Gather 'Round the Table - Does Cooking Have to Hurt?
By Anthony Todd in Food on Oct 11, 2010 3:20PM
On Monday mornings, we invite our readers to gather around our table and discuss a culinary issue of the day. If you have anything you'd like to talk about, send it to anthony@chicagoist.com
Yesterday, the New York Times ran an op-art piece profiling the injuries and abuse suffered by some famous chefs. Since Anthony Bourdain graphically exposed the blood, pain and bodily fluids that fill America's restaurant kitchens, the "toughness factor" of top chefs has been on the tip of the tongues of foodies everywhere. This piece detailed misfortunes of culinarians from Paula Dean to Michael Laiskonis (of Le Bernadin), and included everything from an accidentally sliced-off fingertip to an abusive chef shoving someone's face into a stove. No Chicago chefs were profiled, though Marcus Samuelsson (the force behind C-House) detailed a story of a nasty blow to the head. Rather than garnering sympathy, Samuelsson was yelled at for bleeding in the kitchen and says that he threw up every day because he was so nervous.
Gather 'round and discuss, dear readers - Are "injury" and "toughness" important and relevant parts of chefdom? We've heard enough horror stories of abusive chefs to fill a book, and yet people often defend and glorify them. There were rumors that David Karrier, of Kith and Kin, was fired for yelling at his staff - but the exploits described would hardly be noticed among Bourdain's stories. New York Times blogger Ron Lieber confronted an abusive chef who was screaming at his employees in front of customers, and got thrown out of the restaurant - and many commenters defended the chef. Is the behavior of someone like Gordon Ramsay necessary in the kitchen environment, or is it workplace harassment?
Does the toughness of the people in restaurant kitchens matter to you? Are these scars a record of learning and development, writ into the flesh? Or is the obsession with blood, guts and yelling just a reflection of an outdated, mean-spirited battlefield machismo?
Photo (and modifications) courtesy You May Also Like.