# Seafood and School



## mizshelli (Feb 28, 2007)

Ok, heres the thing, I am going to culinary school in May because I love to cook and bake. Problem---I HATE seafood, I have never been able to aquire a taste for it. I see alot of really good chefs using seafood in their dishes and I am extremely jealous that they can do that. How am I going to get through culinary school without tasting any seafood dish I prepare??? Yes, I have tried Tilapia. It tasted like someone shoved a bowl full of dirt down the fish then tried to cook it.....I keep trying these things and my palate will not change. Lobster? Not even with butter and salt...Shrimp? *SHUDDER*. Should I just have everyone else in my class taste my dishes?? AGHH!:crazy:


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Your school and experience will hopefully help in developing/increasing your other senses involved in cooking. You should be able to taste your dish with those. Sight, smell, touch etc.
pan


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## erovegno (Dec 27, 2005)

Hello MizShelli,

I am currently in culinary school and have found that there are items your taste buds may not like. The fact is though that your going to need to taste the product youself. Last semester we made some gallentines. I was so put off by it, but I had to give it a shot. Needless to say it was nasty, but some people may like it. Me heck no. All you can do is taste it. Once you know what the product tastes like then you should be able to test it later when you make it for an establishment. Anyway good luck in school and I hope you have nothing but success.

Eric Rovegno


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## ras1187 (Oct 3, 2006)

I used to not like alot of things before culinary school, but then my palate gradually expanded as I exposed myself to them more and more. For the few things I still don't like, I do know what they should taste like and I do sample my dishes to make sure the taste is right, regardless of my preferences. Afterall, we are cooking for the customer, and not for ourselves.

Panini brought up a good point that there are other ways sensing your fish by touching, smelling, seeing, but taste overrules all of these in my opinion. While it is a good idea to let your peers sample your cooking and critique it, do not grow dependent on their opinion in substition for your own.

Any chef you decide to work for (unless the establishment is vegan/vegeterian) is going to expect you to know how to handle fish properly. 

If you cook a piece of fish to a perfect doneness, but don't season properly, your fish will taste bland, especially if it is a mild fish like tilapia.

Best of luck at school!

-RAS1187


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## sweet pea (Feb 5, 2007)

Funny you should mention that. My head cook also HATES seafood. I always have to taste the finished product because he can't stomach more than just a dab. I just don't understand it, but he does wonders with seafood using his other senses. Good luck with this, it will be challenging!


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## jchenschel (Mar 9, 2007)

I completely agree, you don't have to like the food, you just gotta know what it taste like for your guests. That's all that matters, in culinary school your not FORCED to EAT your Supposed to taste =D


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## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

All important points,
One more thing, your school probably holds practicals every few weeks in any given class, you will need to taste your work before presenting to your instructor. Unless a student is allergic to an ingredient I insist he/she taste it.This is all part of developing your culinary taste palette.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Whenever I hear people say "I hate such-and-such" I ask them why, and I don't let them get away with, "because it tastes nasty" or "because it's slimy." I want them to analyze the whole thing: the many elements of its flavor, the texture, the look, the smell. Anyone who wants to be a good cook, and especially anyone who eventually wants to become a chef, needs to be aware of all those things about a dish or individual food. If, after you've done the analysis, you can come up with more specific reasons, fine then, don't eat it. But school is to learn: so you have to taste and think. And it's the thinking that will help you succeed.

(As an addition to what Cape Chef said: when I was in culinary school, I saw another student disciplined because she refused to taste salsa at 10am. She said "Eww, it's too early to eat that." "Go to the Dean's office," replied the instructor. And that was that.)


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