Ode to english class

I've never been much for writing.

I mean grammar... punctuation...i remember learning about it in school, but once that was over you really dont keep up on it and i think with most people the "rules" of proper writing slowly dwindle with time. I just try to throw in comma's and periods here and there to make it look like im not a complete idiot, and get on with it. No matter how many times i re-read what i've written im never content, but cant bother to perfect it. 

I cook for a living and free time is too precious to waste on editing. Which brings me to my reason for being here.... Charcuterie. 

The art of curing, cooking, and smoking meats. An art that so many people enjoy eating but have no idea how it's really made.  Something which most chefs have dabbled in but few have mastered. No doubt because their time is consumed by the rest of there menu. 

Well folks. I've been cooking for what feels like forever, but in actuality has only been since 99. I have been a sous chef at several great restaurants in Toronto and its probably my time to take an executive role somewhere. make that jump, get paid that good stuff, maybe even paid vacation, perhaps even benefits if i play that corporate card right. But the more i cook in this high end restaurant business, the more i want nothing to do with it. 

This blog is the birth of new era in my life as a cook. I am leaving (at least i hope im leaving) this fine dining scene and enter into a world of tradition and technique. Perhaps its just 230am, i cant sleep and my life is feeling turned upside down as i leave behind the only thing i've known for almost the last decade and this blog will be forgotten about come morning time when i have to go back to work in just a few hours to finish my last month at work. But perhaps it wont. Maybe, just maybe i'll stick with it as i have with my daily attempts at quitting smoking yet never succeeding. If so, its bound to be around for a while. Although i do plan on quitting smoking....soon. Hopefully this sunday before my dentist appointment.... 

 So as i end with my conclusion... this blog will be used to track my progress in the art of charcuterie. It will help me to remember to weigh things, right down temperature and dates, and to truly think about tastes and flavors as i transfer then into words. I will share with you everything i can in regards to what i make as i believe the sharing of knowledge is something not practiced enough in this industry, especially when it comes to curing meats. And as soon as i figure out how to put up pictures, it will be game on.