warning: full blown rant. Needs editing and refining. In a really bad mood.
So I have a problem. Overall, I am a red-blooded carnivore type American chef. I scoff at spa food, whole wheat bread gives me the hibeejeebees and I actually throw up with brown rice. I opened THE SWINERY for pete's sake. But we live in a day where there is a severe disconnect between the what is truly good for you on a real honest level and what is just feeding our most depraved needs.
I became a Chef because I believe in something. Food is the most sacred thing we have in this country. The direct link between the Earth, our Families, our society, and whatever your concept of God/ess is. (Argue with me...I dare you). We live in an era where we don't go to church, and if we do, it isn't because it provides a relevant answer for anything in our life, it is because our parents did.
Chefs are the new clergy. There, I said it. You know it is true. We provide the soul sustenance without the guilt. We bring the communities together, we provide the place. And the best thing is that it's not about us. It is about you. We aren't/shouldn't be heroes, we are merely catalysts.
That being said, we have a responsibility to our communities. I am sorry, if this isn't "a calling", then you shouldn't be doing it. Denny's always needs another fry-guy. We are supposed to feed the people... correctly. We are supposed to give them what they want, but in a manner that feeds the whole person, the whole society, and the whole earth.
I started cooking when I was 17 because of two people: Greg Higgins and Rick Bayless. Greg was my teacher, and Rick wrote something that means something to me: "My Soapbox: Reflections on Celebration in a Land of Plenty" (pg 285 Mexican Kitchen). excerpt:
"We're forgetting both what our bodies feel like when we eat old-fashioned small portions of fresh-by-necessity, everyday cooking, as well as what satisfaction there is in spending the whole day in the kitchen making huge quantities of inimitable, rich, dishes for the most special times"
How have we gotten so off track? Never before in the HISTORY OF MAN have we been so fat and unhealthy. Food manufactures and global distribution of our food have conspired to destroy us. Anyone who is remotely paying attention have noticed that a great portion of our societal ills stem from food in one way or another. (Which makes sense as it is the most important thing we have in our culture). Most of us Chef-type-folk get it; we understand that WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS, it is our job to serve real food that make people pause and remember what it is to not just be a consumer.
Clearly not everyone agrees though. Take a local "celebrity" chef:
http://bit.ly/b4EhYm . Really? This is the single most disgusting thing I have seen outside of a 7-11 or a KFC. But wait: the best part is there is already a chain named "The Heartattack Grill"!
I know it is completely anti-Seattle to directly express a negative opinion about food or chefs. I am aware that I am going to get unfriended on FB for this. But really? John Howie, you are a hack. I would wish you a good career making up new culinary abortions for Taco Bell, but you would probably get a hell of a lot of people sicker. Please leave the feeding people to the Chefs who actually care about the people.
Ok, I am going to go walk in my garden. Pick some grapes. breathe a little.
