| This is an excerpt taken by something that was written by myself and one of my (now) best buds, Chez Bulla... Before I met Bulla, (and ever since) he has had a way with words to provoke thought and that is the reason I am posting this on my website. It is definitely an insightful thought. chefmike wrote.... Y'all are bringing up things that are confusing me personally. Somehow we got talking about gastroporn, cookbooks and mags...Here is a post I wrote at http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/culinaryartistschefitup a month or so ago, and I have been arguing with myself about publishing a cookbook... Post from Culinary Artists read.... "I got into a pretty lengthy discussion with one of my mentors last evening about the directions I wanted to go with my career. He is an exec on the infamous "restaurant row' in DC. I am in the process of writing a small cookbook and am making a video hopefully in April. This AM he sent me an article from Gourmet mag titled "Should a Chef write a cookbook?" A very interesting article...I would be interested in hearing what others think of this question. I posed my own argument with Chef, but would be interested in hearing from others of what they think, I am not talking about from a profitability standpoint, just the essense of writing and publishing one from a chef's point of view..." chefmike And here was the most thought provoking response I had: "I think there are those that can write, and those that can't write. There are those that live for the kitchen, and those that are looking for other ways to make money in this industry. There are those that are born to be Chef's because they can organize and delegate, as well as cook. (It's like being a military officer.) And there are those that follow orders and do what they are told with no desire to lead. There are those Chef's with something to contribute that is new and fresh. Then there are Chef's that want to write about classic cooking and only what they have learned from others. My formula for "Should a Chef write a cookbook." Passion or Knowledge (0-10) + Originality (0-10) + Experience (0-10) + Capability to write (0-10) + Reputation (0-10) If you have a score of 50, well, someone could ghost write for you, and you are on the upper scale of public chef's. Something like Emeril (although I would give Emeril about a 35.) I keep seeing more and more products from Emeril in the Grocery stores every day. How many of those products do you think he is responsible for? I have one of his cookbooks. Did he write it? I think he consulted on it. Definitely write a book, and make some money. If you have, say, a 20.. you are probably on track with writing a book. Depending on your strengths, you could self-publish and sell the book in your restaurant, or if you are well recognized, get a limited publication from a publishing house. If you have less than 10, with a 1 or more in each category, then it's time to work on those things that would make your book popular. That is, if you REALLY want to publish a book in the ultra-competitive cookbook world. Should a Chef write a cookbook? If that's what the Chef wants to do, then the Chef should go for it! It's one of my goals. I am at a score of about 15 right now. (I have a big ego.) Working on the important stuff. One of the more important questions from this discussion, does a Chef want to be a Public Chef or a Restaurant Chef? Also, anyone who can discuss food in the written format on the internet is well on his/her way to writing about food and cooking. Bulla " This was written back in February and because of a lot of factors...Chez Bulla's response, plus the encouragement of others I have obligated myself to a couple different cookbook offers. I did it on the net...so I figured me and my circle of friends, chef's and culinarians can do it worldwide Boy Howdy...Chungachungabam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Peace, Hugs and Cookies, chefmike |
| Should a Chef write a cookbook? |