Career
Pathways
Standing Out
There are times when a simple experience like eating out by the beach leaves its imprint in your mind for a long time to come, although you can’t identify why. Being a culinary expert, you should. Like any other profession, there are few best amongst the rests. What sets them apart from the crowd? It’s simple: they don’t create food, they create an exquisite experience! Every outstanding chef will have his or her own set of tricks, but following are the few general ground rules that will earn you entry in to that top shelf:
Be imaginative: you don’t need to buy Asian almost-extinct herbs to give your food an edge over others. All you need to do is pay attention to the presentation. Your presentation should stir something more than just hunger. Work with colors, shapes and textures to add your own personalized mark.
Signature: what one reads in a recipe book is normal, but what you prepare should have your signature on it to make it worth your customer’s while and money. Add in your own flair by adding an ingredient (or more) to enhance the taste and aroma. Your variation might sound stupid but the taste would speak for its own self. If you need to be radical, do so. Your signature will mark your standing so nothing should fall short.
Extraordinaire: there are a few things that you cannot tamper much with, but that does not mean you cannot add in your customized flair. Think out of the box. For example, you serve boiled vegetables with many dishes, and you cannot do much with boiled vegetables, right? Wrong! Instead of plain water, boil them in chicken or beef stock, or boil them all together. Stock will add taste to it whereas boiling all vegetables together would work on texture as some might get done earlier than the rest.
