Personal Statements on Culunary Skills

Anthony Bourdain is a critically acclaimed chef, writer, and television star. He has appeared in shows such as “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations”, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”, and “Top Chef,” and published works such as “Don’t Eat Before Reading This”, “Medium Raw”, and “The Nasty Bits.” Trained at Vassar College the Culinary Institute of America, Bourdain is known for his love of food. In 2000, he wrote a book called Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and his first chapter is entitled “Food is Good”. In the chapter, Bourdain discusses his trip to France with his family, and how the trip transformed from hating the exotic food to loving it. Through his structure, descriptive language, and childhood stories,

In Jessica Harris’s “The Culinary Season of my Childhood” she peels away at the layers of how food and a food based atmosphere affected her life in a positive way. Food to her represented an extension of culture along with gatherings of family which built the basis for her cultural identity throughout her life. Harris shares various anecdotes that exemplify how certain memories regarding food as well as the varied characteristics of her cultures’ cuisine left a lasting imprint on how she began to view food and continued to proceeding forward. she stats “My family, like many others long separated from the south, raised me in ways that continued their eating traditions, so now I can head south and sop biscuits in gravy, suck chewy bits of fat from a pigs foot spattered with hot sauce, and yes’m and no’m with the best of ‘em,.” (Pg. 109 Para). Similarly, since I am Jamaican, food remains something that holds high importance in my life due to how my family prepared, flavored, and built a food-based atmosphere. They extended the same traditions from their country of origin within the new society they were thrusted into. The impact of food and how it has factors to comfort, heal, and bring people together holds high relevance in how my self-identity was shaped regarding food.

Mary Fisher’s excerpts from The Gastronomical Me were delightfully filled with many sensory detailed sentences. She did a good job including the reader to properly imagine the story. She travels back into her childhood and recalls her first taste of strawberry flavored jam and makes connections between women in the past to present-day females. Change is inevitable but appreciating the past and the traditions that made about these changes can be respected. She gives a good argument on how cooking was a trait most women took seriously. But she also argues on how food can be viewed as something far more amazing and beautiful.

associate the preparation stage with childhood, cooking as growing up, and the eating of the meal

When the assignment was first presented to me, I was really excited because I love to cook even though I am not the best at it. Some dishes I am planning to make for my family are based on Vietnamese dishes my father and relatives have cooked for my family in the past. The stir fried noodles would be my dad’s recipe that he would always make for a party when he needs something quick and easy. The dessert would be this colorful jelly cake that my aunt would always make for my birthday whenever I am in Florida. This connects to my faith journey by giving back to my family for all they have done for me and through that, I am giving back to God, making my relationship with Him and my family stronger.

A Thousand Years over a Hot Stove, written by Laura Schenone, explores many of the topics covered in our class this semester. Schenone examines a multitude of experiences and individual stories of women over several centuries, along with the many factors that influence their identities and foodways. The book is an overview of how women’s roles in the kitchen setting have changed due to life experiences and multitude of influencing factors. In addition, Schenone includes a variety of unique recipes from different cultures throughout the book. Some of the factors that influence women’s identities and their foodways include culture, geographic location, immigration, slavery, education, industrialization, technology, recipes and traditions. Often

As I added the finishing touches of friend onions and parsley to make it look aesthetically pleasing, I took a step back to stare at the masterpiece I had just created, a luscious and delectable Pakistani rice dish called “Briyani”. Making this dish is the epitome of success in every Pakistani girl’s lifetime. It’s considered an essential quality to add to one’s marriage “resume”. However, to me, it was more than just a future “in law pleaser”, it was my compass for life. A cook must be diligent and attentive to detail, conscious of every ingredient and amount that is being used. A cook is a provider, helping with the wellbeing of the people who are consuming the prepared food. The kitchen is their clinic, and the consumers are their patients. Nine years of cooking with my mother has taught me dedication, obedience, and tested my patience when some recipes would fail. Cooking, as a safe haven from the difficulties of everyday life, has helped me better connect to all my experiences throughout the years and has molded the foundation for my passion and calling, medicine.

Through cooking, children learn lifetime skills through practicing basic math skills like counting, and weighing, and measuring, and keeping track of time. (S4: polysyndeton) They also are exposed to using social skills by working together as a team and communicating in the cooking work space. Students work like sink sponges. (T3: simile) They absorb information. Information that we need to give them, for them to use. (S5: Anadiplosis)

Dailey and Ellin quote Levine by saying, “‘The idea is to fight obesity and not obese people’”(579). By learning to cook nutritional meals, students will have the tools neccessary to fight the disease that is plaguing their country. To show that households have lost their way of food preparation, Pollan recalls a conversation with Harry Baltzer: “‘Not going to happen,’ he told me. ‘Why? Because we’re basically cheap and lazy. And besides, the skills are already lost. Who is going to the next generation to cook? I don’t see it’”(584). Schools are designed to supply students with the knowledge to thrive. Therefore, they should include information on culinary arts because it will help reestablish the ideals once thought to be traditional. Likewise, Beebe and Thompson state, “By changing our children’s environment so they have access to healthy foods and physical activity, we improve the opportunity for all members of a community to improve their health”(1). Their statement reinforces the idea that students who learn healthy recipes in school are more likely to lead a healthy

However, I have noticed that my Italian-American identity has shielded me from the gastronomic ignorance that many Americans seem to be awash in. Simple tasks such as being able to feel the ripeness of a tomato, eyeball measurements for a recipe, create a meal out of what’s in the cabinets rather than using a recipe, etc, are all skills I have acquired simply by observing my family and living an Italian-American lifestyle surrounded by Italian-American cooking. Many of my peers, on the other hand, are at quite a loss when it comes to any kitchen-related intuition. My best friend is a great example of this—she had never cracked an egg until she was 18 years old (and she only did so because I placed an egg in her hand and told her it was about time to learn). Although this friend attends Harvard and is well on her way to success in the world, cooking was an absent part of her childhood and she remains, to this day, supremely clueless about it.

Have you ever tried to experiment with different types of food? Of course you have, everyone has at least once in their life. Even if it was changing something small like adding a different spice or to something big like adding your own twist to it. Sometimes people will like what you did, and there are other times where it doesn’t work and then you know what not to do. This is the trial and error part in cooking and this is the most tedious part of the process. Now of course people are going to have different opinions and criticism it a key part of learning how to cook or to improve upon your cooking. Even though food varies in more ways than just taste and since it is enjoyed by everyone

To be honest, I tried to equal my mother’s cooking skills. She kindled in me a passion. I watched my mother stand over a stove stirring until the soup was just right. She already instilled in me an interest in soup cooking when I was a teenager. To illustrate people’s seeking the solitude in their lives, she referred to a historical figure: “President Harry S. Truman liked to enjoy homemade soup and listen to the birds singing outdoors.” Cooking skills

He begins his essay with an almost mystic appreciation of chefs: “professional cooks belong to a secret society whose ancient rituals derive from the principles of stoicism in the face of humiliation, injury, fatigue, and the threat of illness”

My chosen audience may not be inclined to accept my argument because some of them may argue that they do not have the time to cook. I don’t think the reason for their argument is because of my credibility, but I could see that they have higher priorities for their academics and do not want to risk their time, money, and grades at school to begin learning how to cook. To approach my audience’s resistance, I used the argument as a counter argument earlier in my essay. I backed up my counter argument by further defining what cooking means. It is common for people to think that cooking requires a lot of tools and knowledge. I provided my own experiences, which is enhanced by the fact that I relate with my audience, that I have lived on campus before

As a foodie, eating foods is my favorite thing and I also find my speciality in eating, that is tasting food and know the condiment in every dishes. When I was a child, I usually go to kitchen to see adults cooking. My intention is not to learn how to cook, but to know where the dishes that I felt very delicious from out of curiosity. As time passed, I knew the recipe of every dishes that I like gradually and learned how to improve it taste. I born at a country that have many delicious foods and the cuisine like to use many kinds of condiments. Through the process of knowing the recipe of cuisine, I also learned many condiments and their use.