Why did you choose this field?
I think really this field chose me, because at 4 years old I asked my grandmother to teach me how to make bread and I’ve been on the go ever since. Both my mother and my grandmother were in the food area.
So in our house it was just a part of the everyday scheme of things. They were both educators.
What is your educational background?
When I came here to go to culinary school, [my grandmother] wanted me to have a wider experience. I got my culinary degree from Washburn Trade School in 1957. In 1975 I felt it necessary that I expand my horizons by going to the School of the Art Institute, because artwas the other half [of my upbringing].
I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute with a triple major in fashion, textiles and art education. Then I studied art therapy as a teaching tool rather than a clinical tool. I began to understand how, especially here, every student comes with a different set of luggage. And you’ve got to be able to identify the luggage that they’re bringing so that you can reach everybody. So that education was invaluable. And I’ve been able to translate that into culinary comprehension, culinary concepts.
What’s an average day like?
The class that I’m doing right now is Baking 101, Introduction to Baking. I usually get to school early, sometimes around 5:30 a.m. First thing I usually do is set up for my class–(in this case) we’re going to be making apple pie, cherry pie and quiche. Dry ingredients go in one place and in another I’ll have fresh apples, frozen cherries and fresh vegetables, and another station of dairy products.
Sometimes in the morning, I’ll talk about the products that I’ve demonstrated in the class before, the students can ask questions, and then they’ll start to prepare the products. Then I usually go around and monitor. Sometimes we look at a product when it’s partially baked and then completely baked so we can understand the chemical changes that take place when the products are exposed to heat. After the product is baked, it’s cooled and while it’s cooling they start working on the next project and the same process starts over again. When they’ve finished all their products, we lay them all out for critique.
First we look to see if it has the right height, color and surface texture. Then we cut them open and see what’s going on inside. And after that, of course, we taste it.
After the lab is cleaned up, we go to a classroom for one hour of lecture where we discuss the why of what we just did. In the lab we deal with the how. We learn the function of each ingredient. We talk of ways we can change or improve the recipes or the finished product. Finally I spend an hour demonstrating the products we’re going to make in the next class. Lab is three hours and lecture is two hours. When I’m finished I go down to Gallery 37 (an advanced art program with the Board of Education) and repeat the same process with the kids down there.
What’s the best thing about the job?
One of the better things is at the end of the class, because you can see what a difference it makes. How the students come in here the first day, real worried and real concerned, a little apprehensive, and you can see them begin to develop. It’s just like having a plant. You watch it unfold.
A lot of times you can see in them something that they have not yet discovered. A lot of times when you first meet a person that first impression is pure. After you get to know a person if they have flaws you make excuses for them. But that first impression, for me, is so important because it’s just like looking at a child, an innocent child. And then to be able to watch that develop, it’s a blessing for me.
What’s the worst thing?
Graduation. Because you know that even though they physically have gone on, there’s a part of them that stays here and it’s just like when a good friend leaves.
It’s just a little bit of selfishness. You want to keep them around, but you understand that in order for them to grow, they’ve got to get out of here.
What attributes are essential to doing your job well?
I think the first one is love. Love for oneself, love for the field, love for the students. Along with that (comes) respect, respect not only for the students (but for) the school. And I don’t know if I want to call it harmony or balance. My way of life necessitates that I keep a balance. There is no ultimate right or no ultimate wrong because different situations will make a different definition of the same word. Here we try to maintain the balance between the students and the teachers, with the classes, with culinary and baking. I think when you can understand that we’re only a part of it, we’re part of this big picture, a part, and everything that we do affects everybody else on this planet.
What advice would you give to people interested in this field?
When we have the aptitude and the abilities to do certain things, I think we are required to take that extra step and get an education, and exposure, experience, and a combination of these things brings about wisdom. And we have to be able to step outside of ourselves. This is not about us.
When I’m in the class, I’m the teacher but I’m also the student. I’d never ask them to do anything that I’m not willing to do first. I never treat them any differently than I want to be treated. I understand that this is a nurturing process and the process is equally, if not more, important than the product.
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