# Hello everybody from Perú!!



## gus20 (Jul 26, 2002)

Hello chefs, hello students, hello everybody! I hope u are ok and u enjoy this wonderful web.

If u remember me, im a culinary student from lcb-Perú, im now in third semester. Im ok at school, i enjoy but everymoment i think my school isnt very good. When i learn the techniques i have many questions, sometimes my chef cant answer me very well and we dont have a library.And i have to ask to the director chef for explaining me things. My chef says she will do a book about me cuz i make many questions, not silly questions. Sometiems my friends ask me, Gustavo dou want to be a cook or an engineer? i say i like food and i want to know why, why if i cook in this way this chicken is so diffrent if i cook it in this way, how can i make for getting a chicken so juicy and delicious, why do i have to move the butter in this way in the sauce, what would happen? I just think i want to learn cuz maybe one day someone will ask me the same, why in this way and why not in that way, one of my dreams is being a teacher about food and i very methodic well i loved mathematics always. And i enjoyed my classes of food sciences a loooot and nutrition, too i miss them. I had many questions about Maillard reaction, i asked to my food sciences teacher, she is a geneaus, se knows everything, she reads everyday magazines from the usa, europe, everything she can, i admire her. And my teacher about nutrition was really good i learnt a lot. Now i think that for being a executive chef i need more tools, improve my english its not very good, learn french, maybe study business or food sciences, or maybe study culinary arts again, hehe, in a better school, i really want to do it well, and not working just in restaurants, i would liek to work in non comercial sytems, i mean food in factories for the workers ,u just work from monday to friday, teaching and learning more. Now i have a pastry chef, she knows a lot, i ask her much but she is happy cuz she likes i enjoy her class.I hope u arent bored with my email but i like sharing this with people who likes food.

I remember when i was a teenager, i wanted to go to the CIA, but its very expensive, eventhough im checking about loans or any way to pay it. im ending the school and i feel i have many question till now, its cuz some teachers just give u recipes, and u ask why this didnt work, they just say , u did it wrong, boooooooo, i dont like them.

I wanted to ask u something more, do u have hotmail messenger? i would like to talk with chefs or students from all the world it would be funny , interesting and of course i would feel greatful, very greatful.

My email is: [email protected]

And as i usually say, if u want to know something about Perú, just ask me, i think the 1000 kind of potatoes we can find here would be interesting for u, alllll diffrent naturally, not by genetic changes, well friends, please wake up!!! i hope u arent bored, see u!!!!!!and lets enjoy cooking, see u!!!

Many hugs

Sincerely

Tavin!


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## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Hi!Thanks for the update.

You bring up some interesting points. When I was in culinary school, I had the same frustration: I asked questions that my teachers were not equipped to answer. Not only could they not answer questions about food science, but they seemed quite content in their ignorance. I believe you will find teachers like that in all cooking schools. Stay in touch with the good teachers; they will keep your interest alive. Pick up some books about molecular gastronomy and food science. One very good author is Hervé This. He's French but his book has been published in many languages. 

As for working with food in factories, you will find that these are not chefs but rather engineers and chemists. Chef school will not get you in. You should ask your school if they can arrange a tour of a local factory, or have a speaker come in, just to get an idea of what their job is like. It's all statistics and chemistry and operations management. Not very glamorous...


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## gus20 (Jul 26, 2002)

Hello thanks for answering me, thanks so much, now i understand im not the only one, i just ask why theres so much students at school who doent care why the food doesntw ork or why his food taste bad, maybe they arent interested in learning.

THank u for answering me, if i could contact u by email, i would feel very happy!!!!

See u my friends, now im watching a politics programs, i like politics, toooo, hehe i like many things, but whta i love more is making people happy, with food , with a gift , with an smile

see u!!!!!


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

I remember the first paper I wrote for culinary school (Johnson and Wales) we had to talk about why we were at culinary school. I said I wanted to know why certain things happen when you cook them certain ways. Very similar to what you just said. The chef wrote "You came to the right place" and he was right to a small extent. At JWU they do their best to teach you why grilling works on some meats, why poaching works on some things, why steaming is one of the best ways to cook vegetables, etc. Of course it can't be extremely in depth or we would spend all our time in lecture and no cooking. Keep asking questions. When you stop asking questions you stop learning as much.


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## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

Hey Gus,

You know one of my last Sous chefs was from Peru. Now I know why we got along so well.

You are exactly the type of student I love to teach, full of pertinent questions and wide eyed about learning. You know Gus, teachers bring to there classes what they inherently know, and it is up to the instructors to do there own homework to be able to present a multidimensional lecture/production above the standard curriculum offered by the school.

Also schools offer different curriculum based of who, if any certify there programs. That can make a huge difference in the depth and quality of your learning experience. I say keep on asking your questions, and aim very high for yourself. Please post often as I'm very interested to see how things unfold for you.

Feel free to ask here on Cheftalk some of the questions you feel were not answered as well as you hoped, I'm sure among the large pool of talent here we can help.

BTW, I know of 15 variates of potatoes from Peru, what are some others.


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## gus20 (Jul 26, 2002)

Hello chefs and friends if i can be one of yours, thanks for answering me, now i dont feel like a black ship in class, hehe. Cape chef thanks for answering me, well im honestly just know some kinds of potatoes, cuz mos of them grow up in highland and i live in the coast, lest see ill say the types i know, the yellow poatoes, the peruvian yellow potatop, tomasa potatoe, canchan pottaoe, the black potatoe, the perricholi potatoe, the huamantanga potatoe, the huayro potatoes, ....and some more, these are the most common in LIma coast where i live but in highland u can find many diffrent, of diffrent colours inside, even i have checked in books of northamerican food, u have one of ours, its name is "the peruvian potatoe" its one kind that is purple inside, nice for doing chips potatoes and decorations. Yes ill write what will happen in my life during the school, it will be like an story.

Kate W thanks so much for ur story, im sure u though like im thinking now, knowing why makes it interesting. thank u  

Today i had pastry classes, a moka cake, the first time i do a cake, its truth, it wasnt easy for me, but it was good and ok, the pastry chef is friendly and funny, she says Gustavito ayayayayayayyyyyy, u like the theory, come on show me ur abilities, hehe, but it didnt look so bad, now ill practice at home this cake.
Thanks so much for answering again!!!! Many hugssss!

Sincerely yours

Gustavo!


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## fabcolombi (Aug 18, 2004)

Hello Gustavo, 
I'm also peruvian and i live in Miami. I'm 17 and i have been living here for 3 years and now it my time to go to college. I will be attending Johnson & Wales Univeristy in North Miami, Fl. As you might know Lalo Martins (The owner of Donatello in lima and a chef of tv a while ago) he's the parent of one of my best friends. I have some others in the family that share my same interest. Im from Italian descent and after I graduate i'm planning to open an Italian/Peruvian place. 

Hope to hear from you!
Fabrizio :chef:


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## deltadoc (Aug 15, 2004)

Hola Gustavo,
Your English is much better than my Espanol!!!!

I am honored to have shared emails with you. I continue to look forward to the interesting and knowledgeable things you can tell me about Peru and Peruian cuisine.

Your enthusiasm is absolutely admirable, and your energy is very obvious.

I am glad that your New Jersey relatives are helping you by providing funds to buy you culinary texts such as Professional Chef and Professional Cooking.

If you ever come to the state of Minnesota, I hope you will let me know, as I will be thrilled to meet such an unassuming and exuberant individual as yourself.

Vaya con Dios y hasta luego amigo mio.

Doc


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## luz (Aug 27, 2004)

I just want to introduce my self to you and to averybody at the forum:
I am a mother of 4 and a grandmother of 1 ( a 18 months old little monster)

I have loved cooking for my family and friends all my life and have compiled a lot of good EVERY DAY MEALS recipes and some others RECIPES FOR PARTIES AND REUNIONS ant there is the one COMMERCIAL RECIPES. Yes we had a restaurant too. It was a nice small coffe shop with doughnuts, cakes, cookies, burgers and tortas ( Subs?) , I am talking about some e Books that anybody can find at my site http://www.freewebs.com/luzalice/ and the one in spanish http://www.freewebs.com/luzalicia/ . Some are free and the others are only 2 bucks each. Anyway. I just wanted to offer you my sites beacause there is a lot of great information for a student like you.

I do speak spanish. It is my natural lenguage. I am now living in the USA. 
Hope you like my sites. I will be waiting for your comments.

Keep up the good work. Yours Luz.


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## gus20 (Jul 26, 2002)

Hi  , my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry i didnt answer cuz i didnt get the message from cheftalk, maybe it was my mistake i dunno. But im here, and i apologize cuz i didnt answered you.

Well i ended my third cycle in July, after that i supossed to have vacation, but i didnt. I was helping chefs at school, so i didnt have vacation, some days the chefs told me, Gustavo help me with 50 liters of brown stock and 50 of bouillon and i said, ok, or they called me home for help and i went inmediatelly, sometimes i stayed there all day, since 8 am till 8:30 pm, but i was happy, and they didnt understand why i was helping them, they asked me, dont u have anything to do? i answered i prefer to stay here than being at home or checking hotels for working cuz they wont give me work. And i enjoyed the school, a lot, some of the chefs became my friends, they joke me and i joke them. Of course some of them dont like me cuz im all day at school, they say in ironic way: "well u Gustavo, i guess u will stay today cuz u like helping, right?", some of them dont like some students improve, i dunno why.

Welllllll, i started the fourth cycle in August, 2 weeks ago. I have a new french chef, he is my instructor in the restaurant from the school. He has a michelin star........i know he is good at cooking, buttttttttttttt...............we had a discussion last week, ....he is a little arrogant and he gets angry easily, we are students, not professional students. When u ask, he says read ur recipy, and we dont understand his spanish, he cant speaks spanish very well, so we dont understand him well, and if i ask again, he says, ask other one for explaining you. 

I dont understand him, and my classmates hate him, and some chefs, too. Well he told me last time, read ur recipy, read it very well and do ur work. I made it, i read my recipy very well a night before and well after i made a coulis of persil and i put in bain marie? (baño maria) as the recipy said, so the coulis changed of colour cuz the clorophile died, but i didnt know that. 

He checked me and he asked me, its 11:30 and u are ready? i said yes, i made a paper of organization and i have ended early, he told me its very good, so suddenly he saw my coulis, he said: what´s this ****? ur ****ing coulis, all this is ****, ur work is ****, ur ****ing work, all ur ****ing work, and he didnt stop to say dirty words(dirty words), he said everything in english cuz he cant speak spanish, i told him i undertand what u are telling me, he continued with his dirty words; after he started to shouted me cuz my pilaf rice was bad. After the restaurant closed at 3 pm. I left the restaurant and i wanted to talk to the director, and the chef told me, where are u going? i said ill talk to the director, i was so angry. he asked me, whats the matter? the matter is your behavior, i told him, i don know where u come from, but here in Perú we are conservative, if u are polite u dont use that kind of words, and im an student, not one of ur workers, i study here and i deserve respect, he said, but the english is in that way; i said come on sir u were despective, impolite and despective and i didnt know about that persil coulis, the recipy was wrong. He said but my words are ok, i was serious and i told him a chef knows how to treat the workers specially if he is a teacher , i dont come to school for being insulted. He realized he was in a big problem, cuz i was right, and i told him about what i learnt about how a chef should be. And i told him, u shouldnt have said my work is ****, i have worked well, u have seen my work, clean, u have congratulated me before cuz all the chefs wanted to eat my goulash, so u are a bad teacher. And about the pilaf rice, thats the recipy i learnt at this school, the chef got angry and asked to the director if my pilaf rice was good and he said my pilaf rice was very good.
After the new chef said, im so so so sorry, i cant control my behavior in a kitchen, and i have been despective with you. I just told him, please realize u are at school, not in the streets or in bad place for talking in that way. My friends support me and some of my chefs, too. 

Well, but i have good news, my pastry chef asked me if i want to go to dominican republic in December to a resort, and i said yes, maybe ill go. And maybe next year ill go to CIA, in case i wont, i´ll stay here trying to study the roots of peruvian food and study more about peruvian food.

See u my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ill write u soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Imhappy cuz my family from nj is coming in 2 days and ill have so much fun, ill cook with my little cousins, ill speak english with them, hehe , they willlaugh  

SEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee you and smile, ok?  



Remember something,.u are the architect of your life, u make ur way, u are the owner of your dreams, just dream and u will get the stars!!!!!!!

Tavito


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