Posted by Gerard on December 05, 1997 at 04:08:28:
In Reply to: Oops ... posted by Susan L on December 04, 1997 at 20:15:10:
: : Gerard and I are continuing a discussion that started on Wannabe. This has absolutely nothing to do with pizelle or Paul Lee.
:
: Oh, goodness, how embarrassing! I do apologize. As both a newbie and a non-food pro, I'm still finding my way around both the site and all the unwritten rules. To wit:
: 1) When I responded to Paul Lee's question, it seemed appropriate to call him "Chef Paul." On this site, even culinary arts students sign themselves off as "Chef Whomever," apparently to indicate that they are serious about their studies and chosen profession. Should I offer a lesser honorific to a head chef employed by a Michelin-rated restaurant? (And you'll only embarrass me all over again if you say that Michelin ratings don't mean anything ... )
: 2) After discovering that pizzelle makers are one of the "fads du jour" for home cooks this season, I posted what appeared to be a coherent description of what a pizzelle is and why you should care about making one, as contributed by Nick Magieri to a book published under the auspices of Julia Child.
: Shortly afterwards, the webmaster moved your discussion out of "Wannabe" onto this more general forum. I didn't know that he did things like that. All I knew was that suddenly you and Gerard had appeared in a puff of smoke at the top of the column, swinging at everything in sight like two tomcats -- you decrying how every Tom, Dick, and Harry calls him or herself a chef these days and Gerard putting the blame on television personalities, especially that hussy Julia Child. Obviously, despite my best intentions, I had somehow mortally offended you both.
: Thanks for setting me straight. I'll just disappear into the scenery now ...
No problem,
Culinary students calling each other chef is a problem, they haven't the experience the title conveys, they haven't earned it.
If you had spent 20 plus years working your way up you'd feel the same , it defines competency downwards.
I owned a French restaurant, I did all the cooking but I'm not a chef, I'm a patissier by trade running a bakery,choc and pastry shop. If someone IS a chef they don't need deference of title, they just are.
Julia Child is a TV personality, I've known her for yrs, since she began and lived less than 100 yards from where I was apprenticed, (brattle st Cambridge), I've known some of the people in her new book, if you knew what I know.....
American cooking has come a long way, its interesting to watch.