ABOUT ME!

(Food Theory Blog #1)

Hello, my name is Sadie Cheng and I am 18 years old. I love to cook, bake, and most importantly, EAT! I'm also really into photography, so naturally I take pictures of everything around me, including my food. I love to create and capture memories, hence the name of my blog: "Capturing Cooking". To me, food creates memories and bonding. When I try a new food, I create a new memory, and when I eat something I used to eat as a child, theres often a nostalgic feel to it. Food is something that connects people together and I always like to take the chance capture it.

These are a few of the pictures I took during my trip to China back in 2017. Food over there is amazing because there is tradition and stories behind every dish you eat.

In this blog, I will be sharing all of my thoughts, ideas, and photographs that I take along the way. But to begin this first submission, I'd like to explain how my interest in cooking first came to be. Ever since a child, I have always loved food. I was never a picky eater, in fact I know I was more open minded back then than I am now.

A big reason why I want to be a Chef is because growing up with my grandmother, unlike others, she rarely let me help her cook in the kitchen. This was out of her concern, not wanting me to get hurt. However I always had the burning desire to cook. I was born with the interest and passion in cooking and baking, and being unable to pursue it earlier in my life, I chose to take the culinary pathway now.

Back when I was in Grade 11, I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do after High School. The daily announcements would mention something about the Culinary Dual-Credit program that happened every year. I decided to take the chance to gain some experience and explore my options. It turned out I loved working in the kitchen. I think this was the first time I really knew I wanted to do in the future. No matter if it's directly in the kitchen or not, I knew my job had to be within the food industry.

I have recently resigned from a job at a restaurant named Terre Rouge in Downtown Markham. I had the chance to shadow under Chef Forrest Liu, a former GBC student and his wife Karan Tsoi, also an alumni. While working at this job, I learned many essential skills that was a great starter for my career. Much of my basic knowledge that gives me the ability to work efficiently in the kitchen was learnt here. I started off doing co-op, and in the beginning, I was put on kitchen prep. After a few weeks however, Chef put me to train on pastry. I felt most comfortable on pastry because I had experience with it at home to begin with, but I would go back and forth on Pastry and Garde Manger line throughout my time there. Terre Rouge was my first legitimate kitchen job and I dedicate my initial growth as a Chef to this restaurant.

To me, cooking and food is so captivating. Its different everywhere you go and it celebrates all ethnicities. Its what brings people together and we definitely need more of that nowadays. I want to be the one to bring people together to celebrate life and happiness. Food makes others happy, so to be able to do that for a living, would be amazing.

My friends and I often bond over food. We love to go out to eat because it makes everybody happy. We are quite a big group, the 8 of us come from different backgrounds (Philippino, Guyanese, Egyptian, Chinese) which makes us pretty open minded to trying each other's culture foods, and also new foods with each other.

"After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives. "

-Oscar Wilde

This quote makes me laugh, I can definitely relate to it. I really believe this statement is true. After eating a good meal, usually people tend to be in a good mood, which in result, everything else falls through smoothly as well.

A food blog that I enjoy reading sometimes is "Bon Appetit" (https://www.bonappetit.com). This blog is full of pictures, videos, recipes, and food guides etc. Not only do they write about food but they also write about travel and culture I absolutely love their style. And one day I want to be able to travel the world to learn new cultures and try new foods, and take loads of pictures too. This way, when I share my experiences through words, I can also give them visuals to complete the whole story. One thing I think this blog can do better however, is advertising. All the pictures are beautifully composed and they do an amazing job at food styling. I think they deserve more attention for how well everything is put together.

What I hope to gain from this blog is to learn more about myself and my role in the culinary community. To express my passion for cooking and baking. I also hope that this experience helps me on refining my writing and communication skills. And I hope that when people read my blog, they can get something out of it, even it's just a small smile!

References:

http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/culinary-quotes/ (quote)

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde (picture)

https://www.bonappetit.com (blog + pictures)