yomamasan's Profile
Bulk Fresh Peppermint in LA?
I'm making homemade Peppermint Schnapps to give away for Christmas and I've seen tons of recipes that call for Peppermint extract but I'd like to use fresh if I can find it. Does anyone know where I can get fresh peppermint in bulk in LA?? The recipe I'd like to use calls for 8 cups (!!) of fresh mint leaves and I'll probably double it. Thanks!!
Need Serious Advice....
I live in LA so there's an endless list of great (and not so great) restaurants/specialty food stores and producers/local farms/etc...it seems daunting because, as i've said, i don't exactly have connections in this industry. Well, that's not true - I have one, which I will most definitely pursue, but I don't think it would be smart to put all my eggs in his basket (that sounds so wrong...). I'm going to spend the majority of this weekend figuring out where exactly is the best place for me start and then start cold calling and offering free work. It seems all I can do at this point - I can sum up everyone's wonderful advice into 3 words - JUST DO SOMETHING!! :)
Need Serious Advice....
I really appreciate your honesty and straight forwardness. All of this is truly eye opening to me. I guess, the point of my original question was - where does a beginner begin? What's the first step that I take? I'm not trying to claim any sort of qualification because I don't have it. I realize, from the majority of these posts, that starting in a kitchen as opposed to starting in school is the way to go. This is backwards from convention (school and then career) but coming from the entertainment industry, I totally get it. I also get that it's a lot of shit work - I'm used to that as well. I would say the same thing to someone just starting out in film - "Do you think lugging a 50 lb camera up a hill covered in dew at 5 in the morning, only to spend 8 grueling hours trying to get one good take of an actress that can't stop laughing during her lines sounds fun? because that's the reality of it" So I get that....It sounds like food and the entertainment industry are very similar.
Need Serious Advice....
That's very interesting and very eye opening about the scholarships. If it's not obvious already, i want to apply to the CIA at Greystone. They require 6 months of kitchen experience before attending. Perhaps I am doing things a bit backwards by jumping straight into schooling before understanding if my passion is enough to carry me through the stressors of the industry.
What do you think is the best way to get your foot in the door of restaurant kitchen? Offer to work part time for free? I think I just answered my question....
Need Serious Advice....
Good advice indeed. Here's my questions though - would you hire someone to work in a test kitchen that doesn't have a culinary degree and instead has equivalent training in a restaurant? I'm sure every employer is different and it's all a case by case basis (as in my current field and I'm sure most fields), but basing this off of the particular job I'm interested in, a culinary degree is required.
Need Serious Advice....
Even reading "manure, udders, blood, and such" makes me shiver - I don't even want to imagine what the "and such" refers to...hehe. However, my sister went to veterinary school and has lots of experience working with both domestic animals and livestock. This fits into my ultimate fantasy of buying land in napa, raising grapes and cows - she handles the meats/cheese and I handle the wine and then together we sell them in local markets.
Need Serious Advice....
Why did you only attend briefly, if I may ask? What was your experience there? What's making you consider going back?
Sorry for all the questions! - I'm so consumed with trying to decide whether to plunk down the money for school or not!
Need Serious Advice....
Thanks Cinnamon! that looks really helpful - I'll check it out today.
Stricken - what are you leaning towards? Culinary school or jumping head first into the food industry?
Lenox - that's one of the things I'd be very interested in. Do you know what the organization is called so I can look it up? I guess my problem with that type of org is that I've been having a hard time knowing how to go about putting the vague idea in my mind into the correct words to research!
Need Serious Advice....
Hi all....
Some may say I'm fresh out of college, although it doesn't feel that way - three years and three career changes can be exhausting. I grew up thinking that I needed to be a doctor, however, failing physics and being truly grossed out by biology classes forced me to rethink that path. I moved on to law - equally as prestigious - but, god, was it boring - not for me. On to film - the classes were fun and the people were cool so I decided to stick with it. I graduated with a degree in a subject that interested me but I felt no true passion for. This parlayed into me quickly changing careers once out of school - going from film production to working at a TV studio to working at a record label. Sure, these jobs sound fun, and they are (most of the time), but it's time for me to give my true passion the weight in my life that it deserves. Knowing that I didn't want to work in a restaurant and not having the opportunity to explore the subject further in school (i.e. no classes offered), it never occurred to me to pursue a career in food. As I'm beginning to realize that it's happiness that matters and not money or an impressive title, I'm doing more research on the food industry and realizing the plethora of avenues that await me out there. This is where I need help, however - I don't have experience in the food industry (aside from cooking like a mad woman at home for friends/family), I don't have contacts and I, therefore, don't have a support system to give me solid advice. Most of what exists already online is flimsy at best. I'm having a hard time finding exactly what awaits me in this vast culinary world. Ideas of food r&d/test kitchens and making cheeses/meats interest me - I also could get behind a grass roots approach to food, working in sustainable farming/farmers market type environments - but what else is there? And possibly, more immediately important - do I need a culinary degree to achieve these positions? If I know that I don't want to eventually work in a commercial kitchen, is bypassing culinary school and acquiring knowledge through experience in a restaurant sufficient? HELP!
Indebted,
yomamasan
