What's it like to be a Chef? part 2

Answering the question “What is it like to be a chef?
Is one I am asked quite often and a question that is a complex one to answer.
I have written on this subject before and will post a link at the bottom of this piece,
for those interested in reading more.

Someone wrote to me recently and asked this question……..

“I recently discovered your website (and will be trying your polenta mash!) and hoped maybe you could offer some advice, since I do not know any chefs personally.

I'm 24 and studying for a masters but am not enjoying my course at all. I've been considering the idea of working as a chef but have one major concern.

I am incredibly shy and am worried this will impact on my ambition to working in a kitchen professionally. I am never going to be outgoing, or forceful in nature but I am prepared to work hard and do the long hours.

Do chef positions generally attract more outgoing people or can someone who is particularly quiet survive in the kitchen?”

My Answer
Unfortunately there are kitchens and chefs out there who believe that high quality and macho unfriendly working environment go hand in hand, but I disagree…
Being a chef is tough enough due to the hours, heat, and danger and often lack of equipment. The problem is that if a high profile chef has come up through the ranks
being kicked and treated like dirt, there is a great tendency for him to run his kitchen using the same methods.

When I have run various kitchens I have always tried to encourage creativity and discourage bullying, but some people find it hard to change and I have found some chefs thinking I’m soft because I did not rule through intimidation.

Since no two kitchens are alike it is hard to generalise, but my advice would be to find a local quality restaurant preferably a small one, which may be a friendlier environment to test the waters. You didn’t mention whether you intend to take any formal culinary course but I think it is important for you to first establish if working in a kitchen is for you or not.

Things to think about
Being a chef will usually make you more outgoing and perhaps more confident.
Due to the long hours most chefs work you do tend to become familiar with your co-workers more quickly than most other trades. Camaraderie and even a sense of family can spring up in some kitchens.

Being a chef is definitely a labour of love; it can be very creatively satisfying but can carry a very high price, and a price that many people at one stage or another decide is too high.

It can be tough on personal relationships, and I have always found it hard to sustain a relationship with a woman who has a 9-5 job, after a while she can get bored sitting at home waiting for you. The stresses and strains can hurt your health if you are not careful you can fall foul to alcoholism and drug abuse.

Whilst you can make good money in the food business please remember that most people don’t and that is part of the reason eating out in relatively cheap in most restaurants. Staff can be dismissed for the flimsiest of reasons or because the restaurant changed hands, which maybe no reflection of your skill or dedication but can definitely dent your self-esteem.

On the Upside
I am just an ordinary working class lad, who because of cooking has travelled and worked in various countries around the world. I have cooked and shared my passion through various food shows to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. I have met and cooked for many famous people that most people only dream about, whatever else my life has never, ever been boring.

Here is a link to an earlier blog I did on the subject
http://wannabetvchef.blog.co.uk/2006/04/24/answering_the_question_what_s_it_like_be~752141/

My Life-Update March 2009
My Life update March 2009
In my last update in February, I said I expected to pass the 1 million page-view mark in the next couple of months but my prediction was out by several months because my current number of page-views is 1,229,069…..amazing and thank you!
My blog is now getting a daily average of 1,098 visitors per day, and in the last 30 days I have had a total of just over 31,530 so thank you!

Off to Toronto
Tomorrow I am flying off to the fair city of Toronto in Canada at the invitation of Tourism Toronto. They have planned 5 action packed days for myself and seven other food writers from the UK and Spain. I will definitely be sharing my insights of this wonderful city with you all on my return.

Up Next- another book review
Amongst the things I am currently working on is my next book review, a book with the simple title of Fish by Mitch Tonks. Mitch a passionate fishmonger who went onto become an awardwinning chef and restaurateur so watch this space.