Tuesday, 30 October 2012


Food Inc.

         Food inc. is getting deep into the whole process of our food, and what really happens to it before it hits our supermarkets. Some people could really care less what goes in their body. As for me I am a curious person so this video really had an affect on me. As kids we have always eaten what our parents give to us, but what happens when your parents don't even what is being put into our food before it is processed. There's added preservatives, that doesn't even include when they has to be butchering. It shocks me that in the U.S McDonald's is currently their number one purchaser of meat and potatoes. Just goes to show how many families in the United States eat fats food.

         Tyson is currently the biggest meat packing company in the world. Farmers now a days are thinking "Fatter, Cheaper, Faster" is the best way to grow their chickens, or cows. Farmers are able to make chickens grow twice as fast, then they use to be. Whats even sadder is they have to keep confidentiality. Nobody is to ever see the slaughter house, and out of the millions of farmers there was only one that let the Foods Inc. into the chicken house. A farmer is kept under watch, the farmer has to do whatever their company says or they may fear losing the contract they bind with that company. (They are life slaves)
         What even more sickening is all the chickens are sent to the plant to be slaughtered, even the sick ones. People should be entitled to see how their food is made, nobody should be kept under the bucket. They reason for the abundant growth in chickens is said to be "corn" , some people are even teaching fish to eat it. Corn is very cheap and it makes animals grow fat quickly. The bad thing about feeding corn to some animals for example cows, is because Ecoli evolves inside cattle when they digest corn. It is like a mutation. Ecoli poisoning is everywhere, and as processing plants begin to get bigger more and more cattle are used with more diseases. Since the processing plants are so big, you could buy meat form that plant and there could be 10 different cattle just in that slab of meat you were going to buy. We put faith in our government and society to protect us, especially on food grounds. If they took cattle and started feeding it grass again it would lose 80% of the ecoli with the next six day. The government is stingy though and would rather pay cheaper for better is what they believe. An average farmer is able to feed 126 people. 70% of food you find in local supermarket has genetically modified food in it.

Cat Cora, Ina Garten, Emeril Lagasse, Nigella Lawson

                  Cat Cora's inspiration to cooking, starting when she was 15, which is about the same time I started really developing a like with creating different foods. She made history in 2005 on the show Iron chef America when she was names first female "Iron Chef". She was raised in a family where all they did was cook and eat. My mom is really big on home cooked meals, so were always eating healthy.
                 Her first cookbook was named "Cat Coras Kitchen". She had left Mississippi for New York to further her cooking at "The Culinary Institute of America". Which is a fine Culinary Institute in California, there really big on wine there.  
                To pursue her career more she then traveled to Europe to be an apprentice to two of France three star Michelin chefs. What I think is great is what she learned from those chefs like tolerance and about embracing life and living it to the fullest, its not all about getting the recipe right and making the food to its best perfection, you want it to be like that, but you need to learn tolerance, life can not all be about food and perfection. You need to embrace life and enjoy the work you put into your food. 
                Cat Cora has also served as many sous chef's and chefs . She finally was filmed, in 1999, and made her big entrance as co-host of food networks "Melting Pot".She also hosted "My Country My Kitchen" and " Fine Livings Simply Your Life".
                 She is involved in Macy's culinary council which is a culinary authority consisting of 15 of the worlds best chefs. 
        I feel Cat Cora really inspires me, I was watching her on the food network and it really impresses me the way she takes such good charge and has precise handle on everything that is going on in the kitchen. The products she always presents are unique and have her own little twist on things. If i was to become a chef i would want to be like Cat Cora, very independent, and be able to put my style in the food I will be creating.
        I feel Cat Cora really inspires me, I was watching her on the food network and it really impresses me the way she takes such good charge and has precise handle on everything that is going on in the kitchen. The products she always presents are unique and have her own little twist on things. If i was to become a chef i would want to be like Cat Cora, very independent, and be able to put my style in the food I will be creating.





Ina Garten

            Ina Garten was working in the White House on nuclear energy policy before, she took on her real chef role. It just shows then any ordinary person if you put your mind to it and work hard for what you believe in could achieve a professional job as a chef and have their own restaurant.

           Ina decided she wanted more to life then just a boring job, so she set off and ended up finding an ad for a small food store. This food store was in a place that she had never been before. Ina was ready to accept the challenge of opening her own food store and she made a very generous offer to the owner on the spot. A few months later she was the owner of a 400 sq foot contessa food store.

          After 20 years of Ina running the food store, it grew to be 3000 sq feet, and was a food emporium. There is over 50 employees 20 cooks and bakers, and 25 employees in the store. She ended up selling that food store to move on to greater and better things. Ina wrote her first book in 1999, it was called " The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook". The book won best selling cook book of the year. Ina currently is hosting Barefoot Contessa for people hosting parties on the food network.

          I chose Ina because she really shows that even if you don't go to culinary school and get a degree you can still achieve whatever you want to do in life. Ina went off on a whim and bought the 300 sq foot food store not knowing anything about the business. Now 20 years later she has a few best selling cook books out, and she is running her own show. She has come a long way from just working in the White House. It really shows that we can do anything we put our mines to, Ina is a great person to reflect on and she is an inspiration to many who feel, they have to go to the best schools to become a good chef.


Emeril Lagasse

           Emeril had begun loving food when he was a kid, where he had worked in a local Portuguese bakery. He had started out with bread and pastry making and worked his way up. He had turned down a music scholarship to pursue his career in culinary, which shows true dedication. Emeril ended up going to Johnson and Wales university culinary program. 

          When had finished university he began taking an interest in France cuisine. Emeril had worked on his skills in Paris, and he also worked in several fine restaurants in New York. He had been introduced to Ella Brennan who took him in as an apprentice and and taught him for eight years at her amazing restaurant "Commander's Palace". 

          He ended up opening his own restaurant. After he opened his restaurant Emeril began to get noticed, and opened a bunch of different establishments like NOLA, he also opened Emeril's Delmonico in New Orleans. He also published a few cook books like "There's a Chef in My Family" and " Emerils Pot Luck". He also has a few of his own shows like "Emeril Live" and Essence of Emeril.


I chose Emeril because again he is a very dedicated chef, who got other offers to do other jobs, but he stuck with the one that he loved. Which was culinary. I think its really impressive of how much Emeril was able to do, he now owns a bunch of restaurants all around New Orleans, and some day I would love to be able to have my own cooking show. I also like the idea of him only using the freshest of foods, because those are the best to work with. I would definitely eat his food any day. It just goes to really show culinary is never easy and you have to work so hard to overcome and to get to where half the chefs are today, perspiration and dedication really pays off. I just hope I can become as good as some of the chefs I mentioned, I will just have to keep trying to reach my goal and become who i really want to be, which is a Chef!


Nigella Lawson

 
             Nigella Lawson is the British best selling author of "Forever Summer", and " Nigella Bites", these have sold each in access of 2 million copies. Nigella was the former deputy literary editor of the sunday times, before she decided to pursue her culinary career. She has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers such as, Evening Standard, Guardian and New York Times Dining In. She was hailed as author of the year by the 2001 British Book Awards. Her books " How To Eat" was honored as 1998 British Book Awards illustrated book of the year. While " How to Be a Domestic Goddess" was named Cookery Book of the year.
 
Nigella really inspires me because she shows so much dedication, and experience. I would love to become a chef like her and publish a cook book, that wins cookery of they year. To even imagine selling 2 million cook books is something she should be really proud of. It would be a real honour for someone like me. I am really interested in making my own cook book and would love to get some advice from someone who obviously did a good job making her cook book if it was able to sell that many copies. I also have heard of Sabastian Conran and I would love to even get to talk to him let alone cook with him. Nigella is a real inspiration and I would love to be as good of a chef as she is.