
and California . California cuisine doesn't travel that well, except to
areas with a Mediterranean climate and a similarly wide variety of fresh
ingredients. So, if the boarding school is in Switzerland, there's no point
in bringing in Alice Waters (except maybe in the summer). The same is
probably true of Japanese cuisine, especially if a variety of fresh seafood
is not readily available.

At this point, pretty much all the techniques have been covered. For the
remaining cuisines, I would look for interesting local ingredients. I would
look for a Tropical climate chef who used a wide variety of chiles and other
spices in the highly seasoned dishes of India, Latin America, and the
Caribbean (Mexican and Indian food are surprisingly similar, especially if
you think of tortillas as chapattis).

Finally, for my magnificent 7, I think I would look for Mr or Mrs Meat - a
chef who specialized in grilled, roasted, and slow-cooked BBQ meat,
including Argentine beef (and Brazilian churrasco), African game, Aussie/New
Zealand lamb and goat, and pig from just about anywhere.




--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"Scott T. Jensen" > wrote in message
...
> Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home
as
> well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
> What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
> My guess is:
> European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> African
> Middle Eastern
> South Asia (India region)
> East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> American
>
> Scott Jensen
> --
> Like a cure for A.I.D.S., Alzheimer, Parkinson, & Mad Cow Disease?
> Volunteer your computer for folding-protein research for when it's idle.
> Go to http://www.distributedfolding.org/ to sign up your computer.
>
>

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:36:56 -0500, "Scott T. Jensen"
> wrote:

>Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
>children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
>chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
>Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
>prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
>students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home as
>well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
>What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
>My guess is:
>European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
>African
>Middle Eastern
>South Asia (India region)
>East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
>Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
>American
>
>Scott Jensen

Does American include Mexico?

modom

"Scott T. Jensen" > wrote in message
...
> Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home
as
> well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
> What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
> My guess is:
> European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> African
> Middle Eastern
> South Asia (India region)
> East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> American


These are major cuisines? Why not just collapse S. Asia, E. Asia, and the
Pacific into "Asia and the Pacific", then you'll have room for South
American and Antarctican.

Peter

Once you get past the traditional "major" cuisines...

French
Chinese
Indian
Italian

....it tends to get a bit tricky to narrow down all of the possible choices,
combinations and permutations to just seven. To get the most bang for your
buck, you're going to need some chefs with pretty broad repertoires to pull
it off. Off the top of my head, here's what I think I'd go with:

1. Asian/Pacific Rim (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Aussie,
etc.)

2. Eastern European (including Russian, and maybe Austrian(?))

3. Western European (German, French, Italian, Austrian(?))

4. Asian Subcontinental (Indian, Bangladeshi, etc.)

5. Latin (including Spanish, Mexican, South and Central . American,
Caribbean)

6. American (including the traditional regional foods, California cuisine,
Soul Food, etc.)

7. Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/African (This would include Kosher and Halal
cooking)


"modom" > wrote in message
news
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:36:56 -0500, "Scott T. Jensen"
> > wrote:
>
> >Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> >children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire
seven
> >chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the
world.
> >Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> >prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> >students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home
as
> >well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
> >
> >What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
> >
> >My guess is:
> >European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> >African
> >Middle Eastern
> >South Asia (India region)
> >East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> >Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> >American
> >
> >Scott Jensen
>
> Does American include Mexico?
>
> modom

"Scott T. Jensen" writes:

>
>Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
>children from around the world.

Oddly enough I know a woman who went to a Swiss boarding school whose student
body was international. One Friday a month the dinner was whale meat. To this
day she can't abide fish of any sort.

Trust me, the nuns were more interested in developing minds and souls than in
bellies.

IMO seven cuisines aren't enough. I like the idea another poster had about
using chefs who specialized in various aspects of cuisine - meat, vegetables,
breads, etc - but even that would require the chefs to collaborate on a menu -
somehow I can't see say, Friday's menu looking like
Breakfast - meat
Lunch - meat
Dinner - meat

Too much like spam, spam, eggs and spam.

1. East Asia
2. South Asia
3. Southern Europe/Mediterranean (includes Italy/Greece)
4. Northern Europe (Alsatian chef, swings between French and German
5. Spain (preferably a Latin/Southern American chef trained in classical
Spanish cuisine)
6. Arabic/North African
7. Eastern Europe/Balkans

American (US) I'd skip. Given our cuisine is largely derived from successive
waves of physical and cultural immigrants it shouldn't be hard for any of the
other chefs to cover that particular section of the water front.

Best,

Marc
6.
5.

modom > wrote in
news
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:36:56 -0500, "Scott T. Jensen"
> > wrote:
>
>>What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would
>>cover?
>>
>>My guess is:
>>American
>
> Does American include Mexico?
>
> modom

Or even South American?

I see five great cuisines:

French
Italian
Chinese
Thai
Indian

Even those break down by regions, but they are bodies of knowledge
that work from principles and have influenced other cultures/nations
to adopt these principles.

This is a broad statement, but I think a bit more easily workeable
than the Seven Seas approach above.

It is of course open to debate.

--

Il faudrait que tout le monde réclame
Auprès des autorités
Une loi contre toute notre indifférence
Que personne ne soit oublié

Carla Bruni, «Tout le monde»

"Scott T. Jensen" > wrote in message
...
> Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home
as
> well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
> What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
> My guess is:
> European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> African
> Middle Eastern
> South Asia (India region)
> East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> American
>

It seems wrong to lump all European cuisines together. I would say , for
example, that Italian has more in common with Middle Eastern than it does
with Scanadanavian.

Likewise, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai are all very diferent.

Likewise I bet that standard Australian fare is worlds apart from
traditional Polynesian.

Bottom line? It's a silly question.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:36:56 -0500, "Scott T. Jensen"
> wrote:

>Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
>children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
>chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
>Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
>prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
>students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home as
>well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
>What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
>My guess is:
>European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
>African
>Middle Eastern
>South Asia (India region)
>East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
>Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
>American
>

I would quibble about the last two. Oz, NZ, and USA have some of the
most brilliiant chefs working today, but this has been the case for
such a limited time that their cuisines are largely synthetic.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


Capsizing under chute, and having the chute rise and fill without tangling, all while Mark and Sally are still behind you

You'd definitely have to have a British chef. If the English cooking is so
abyssmal (look I just go by what I am told) it has to be included to get the
kids to appreciate the other cuisines.

-Ginny
With tongue planted firmly in cheek.

"Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:
> You'd definitely have to have a British chef. If the English
> cooking is so abyssmal (look I just go by what I am told)
> it has to be included to get the kids to appreciate the other
> cuisines.

That's why I included American in the original seven I thought might be it.

Kidding. Just kidding.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"Louis Cohen" > wrote:
> Do you want chefs from all over, or chefs from all over
> with great cuisines?

They can all hail from Nuuk, Greenland for all I care. They just need to be
considered really good cooks (a.k.a. chefs) for a particular cuisine. And
having the credentials to back up that claim. Perhaps graduating from one
or more cooking schools with an emphasis in those cuisines, working at
5-star restaurants similarly specialized, and/or winning cuisine-specific
cooking contest.

The secret ingredient for this Iron Chef contest is ... *dramatic drum roll*
.... Spam!

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"Snapper" > wrote:
> Once you get past the traditional "major" cuisines...
>
> French
> Chinese
> Indian
> Italian
>
> ...it tends to get a bit tricky to narrow down all of the
> possible choices, combinations and permutations to
> just seven. To get the most bang for your buck, you're
> going to need some chefs with pretty broad repertoires
> to pull it off.

And that raises the question about finding such chefs. How would you and
others go about that? Is there a cooking magazine that all chefs around the
world read? Perhaps a select few? Or would there be a better way to make
such chefs aware of such job openings?

> Off the top of my head, here's what I think I'd go with:
>
> 1. Asian/Pacific Rim (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai,
> Vietnamese, Aussie, etc.)
>
> 2. Eastern European (including Russian, and maybe Austrian(?))
>
> 3. Western European (German, French, Italian, Austrian(?))
>
> 4. Asian Subcontinental (Indian, Bangladeshi, etc.)
>
> 5. Latin (including Spanish, Mexican, South and Central .
> American, Caribbean)
>
> 6. American (including the traditional regional foods, California
> cuisine, Soul Food, etc.)
>
> 7. Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/African (This would include
> Kosher and Halal cooking)

Thanks for your take on this. Seeking to better understand your recommend,
I'd appreciate your take on MrAoD's seven-cuisine recommend and your
thoughts on his evaluation of the American cuisine. His recommend being:

> 1. East Asia
> 2. South Asia
> 3. Southern Europe/Mediterranean (includes Italy/Greece)
> 4. Northern Europe (Alsatian chef, swings between French
> and German
> 5. Spain (preferably a Latin/Southern American chef trained
> in classical Spanish cuisine)
> 6. Arabic/North African
> 7. Eastern Europe/Balkans
>
> American (US) I'd skip. Given our cuisine is largely derived
> from successive waves of physical and cultural immigrants it
> shouldn't be hard for any of the other chefs to cover that
> particular section of the water front.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"MrAoD" > wrote:
> "Scott T. Jensen" writes:
> >Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> >children from around the world.
>
> Oddly enough I know a woman who went to a Swiss boarding school
> whose student body was international. One Friday a month the dinner
> was whale meat. To this day she can't abide fish of any sort.

Humorous story. I didn't know there was such a demand for whale meat. :-)

> Trust me, the nuns were more interested in developing minds and souls
> than in bellies.

Yeah, teaching nuns tend to be that way. My hypothetical school wouldn't
be. It would view excellent food as one of the way to make the student body
happy. Happy to be attending the school and happy as they do their studies.

> IMO seven cuisines aren't enough.

How chefs (separate cuisines) would be enough?

> I like the idea another poster had about using chefs who
> specialized in various aspects of cuisine - meat, vegetables,
> breads, etc - but even that would require the chefs to
> collaborate on a menu - somehow I can't see say, Friday's
> menu looking like
> Breakfast - meat
> Lunch - meat
> Dinner - meat
>
> Too much like spam, spam, eggs and spam.

Even though Spam is a magical meat?

The idea is to give complete control over the kitchen to the chef on the day
they're to work to create as they see fit and not have a battle of the chef
egos. That and to break up the monotony the same food all the time and/or
done with same mindset/approach. A chef has a certain style in their
cooking and that tends to come through no matter what they cook, especially
if it isn't their main cuisine.

> 1. East Asia
> 2. South Asia
> 3. Southern Europe/Mediterranean (includes Italy/Greece)
> 4. Northern Europe (Alsatian chef, swings between French
> and German
> 5. Spain (preferably a Latin/Southern American chef trained
> in classical
> Spanish cuisine)
> 6. Arabic/North African
> 7. Eastern Europe/Balkans

Thanks for your recommendations.

> American (US) I'd skip. Given our cuisine is largely derived
> from successive waves of physical and cultural immigrants it
> shouldn't be hard for any of the other chefs to cover that
> particular section of the water front.

The idea was to have an "American" day of food each week, as there's
expected to be a significant number of American students. The idea being to
make one day different from the day before. Given that intent, would you
still not include American? If you would then, how would your seven
cuisines change?

Also, for me to better understand your recommendations, I'd appreciate your
evaluation of Snapper's. His was as follows:

> 1. Asian/Pacific Rim (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai,
> Vietnamese, Aussie, etc.)
>
> 2. Eastern European (including Russian, and maybe Austrian(?))
>
> 3. Western European (German, French, Italian, Austrian(?))
>
> 4. Asian Subcontinental (Indian, Bangladeshi, etc.)
>
> 5. Latin (including Spanish, Mexican, South and Central
> American, Caribbean)
>
> 6. American (including the traditional regional foods,
> California cuisine, Soul Food, etc.)
>
> 7. Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/African (This would
> include Kosher and Halal cooking)

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"modom" > wrote:
> "Scott T. Jensen" > wrote:
> >What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs
> > would cover?
> >
> >My guess is:
> >European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> >African
> >Middle Eastern
> >South Asia (India region)
> >East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> >Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> >American
> >
> >Scott Jensen
>
> Does American include Mexico?

Yes, I was tossing into North, Central, and South American into "American"
for the list above. And I knew that probably was wrong, but that's why I
posted my question to this newsgroup. I wanted to know what would be a
better answer than the one I came up with to my own question.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

On 20 Apr 2004 08:43:00 GMT, (MrAoD) wrote:

>IMO seven cuisines aren't enough. I like the idea another poster had about
>using chefs who specialized in various aspects of cuisine - meat, vegetables,

....and why not only *basic* recipes from all over the world? (as we do
at our home...)
i.e.:
pizza,
curry rice,
chili con carne,
moussaka,
bacalao,
bobotie,
cous-cous,
sushi,
fondue (Bourguignonne, Swiss...)
steak and kidney pye,
and Chinese and Russian and...

best,

Jiminy

modom wrote:
>
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:36:56 -0500, "Scott T. Jensen"
> > wrote:
>
> >Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> >children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> >chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> >Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> >prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> >students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home as
> >well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
> >
> >What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
> >
> >My guess is:
> >European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> >African
> >Middle Eastern
> >South Asia (India region)
> >East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> >Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> >American
> >
> >Scott Jensen
>
> Does American include Mexico?
>
> modom

What I want to know is does it include South America?
Lots of great food down there. Peruvian is one of
my favorites and what about Brazil?

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Surely America and Pacific are just "fusions" of what was there in the
first place (berries and roos) with the the talent that came with the
immigrants ?

I think Europe needs to be broken down into at least 3 regions; meals
based on pasta , meals cooked without pasta and everything from East of
Budapest

Steve

Scott T. Jensen wrote:
> Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home as
> well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
> What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
> My guess is:
> European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> African
> Middle Eastern
> South Asia (India region)
> East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> American
>
> Scott Jensen

Scott T. Jensen wrote:

> And that raises the question about finding such chefs.


I realize this is a hypothetical question, but my first concern would be
about finding the ingredients. The best chef in the world can't
transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even someone with little experience
or talent can make a good meal with excellent ingredients.


--Lia

"Scott T. Jensen" > wrote in message
...
> Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
> children from around the world. The headmaster has told you to hire seven
> chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of the world.
> Each chef runs the kitchen once a week and uses the rest of the week to
> prepare for next time. The idea is to give the vast majority of the
> students from all the different parts of the world a weekly taste of home
as
> well as expose them to other cuisines. Having said all that...
>
> What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
> My guess is:
> European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)

Nope...
http://www.europeancuisines.com/
> African


> Middle Eastern

Really North African?

> South Asia (India region)
Impossible:

http://www.journeymart.com/Dexplorer...e/cuisines.asp

> East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
Impossible:

There is still no agreement on how many principal cuisines there are in
China, but nine major cuisines have influenced Chinese cookery. They are the
Beijing, Shandong, Huai-Yang, Jiangsu-Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan,
Hubei, and Hunan cuisines.


> Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)


> American

Dimitri

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote:
> Scott T. Jensen wrote:
> > And that raises the question about finding such chefs.
>
> I realize this is a hypothetical question, but my first concern
> would be about finding the ingredients. The best chef in the
> world can't transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even
> someone with little experience or talent can make a good
> meal with excellent ingredients.

I understand this concern. The hypothetical school would have a sufficient
budget and access to transportation to insure it does get first-rate
ingredients for its kitchen.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"Kate Connally" > wrote:
> modom wrote:
> > "Scott T. Jensen" > wrote:
> > >What would be considered the seven cuisines these
> > > chefs would cover?
> > >
> > >My guess is:
> > >European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
> > >African
> > >Middle Eastern
> > >South Asia (India region)
> > >East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
> > >Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
> > >American
> >
> > Does American include Mexico?
>
> What I want to know is does it include South
> America? Lots of great food down there.
> Peruvian is one of my favorites and what about
> Brazil?

I was tossing in North, Central, and South America into "American".
However, please read Snapper's and MrAoD's replies for what I'm now thinking
for the seven cuisines.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

> And that raises the question about finding such chefs.
> How would you and others go about that?

Since your question was purely hypothetical, I don't really think it
matters.

The correct answer is YOU CAN'T. There's not a competent (and honest) chef
in the world who would consider him/herself expert in all the cuisines in
any of the groupings I gave you.

However, I believe a properly trained and well-rounded professional chef
should be competent to prepare a decent meal in ANY style, especially with a
whole week's notice.

> Is there a cooking magazine that all chefs around the
> world read? Perhaps a select few?

I'm not aware of any universally read (or available) periodicals targetted
for the professional chef.

>Or would there be a better way to make such chefs >aware of such job
openings?

You might try:

1. The American Culinary Federation

2. The International Association of Culinary Professionals

3. The World Association of Cooks Societies

> Thanks for your take on this. Seeking to better >understand your
recommend, I'd appreciate your take >on MrAoD's seven-cuisine recommend and
your thoughts on his evaluation of the American cuisine. His recommend
being:
>
> > 1. East Asia
> > 2. South Asia
> > 3. Southern Europe/Mediterranean (includes Italy/Greece)
> > 4. Northern Europe (Alsatian chef, swings between French
> > and German
> > 5. Spain (preferably a Latin/Southern American chef trained
> > in classical Spanish cuisine)
> > 6. Arabic/North African
> > 7. Eastern Europe/Balkans
> >
> > American (US) I'd skip. Given our cuisine is largely derived
> > from successive waves of physical and cultural immigrants it
> > shouldn't be hard for any of the other chefs to cover that
> > particular section of the water front.

I wasn't attempting to evaluate the cuisines, only to provide an answer to
your question. I don't agree with the notion that there is no distinctly
"American" cuisine. In fact, I believe there are SEVERAL. However, I
believe that a competent chef should be able to approximate a reasonably
authentic representation of ALL of them.

Some of my personal favorites include:

New England Clam Chowder
Manhattan Clam Chowder
Maryland Crab Cakes
Buttermilk Biscuits
Low Country Shrimp and Grits
Brunswick Stew
Burgoo
Meatloaf
Southern Fried Chicken
Key Lime Pie
Philly Cheesesteak
Sweet Potato Pie
Corn Chowder
Mustard Potato Salad
Chitlin's
Gumbo Ya-Ya
Chili con Carne
Crawfish Etoufee
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
Glazed Yams
Country Ham with Grits and Redeye Gravy
Hotdogs (not brats)
Fried Green Tomatoes
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie
Roast Turkey with Cornbread Dressing
Buttermilk Pie
Chocolate Bread Pudding
Fried Soft shell crab
Lemon Coconut Layer Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Pumpkin Pie
Cranberry-Orange Relish
Fried Oyster Po-boy
Fried Catfish
Rice Pudding
New York Style Cheesecake
Barbecue (Pork, Beef, and Chicken)
Ham Hocks and Collard Greens
Cobb Salad
Apricot Pound Cake
Fried Okra

and of course...

A Cheeseburger

Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> Scott T. Jensen wrote:
>
> > And that raises the question about finding such chefs.
>
> I realize this is a hypothetical question, but my first concern would be
> about finding the ingredients. The best chef in the world can't
> transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even someone with little experience
> or talent can make a good meal with excellent ingredients.


I disagree strongly. A talented chef knows his or her ingredients and
can use those talents to bring out the best in even lesser ingredients,
while an inexperienced person can turn easily a beautiful piece of meat
into inedible shoeleather or nice fresh vegetables into overcooked mush,
all it improperly seasoned.

Given the choice, I'll have a first-rate chef handle so-so foodstuffs
versus a hack with top-notch ones. At least I won't be crying about what
the meal could have been.



Brian Rodenborn

at Tue, 20 Apr 2004 03:36:56 GMT in >,
(Scott T. Jensen) wrote :

>Hypothetical situation... The headmaster has told you to hire
>seven chefs and each specialize in one of the seven major cuisines of
>the world....
>
>What would be considered the seven cuisines these chefs would cover?
>
>My guess is:
>European (from Iceland to Russia to Italy)
>African
>Middle Eastern
>South Asia (India region)
>East Asia (from China to Japan to Singapore)
>Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand)
>American
>
These groupings to me seem way, way too broad, and I think in addition
imagining that cuisines of the world can be divided neatly into 7 groups is
making the world a much more orderly place than it actually is. (OTOH, I
can easily see how a headmaster might wish to imagine the world were that
orderly).

Another problem I see is that if the cuisine of choice were unvarying for
the given day, the kids would soon get very, very bored. Furthermore,
inevitably each kid would have one or more cuisines that they didn't like
at all, thus one day or more a week would turn into a day of gastronomic
dread and/or potential fasting. You'd have to mix up the cuisines in much
more of a random shuffle kind of way.

Yet another problem is that the resolution on cuisine groupings would
depend very much on the person's cultural background. For instance, someone
of European descent might well think that Spanish and Russian cuisines are
very, very different, while someone of East Asian descent might well think
them essentially similar, meanwhile considering Japanese and Thai to be
utterly different where the European might find similarities.

An even worse problem would be that such a system would inexorably become a
political battleground. Various parents would claim that *their* cuisine
wasn't being adequately represented, or for that matter some other cuisine
which wasn't their "native" one but which they still happened to be fond
of. Even outside third parties might start making claims and possibly
filing lawsuits claiming cultural discrimination.

Also, what about conflicting dietary restrictions or health concerns? Where
would Chinese cuisine be without pork? But of course if some of the
students were Muslims or Jews, they'd instantly be excluded. Trying to
represent adequately the cuisine of the USA, Argentina, or Britain, all
heavy on beef, to a Hindu would create the same issues. And highly dairy-
based cuisines like that of France could be big problems to someone with
lactose intolerance, soy-based cuisines like that of China would be a no-no
for people with soy intolerance, etc. etc.

Finally, I suspect that having 7 staff "chefs", no matter how well trained,
would be a recipe for infighting in the kitchen. You've got potentially 7
egos to manage, (which could vary from a very deferential personality to
the supreme egotists), some if not all of whom would compete for dominance
and/or perceived superiority. Kitchen turnover would be appalling because
chefs would quit and kitchen staff would find working in such an
environment intolerable. There's a good reason why most kitchens have one
chef. You've got to have clear leadership calling the shots.

Thus, better to hire one chef - choose them for excellent cooking skills
*and* broad-minded receptiveness to different cuisines and methods - and
let them use their good judgement and common sense to put together menu
plans that expose the kids to the widest variety of cultures that they can.
And you could bring in "guest chefs" periodically - if for no other reason
than to give the chef some time off.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

>I realize this is a hypothetical question, but my first concern would be
>about finding the ingredients.
>
>The best chef in the world can't
>transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even someone with little experience
>or talent can make a good meal with excellent ingredients.
>
>
>--Lia


Both premises are absolutely untrue... you obviously can't cook at all.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

"Alex Rast" > wrote:
> Finally, I suspect that having 7 staff "chefs", no matter how
> well trained, would be a recipe for infighting in the kitchen.

That's why they would be given different days.

> Thus, better to hire one chef - choose them for excellent
> cooking skills *and* broad-minded receptiveness to
> different cuisines and methods - and let them use their good
> judgement and common sense to put together menu plans
> that expose the kids to the widest variety of cultures that they
> can. And you could bring in "guest chefs" periodically - if for
> no other reason than to give the chef some time off.

The boarding school's kitchen would need to serve food seven days a week.
Wouldn't this at least require two chefs?

Scott Jensen
--
Like a cure for A.I.D.S., Alzheimer, Parkinson, & Mad Cow Disease?
Volunteer your computer for folding-protein research for when it's idle.
Go to http://www.distributedfolding.org/ to sign up your computer.

"> The boarding school's kitchen would need to serve food seven days a week.
Wouldn't this at least require two chefs?


It will require more than one person capable of producing the food, but
there has to be one single person responsible for everything that goes in
and comes out of the kitchen every day, whether he/she is there or not.

You may have a team of several professional culinarians, all of whom are
perfectly capable of functioning as a chef, but there can be only one "chef"
in the kitchen.

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:58:29 +0200, Steve Yates
> wrote:

>Surely America and Pacific are just "fusions" of what was there in the
>first place (berries and roos) with the the talent that came with the
>immigrants ?

Yikes! Berries, indeed.

Regarding Pacific Island foods, I hold no brief, but New World foods
include maize or (corn), many varieties of beans, many kinds of squash
and pumpkins, all varieties of potatoes, and spices like vanilla and
allspice (Jamaican pimiento). Then there are chiles. All chiles hail
from the Americas and were unknown prior to 1492 in Europe, Asia or
Africa.

New World dishes include mole, tamales, and tortillas (the Mexican
variety, not the Spanish variety whose name they were awarded by
Spaniards who didn't know what else to call them).
>
>I think Europe needs to be broken down into at least 3 regions; meals
>based on pasta , meals cooked without pasta and everything from East of
>Budapest
>
France alone needs to be broken down into Provencal, Breton, Isle de
France, and Alsatian at least.

Also, I'm left wondering where barbecue fits into this scheme of
things. It's not European (aside from the influence of German and
Czech meat smoking), and it's not roots and berries.

I'm kidding, you know.

Except about the chiles.

modom

Scott T. Jensen writes:
>
>"MrAoD" > wrote:
>> "Scott T. Jensen" writes:
>> >Hypothetical situation: Your kitchen services a boarding school with
>> >children from around the world.
>>
>> Oddly enough I know a woman who went to a Swiss boarding school
>> whose student body was international. One Friday a month the dinner
>> was whale meat. To this day she can't abide fish of any sort.
>
>Humorous story. I didn't know there was such a demand for whale meat. :-)

Me either. I discovered the prejudice/heard the story while on vacation with
her. I was preparing some fresh caught bluefish and her SO informed me of the
problem. I sent SO out for a steak which I broiled and finished with an herb
butter.

>> Trust me, the nuns were more interested in developing minds and souls
>> than in bellies.
>
>Yeah, teaching nuns tend to be that way. My hypothetical school wouldn't
>be. It would view excellent food as one of the way to make the student body
>happy. Happy to be attending the school and happy as they do their studies.

Ah. An idyllic setting. Every school I attended fell well short of that
ideal. Good thing as otherwise I'd still be matriculating at the ripe old age
of 50. ;-)

>> IMO seven cuisines aren't enough.
>
>How chefs (separate cuisines) would be enough?

Bodies versus cuisines? Seven chefs would be enough physically. And I'd guess
that the seven cuisines I chose could be handled by less - you don't have to be
a native to cover a cuisine (cf. Emeril, Flay, et al.) so some chefs could do
double duty.
>> I like the idea another poster had about using chefs who
>> specialized in various aspects of cuisine - meat, vegetables,
>> breads, etc - but even that would require the chefs to
>> collaborate on a menu - somehow I can't see say, Friday's
>> menu looking like
>> Breakfast - meat
>> Lunch - meat
>> Dinner - meat
>>
>> Too much like spam, spam, eggs and spam.
>
>Even though Spam is a magical meat?

Shudder. I'll eat it if presented, but sparingly and only out of courtesy. I
like terrines but Spam is just too salty. If I want NaCl overdose I'll go with
pickled herring in wine sauce.
>
>The idea is to give complete control over the kitchen to the chef on the day
>they're to work to create as they see fit and not have a battle of the chef
>egos. That and to break up the monotony the same food all the time and/or
>done with same mindset/approach. A chef has a certain style in their
>cooking and that tends to come through no matter what they cook, especially
>if it isn't their main cuisine.

I'm not certain I understand that. But it's 0350 local and I'm only on my
second cup of coffee. Exagerating for effect I'm supposing you mean reliance
on a particular set of herbs, or prefence for a type of preparation.

>> 1. East Asia
>> 2. South Asia
>> 3. Southern Europe/Mediterranean (includes Italy/Greece)
>> 4. Northern Europe (Alsatian chef, swings between French
>> and German
>> 5. Spain (preferably a Latin/Southern American chef trained
>> in classical
>> Spanish cuisine)
>> 6. Arabic/North African
>> 7. Eastern Europe/Balkans
>
>Thanks for your recommendations.

Welx. I left out sub Saharan Africa simply because I don't know much about the
cuisine. IM(limited)E much of what was original was heavily overlain by
imported colonial cuisines. Senegal comes to mind. Original coastal cuisine
(known in US-speak as "slave food") with a heavy French influence.
>
>> American (US) I'd skip. Given our cuisine is largely derived
>> from successive waves of physical and cultural immigrants it
>> shouldn't be hard for any of the other chefs to cover that
>> particular section of the water front.
>
>The idea was to have an "American" day of food each week, as there's
>expected to be a significant number of American students. The idea being to
>make one day different from the day before. Given that intent, would you
>still not include American? If you would then, how would your seven
>cuisines change?

I've reviewed others' takes on "American" dishes and pretty much all of them
can be considered derivative of one or more cuisines. Given that (and some
might not give me that point), I think any chef could cover that base. Of
course that's not saying that any particular chef would have to be native to
his/her cuisine so conceivably you could have US chefs filling all the slots or
none.

>Also, for me to better understand your recommendations, I'd appreciate your
>evaluation of Snapper's. His was as follows:
>
>> 1. Asian/Pacific Rim (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai,

Same as my #1, although I called it East Asian.

>> Vietnamese, Aussie, etc.)

Vietnamese is rolled up under East Asian in my book. I don't know enough about
Aussie/NZ cuisine to comment but nothing I've seen in the way of ANZ recipes
strikes me as constituting a unique cuisine, as in my view of the US "cuisine".

>>
>> 2. Eastern European (including Russian, and maybe Austrian(?))

Yeah, I had EE too. I'd run the belt from Poland on down through the Black
Sea. Austria I'd put in the Northern Europe category.
>>
>> 3. Western European (German, French, Italian, Austrian(?))

This is where it gets tricky for me, and probably where my cut breaks down.
I'd include Germany,France, Austria and probably Northern Italy in the same
basket.

Southern Italy, Greece, eh, thrown in the Near East I'd lump together under the
rubric of Mediterranean. It's a stretch, I know.

>>
>> 4. Asian Subcontinental (Indian, Bangladeshi, etc.)

South Asian in my parlance.
>>
>> 5. Latin (including Spanish, Mexican, South and Central
>> American, Caribbean)

I thought it important to break out Spanish/Latino cuisine too. Spain has a
very distinct national cuisine and it's influenced the national cuisine of a
very large proportion of the Western Hemisphere.

Dunno if I'd include what I think of as Caribbean. I'd have to think on that
but I think that cuisine pivots more around a slave food base.
>>
>> 6. American (including the traditional regional foods,
>> California cuisine, Soul Food, etc.)

Eh. California cuisine is a marketing phrase, IMO. It's not really cohesive.
Soul food (and down south if you look at a man's plate you'd have about a 50-50
shot at guessing his skin color) is slave food. Using everything but the
squeal as it were.

My problem with "American" food is as stated - derivative of all other
cuisines. Not necessarily bad, mind you. My kid's class learns about other
cultures by being presented with their contributions to American food in a
historical sense.
>>
>> 7. Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/African (This would
>> include Kosher and Halal cooking)

North African/Arabic. I'd put Kosher/Halal in the Near East category, although
I called it Mediterranean. Greece is the swing point on that - from Greece
eastwards every cuisine has kabobs.

Best,

Marc

MrAoD wrote:

>
> Me either. I discovered the prejudice/heard the story while on vacation with
> her. I was preparing some fresh caught bluefish and her SO informed me of the
> problem. I sent SO out for a steak which I broiled and finished with an herb
> butter.

Bluefish? I'd run out for my own steak! Ack!

(laugh) nancy

"Snapper" > wrote:
> Scott Jensen wrote:
> > The boarding school's kitchen would need to serve
> > food seven days a week. Wouldn't this at least
> > require two chefs?
>
> It will require more than one person capable of producing
> the food, but there has to be one single person responsible
> for everything that goes in and comes out of the kitchen
> every day, whether he/she is there or not.
>
> You may have a team of several professional culinarians,
> all of whom are perfectly capable of functioning as a chef,
> but there can be only one "chef" in the kitchen.

So chef as architect, not builder. S/he designing the dishes and inspecting
them while they're being prepared, but not actually joining her/his cooks in
making them. Contrary to what you see on Food Network. For the boarding
school, the chef would then step into the kitchen on the weekends to simply
inspect the work in progress. If this is what you're talking about...

How would one go about getting a chef that could handle all cuisines in the
world AND do them right? How would you be able to determine whether or not
they could? Put yourself in the position of the poor bloke that has been
given this task by the headmaster. Even poorer now that the bloke is
thinking he should go with just one chef as opposed to the seven the
headmaster told him to go out and get.

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

"MrAoD" > wrote:
> Scott T. Jensen writes:
> >"MrAoD" > wrote:
> >> Trust me, the nuns were more interested in developing
> >> minds and souls than in bellies.
> >
> >Yeah, teaching nuns tend to be that way. My hypothetical
> >school wouldn't be. It would view excellent food as one of
> >the way to make the student body happy. Happy to be
> >attending the school and happy as they do their studies.
>
> Ah. An idyllic setting. Every school I attended fell well short
> of that ideal.

And this hypothetical school would naturally fall short of the ideal, but at
least a good solid attempt would be made at the ideal. As opposed to simply
hiring Helga from the local greasy spoon and telling her to slop out regular
meals to the little ones.

> Good thing as otherwise I'd still be matriculating at the ripe
> old age of 50. ;-)

Nah. Graduate, get a teaching degree, and come back as one of the
professors. Get paid AND eat well. ;-)

> >> IMO seven cuisines aren't enough.
> >
> >How chefs (separate cuisines) would be enough?
>
> Bodies versus cuisines? Seven chefs would be enough physically.
> And I'd guess that the seven cuisines I chose could be handled by
> less - you don't have to be a native to cover a cuisine (cf. Emeril,
> Flay, et al.) so some chefs could do double duty.

Others elsewhere in this thread are advocating ONE chef and not multiple
ones. See the Alex Rast > Scott T. Jensen > Snapper > Scott T. Jensen
sub-thread for that discussion. Chef as architect, not builder. Multiple
chefs only being a recipe for a royal battle of the egos and cooking staff
fleeing the battlefield in droves. Do you agree with such a prediction?

> >The idea is to give complete control over the kitchen to the chef
> >on the day they're to work to create as they see fit and not have
> >a battle of the chef egos. That and to break up the monotony
> >the same food all the time and/or one with same mindset/approach.
> >A chef has a certain style in their cooking and that tends to come
> >through no matter what they cook, especially if it isn't their main
> >cuisine.
>
> I'm not certain I understand that. But it's 0350 local and I'm only
> on my second cup of coffee. Exagerating for effect I'm supposing
> you mean reliance on a particular set of herbs, or prefence for a
> type of preparation.

Both and presentation style.

I've snipped out the rest of your reply, but I do appreciate it. However,
I'd like your and others' thoughts on the solo-chef concept before exploring
the multiple-chef concept further. Thanks!

Scott Jensen
--
Got a business question, problem, or dream?
Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated

It sounds to me like you have a pretty firm concept of what you want
already, lacking only the expertise to implement it. What you want to do is
not that difficult, but what you need to do now is bring an Executive Chef
on board. At the very least, you need to get a CHEF consultant who can do
the following for you:

1. Be THE CHEF
2. Make your general concept into a workable concrete plan.
3. Create your menu(s)
4. Determine your staffing needs
5. Standardize your recipes
6. Plan and design your kitchen
7. Find purveyors and suppliers
8. Negotiate prices and purchase your equipment, wares, and food supplies
9. Hire, train, and supervise the rest of your kitchen staff, including sous
chefs, chefs de partie, etc.
10. Make revisions as necessary
11. Do all the other million-plus things that will be necessary, but none of
us will ever think of, and that can only be handled at the time by the chef
on the ground

This is what CHEFS get paid to do. And yes, they do GET PAID.

"Scott T. Jensen" > wrote in message
...
How chefs (separate cuisines) would be enough?
> >
Bodies versus cuisines? Seven chefs would be enough physically.
> > And I'd guess that the seven cuisines I chose could be handled by
> > less - you don't have to be a native to cover a cuisine (cf. Emeril,
> > Flay, et al.) so some chefs could do double duty.
>
> Others elsewhere in this thread are advocating ONE chef and not multiple
> ones. See the Alex Rast > Scott T. Jensen > Snapper > Scott T. Jensen
> sub-thread for that discussion. Chef as architect, not builder. Multiple
> chefs only being a recipe for a royal battle of the egos and cooking staff
> fleeing the battlefield in droves. Do you agree with such a prediction?
>
> > >The idea is to give complete control over the kitchen to the chef
> > >on the day they're to work to create as they see fit and not have
> > >a battle of the chef egos. That and to break up the monotony
> > >the same food all the time and/or one with same mindset/approach.
> > >A chef has a certain style in their cooking and that tends to come
> > >through no matter what they cook, especially if it isn't their main
> > >cuisine.
> >
> > I'm not certain I understand that. But it's 0350 local and I'm only
> > on my second cup of coffee. Exagerating for effect I'm supposing
> > you mean reliance on a particular set of herbs, or prefence for a
> > type of preparation.
>
> Both and presentation style.
>
> I've snipped out the rest of your reply, but I do appreciate it. However,
> I'd like your and others' thoughts on the solo-chef concept before
exploring
> the multiple-chef concept further. Thanks!
>
> Scott Jensen
> --
> Got a business question, problem, or dream?
> Discuss it with the professionals that hang out at...
> misc.business.consulting, misc.business.marketing.moderated
> misc.business.moderated, and misc.entrepreneurs.moderated
>
>

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:50:27 GMT, Default User
> wrote:

>Julia Altshuler wrote:
>>
>> Scott T. Jensen wrote:
>>
>> > And that raises the question about finding such chefs.
>>
>> I realize this is a hypothetical question, but my first concern would be
>> about finding the ingredients. The best chef in the world can't
>> transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even someone with little experience
>> or talent can make a good meal with excellent ingredients.
>
>
>I disagree strongly. A talented chef knows his or her ingredients and
>can use those talents to bring out the best in even lesser ingredients,
>while an inexperienced person can turn easily a beautiful piece of meat
>into inedible shoeleather or nice fresh vegetables into overcooked mush,
>all it improperly seasoned.
>
>Given the choice, I'll have a first-rate chef handle so-so foodstuffs
>versus a hack with top-notch ones. At least I won't be crying about what
>the meal could have been.
>
>
Both of you have points, but if the person of little experience or
talent has an idea of what is in hand, excellent ingredients make
everything easier. I speak as one with no training who can turn out
good meals starting with spectacular ingredients.

A real chef could turn out spectacular meals with the same
ingredients, and they do. All the best restaurants around here shop at
the same Greenmarket.



I have easy access to top ingredients, and mainly just let them speak
for themselves. But I don't know how to disguise poor ingredients.


Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


Capsizing under chute, and having the chute rise and fill without tangling, all while Mark and Sally are still behind you

>Rodney Myrvaagnes
>

>I speak as one with no training who can turn out
>good meals starting with spectacular ingredients.

That no recommendation, with spectacular ingredients you should be turning out
*great* meals.

>But I don't know how to disguise poor ingredients.

That's because you're not a chef, or even a cook. Experienced kitchen staff
turn out great meals while using up ingredients well past their prime all the
time... why do you think restaurants serve things like pilaf, sauce bolognese,
pate, and soup du jour.... and I'm not even going to mention oriental
cookery... how do you think those squinty eyes and toothy grimaces evolved over
the eons... from eating shit, tastey shit, but shit nevertheless.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

at Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:14:35 GMT in >,
(Scott T. Jensen) wrote :

>"Snapper" > wrote:
>> Scott Jensen wrote:
>> > The boarding school's kitchen would need to serve
>> > food seven days a week. Wouldn't this at least
>> > require two chefs?
>>
>> It will require more than one person capable of producing
>> the food, but there has to be one single person responsible
>> for everything that goes in and comes out of the kitchen
>> every day, whether he/she is there or not.
>>
>> You may have a team of several professional culinarians,
>> all of whom are perfectly capable of functioning as a chef,
>> but there can be only one "chef" in the kitchen.
>
>So chef as architect, not builder. S/he designing the dishes and
>inspecting them while they're being prepared, but not actually joining
>her/his cooks in making them.

Most chefs do participate in making the items they "design" and are
responsible for, but their responsibilities include enough things besides
food preparation that they can't, and don't, spend 100% of their time
cooking. The job of a chef is much more complex than simply stepping into
the kitchen and starting to make food from what's on hand and this is why
they need a staff of cooks - a chef can't be in 50 places at once. Any
professional cook isn't going to begrudge the chef for not being in the
kitchen 100% of the time.

But the chef takes 100% of the responsibility for the kitchen's output,
whether he is physically present and participating in its preparation or
not. Thus it's his job to supervise and manage the people he has working
for him so that the kitchen runs smoothly and he can trust his people to
keep the show running smoothly when he's out of the house. Furthermore, the
cooks appreciate the fact that they're given that implicit trust. If the
chef were in the kitchen 100% of the time, the pressure on everyone would
be much higher.

>How would one go about getting a chef that could handle all cuisines in
>the world AND do them right?

That's not what you're looking for or need in a chef. It's unrealistic to
expect someone to be an expert in every type of cuisine known. Far more
important is this person's basic skill and creativity, which can overcome
gaps in specific knowledge, their ability to find and hire people who *do*
have the specific skills in cuisines and techniques which they themselves
don't have, and the ability to manage and run a professional kitchen.

> How would you be able to determine whether
>or not they could? Put yourself in the position of the poor bloke that
>has been given this task by the headmaster. Even poorer now that the
>bloke is thinking he should go with just one chef as opposed to the
>seven the headmaster told him to go out and get.

Being asked to hire one person is a far better position to be in than the
almost impossible task of hiring 7. How is this "poor bloke" going to be
able to distinguish 7 people who are experts in fields he may not know much
about, or be able to identify which personalities are going to be able to
work together? And who's going to be the one who takes the fall when the 7
"chefs" have trouble working together, the kitchen disintegrates into
chaos, people start quitting, food doesn't get out etc...?

The person who needs to get a reality check is the headmaster. It sounds as
if he got an idea into his head without really understanding the
impracticalities involved. Somebody needs to talk to him and let him know
that what he's recommending isn't such a good idea. If he's open-minded, he
should ask what the alternatives are. If, on the other hand, he's stubborn,
the person who was asked to accomplish this task should resign immediately.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

"Snapper" > wrote:
> It sounds to me like you have a pretty firm concept
> of what you want already, lacking only the expertise
> to implement it.

Just one of many things needed to be covered in the business plan. Why I
call this a hypothetical question is simply because until I have the money
in hand to do it, that's all it is. Pledges are nice, but they're only good
if the pledgers honor them and you never if they will until it comes the
time to call in the pledges.

> What you want to do is not that difficult, but what
> you need to do now is bring an Executive Chef
> on board. At the very least, you need to get a
> CHEF consultant who can do the following for you:

But that still brings it back to the problem of where to find (or advertise
for) them and how to pick the best one. Perhaps hiring a chef consultant to
hire the chef? First, I didn't know that chef consultants existed. Second,
saying what I propose is a good idea, it still becomes essentially the same
problem. Where to find the chef consultant and how to pick the best one.

> This is what CHEFS get paid to do. And yes,
> they do GET PAID.

They're not willing to work for just food??? :-) ;-)

Yes, the plan is to pay them very nicely.

Scott Jensen
--
Like a cure for A.I.D.S., Alzheimer, Parkinson, & Mad Cow Disease?
Volunteer your computer for folding-protein research for when it's idle.
Go to http://www.distributedfolding.org/ to sign up your computer.

Default User wrote:
> Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
>>Scott T. Jensen wrote:

The best chef in the world can't
>>transform 2nd rate ingredients, and even someone with little experience
>>or talent can make a good meal with excellent ingredients.
>
>
>
> I disagree strongly. A talented chef knows his or her ingredients and
> can use those talents to bring out the best in even lesser ingredients,
> while an inexperienced person can turn easily a beautiful piece of meat
> into inedible shoeleather or nice fresh vegetables into overcooked mush,
> all it improperly seasoned.


I suppose this all hinges on how bad the 2nd rate ingredients are and
how bad the bad cook is. If the 2nd rate ingredients are spoiled meat,
rotting vegetables, Velveeta cheese, spam, okra and beets, even the best
chef will have a bad time. If the bad cook burns good ingredients to a
charred mass, then adds 3X too much salt, well, you get the idea.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler > wrote in message
news:IfGhc.216$w96.87765@attbi_s54...
> Default User wrote:
> > I disagree strongly. A talented chef knows his or her ingredients and
> > can use those talents to bring out the best in even lesser ingredients,
> > while an inexperienced person can turn easily a beautiful piece of meat
> > into inedible shoeleather or nice fresh vegetables into overcooked mush,
> > all it improperly seasoned.
>
>
> I suppose this all hinges on how bad the 2nd rate ingredients are and
> how bad the bad cook is. If the 2nd rate ingredients are spoiled meat,
> rotting vegetables,

To me, those aren't second rate ingredients, they're garbage and wouldn't be
used for human consumption.

> Velveeta cheese, spam,

Velveeta's hard to do much with. Spam actually can be pretty good when used
imaginatively. The Hawaiians love it.

>okra and beets, even the best chef will have a bad time.

What? You may not like okra or beets, but lots of people do. Those are not
second-rate ingredients.

> If the bad cook burns good ingredients to a
> charred mass, then adds 3X too much salt, well, you get the idea.


They don't have to burn or grossly misseason it to wreck good food. Yes,
even an untalented cook can be given simple dishes to do that are hard to
screw up, and would let superior ingredients shine, but I've been served
enough undercooked chicken, overcooked beef, improperly seasoned vegetables
to know what hard-working, well-meaning but unskilled cooks can do to
quality food.

Think of nice fresh fruit and good flour and butter, turned into a pie with
a leaden crust and too much sugar and cornstarch in the filling.



Brian Rodenborn