Good Cooks Cook on Any Stove
Hello and good day!
There is a funny movie that came out back in 2005 called Just Friends. I think I've seen it twice. It starred Ryan Reynolds.
The crux of the movie is that the Ryan Reynolds character was a dweeb in high school, and he was best friends with a super popular girl who he was secretly in love with.The girl was captain of the cheerleading squad and dated the starting quarterback, who was a jerk.
The dweeby guy doesn't end up getting the girl in high school, but he uses the experience as motivation to become a stud after he graduates.
He goes to the gym and builds a chiseled physique.He gets a high paying, prestigious, job and becomes rich.He dates lots of beautiful women.
And little by little by little, he starts to put his past behind him. But then his father gets sick, and he has to move back home to help his mother handle affairs. Back in his home town, he is forced to confront his past.
The girl he was in love with still lives in town and they reconnect. Being around her causes his dweeby tendencies to resurface! He gets nervous and flustered and starts becoming tongue tied and clumsy.
Gone is the new suave and debonair version of himself.In a last ditch effort to impress his first love, he decides to take the girl ice skating. He feels rock solid about his skating skills and he believes that he'll be able to put up a good showing and get things back on track.
Just one problem.His mom accidentally threw away his skates when she was cleaning the house! As a result, he is forced to use rented skates and a total catastrophe ensues.
He blows it front of the girl.He can't skate well on the rented skates.He keeps slipping and sliding around, falling down and crashing into stuff. As he picks himself up after falling for the hundredth time, he makes an excuse.
He says out loud that he can't skate well using rented skates.A kid close by overhears his statement and butts in with a retort.The kid yells "A good skater can skate on anything!".
I've always loved that line.I don't know why it has stuck with me all these years. I guess it reminds me of how cacao farm women cook such good food in such humble kitchens.
We've taken literally dozens and dozens of culinary folks out to visit cacao farms over the last 15 years.Invariably, they were blown away by the food they were served out on the farms.
And these weren't rookies.In some cases, we're talking about the top chefs in the world. When they went into the kitchen to give their regards to the chef, they saw how simple and rustic the kitchens were.Several commented that the dishes prepared in these humble kitchens were as good as, or better, than what they served in their own restaurants.
This makes sense when you think about it. These women have been making and perfecting their dishes for decades upon decades. They have TONS of experience.
On one occasion, one of these distinguished chefs decided to reciprocate. He went to the market and bought ingredients.The next day he went back out to the farm and cooked a meal for the cacao farm family in the same humble kitchen. The meal came out delicious.
I don't know why this thought is so satisfying to me.I guess I like the idea that a true expert can adapt to any situation.They are not dependent on fancy equipment and tools, necessarily.
Obviously some experts, like brain surgeons, need advanced equipment to be successful. However, it is the knowledge and experience that one carries with them from years of practice and hard work that is most important.
In most cases, advanced brain surgery technology has been created by brain surgeons who realized there was a gap in the capability of their machinery and the tools were invented to fill that gap.
But it was the real world experience that made the innovation possible.
Anyhow, I am running out of steam on this thought.
Thank you for allowing me to bend your ear (eyes?) for a moment today.
I hope that you have a truly blessed day!
Adam
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