Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Life And Accomplishments

This paper looks to define and explore three books which are a crux to various food histories which in the last decade has become a scholarly journey as food history is becoming increasingly studied as a scholarly endeavor by historians where previously it was not seen in such a scholarly light. The three texts which are going to be examined are: Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food by Jeffery M. Pilcher, The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L. Spang, and lastly To Live and Dine in Dixie: The Evolution of Urban Food Culture in the Jim Crow South by Angela Jill Cooley. Each of these books seek to redefine how people see their perspective topics whether it be Mexican identity rooted in cuisine, the evolution of southern food in a racially divided south, or even the concept of the restaurant emerging from a revolutionary culture. These texts bring awareness to various topics which have both social, cultural, and economic stigmas associated with them.

Although Samuelsson is interested in a variety of activities, his meaningful occupation is cooking. Introduced to him at an early age, he practiced cooking throughout his life, and it developed into his meaningful occupation. Occupation is the synthesis of doing, being, and becoming, (Wilcock, 1999, p.) Doing is the human engagement in an occupation (Wilcock, 1999, p. 4). For Samuelsson, doing is cooking. The occupation of cooking is a physical activity that involves the use of the whole body, which includes activities such as cutting, stirring, mixing, standing, and walking. Wilcock (1999) describes being as, “…about being true to ourselves, to our nature, to our essence and to what is distinctive about us to bring to others as part of our relationships and to what we do” (p. 5). Samuelsson’s being is as a chef. As he is doing the occupation of cooking, his essence or existence in that moment is

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay had opportunities to work with many great chefs around the world. Now he owns multiple great restaurants around the world and even hosted tv programs such as “ MasterChef”’ and “Hell’s Kitchen”. Gordon Ramsay was born in Glasgow Scotland, raised in Stratford England. His family moved to England when Ramsay was only 5 years old. Growing up Ramsay fell in love with soccer, and was determined to make it has his professional career. By the time he was 15 years old Ramsay was really good at playing soccer that he joined the Glasgow Rangers ( a pro club).

Thomas Keller began his culinary career at a young age working in a Palm Beach restaurant managed by his mother. He relocated to France in 1983, where he worked in several Michelin-starred houses including Guy Savoy and Taillevent. He opened his first restaurant, Rakel, in New York City in 1986, then moved westward to California to work as the executive chef at the Checkers Hotel in Los Angeles. In 1994, Keller opened the French Laundry in Yountville, which quickly became a destination restaurant. He now has eight restaurants and two bakeries in the US.

He was born on 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts, the 2nd oldest of six siblings, and was a skilled violinist since he was a kid (The Black Past). When he got a promotion at his magazine job when he was 14, he got his first camera. He was one of the first people in his town to own a personal camera so it was up to him to photograph lower class African American life at the time. At least until he, his brother Walter, and his dad would move to the Big Apple where he would work as an elevator operator and a waiter. While there,

Chef John Folse was born on Cabanocey Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana in 1946. He was brought up in a huge family of five brothers and two sisters by his father, Royley Folse, and mother, Therese Zeringue Folse. His father was a plant manager of St. James Sugar Co-Op and the Zeringues, his mother’s family, were a long line of sugarcane farmers on Cabanocey Plantation. They were all great cooks. He attended St. James High School and later Nicholls State University. Being born in the Heart of Cajun country with the swamp floor pantry of the Gulf and Mississippi at his disposal, he went on to be “Louisiana’s Culinary Ambassador to the World.”

He explains his observations of his mother, a waitress, while he was growing up. As a waitress, she memorized which customer ordered what and all the cook times for each meal. She learned to multi-task and work smart. Making every move count. She also took into account all of the emotional behaviors of her customers and fellow co-workers.

As I mentioned before his mother was a waitress. Although a waitress doesn’t sound like the most pleasing job, she still gained a lot of knowledge. Rose notes “The restaurant became the place where she studied human behavior, puzzling over the problems of her regular customers and refining her ability to deal with people in a difficult world.” In which she learned and adapted to things like human conduct and problem solving. His mother’s job required both the mind and the body, where she had to understand the different ways the restaurant business worked and then apply it. For example, being able to carry plates with one arm and cups in the other, while memorizing who ordered what and when they ordered it. Of course Rose shares “...there were the customers who entered the restaurant with all sorts of needs, from physiological ones, including the emotions that accompany hunger, to a sometimes complicated desire for human contact.” This provokes sympathy. As a customer myself, there has been times where I was impatient or I would get fustrated with my food service. Now, understanding what waitresses go through gives a perspective on what they deal with. In which, Rose sparks his readers with a feeling of understanding for what blue-collar workers go through and

When Thomas was twelve he was living with his father in Tennessee and had a variety of jobs like golf caddy or paperboy . Three years later ,after they moved out of Tennessee ,in Indiana Thomas got another job working in a restaurant called The Hobby House. When Thomas’s father decided to leave Indiana to find more work ,Thomas declined and decided to stay. He dropped out of high school while he was in the tenth grade and worked full time at the Hobby House restaurant as a waiter, where he also lived.

versed and accredited chef who has trained in France for 9 years with grandmaster chefs. His

Rose begins his essay by writing about how he spent his free time as a child in the restaurant his mother was a waitress for. As a child, Rose notes that he observed his mother’s work and realized that her work had both mental and physical aspects to it. He then went on to analyze the many skills that went into her job: learning abbreviations for food, memorizing orders, reading people’s emotions, knowing how long dishes take to cook and knowing how to maneuver her way around the restaurant. Rose then adds that most people in his family do not have a high level of schooling.

When he was four years old he said, “This is what I am supposed to be, a farmer.” He loved to be outside and be on the farm with his dad and his older brother Dennis.

Terrence was born in Chicago and relocated to Everett with his family as an infant. He spent the rest of his life in Everett aside from his three years in the active service during the Korean War. He was wed to his first wife, the late Anna L. Davis for 56 years. Terrence worked as a chef at Deacosta’s Restaurant in Everett for more than 25 years, where he was able to use his imagination every day. Following his retirement, Terrence continued to bake and cook with his wife as a caterer for weddings and other social events. Terrence attributed his love for cooking to his mother, who taught him from a young age.

Gail Simmons is a trained culinary expert, food writer, and dynamic television personality. Gail was born in Toronto, Canada on May 19, 1976 into a family of 5 with rich culinary traditions. Her mother, Renee, was a food columnist for the Globe and Mail and conducted many cooking classes within the home. Gail attended McGill University in Montreal where she majored in anthropology and Spanish, until moving to New York City to follow her dream and attend a culinary school that is now known as the Institute of Culinary Education. She trained in the kitchens of renowned Le Cirque 2000 until she got her start and began working for famous chefs and food critics such as Jeffrey Steingarten at Vogue. Gail was soon recognized and was hired as the special projects

Chocolate became “a respected scholarly subject” only in recent decades suffering from “puritanical prohibitions” of discussing food or writing about it that were recognized standards of behavior in the Western world. The reviewed book The True History of Chocolate is a valuable addition to what the public knows or, rather, does not know about chocolate, with an interesting historical background that makes an entertaining and useful reading and extends one’s knowledge of things we use daily, sometimes without realizing their long history of evolution and multiple meanings.