Hello from London, UK.

[LeeGennings]

Hi everybody, 

 

My name is Lee and I am a recent university graduate who now hopes to follow my passion and become a chef. I will be attending Le Cordon Bleu London sometime in the near future where I hope to hone the skills to get me started in a good, well respected kitchen and continue my journey. 

 

My interests however, stretch much further than "the recipe" itself. What fascinates me is the social and cultural aspects of food, especially in a modern world, and what this means to us today. Its not just the practicalities of cooking I want to understand but how and why certain dishes came to be the way they are, or changed from what they were. The history of food is one reason I joined this forum. 

 

I grew up in a working class family and although my parents did their best, there was a distinct lack of knowledge when it came to food. I guess it was the repetitive, simple and in many cases bland meals that fostered my love for food today and led me seven or so years ago on a small-scale home cooking journey which literally changed my life. I learned very quickly that good food could be part of everyday life, that all you needed was sound knowledge and the passion to produce it. In part I would say it is this lack of knowledge, mass production and pre-packaged foods that led to the demise of British food culture. This is especially evident amongst the working classes, where eating out of necessity has led somewhat to the growth of a 'take away' culture that is killing us! This is a shame considering some of the greatest recipes were developed out of the creativity of the lower classes with minimal and/or lower quality ingredients. 

 

My hope is to use the skills in research I have been fortunate enough to acquire from university to explore and hopefully write about the history, social and cultural aspects of food as well as blogging my entire Le Cordon Bleu experience as and when I can attend. Until then I'll be browsing these pages with enthusiasm  

 

Looking forward to chatting with you all!! 

 

Thanks, 

 

Lee 

[Smithy]

Welcome, Lee! It sounds like you'll fit right in. People around here love to talk about every aspect of food, from the origins of a cuisine to the best recipe or technique for a particular dish, from sources of an ingredient to food ethics. There's something for everyone here.

I think it's interesting that what you describe as repetitive, simple and bland food led you to take a jump in the opposite direction. All too often, people continue in the way they were raised. Good for you, for breaking out of the mold. Here's hoping your family feels the same way. :-)

Come on in, explore the forums, and join the fun!

[gfweb]

Worthy goals, Lee.

[LeeGennings]

Thanks guys!! Well its a passion so I'm just going to throw myself into it and get as far as I can. If I didn't then I'd live to regret it. Now education is in the back pocket so to speak I feel its time to pursue a passion you know  

 

Any pointers in terms of good up to date food history books? 

 

Thanks 

[lapin d'or]

Thanks guys!! Well its a passion so I'm just going to throw myself into it and get as far as I can. If I didn't then I'd live to regret it. Now education is in the back pocket so to speak I feel its time to pursue a passion you know  

 

Any pointers in terms of good up to date food history books? 

 

Thanks 

Hi Lee

 

Re food culture and history you could do a lot worse than take a look at the proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery. The volumes are available for free download from their site http://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/proceedings/downloads/.

 

Good luck with your course.

[LeeGennings]

Thankyou for this lapin d'or

[Kim Shook]

Welome from me, too, Lee!  You live in one of my favorite places in the universe.  I grew up with a stepdad who was born and raised in London and he and my stepsisters nurtured a love of England in me.  My husband and I finally got a chance to visit a couple of years ago.  We spent some time in London and then went on a driving tour west and south.  From the first moment, Britain felt like home.  Can't wait to hear more from you.  If you have any interest at all in regional American foods, this is a fantastic resource: http://www.southernfoodways.org/