Harvest America CUES BLOG

culinary

  • INNOVATE AND CHANGE OR GET OUT OF THE WAY

    Take a deep breath, sit down, grab a couple Ibuprofen, tighten your belt and pay attention. EVERYTHING IS CHANGING AND THERE IS NO TURNING BACK. If you think that you can simply continue to do business the way you have,… Continue reading

  • THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN CHEFS

      On this International Women’s Day I am enthusiastic about supporting this years theme of “Balance for Better”. Specifically, I want to point to the numerous accomplishments of women chefs who are making a difference in the restaurant business. It… 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

  • THE CHEF – DECISIONS EVERY 30 SECONDS

    Ah…the good old days when it was just about cooking. Remember those days when your stress, considerable as it may have been, was focused on your mise en place, keeping orders straight on your station, making sure that your knives… 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

  • GENEROSITY IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COOKS AND CHEFS

    This month I had the pleasure of working in the kitchen with three of my most treasured friends. These consummate professionals represent, to me, the most vivid reason why I have truly loved working in the food business for five… Continue reading

  • A COOK’S EVOLUTION OF SKILLS AND VALUE

    Physically, mentally, and emotionally – professional cook’s and chef’s offer different levels of value as time goes by. To some, there is that uncomfortable feeling that accompanies an aging body – you know – that point in a career when… Continue reading

  • SERIOUS COOKING / COOKING SERIOUSLY

    There are cooks and there are cooks – such a profound statement. My experience has shown me that there is a place for numerous levels of skill and commitment in our profession. People do need to eat, and in this… Continue reading

  • KITCHENS – WHEN THINGS START TO UNRAVEL

    I imagine that every night that the cast of a Broadway play watches the curtains open, there is a feeling that the performance will either be great or terrible. When the most organized and well-seasoned band hits the stage for… Continue reading

  • NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PREP COOK

    Chefs are acutely aware of the importance of their line crew and care is typically taken to hire those who have a complementary chemistry and skill set – team is critical to success. But, how much similar effort is placed… Continue reading

  • THE SENSUAL EXPERIENCE OF BEING A COOK

    I miss the full experience of working daily in a busy restaurant kitchen. When that kitchen is the hub of activity in a hotel or resort then the experience is even more pronounced. From the moment that a chef walks… Continue reading

  • THE SPORT OF COOKING

    Is it too far fetched to consider professional cooking – a sport? Are there enough similarities to view how a restaurant line operates and interject many of the facets of a winning sporting teams development and performance? I think that… Continue reading

  • A LETTER TO CULINARY STUDENTS

    My professional life has been spent in kitchens and in culinary classrooms; connected to cooks, chefs, bakers, restaurateurs, product development professionals, servers, bartenders, and dishwashers. I have invested 50 years in service of the product and the farmer, the fisherman… 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

  • THE FALLACY OF RECIPES

    Let me begin by setting the stage for this articles title: I do believe in the importance of recipes, but…. they are not the answer to consistently great cooking. Recipes fail in the following ways: Recipes do not factor in… 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

  • GETTING INSIDE THE CHEF’S HEAD

    Worldwide there are hundreds of thousands of individuals who hold the title of chef. It is a title that seems well defined, yet each individual portrays it differently and fits the position with a unique set of qualifications. It would… Continue reading

  • MAKE NO APOLOGIES FOR BEING A CULINARY TRADITIONALIST

    It seems that too often, in conversations with those younger cooks who have some level of serious interest in a kitchen career, that food talk is all about experimentation. I have lost track of the number of culinary students who… Continue reading

  • SERVING YOUR COUNTRY IN THE KITCHEN

    On this Memorial Day we show our respect and offer thanks to those who serve and have served our country wearing the uniform of the U.S. military. We all know of the sacrifices that these individuals make or have made… 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

  • MORE LAWS OF THE KITCHEN

    A while back I posted an article that pointed to the Unwritten Rules of the kitchen. It seemed to strike a chord with almost 100,000 views. Any list that tries to address how a complex environment like a kitchen works… Continue reading

  • MARVELING AT KITCHEN CRAFTSPERSONS

    Even after nearly five decades of work in and around kitchens and kitchen staff – I continue to be impressed by the skills and the passion of the craftspeople who come to work each day and execute a set of… 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

  • RESTAURANTS – PAY ATTENTION TO FIRST AND LAST IMPRESSIONS

    We all tend to focus on the main characters in a movie, a book, or play – the central plot and those individuals who seem to be the lead in a story. This is, I suppose, how we have all… Continue reading

  • QUOTES TO LIVE BY FOR LINE COOKS

    Well-crafted thoughts and words are, at least to me, fuel for the soul, energy for the body, and thought provoking for the mind. I often find that certain quotes from people who have attained a level of success in life… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S WISH LIST FOR CHRISTMAS

    Well, it’s Black Friday – some unfortunately believe that this is a national holiday in America. For those in the restaurant business this is a day to recover from Thanksgiving service when we serve hundreds of guests who chose not… Continue reading

  • HOW AN IDEA BECOMES A RESTAURANT DISH

    There is a method to the madness in most restaurants – a process, even though it may never be fully defined, that is used as an idea morphs into a menu item. I often find myself making comparisons of cooking… Continue reading

  • A CHEF’S ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS – #3 – SALT AND PEPPER

    As cook’s we may not give much thought to how important salt and pepper are to our craft. Walking from one end of the kitchen to another it is likely that there will be a few containers of kosher or… Continue reading

  • WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A LINE COOK IN THE 60’S AND 70’S – PART II

    Frenchie – The Statler Hilton butcher – 1970 Don the banquet chef had his full crew in place by 10 a.m. – the work in front of them was daunting. With 12 events scheduled for the day culminating in the… Continue reading

  • WHY COOKS HANG OUT WITH COOKS

    In the era of social media the term “friend” has been misconstrued. A Facebook friend is likely distant from the true definition that has been an essential part of a full life since the beginning of time. A social media… Continue reading