This ‘Treasure Book’ by James Petersen takes on us on a family route more than many. For it was in this book that I helped our son, Justin. Backstory. He grew up in the business as do many of the children of people I share this industry with. He was busing tables on Saturdays by the time he was 13. He entered our pastry department at 22 getting the timeless lessons from our various and patient, talented Pastry Chefs during our long tenure in Coral Gables and then Orlando. He learned so much! But in time he got wanderlust. It runs in the family. We worried, as parents always will but knew he had to find his road.
In the interim Janet and I had taken on a new, huge resort project in Key West and returned to live there. I thought we would return to the island for the remainder of our lives. But that is another story. Justin spent time in Illinois, Colorado, California and more. He was born in Key West and also had a deep love for it. Eventually he decided to come home and see what we were up to.
One afternoon while I was in our kitchen in Key Haven which overlooked a bucolic canal. He bounded up the stairs to the second story and surprised me. He said, “Dad. I want you to teach me how to cook”. After at least a minute of shock, I knew he meant it. But … I was not sure how to go about it. I thought he knew plenty. But this is the thing with cuisine. And I know it deep in my heart. There is always more to learn! He is much more methodical in the way he processes learning. The way I learned was part ‘seat of the pants’ … and part cookbooks and the totality of reference books I’d gathered over the years.
I came across this book before you. It became the curriculum for how I would programmatically work with him in his quest. For a few months we literally planned, cooked, taught/learned and ate out of the pages of, “The Essentials of Cooking”.
Thank you James Petersen for sharing your passion for cuisine and the methods for producing it!