Looking Back on the First Week

It’s been great so far. To say the week went by in a blur would be a grave oversimplification and might even be an insult to the people involved therein. It was an awesome week -- momentous even! But most importantly, I believe that this first week served to further solidify my conviction that indeed, this is where I belong.

As you’ve read in my previous post, the first day of culinary school was full of excitement and unabashed enthusiasm. I believe that deep within me, something was piqued. I have no clue as to what particular part of me it was, but I can most definitely tell you that I feel alive and at peace. I cannot recall a time when I was this excited to go to class or even to prepare for class. Even going as far as doing further studies on my own. I’m discovering this whole new side of me. And I must admit I’m a little disgusted by my new found childlike enthusiasm. I mean god forbid someone finds out about my over zealousness. What then happens to my ‘chillaxed-slacker-keeping-things-light’ reputation? Screw that! I like this ‘me’ that I, only now am coming to get to know. Where have ‘I’ been all my life? (Ok that sounded a little too narcissistic and over the top. Forgive me.)

It was a great second day. I got to revisit my French, which I thought was long forgotten. It was more basic French, and was taught simply and effectively by our amazing instructor. She made it interesting, significant, relevant, and she herself was very convincing. I’m now beginning to understand why the French cringe at the sound of commonly mispronounced words like: bouillabaisse, soufflé, even Hermès. Somehow, I am now able to offer my sympathy to them for an event that might seem like nails clawing down the proverbial chalkboard. It’s just not chic! (As our instructor put it.) I understand your plight French people -- I feel you.

Just when I thought that it was impossible to top the 2nd day’s ‘French Revisited’, today’s lecture on the Introduction to Gastronomy was just over the top interesting, intellectually stimulating, and yet sobering. According to Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Gastronomy is the reasoned comprehension of every thing connected with the nourishment of man. It seemed an overly broad definition for a term, I thought. But as the lecture progressed it made more and more sense that indeed, Food touches, whether explicitly or implicitly, all aspects of human life. That FOOD IS CULTURE. It intersects most if not all of man’s intellectual pursuits to understand himself and the things around him, and how these interact. I can’t help but be reminded of Sociology and Anthropology classes that I took (and loved) in college. I mean, I thought I was already interested about food, but now there are even more things to ponder and investigate to satiate an even bigger appetite for Gastronomy. We talked about the cultural nuances surrounding food. We talked about how eating food is partaking of the culture responsible for creating said food. We investigated the whys, the whats, the hows, the whens, behind everything food which even included varicose veins of all things. We debated about the difference of being a gourmet and a gourmand. We talked about the sinister origins of today’s ensaymada. We deliberated on food standards, and how saying ‘masarap’ (its good) or ‘di masarap’ (its not good) doesn’t help anyone ascertain a dish’s quality. We talked about the subjectivity of tastes, the difference of good and bad taste, in food and in practice.

Believe me, that 4-hour session only served to pique my curiosity and wet my appetite for more. I am now even more convinced that the enjoyment of food goes beyond looking at it, tasting it, swallowing it, digesting it, converting it to energy, and subsequently excreting it as waste. The complete enjoyment of food means the marrying of both the sensual and intellectual aspects that goes behind its production and consumption.

Gastronomy what a wonderful science you are.

It’s the weekend. And I must say, I think for the first time ever, I wish it would zoom by. In order that I might find myself once again, deeply immersed into what I know I can now, most definitely call, my Passion.




FoodieGoesCulinary,
JC Dayo