Chef as an Artist

         "A great chef is an artist that I truly respect." - Robert Stack

      In Babette's Feast, Babette, a chef in an exquisite Cafe Anglais at France, considered herself as an artist. She claims, "an artist is never poor." Within a context of food, can a chef be defined as an artist? Most certainly. An artist is not merely a painter, sculptor or writer that is dealing with fine arts. An artist for me is someone who puts virtue and value in imagination and creativity, creating delicate work that can be shared to the rest of the world.

      A chef has several components that meet my definition of being an artist. First of all, a chef needs to think outside the box by combining raw ingredients to make an incredible meal for other people. Raw ingredients are similar to paint, they are building blocks to make a masterpiece. As abstract as it can be, chef can combine weird ingredients to produce one coherent and beautiful dish. Who would ever think to make caviars out of black beans and truffle oil? Or who would ever think to combine Pistachio and a rack of lamb? These are the dishes that Ferran Adria creates, one of my favorite chef ever. The next component is cooking the ingredients and flavoring them. A chef needs to use their instinct to put the right amount of salt, pepper or other spices. Even recipes can't give a distinct direction on how much spices you need to put. Similar to art, two chefs won't cook the same way or produce the same exact dish because they have different taste buds and preferences. The last component is plating and presentation. Similar to painting, Chefs have to present their dish on top of a plate to show elegance so that people would want to eat it. With any kind of liquid, puree or sauce, chefs need to paint it on top of a plate for presentation. Their presentation of the food is similar to the cover of books. It invites people to pick it up and increase their appetite. Plating requires a lot of creativity and art, defining chef as an artist.

      Chef in a world-renowned restaurant has a big responsibility of creating memorable and exquisite experience for the guests. There is no doubt that chefs are artists. They create food that people can enjoy. Their food paint the tongue and taste buds of people. Similar to an artist, Chefs make a long-lasting impact in people's lives through the food that they create. Chefs are simply artists that use a different kind of medium (building blocks) to create their art work.