Sunday, February 27, 2011

Please Hold The Ego



I hate when I see food and ego get in the way of making a good meal.  I find the more and more I walk through this culture of food I see where people are just making it too complicated.  Now don't get me wrong there is always going to be a market for wacky uber fancy food.  There will always be people that think their fiftey dollar bottle of wine is better than your ten dollar bottle.  Those folks are in another timezone of reality and I hope they enjoy every minute of their egoasm of life.

For me its a trick and a challenge to find satisfaction in taking fresh local ingredients and making them fun and interesting.  I love going to the market with a list and painstakingly finding the best lemon the ripest avacado.  Then heading home and unwrapping your goodies and then deciding what to work on first and what to put in the fridge.  I love to start with cutting something just so I can hone my knife.  I normally walk out on my back deck to do this, it helps me keep my neighbors on their toes.

I see ego at school all the time and I find it to be the one indgrediet that you can buy for free but can't sell for all the money in the world.  Its what can turn any good dish to garbage in a heartbeat.  I never carry a chip on my shoulder when it comes to my food.  The way I see it if you don't like what I make it just means I need to work harder next time so you do.  But if you cook with love you will never fall short to capture someones heart.  Food is not about awards or medals you can hang in your office and its not about fancy chef coats with so much crap on it you look like a nascar driver. No, food is about taking what you have and offering it to another.  Whether that is a fine steak or a ritz cracker.

Be honest with food and you will never tell a lie on the plate. 

1 comment:

Peggy said...

Loved this post Ken! The plate will tell the story, not one's ego! =)