My husband is a chef. There is a common misconception that because my husband is a chef, then he is constantly in the kitchen cooking up some amazing meals. Don't get me wrong, I do get spoiled with the occasional dinner throw downs. But for the most part, I do the cooking at home. And I found that doing the cooking actually increased my food knowledge, making me a better front of the house employee.
Let me start from the beginning. I met my husband while working as a bartender at a local restaurant. It was my first job where the head of the kitchen was a true chef and not a kitchen manager. Up until that point I had only worked at chain restaurants geared towards appealing to the masses, and not at all concerned with culinary arts. My husband was the sous chef at the time, but his passion for creatively tasty food was already on fire.
As our relationship grew, and I watched all of the cool things you could do with food, he inspired me to want to learn more. The more time I spent in the kitchen trying new recipes and techniques, the more convincing I was when trying to up-sell. Speaking from experience allowed me to be more descriptive in my pitches, and to be able to compare the unfamiliar with the familiar so as to get someone to try something new.
Wanting to impress my chef boyfriend was the beginning of my inspiration to increase my food knowledge. But you don't need to date or marry a chef in order to try things out on your own. Here are some of the things I do to continually advance my food knowledge. Brief descriptions will be mentioned during this post. But I will go into more detail on each in future posts.
1. Cook at home at least 3 times a week
I have to use recipes. My husband always makes fun of me for it with comments like, "Cookbooks and recipes are for house wives." Pretty funny until he sits down and is blown away by the meal in front of him. Cooking at home is a good way to save on money, but more importantly it knocks out the stress that usually accompanies going out to eat. Again, more detail on this to come.
2. Grow a garden
Even if you don't have the time or money to do a large garden, take the time to grow a couple of herbs and at least a few things like some tomato plants. There's nothing like putting in a little hard work for the large rewards a garden produces.
3. Shop at farmers' markets
It is amazing how many farmers' markets are around. All it takes is taking the time to find them and then getting up early enough to get the premium produce. Many true chefs will make their trips to the markets, or work with local farmers to supply their restaurants.
4. Visit an orchard or farm
Again, it is amazing how many places allow you to come in, visit, and pick your own produce. The people are always full of knowledge, and the experience is a lot of fun. When making your choice, don't forget about creameries, and bee farms.
