"Life is a like a Box of Chocolate"
I heard the phrase above long time ago when I watched the movie “Forrest Gump”. His mother had taught him in the simplest way, “what life is”. I have only picked up culinary seriously in 2019 and since then my quality of life, thinking, work, and so on improves drastically. Even if I studied Culinary all the way back in 2008 and had my own restaurant, it can be said that my life only begins when the passion meets cooking.
I worked in a hotel in 2019 after I decided to pursue my passion before I am too old and I was asked to be in charge of the F&B. I learned everything again from the service floor, bartending, coffee, to finally kitchen. It was a hard time no doubt especially during Covid-19. The positive thing about that period is that you are given the time and chance to reflect and pursue what you really want to do. In that span of that one year, I’ve cooked over 300 dishes and really brushed up my skills in F&B from all aspects. It made me able to think in systematic way and knowing what to ten steps ahead before it happens.
Now back in the corporate world and doing my own business, I have realised that the skills and passion I have picked then and continuosly doing them now, gave me superhuman skills of being able to organise and multitask well. Being able to stay calm and steady most of the time even in times of crisis, I believe cooking helps you to develop this repetitive yet high-level planning, organisation, implementation, and presentation skills.
As you see the video above, even as simple as assembling Ham and Cheese croissant can be fun and takes only less than 30 minutes to prepare. The sense of completing one dish perfectly is unlike no other. The joy is not about boasting that you can cook well, but the joy comes from being able to feed others and being able to make others happy and well-fed.
At least this is what I have seen in the perspective of cooking. What about you?