Latest / Chef's PSA Podcast / What's your specialty Chef? Ep. 5

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What's your specialty Chef? Ep. 5 · Chef's PSA Podcast

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  Hello chefs. You're listening to chefs, PSA
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  podcast. I'm your host on during that
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  era. Today we're going to get into
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  everyone's favorite question. And that is as a chef what's
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  your specialty? Now the thing about this podcast
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  is if you're a chef you hate this question and you kind of
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  know, you know, where this podcast is going.
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  So this podcast is for you to Listen to, so you could share
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  with someone else who's not a chef who probably needs this
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  podcast, much more than you do. Because they're the ones, taking
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  you to parties or the ones introducing you to people or
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  maybe you're meeting them for the first time and you're having
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  a hard time getting across to them.
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  Like, hey, you shouldn't really ask that question.
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  It's the worst question. Today, we're going to get into
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  why it is the absolute stupidest question.
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  A normal person could ask a chef So let's get into an imaginary
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  scenario, you're a chef. You go to work all day, you cook
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  for 10-15. Plus h, you have a menu that has
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  20 different dishes on it and that menus been changed four
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  times over the course of the year because it's changed over
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  the season. So you've gone through, I don't
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  know, let's say, 80 new dishes in a year.
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  You've done specials nightly every dish, you're trying to
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  express yourself in a new way and then you go to a party.
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  And someone says oh I heard you're a chef.
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  What's your specialty? That's it.
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  That's a stupid question but there's really only one correct
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  answer because they don't know better they don't know that
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  you've created a t dishes over the last year, they don't know
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  that you know how to do more than just one silly dish and
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  their mind you know because most likely like they're looking for
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  that one dish that you could explain to them, that's going to
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  make them become a better cook. So, here's what you say.
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  Attention because this is this needs to become the universal
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  answer for this question, by all chefs.
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  And that is when someone says, what is your specialty?
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  You look them dead in the eye and you say chicken alfredo
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  because normal people They fucking love chicken alfredo and
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  they're gonna be like, oh my God you make chicken alfredo, I make
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  chicken alfredo. How do you make it and then you
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  can proceed to tell them exactly how you make it.
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  Now it gets a little disappointing after this because
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  you're going to tell them. Do you need pasta?
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  You can have some heavy cream. You can have some Parmesan, some
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  garlic and so on and so forth you can explain to them how to
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  make it and they're going to look at you like you're like
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  you're a complete fucking idiot because they're going to say to
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  you. Well that's exactly how I make
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  it. So how is that your specialty?
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  I should be a chef like you I could make that you could make
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  that. And of course They can make it
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  of course, because it's an easy rest recipe.
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  But when they make it, it's never going to taste as good as
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  yours and why, because you're a chef, you know, how to maintain
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  the temperature on the, on the stove, you know, how to cook the
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  pasta, al dente, you know, how to make sure that the chickens
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  not overcooked, you know, how to make sure that the thickness of
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  the alfredo sauce is the correct thickness for the pasta.
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  So there's a lot that they don't understand, they just think oh,
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  it's just four or five ingredients.
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  Great. So why is it so hard?
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  Well, anyway. I think this should be the
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  universal answer for chefs, it's a win-win normal.
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  People love chicken alfredo it's a you know, it'll get them off
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  your back. They'll go away.
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  You don't have to explain to them how, you know, all these
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  other things, other than just one specific specialty.
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  But here's the thing, there's a lot of chefs out there that
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  actually do have a specialty and I think that's where it's not a
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  universal answer for everything. But when you're a chef and you
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  do have a specialty, like, let's say, barbecue, you have a
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  barbecue restaurant. And that's what you do day in
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  and day out. I make barbecue, I smoked
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  brisket. I make ribs cook some sausage.
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  I make barbecue. Then they're not going to ask
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  you because it's clearly obvious what your specialty is.
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  My specialty is barbecue. They don't go and ask the person
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  who is behind the counter in a pizzeria and say, what's your
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  specialty? It's obvious.
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  That it's pizza. And if it's Nadia obvious and
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  they still ask that question, then you don't have a
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  conversation with these people you're wasting your time.
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  You're going to feel stupid or when the conversation is
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  finished. But like I said, for some
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  people, they really do have Specialties, this is what I do.
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  I make tacos or ibank this or I make that I really don't think
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  that people understand how to ask this question correctly.
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  I think what they're trying to get to is what type of Chef are
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  you now? That's probably a more specific
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  question but we could even get more specific than that.
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  What kind of Chef are you? What's the name of your
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  restaurant? What kind of food do you cook in
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  that restaurant or even a better question?
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  What does a chef do? What kind of food do you prepare
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  that you enjoy making at home? Like those are better questions
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  but to sit there and say, what's your specialty?
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  It's a dumb question. We need to educate people to
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  stop with that question. And like I said, when they do
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  ask that question, the answer needs to be chicken.
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  Alfredo eventually it'll get around and you know it'll become
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  the joke. What's your specialty?
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  Chicken? Alfredo and the conversation?
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  Let's move on. Now I guarantee you most chefs
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  have been asked this question. What's your specialty?
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  They hate it. They hate it.
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  It's joke. Right?
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  It's, it's become a meme like chefs.
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  What's your specialty? Because the chef knows how to do
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  so much and I'd like to get into what is a chef's specialty and a
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  chef's specialty. Really is I know how to use a
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  knife. I know how to cook, I know how
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  to manage people. I know how to do a lot of
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  things. I'm a chef and I have a
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  versatile set of skills that make me a chef.
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  That is my specialty. My specialty is being a chef.
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  A lot of people wouldn't End up. I'd like to give the example,
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  like, someone asked the question to a dentist.
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  Like, you wouldn't go up to her and say, what's your favorite
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  tooth to work on it? That's a stupid question.
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  You would ask that. You'd be made feel like an
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  idiot. And so, why would people ask
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  what's your favorite dish? Well, because the chef doesn't
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  really have a favorite dish, like things evolve.
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  You might like making something for a moment but throughout the
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  course of time your palate changes, your experiences change
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  your surroundings. Change.
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  You might not like making that dish anymore.
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  So, to ask that question, just seems like it's it's a, it's a
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  low IQ question, it's a low IQ question for people that don't
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  get it because you have to, you have to flip it.
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  And like if you're in a different industry, what is that
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  version of that question in your industry and ask yourself that?
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  Like what's your favorite tooth to work on?
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  What's your favorite Tire to change?
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  Like it's a dumb question. So if you're not a chef and
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  you're listening to this, I hope that your learning like don't
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  ask that question because Again, I'm beating a dead horse here,
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  it's a stupid question. Now, if there is a tie for the
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  number two, stupid question that you get asked as a chef, it's
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  like, oh, I bet you eat really good at home or what do you like
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  to make at home? Or I bet your family eats really
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  well. They love having you around.
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  Also a dumb question because the reality is like again, I want to
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  paint a picture for you. Let's just say you're a
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  carpenter and you go to work and you build furniture all day, and
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  And maybe that's 10 12 hours a day in a chef's case.
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  Sometimes that is, it's, you know, 10 plus hours a day,
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  you're you're being a chef, you're managing people, you're
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  cooking this that and the other and then you get home and it's
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  like, oh guess what? I feel like doing, I feel like
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  preparing a five-course meal for my family.
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  It's like, come on, no, no, you don't know, I will say there is
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  there is exceptions to the rule. I have a friend.
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  He's the only person I know that goes home and Cooks just as much
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  as he does. When he's at home in my friend.
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  That's listening. You know who you know is
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  Probably the most intense Chef. I know because he's always
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  thinking about food. He's I mean he's the man he
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  there's a reason why he's successful he's always switched
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  on. But the fact of the matter is
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  most people don't you know, what is a cheffy when they go home?
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  I mean I could tell you what I eat, I go home.
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  It's like okay I'm in your peanut butter and jelly
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  sandwich, I'm a bowl of cereal. I'm going to eat whatever cold
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  leftovers are in the fridge. And a lot of times, you know, a
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  lot of chefs will say this in a restaurant.
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  When you're eating, you're normally busy.
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  C. So a lot of restaurants have
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  what's called staff meal and people will sit down and they'll
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  eat together and they'll take their break and boom back to
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  work. But a lot of restaurants don't
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  do that. A lot of times like you don't
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  get time for a break in your hungry and it's standing up over
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  a garbage. Can eating out of a deli
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  container really quick because you have like five minutes
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  before you need to get back on the line.
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  So You learn to eat really fast when I was coming up in the
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  kitchen. The interesting thing about
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  eating really fast was this is we weren't allowed to eat in the
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  kitchen. One of the kitchens that I
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  worked in staff meal was not provided.
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  So, we were not allowed to eat in the kitchen, we have to bring
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  our own food but everyone needs like, if you work in a kitchen,
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  you eat the differences. Are you allowed to eat or not?
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  So, you're breaking the rules and you eat or you follow the
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  rules and you eat. But either way, everyone eats,
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  so you learned how to eat extremely quick because you
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  didn't want to get caught by the chef eating.
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  So you learn how to To eat really fast and you learn how to
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  eat leftovers and they might be cold and you might be standing
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  over a garbage bin really quick and you learn how to eat that
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  way. So when you get home it's like
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  you've trained yourself you know for the past few years eating
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  that way you get home, it's like oh there's leftovers.
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  But they're cold. Do you want me to heat them up
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  for your like nah? That's all right.
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  I'll I'll just eat them really quick, cold or whatever,
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  whatever the case may be. Because a lot of chefs, there's
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  a difference between eating and dining, and a lot of times it's
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  like, we just want to eat. We're tired, we're hungry, we
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  need energy. We're just going to eat
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  something to get going. And then there's dining.
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  And that is I'm going to go to a restaurant.
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  I'm an experienced, the cuisine. I'm going to sit down, and I'm
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  going to eat with my friends and family.
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  I'm an experienced, the service huge difference.
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  So a lot of people need to understand the distinction,
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  between eating and dining and I'm going to dispel the myth a
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  lot. Chef's.
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  Do not cook when they go home and sometimes it's the last
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  thing they feel like doing and that's why they eat, such simple
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  meals, it might be, you know, Ramen or whatever the case may
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  be, everyone's different. But like I said, there are
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  exceptions to the rule but for the most part, most of the
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  chef's that I know, and I know a lot of chefs of all the chef's
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  that I know, I think, I only know, like two or three, that
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  actually cook at home and all the rest don't.
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  So, it's like there's three outliers and by the way, those
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  three outliers are actually very tremendous chefs.
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  Now, I'll share a story with you years back.
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  I had the opportunity to cook with fernan Mets who's a
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  certified Master Chef. And, you know, I'll save the
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  whole story for a podcast for a different day.
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  But he used to run the, the CIA in Hyde Park.
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  New York for a number of years. He was the certified master Of
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  in the United States. And you know I want to say if at
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  any point you want to become a certified Master Chef.
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  You better have his signature on it.
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  He was a tremendous Chef legendary, Right?
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  He was, you know, the icon of an era when it came to Chef's if
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  you were reading CIA textbooks back in the day, most likely it
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  had Ferdinand Mets name on it. Well, anyway, long story short,
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  I had the opportunity to cook after hours with them and I
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  remember talking to him and he said something interesting.
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  He said, you know, he had been retired four years at this point
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  and he said, I cook every day. I still cook every day which I
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  found fascinating. So when I talk about these
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  outliers that do cook every day, I mean those exceptions to the
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  rule that cook every day, I mean, every single person that I
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  know that does cook everyday outside of a professional
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  kitchen, normally our exceptional Chef.
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  So I will say that, but I would say you know, an exception
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  doesn't disprove, the rule the majority of chefs don't cook at
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  home. Outside of maybe cooking for a
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  holiday or birthday, or special occasion.
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  I very rarely cooked at home. I would say, you know, I could
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  go throughout the year and make a proper meal and what I mean by
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  that, I'm not talking scrambled eggs or, you know, boiling pasta
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  or something. Simple like that.
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  I mean like cooking. The way I would in a restaurant
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  I would probably do that. Probably counted on a hand, five
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  times a year. If that So it's like I said it's
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  just not very common and the last stupid thing and this isn't
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  really a question that normal people will ask you when you
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  meet them for the first time and they find out you're a chef.
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  It's not a question. It's more of a statement that
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  they asked but it's it's a pretty ridiculous statement.
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  And they say something stupid like oh my husband Cooks a lot
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  at home. He's actually a chef at home too
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  and it's like no, you cook at home as a hobby, you're not a
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  chef and it's insulting to tell someone, oh, so-and-so Cooks at
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  home, there are Chef also, my son is a chef.
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  He cooks all the he cook spaghetti on the weekends.
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  It's like the most insulting thing to someone who is a chef
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  like when you've dedicated years to something it's like going up
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  to a doctor and be like Like, oh, you're a doctor.
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  I put a bandaid on my elbow. I'm a doctor too, I'm a home
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  doctor. Like come on.
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  Don't be so dense and unaware of the people that you're having a
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  conversation with that, they've dedicated their entire lives to
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  something and that you're just going to hop in and say, oh I do
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  this at home, I'm a chef to it's like no you're not.
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  You're not a chef you cook at home.
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  I think I'm recording this on a Sunday and tomorrow's Monday
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  when I Release. This this podcast the PSA that I
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  put up today was everyone thinks just because they cook their a
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  chef just like everyone thinks that just because they have sex
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  that they're a porn star. And that's one of those things
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  like everyone's a chef Joe, you know, I chopped onion.
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  I'm a chef is like, no, you're not a chef, a chef normally runs
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  the hierarchy and a kitchen. They've earned their place
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  everyone Cooks, but not everyone's a chef, it's the
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  exception to the rule. It's a, it's a long path to
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  become the chef to be be. Stowed that position as the
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  chef. So just because you cook at
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  home, doesn't mean you're a chef just because you've had sex,
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  does it mean you're a porn star? So let's just make sure that.
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  Sorry, I think it's kind of funny that we're talking about
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  this, but anyway. Oh, I put a bandaid on my elbow.
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  I'm a doctor. Like, come on, get the fuck out
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  of here. You're not a doctor so that's
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  the rant for this week. Thank you so much for listening
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  to the chef's. PSA podcast.
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  I'm going to continue to put out content once a week.
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  Post daily on Chefs, PSA follow chefs, PSA on Instagram, follow
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  chefs, PSA on Twitter, I need to get a tick tock going.
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  I'll put little Clips up of this podcast most likely on clips and
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  then you will evolve from there. But thank you all, if you want
• 14:49
  to support the show, you could buy the chef's PSA book.
• 14:54
  It's available on Audible and on Amazon paperback, follow our
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  social media accounts. Share the podcast with people.
• 15:02
  We want to grow So we I mean, the, the purpose of this is
• 15:05
  really. We're trying to educate people
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  that don't know better, you know, kind of the, the rules of
• 15:10
  the kitchen. So thank you all for listening
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  today and we'll see you next week.