A Chef’s Hands… Memoirs Of An Asian-American Chef In America…
I am currently in the midst of writing my first book with the hesitant title “A Chef’s Hands… Memoirs Of An Asian-American Chef In America”. I’ve always wanted to write a book but have always been inclined to write a cookbook with hundreds of recipes and beautifully photographed pictures. To be honest, writing a cookbook at this stage in my career would be the easy way out, having literally thousands of recipes in my stacks of notebooks that I’ve saved over the years. However, I believe that writing a cookbook at this time would be premature and with the vast amounts of cookbooks being published currently, it would most likely be lost and ultimately wind up in the deep discount section which would be quite depressing.
There are two chefs who truly inspired me to be the chef that I am today. They are Chef David Waltuck of Chanterelle fame and Chef Laurent Tourondel of Cello and BLT fame. I had worked for both chefs early on in my career and they instilled in me the best qualities that a chef can learn and achieve. Because of their inspiration, I was able to work hard and achieve the moderate success that I’ve had as a chef.
The younger generations of Asians here in the United States as well as abroad have been forming a deeper interest in cooking and validating the idea that becoming a chef truly is a real career path instead of what was once thought of as a menial job and a means to survive. It was not that long ago that a chef’s job was considered a lower class and demeaning job, especially in Asian cultures. That idea has rapidly evolved over recent years and in fact, overseas, there are cooking channels that have been popping up on cable networks in the same vain as the Food Network channel here in the United States. In fact, celebrity chefs are starting to pop up from almost nowhere in Asian countries.
The book is meant to be an insightful, and sometimes humorous, look into the career that I chose with a deeper look into what it’s like to work for 3 and 4-star NY Times restaurants as well as being the Corporate Executive Chef for an international franchise. It also delves into a time when I was catering to the ludicrously wealthy, celebrities and politicians such as the Clintons, Giuliani, Bloomberg, etc…
If the book is read by one individual that inspires them to achieve their dream in becoming a chef, then that would be the greatest achievement that I’ve made as a chef.
hamatama 