THE CHRONICLER OF THE KITCHEN April 2011
Mike Campbell
Mike Campbell
THE UNSPOKEN RESPONSE
In order to be accepted by The Restaurant School’s Culinary Program each prospective student was required to submit a written Goal Statement. This essay expressed what the student expected from the school. My essay from 1999 is below.
I expect The Restaurant School to show me how to prepare food that is a conversation stopper. When people eat something I have prepared, I want them to stop talking and concentrate on the flavor in their mouths. This should be an instantaneous and unconscious event. All of a sudden nothing matters but the food. You murmur with delight, unable to describe the sensation in words and you are reduced to saying - oh! Man that is good! I have experienced this feeling at a friend’s house and have spent the last several years trying to duplicate the taste of “Butch” ribs.
Cooking is a voyage of discovery. It is a journey that will show me how to mix and match different tastes, styles, and textures. I will learn how to take raw ingredients and turn them into something wonderful.
I believe I have the talent and drive to attain this goal but lack the education and experience. The Restaurant School can provide these things and the rest is up to God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
My friend “Butch” is no longer with us, but he will always be my inspiration. He opened my taste buds to a fascinating world of flavor. As I read the essay above wonderful memories come flooding back. I would salivate for weeks before one of “Butch’s” dinners. There was nothing I would rather eat than his ribs.
This Gentleman of the South had a way with pork ribs like no other. He would cook in the style of his native Carolina. The back ribs would be falling off the bone tender and glazed with a ketchup and vinegar sauce. The meat would melt in my mouth and no matter how much I had eaten, I wanted more. My face and hands would be covered in sauce, soiled napkins and bones would be piled high and “Butch” would be smiling. He had invested hours in preparation but would eat very little. He was always happy to see others enjoy his cooking! I was in heaven and he had taken me there!
I would sit in his dining room and barely say a word, I would eat and he would refill my plate. Our two wives were there but the performance belonged to and “Butch” and me. We would both be grinning form ear to ear. Soon I would be doing my Al Bundy impersonation, slouching back with my belt loosened and the top button on my pants undone (get that dirty thought out of your mind).
My upbringing in an Irish – American household had not prepared me for this. Most dinners consisted of well-done meat and mashed potatoes. I have a very distinct childhood memory from eating dinner at my mother’s uncle’s house. My great aunt had mixed onions in with the peas! Why would she do such a thing? And peas were my favorites! We would not eat this mixture and questioned my great aunts rationality all the way home. I would not even try meat if it were not brown on the inside! And I would loudly espouse the notion that I did not like something even though I had never tasted the item. After cooking school this philosophy has become one of my two pet peeves concerning people and food. The second is salting food before it is even tasted.
One particular evening, like all others when “Butch” was cooking, I was geared up for my “Carolina climax”. As I entered the house, the usual aroma was missing. Something was not right! What was going on?
“Butch” was serving salmon! WHAT? I'm going to eat fish? This stuff is orange! And it's not even a Friday in Lent! My saliva had turned to tears.
I was told “you can’t eat ribs all the time!”
Oh, yes I can!
“Butch” was a showman living the old theater axiom, “always leave them wanting more”. And he was right; I wanted pork back ribs and nothing else. He was forcing an education on me, not only was I not getting ribs I was not even getting red meat! Fish was something I rarely ate.
This lesson of educating the palette came back to me at The Restaurant School, where the instructors would chant,
TASTE EVERYTHING!
YOU DON’T HAVE TO EAT IT, BUT TASTE EVERYTHING!
“Butch” was imparting his wisdom and displaying true hospitality and kindness. I learned an important lesson and captured the essence of the experience. FOOD THAT TASTES THE BEST IS FOOD THAT IS MADE WITH LOVE. EVERY EFFORT IS FREELY GIVEN IN ORDER TO MADE THE GUEST HAPPY. AND THE COOK IS HAPPIEST WHEN THE GUEST IS SO STUFFED HE CAN’T EVEN SPEAK!
I owe, I owe, its off to work I go.
Into THE CAULDRON!
“The difficult we do,
The impossible takes a little longer!”
Is tuisce deoch na sce
