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We started this school from scratch because we wanted to do it better and to do it right. We believe in good food. We believe in education. We believe in the communion that takes place between people sitting down together over an expertly crafted meal. We believe that learning to cook and bake should be affordable. We believe that solid skills, proper technique, educated palates, and comprehension of kitchen math are the cornerstones for cooks with futures, so that is what we teach. We are not perfect, but we strive for perfection. We expect our students to work hard and try every day and every minute. We expect the same from ourselves. We have heard our graduates referred to as 'Kitchen Ninjas' (at which we laugh but think that the term might fit). We do not want to take over the world. But we do want to make it a better place, filled with better cooks and bakers, better food, and a higher awareness of what it means to cultivate, harvest, render, prepare, cook, plate, present, savor, and give thanks, while taking responsible steps to make sure that those who come after us will have the same or better opportunities.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Take It With a Grain of Salt

By Chef Melinda Casady

I found myself talking this morning with a student and told him to “Take it with a grain of salt”. As soon as I said it, I really wanted to know where the phrase came from. I am a geek in all things not just food. Thank goodness the internet is on hand of all of my geeky trivia word origin needs and I found the reference immediately.

Of course this phrase that we have used willy nilly (another interesting origin for another day) comes from none other than Pliny the Elder (which makes me think of yummy beer). Thank you Pliny for all of your wisdoms.

This one dates back to 77 A.D. and is cited from Pliny’s Naturalis Historie, it is translated as so:
"After the defeat of that mighty monarch, Mithridates, Gnaeus Pompeius found in his private cabinet a recipe for an antidote in his own handwriting; it was to the following effect: Take two dried walnuts, two figs, and twenty leaves of rue; pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt; if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons for that day. "

Meaning that, things that might injure us can be offset by taking a grain of salt.

We also use it to mean that you can “accept it but maintain a degree of skepticism”. That nugget came a little later and some of the first written notes of it occurring in 17th Century English writing.
Coming from an Chef Instructor’s point of view I agree wholeheartedly many things are much better when taken with a grain of salt.

Excuse me, I need to go make hari-kari with my students and a Quiz review.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownJuly 2, 2010 at 8:49 AM

    Hi chef, reading this made me wonder where "hari-kari" came from. AND, though I thought it was some shakespear play about McBeth, it's dated back before 1853, aka "sepuko" (Japanese). I might add that wikianswers also said that it's a very honorable way to die, and the less noise you make (when you dissembowel yourself) the more brave you are. To boot, once you so ninja-like karate chop your head with a wakizashi (small sword) you get to have a friend finish you off (honorably ofcourse) with a katana (larger sword).
    yessssss!

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