Harvest America CUES BLOG

cook

  • COOKING FROM JOB TO PASSION

    It started in an unassuming manner – you needed a job, a local restaurant was hiring, and it just seemed to fit the bill. Maybe you began as a dishwasher or counter person in a quick service operation or an… Continue reading

  • WHY CULINARY PROGRAMS FAIL

    There has never been a more important time for culinary schools than right now.  Sure, I know how much the restaurant/foodservice industry is suffering and how many operations are shutting their doors as a result of avoiding decades of challenges… Continue reading

  • THE 2021 CHEF SKILL SET

    It is always safe to say: “things change”.  Change is an inevitable part of life and as we all know if we fail to recognize that and adapt – we can become obsolete.  Throughout history there are countless examples of… Continue reading

  • COOKS AND CHEFS – THINK ABOUT THE STORY BEHIND WHAT YOU SEE

    Some of you may be too young to know the band – The Moody Blues, but their lyrics always inspired me, especially during challenges that life occasionally brings. One such lyric asked us to view the story in peoples eyes… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S LIFE – IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

    In the Blink of an Eye “Looking forward has no limits Looking back reels you in Thinking about what could be Gives pause to what might have been Vision is energy for an active mind while Reflection is food for… Continue reading

  • CHEF OWNERSHIP – SCENARIO #2

    This is the second of three chef/ownership scenarios drawn from the initial article on that “OWNERSHIP THING”. Sabrina’s Scones and Crust: Sabrina has worked in various pastry shops throughout the Pacific Northwest and has built a strong reputation for her… Continue reading

  • CHEFS CHASING THE OWNERSHIP THING

    I don’t believe that I know a single professional chef who doesn’t have a deep seeded desire to own a restaurant. Some are more obvious about the desire then others, some hide it pretty well, but underneath the façade of… Continue reading

  • LINE COOKS WHO TAKE THE LEAP

    At some point, fairly early on, restaurant cooks make a decision to either view what they do as a transitional job while they look for something that they really want to do, or decide that cooking is their life calling… Continue reading

  • BECOMING A GREAT LINE COOK

    Whether you are a product of a formal culinary education or working your way up through the school of hard knocks, it is likely that all roads leading to the position of chef will move through the line cook position.… Continue reading

  • BECOMING A MASTER OF YOUR CRAFT

    I just finished watching a YouTube video clip of Jeff Beck and Stanley Clarke performing their incredible music at a jazz festival. I watched the clip four times in a row until I knew that I had to get back… Continue reading

  • IN THE KITCHEN – SKILLS ARE THE DRUG, CONFIDENCE IS THE HIGH

    Many have pointed to the abuse of drugs and alcohol that seems far too commonplace among restaurant employees. It may be part of the culture, possibly a release from the accentuated stress that exists in kitchens, and it may simply… Continue reading

  • LIFE IN THE KITCHEN – WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN

    Quite often I have read posts from individual cooks who express a high level of dissatisfaction with their choice to work in kitchens. In some cases this dissatisfaction leans towards contempt – loads of anger pointed at the job and… Continue reading

  • THAT KITCHEN SENSE OF URGENCY

    There are some things in life that can’t be taught. Only the experience of impending doom can push a person to dig deep and find solutions that they never thought were possible, discover skills that were never present before the… Continue reading

  • BEING A CHEF – THE PASSION AND THE COST

    Let’s first separate those three types of cooks who stand tall behind a range: Those who consider cooking to be their purpose in life, the career choice that inspires them, and the choice that let’s them jump out of bed… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S LEGAL VICES

    The dictionary may define a “vice” as a bad habit or fault, but sometimes those habits cause less harm than the definition may imply and far more joy than one might assume. We all have a vice or two, some… Continue reading

  • IS THE KITCHEN A COOK’S “SAFE PLACE”?

    Look around the kitchen and pause to really assess what you see. The lifeblood of the kitchen is not found in stainless steel, contemporary equipment, or even the ingredients that fill cooler and storeroom shelves. The lifeblood of the kitchen… Continue reading

  • THE CHEF’S INTELLECT

    It is certainly true that professional cooks and chefs live in a tactile world. The kitchen is attractive to many as a vehicle for working with your hands – building and creating dishes and presenting them with flair that inspires… Continue reading

  • WHAT MAKES A CHEF’S JOB SO CHALLENGING

    If you cook in a serious way, if you have defined the process of cooking as something that you want to invest in, if you find that the passion of working in a professional kitchen is something that inspires you,… Continue reading

  • I REMEMBER – A CHEF’S REFLECTIONS ON TIME

    It was 1964 when Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones sang: “Time is on my side, yes it is.” I wonder now if there is any truth to that statement. When you are 14 years old, as I was, time… Continue reading

  • I LOVE BEING A CHEF BUT I’M MAD AS HELL

    From that first moment when I held a spatula in my hand at the age of 15 and was shown how to flip a pancake and how the flick of my wrist could coax an egg to gently change sides… Continue reading

  • THE RECIPE IS A BOOK WORTH READING AND HOLDING CLOSE TO YOUR HEART

    There has rarely been a better time for a book like this. I don’t normally use my blog to talk about books that you really should read. My focus is to pay respect to cooks and chefs, restaurateurs and servers,… Continue reading

  • THE WINE EXPERIENCE /THE WINE CULTURE – A CHEF’S PERSPECTIVE

    Is it possible that an area like the North Fork of Long Island could become the next serious wine region of the country? What differentiates the Napa Valley, Paso Robles and Sonoma County of California from the Willamette Valley of… Continue reading

  • A LINE COOK’S LIFE DIRECTION

    “There’s nothing worse than a feeling of being lost.” -Chef Daniel Boulud These are such important words from a chef and restaurateur whom many consider one of the worlds finest at his craft. They gave me a moment of pause… Continue reading

  • HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL CHEF – A BAKER’S DOZEN

      This may not turn out to be my most popular article, but it might very well be one of the most important for a cook or chef planning on a long, successful career in the kitchen. If we take… Continue reading

  • THE ORIENTATION OF A NEW COOK – WELCOME TO THE CLUB

    “Welcome to the camp, I guess we all know why we’re here.” These opening lyrics by the Who in their dramatic album “Tommy” referred to an underlying understanding of purpose. Anyone could interject numerous scenarios that point to common beliefs,… Continue reading

  • 24 HOURS IN A PROFESSIONAL LINE COOK’S LIFE

    Yes, the life of a cook is based on routine – a routine that may be different, but a routine never the less. What differs is the amount if time dedicated daily to the environment of the kitchen and the… Continue reading

  • WHAT DRIVES A CHEF

    The vision of extreme work ethic always inspires me. Extreme may be an over-used word, but not in the restaurant business. A chef’s life is a life of never-ending focus on food and the workings of his or her kitchen.… Continue reading

  • THE EFFECTIVE CHEF’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

    Why do we bother to create a list of year to come resolutions when more often than not we disregard the list soon after it is written? Is it because of a tradition that lacks commitment, or because we know… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S LETTER TO LINE COOKS

      Interesting how even after hanging up a chef’s hat I still enjoy being called “chef”. Although I haven’t spent more than one occasional day at a time behind a professional kitchen range in some time, I am still filled… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S PRIDE

    Pride is defined in both a positive and a negative manner. To some, pride is something to avoid: “An irrationally corrupt sense of ones personal value, status or accomplishments.” – Wikipedia – Or as some would label it: “ego”. On… Continue reading