Sorority/Fraternity Cheffery

[Malawry]

Has anybody ever cooked for a sorority or fraternity house on a college campus? Or do you know anybody who has? Any thoughts on this type of job?

[bilrus]

I was a member of a fraternity with a cook. I could't imagine a more thankless position to be in - no money for food, cooking for a large group in a small run-down kitchen.

I know we hated the food, but in retrospect Helen was working with some pretty limited resources.

The meals we liked the most were the ones that were the easiest to prepare. The ones we always complained about were I'm sure the ones that she put the most effort into.

[tommy]

we were lucky enough to have the best cook on campus. an old italian lady. she worked for next to nothing, but made some decent food. it was a huge selling point, and something that we were proud of. and, she was like a surrogate mom (or grandmom). in years following, they had a string of random alcoholic and down-and-out types. they didn't work out so well.

given the awareness of food in general these days, i would think it would be a good opportunity to work out some chops, and really impress, and possibly inspire, some young adults at the same time. i'd imagine larb might go over well. i wish i had larb once a month when i was 19.

[tryska]

i wish we'd had a cook when i was in college. hell i wish we'd had real live sorority houses. stupid nassau county zoning rules.

[Comfort Me]

A friend of mine cooked for a Hillel house, and while she really enjoyed cooking in a Jewish setting, she found it to be a thankless job. I can imagine that a house full of self-absorbed kids out on their own for the first time could be an environment which would offer plenty of challenges and very little in the way of appreciation.

That said, I've often harbored a desire to cook for a sorority or fraternity or a Hillel. Nothing makes me happier than feeding a crowd.

[Cusina]

I can remember being completely appalled at the way my husband ate in his fraternity house. It looked like wolves falling onto trays of onion rings, brownies and casseroles. 50% of the food was deep fried, the other 50% was cheese (actually, some of it was deep fried cheese). The only thing I remember being even remotely heathful in the place was the cereal bar and the milk machine.

Carrie, their cook, was a huge sweetie though. She loved those guys, dispensed lots of care, advice and chocolate chip cookies to her boys and even to a few stray girlfriends.

[tryska]

actually one of my sorority sister's older sisters went to an all girl junior college up in Mass somewhere - they had the best menus there. The girls got to request what they wanted and had meals of lobster thermidor and chocolate souffle. sounds like an ace cooking gig.

[tommy]

i should add that our house of self-absorbed kids was very thankful for the comradery and food. not to mention she cleaned the house to keep busy, including the occasional pools of vomit, i'd imagine. very thankful indeed.

she loved us and had a few nicknames. like "the little white boy", who was this skinny pale dude, and "the brown one", who was an indian guy. not politically correct, but endearing somehow.

she also had really interesting theories, like how the sun broke up into the stars at night, and then reformed in the morning. endless entertainment. so it doesn't hurt to be a little kooky too i suppose. always let them think they're smarter than you. i suppose that goes with most relationships, though.

Edited December 18, 2003 by tommy (log)

[bloviatrix]

I lived in for two years and ate a lot of salads because the food was so bad. I just remember a lot of rubbery chicken (which I never touched) and over-cooked fish. And limp broccoli.

Women are probably more difficult to cook for than men because so many women have weight meshugas. We had our share of eating disorders in the house.

[tryska]

ack. had to clean up after a bunch of TKEs once when i was a pledge.

to this day, one of the most disgusting things i've ever done.

[JPW]

My frat cook was also a DJ at a big Chicago reggae club at night. In addition to getting us in the door for free, he was also our connection for various other substances.

Once he was forced to leave town, quite rapidly I may add, we had a rotation of alums who took over the job. (This being during the first Bush's recession and college grads were having trouble finding work). I believe our menu was frozen Chicken Kiev and mashed potato(e)s from a mix for about 3 weeks straight.

[Pan]

actually one of my sorority sister's older sisters went to an all girl junior college up in Mass somewhere - they had the best menus there.

Guessing now: Smith?

For the record, my college (State U. of New York at Purchase) had no fraternities or sororities, and was so resistant to organizations that the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship closed up shop (yea! I don't know about other campuses, but they were a destructive cult on that campus), Hillel had trouble continuing, and even the Roman Catholic mass almost had to discontinue.

[Chris Cognac]

When I was living in the Kappa Sig house we had this guy named Lorenzo that was supposed to cook...He would sit there in the nasty dirty kitchen smoking a with the ash hanging out over the food....oh it was nasty....oh but I miss those carefree and innocent days now!

[beans]

About 2/3rds of the sorority and fraternity houses were on campus and a cook was employed by the University. In order to live at the house, on campus, there were several rules in place so it was not something that was too much of a horror for those university employees (I hope). We always took turns on helping with a side dish, salad or dessert and most certainly with serving and cleaning up afterwards. Our cook was a warm, grandmotherly sort. She often asked our preferences for menus, and did not work on weekends. She'd have stuff sort of pre-prepped for our convenience and it was a nice, but small commercial kitchen.

[Taboni]

Milt was the best. Big biker dude. Ex police officer. Everyone in town (Easton, Pa) knew Milt and Milt knew everyone. He managed to procure us a full 4 keg tap system for our barroom from a local place he heard had lost its lease and was closing down. He was an ok cook when he wasn't drunk (ever present Bud quart and Pall Mall red) but lets be honest, you can't expect much on the lousy budget these guys have to work with. Breakfast was always the best. He knew everyone's "usual" so you never had to order, just show up in the kitchen.

He always had a knack for "finding" menu items that were no way in our food budget, which was nice, and he would just say "someone left it here and I cooked it" He used to let anyone who was brave enough use his car as long as it came back. Great car...72 gold Ford Galaxy with no headliner, a rag stuffed in where the gas cap used to be, and Milt's name spray painted in big black letters on one side. I've met alot of different types of people in my short 40 years but never anyone quite like Milt. He wasn't a great cook but he was a great friend. I miss Milt.

[tryska]

actually one of my sorority sister's older sisters went to an all girl junior college up in Mass somewhere - they had the best menus there.

Guessing now: Smith?

no this was a really small junior college. I went up there once, because my roommate and i were piggybacking on a school trip to Montreal. I want to say it might have been Pine Manor - but not entirely sure.

[vengroff]

A couple years after I graduated I heard that our beloved cook Steve had been arrested for dealing crystal meth off the loading dock in the back of the house.

[Comfort Me]

Guessing now: Smith?

For the record, my college (State U. of New York at Purchase) had no fraternities or sororities...

You've made me laugh so hard -- a blast from the past! When I was a t NYU, a friend was dating a (dreadful, shrewish, hateful, jealous, pretentious, anti-semitic, wasp-ish, mediocre) girl who went to SUNY-P and visited frequently on weekends. I was dating this lovely, zaftig yiddishe maideleh with good self esteem and feer of no one who, every time she would see said horrible woman would ask "How are things at SUNY-P?" Except she pronounced it "Soon 'Ya Pee". Always made the harpy unhappy, which made my day.

I haven't thought about that in 15 years. Thanks!

[Malawry]

Wow, these are fascinating stories. Has anybody ever witnessed a fraternity or sorority chef who was a professional, concerned with presenting balanced meals of real food while sticking to a strict budget and caring for the brothers or sisters in the house?

I am considering a position as chef for a sorority house.

[Cusina]

Malawry, I advise a sorority chapter now. We don't have a house or a cook, but I would say, before taking the job, you should evaluate how strong the national organization is and how much alumni support the chapter has. The sorority women themselves come and go and are generally kind of fickle (most 18-22 year olds are), but the alumni who are involved will be there to stay and ultimately set the tone of the chapter. If there aren't many alums around to ensure that things go the way they should, the job might be pretty unpredictable.

That said, it is really rewarding to feel like you are setting a good example for college aged women. You can teach them alot if they are open to it and you are up for the challenge (and can endure the DRAMA! holy moly). I really enjoy volunteering with the sorority.

[Msk]

I was the steward in my fraternity for 2 years, it paid for my room and board in the Fraternity house. In that time period we lost our chef of like 15 years and I went through the interviewing process.

Our first cook was horrible, lets just leave it at that. THe second was a CIA grad that had lost her job because of a closing of the restaurant she worked at. She moved back to the area to be with family.

She was great. Our biggest problem was she tried to do too much. She would make calzones from scratch for dinner, but would fill them with "gourmet" fillings. Too upscale for the college pallate (at least many of the brothers).

We ordered food together. She created the menu for the week and we would go over it. We created the budget together.

She also catered numerous events for us, like formals and such. Many other houses hired caterers, but our cook did ours. I imagine this was a place for her to exercise some creative freedom. She was also a good friend.

She ultimately got hired away by a sorority who I'm sure appreciate her much more than our brothers did until she was gone.

So the right job may be better than you might have originally thought. However, If its bad, it will likely be really bad.

Msk

[Rachel Perlow]

Now that Rochelle has started this job, click here, I hope she lets us know how it's going.