What is a Chef?

As an experienced culinarian and someone who has been in the business for a very long time, it upsets me when the term CHEF is thrown around like a ragged doll. Ever since the uprising of the Food Network everyone wants to be a Chef. Where was everyone when being a cook was looked down upon as a low end hustle and a place where the rejected business class workers made there last stop as a hope for making some money. Being a cook was not glorious and was not looked at as a great way to earn a living. It took passion and desire as  a cook to be successful and you traditionally had to have some screws loose in your brain because the pay was horrible and in fact it still is. The hours, forget about it, they suck! Family time, don’t get it and the holidays are just another intensified busy night on the line.

The glorification of being a cook has hurt the restaurant industry in my mind because now you have all of these imitators wanting to be Bobby Flay but have never been in the weeds on a Friday night serving 500 hundred covers with a three man line. Back to my point, if you have no idea what I just said, stay out of the kitchen! The kitchen was a place for pot smoking, coke sniffing, and alcohol abusing degenerates that wanted nothing to do with the corporate world and wanted a release from the reality of life. To those individuals a plate was a canvas of creativity that they played with every night and allowed them to be successful by inspiring their guests through the use of their food.

Moms and Dads are now excited to see their son or daughter go to a culinary school to study culinary arts when in the past parents would avoid telling anyone that there child has made that horrible decision. “My son/daughter is going to school to become a Chef”, really? Face it folks you do not come out of medical school as a lead doctor. You practice in that field until you reach a certain plateau to call yourself a doctor. Let me ask you this, would you want someone to operate on you if they just graduated from medical school and you are going to be there first surgery, hell no. That type of responsibility comes with time and practice. It is the same in the culinary world; it takes time and practice to be labeled a Chef. In fact, cooks do not even need to go to culinary school to become Chefs! That’s right Mom and Dad’s around the world, you can save that 100 thousand dollars and just let your son or daughter start working in a local restaurant and gain some experience and be groomed to become a Chef within the industry. I do believe in culinary school though as I am a graduate of one, go ahead and work hard to receive a degree which gives you a great foundation to begin with but please do not think because you have graduated from a culinary school that makes you a Chef. I have worked alongside of young men who could not speak very good English and have never seen a culinary school and they ROCKED out on the line putting me to shame. I found out quick that it is the passion and time you put in that makes you what you are and not some piece of paper from a printer that has a fancy letter head.

Get into the industry for the right reasons and not what you see on TV because this industry will chew you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. Even the Bobby Flays and Tyler Florence of the world, who never graduated from High School, put their time in before obtaining the recognition as a Chef. It is not something that happens over night and it is not given to you because you have a fancy document that states you are certified and trained in the hospitality industry. It is a matter of respect and respect is earned, it is not easily given out. So keep your head down, your fingers curled back and start chopping away at your dreams at becoming a Chef but stay grounded and always absorb everything you are being taught. One day you might be leading the brigade and someone will be looking at you for the answers as the Chef.

Grilled Georgia Stuffed Shrimp served on a bed of Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

1 pound large Georgia shrimp (16-20), peeled, deveined and butterfly

1 pound of turkey bacon slices

8 ounces Goat cheese

8 ounces Feta cheese

1 cup Parsley, rough chopped

2 TBS Cayenne Pepper

2 TBS Chili Powder

2 TBS Garlic Powder

2 TBS Paprika

Pinch of Salt and Pepper (for seasoning mixture)

5 large Zucchini, thinly sliced

1 Pineapple, peeled and cored, medium dice

2 red onion, small dice

6 roma tomatoes, small dice

1 bunch Cilantro

1 lime, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is pre-heating, take a broiler pan and put 1 cup of water into the bottom pan. Spray top pan of the broiler pan with a non-stick cooking spray and lay out bacon strips, making sure not to overlap the bacon strips.

Put bacon into oven and cook until desired crispiness, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cool, chop bacon into tiny, little pieces and reserve for later use.

In a medium bowl add feta, goat cheese, bacon and parsley. Mix well until incorporated and reserve for later use.

In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix with a fork until incorporated.

Take one butterfly shrimp and scoop a spoonful of the cheese mixture into middle of shrimp. Lay out one zucchini strip on cutting board and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning mixture. Roll shrimp with zucchini strip. Keep in mind that you will be grilling these shrimp so the zucchini needs to be rolled tight. You do not want to overlap the zucchini too many times. Continue this procedure until all stuffed shrimp are wrapped with the zucchini. Drizzle all wrapped shrimp with a small amount of olive oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking to the grill.

Place wrapped shrimp on a grill over medium heat and cook until shrimp turns light pink. If shrimp starts to curl you are over cooking the shrimp. If so, remove from heat immediately. Once all of the shrimp are grilled, remove and let sit for 2 minutes.

While shrimp are resting, in a medium bowl add pineapple, red onion, roma tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper.  Mix well until incorporated.

Place a spoonful of salsa on the plate and top with three grilled and stuffed shrimp, then serve.