1-30-2014
A little lesson on Karma…
In October of 2000, I graduated
from The Culinary Institute of America
in Hyde Park, NY. This was a major career change after serving two terms as a
medic in the United States Air Force. I was determined to progress quickly on my
career path because I had a new son and family to support. I worked throughout the country in various
types of food service establishments, from line cook to research and development
chef, from fine dining to healthcare, where I consulted with dieticians about
creating healthy meals that were specific to patient needs.
About a year and a half ago, I was led to Long
Beach, California to take part in the opening of the new airport. The airport
features scaled down versions of local restaurants that represent all corners
of the city. I was brought on as the Executive Chef and began working on menu
development with our local partners. I
spent hours working in their kitchens and was quickly reminded of how needy
today’s diners have become. As a chef, cook, server, bartender, and person well
versed in the restaurant industry you learn to build a level of disrespect and callousness
towards needy diners, of which there are plenty. Every year a new fad—no carbs,
no beef, no beans, all protein, no dairy—the list goes on and on. Well, holding
steady for the past few years is the favored enemy, gluten—NO GLUTEN, GLUTEN,
GLUTEN—and at this very juncture is where my karma kicked in.
I got sick, like real sick. After eating a lot
of meals I got horribly upset stomachs, cramping, and had to run off to the bathroom
immediately, but didn’t know what to do. I’m still a bit of a burnt out medic
so I think the only time you go to the doctor is when you’re completely unresponsive.
I tried to deny it by eating handfuls of Imodium throughout the day, taking
Motrin around the clock, and slugging an occasional Zofran to help with the
nausea. I was killing myself. Eventually, I went to the G.I. clinic, got scoped,
biopsied, and received a positive blood test. A few days later, I find out I’ve got Celiac
Disease.
So here I am, a professional chef
that can no longer do the work in the same way that I have done for the past 14
years. Most of the food I used to make, I can’t eat anymore. I am now one of
those needy patrons I loathed. I am gluten free. I have to be. This is my new
beginning and I’d love you to take this journey with me. I’m not looking to
duplicate every snack item out of a vending machine. I’m not looking to fine
tune my molecular gastronomy skills. I just want to eat real food—real food
that tastes good and doesn’t make me sick afterwards. A lot of my background is in research and
development so I enjoy playing with food until it tastes just perfect. That’s
what we’ll be doing here—researching and developing delicious gluten free
cuisine that tastes great to anybody and everybody. I’ll be posting recipes throughout the week, some
from my personal chef service, and some just for fun.
Onward and upward we go!!
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