David Chin

What about glazed strawberry shortbread tarts?

I lived in the Middle East for eight years; seven in Saudi Arabia and one in Lebanon. Nayan Gowda is right about the regional specialties. To make chicken schwarmas, I dry rub chicken breasts with garlic, ground cumin, salt, pepper, and some Old Bay seasoning. The chicken is cooked on a grill and coarse chopped. (The flavor of this chicken approximates the slow roasted meat that was used in Saudi Arabia.) The cooked chicken meat is mixed with hummus, chopped cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes. Minced onion may be added. The Saudis also use salted pickles. Surprisingly enough, this product has sold quite well in our student operated restaurant. We've advertised it as an Arab "taco" and every time we make it, it sells out. I think the trick to this product is two fold. You have to have a flavorful and slightly spicy meat. You also have to have a decent hummus because this spread will help bind all of the flavors together. I've tried various internet and cookbook recipes and have found them to be uniformly bland with insufficient garlic, tahini, salt, and lemon juice. As with most foods, I have simply adjusted seasonings to taste. At some point I will need to standardize this recipe for in-house production as I don't have any culinary students who can make a proper hummus.

In the Zen philosophy, there is the concept of wu wei, or effortless doing. This does not mean that the task at hand is actually effortless ... it just seems that way because of the practitioner's proficiency. I think good restaurants are practical examples of wu wei. Most customers don't see all of the behind the scenes effort that goes into a restaurant's daily operation. They don't know that your hostess called off, that two servers were no calls/no shows, that a prep cook under prepped several products, or that one of your cooks just went home sick. The ability of a restaurant staff to pull it together despite any problems that may have occurred is a practical exercise in teamwork, training, flexibility, creativity, and leadership. When everyone pulls together, the customers usually leave happy ... unaware of any behind the scene problems. Wu wei ... effortless doing ...

I was an elementary teacher for 17 years. After 8 consecutive years of working at American schools in Saudi Arabia and Beirut, Lebanon, I returned to the United States only to find that education was now dominated by a teach to the test mentality. I left the field of education, earned a degree in culinary arts and worked in the Hospitality and Food Service industry for several years. In 2005, I worked 360 out of 365 days die to problems with staff shortages. In 2006, I was finally given a week's vacation ... but was called back to work due to continuing problems with staff shortages. The GM apologized profusely and gave me $250 in compensation. Big whoopie. I worked nights ... weekends ... holidays. There were days when I'd close the restaurant and go home to get six hours of sleep, only to have to turn around and open the restaurant the next day. I found that I didn't have a life. The job was grinding me down to the point where all of the days were blurring together. At some point, I had an epiphany. Why was I working these horrible hours? Why was I working at a restaurant that was so short staffed that I typically worked a double shift ... without even the benefit of overtime pay since I was under contract? I thought back to my days as a teacher. Although I worked long hours in the classroom, I had weekends off. I had holidays off. I even had a 3 month summer vacation. I decided to go back into the classroom ... but this time around, instead of being a core academic instructor, I'd be a culinary arts teacher. I got a provisional CTE (career and technical) teaching certificate based upon my years of verifiable on the job experience. I then began applying for jobs, and eventually landed a position as a culinary arts teacher at a rural high school in Southeastern Arizona. In addition to teaching culinary arts, I supervise a student operated restaurant. I finished my first year as a culinary arts teacher last May and I LOVED it. I had two beginning classes and one advanced class. The beginning classes learned basic knife skills and the rudiments of nutrition and sanitation. I eventually began using them as prep cooks and bakers. The advanced students prepared all fast food items on our static menu as well as one daily changing plated meal. Advanced students also rotated through various stations during lunch ... working as cashiers, counter servers, line cooks, and dish tankers. By year's end, some of the more capable students were even running shift and creating and pricing original recipes. Although I had to take a summer workshop for structured English immersion, the rest of the summer was my own. It was GLORIOUS having time to sleep in, work on home projects, and spend time with friends and family. Although I'm not due to report back until 8/11, I've been going to school for a few hours each day. I've been reorganizing my office and revising lesson plans from last year. I've also started to price menus since food costs have gone up since last May. I must admit that in going back into the classroom, my prior years of experience as an elementary teacher really helped. My district credited me for 10 out of 17 years teaching experience. The fact that I have a Master's degree also pushed me up the pay scale. Had I been offered a first year teacher's pay, I would probably have not taken this job. Still ... with this being said, there are lots of Cordon Bleu schools springing up around the country. If you didn't want to teach at a high school, you could try teaching at a culinary school. You could also look for a position at a junior college.