What is food? it is life giving, nourishing both physically, mentally and sometimes spiritually.
Working with food and creating food fosters a keen connection to not only the ingredients, but the kitchen and tools used to create it - the kitchen becomes a safe haven where both chaos and creativity are awakened - the sites, the smells, the sounds become a second skin, and you develop a sixth sense about this culinary world.
Your co-workers become a living breathing single entity, each and everyone striving for the same outcome. All dancing in a timed rhythm around the kitchen , hurrying to get your prep done, to get your major courses panned in hotel pans within the steamer or in stock pans and sauce pans upon the stove, whose many squared and blackened burners are set aflame, all movements are accomplished in a delicate balance of wits and skill.
Image Credit: ljcybergal
Here is a poem that I wrote that encompasses a brief glimpse into the chef's kitchen. I hope you enjoy.
CHEF
beyond
the
flavors,
beyond
the
prep
work
and
the
working
rhythms
of
the
kitchen...
clanking
dishes,
chopping
block,
chef
banter.
the
gleaming
stainless,
the
hot
steam
venting
from
stock
pots.
sizzling
from
the
grill...
spices
intermingle
with
pilot light
perfume...
walk-in
freezer
gives
brief
respite...
grab
your
ingredients
and
go...
open
door
blindly,
across
the
kitchen
doing
a
dance
of
100
men...
always
shifting
reinventing
a
new
way
to
carry,
to
reach ,
to
scurry,
into
the
open
arms
of
your
menus...
Poem © Amber 2008. All rights reserved.
