On cooking and learning with others
Halfway through Michael Ruhlman’s latest book on chef culture, The Reach of a Chef, (the 3rd in an ongoing series), I decided to check out what sort of cooking classes might be available in the area.
I’m not interested in learning about how to make a specific dish or type of cuisine (at first), I just want to learn how to cut. Professionally. And some other basic things. It’s not that I don’t know, it’s just that I want to learn from someone who does. And I want something to do. With other people.
So I sent an email to the California Culinary Academy, which I knew about because I used to walk by it on my way to work. I was curious if they had any continuing/adult education classes in the evenings or on the weekends, since their website didn’t say one way or another.
Rather than a simple “No, but you should check out…,” I was scheduled for a personalized information session, confirmed for the session, even made to repeat back the time I’d agreed to come in, in order to confirm that I had heard the correct time. This is Jack starting to regret filling out that cheery Contact Us webform. All I wanted was a simple answer to a question I probably already knew the answer to.
And then I read this: Burnt Chefs. “Former admissions representatives at CCA say they preyed on students’ dreams of becoming celebrity chefs and glossed over the painful economic realities of the industry.” Ouch. I thought about picking up a copy and bringing it with me to fend off their exuberance.
After seeing that, I really didn’t want to suffer their persuasion. Luckily I didn’t have to. Finally someone read the actual content of my request, and since they didn’t offer one-off classes, there was no reason for me to come in. Phew.
The admissions guy did say this: “We don’t train people to cook at home. We train people for professional careers.” Which really got under my skin. The reeking arrogance of that statement. The wholesale dismissal of history of families cooking at home. The elitism of thinking that a professional pursuit might not start out as a hobby at home. The disbelief that not everyone wants to “learn” in full-time blocks.
Which got me thinking about how much fun it is to continue learning new things. How learning (for me) is more enjoyable in groups, in a social setting. How sometimes I feel like there’s far too few avenues for smart people to learn new or advanced or different things from/with other smart people (outside of work). Why is that?
For some reason, this post made me think of an article I read in a magazine, about this: Ghetto Gourmet .