Why I Pursued a Culinary Arts Degree

My true passion in life has always been cooking. Being born to a father who had an unconditional love for his family and an affinity for cooking made me feel that being in the kitchen was where I always wanted to be. I always admired my father’s love and commitment not only to us but to his craft and even though he was a carpenter by trade; deep down inside he was a chef at heart. He always took the time to explain the “who, what, where and why” of what he was preparing even though he was not formally trained or educated in this art. He always had a story that directly related to the dish he was preparing that would captivate me and immerse me into every single subtlety of its preparation.

Eventually, the countless hours that I spent with him in the kitchen helping him from the simplest tasks (such as scrubbing pots and pans or peeling onions) to the more complex tasks (such as helping prepare marinade for an entire pork or cooking it over an open fire) not only provided hours of enjoyment, but also provided the basic fundamentals and knowledge that I would need to have when his inevitable passing came.

I am happily married now with two wonderful daughters, and even though many years have passed since my father and I had our last cooking project; the bond that he and I shared as a father-son and teacher-apprentice is still alive today. I view food preparation not as a chore or task but as something much more personal; it is an innate and instinctive calling that I was born into this world to do. In addition and more importantly I believe that cooking is much more about the people you cook for than it is about the people who do the cooking. I cook for my daughters, my wife, family, my fathers’ memory and for all those who have trusted in my food preparation skills in the past, present and into the future.

"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do." -Kahlil Gibran

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