Isn’t it wild to think about how much of our lives we spend sitting at desks, hunched over our computers, contemplating our future and obsessing over those second semester grades? And with all of that time inside, I craved summer to give me a new perspective on life outside of the academic world. So, I decided to try something a little offbeat from my usual routine. Given my love for cooking at home, I believed that experimenting in a professional kitchen would be fulfilling for me. Spoiler alert: I was right.
My kitchen duty began mid-morning on a Monday in early June. I was asked to report to work at 9 A.M This to me was flabbergasting considering my usual wakeup time being in the P.M range! But at this hour, the kitchen was already bustling with activity. Two people were washing and drying a variety of lettuces and someone else was stirring the largest batch of soup I had ever seen. The kitchen smelled like so many kinds of food in motion: the faint aroma of sizzling bacon, roasted tomatoes with what seemed like an entire spice cabinet and baked bread wafting from the pastry section. My mind raced with what all of these components were going to become…maybe a BLT?
The chef had assigned me to a corner with a massive case of parsley and had me pick the leaves from the stems one by one. From the outside, it seemed like a mindless, tedious job. From my perspective, it was strangely pleasing. I had a great view of the kitchen door and watched as it transitioned from a prep kitchen to one that dispensed food to the unknown customers in the dining room. I watched the bacon go by on some triple decker type sandwich (as I predicted!). The baked rolls traipsed out in little baskets accompanied by pats of salted butter. Roasted tomatoes were parked elegantly next to some poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce—one of the French “mother sauces,” as I learned. I felt more educated about what the food in supermarkets or in restaurants consists of—rather than just going off about whether it looks good or not.
The days in the kitchen went by slowly yet quickly, since there were always so many ingredients arriving. As time elapsed, I graduated from picking parsley to cutting and cooking chicken. After all the reading and studying the school year had left me with, it was honestly so exhilarating to use my hands and produce things without a calculator or a protractor. There were no teachers to give me a grade—although the chef’s steely-eyed stare was straight out of an episode of “The Bear.” Mostly, I fell in love with the rhythm of the restaurant kitchen. It felt like what I imagined a rehearsal for a Broadway play would be like.
When this wonderful experience sadly ended in late July, I went to California to visit my dream supermarket, Erewhon. There, I inadvertently met Youtube and fashion icon Emma Chamberlain who was absolutely, effortlessly amazing. The encounter might have been as shocking as reporting for 9 A.M kitchen duty. Nevertheless, all those early wakeups led me to a broader realization: I looked at food (especially in Erewhon) differently now. It’s not just fuel or filler; it’s an experience that requires time, patience and passion. With my senior year of high school beginning in just a few days, I look back on this summer as a time when I discovered a peculiar interest in something outside of school and home. Was it fun? Absolutely. And what do I know, there could be a career in this for me in the future—or even a spot as Emma Chamberlain’s private chef? Go big or go home.
