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Culinary Artists? The Great Debate.
Enjoying food can be pure bliss.
What besides the atmosphere and wine can create this? Culinary
artists, or a craftsman using his or her trade? First of all
let's research the definitions of art, craft and skill according to
Webster's.
Art: human creativity; skill acquired by study
and experience; any craft and it's principles; the making of things that
have form and beauty; any branch of this, as painting, sculptor, etc. (p/)
creative and nonscientific branches of knowledge, esp. as studied
academically.
Craft: manual skill, esp. in handiwork or the
arts; a skilled trade; the members of a skilled trade.
Skill: (n) proficiency; expertness;
dexterity; a developed aptitude or ability; a type of work or craft
requiring specialist training.
So in saying that here are my views
and opinions on the subject. I believe strongly it's an art,
because in creation you show expression. Sculpting raw products or
ingredients into something visually appealing and appetizing. When a
dish is created a certain amount of art and craftsmanship is involved.
After a dish is cooked and plated to standards, it becomes repetition and
more of a service. But the chef who learns and betters
themselves while doing repetition is on top of the game. Chefs
become chefs by learning, learning is evoked by practice.
Practice is what makes any artist, skilled labourer or craftsman improve.
The want to keep learning is driven by passion and success.
Passion for cooking creates: motivation and the aim to excel.
Pure passion doesn't always make good food though. A person just
working for a living, who doesn't have passion, shows little art.
Usually not using much artistic thought in their work, their actions reflect
dollar amounts. Sure not all
restaurants can have full artistic freedom, but taking extra time to plan
and pair foods is an art in itself. Menu planning,
structure and general atmosphere reflects the chef's artistic imagination
and value. Food pairing, menu balance and overall knowledge also
reflect art. The ability to create appealing dishes, takes
skill, knowledge and self confidence. Cooking in any "classical" way
takes skill and a bit of art. Fusing styles is an expression of
a chef's skill and art abilities. The culinary business is a
hard job to stick with and make a career out of, but go strong and set
goals. In closing, every chef has their own opinions on this
subject. Mine was expressed here based on my own knowledge and
experiences. by Krazy Kurt, 2003 |
