Cook, Not Chef

There's a distinction to be made there.  I'm a good cook, but I'm not a chef.

I can follow a recipe.  I have even learned quite a few techniques from The Food Network, and I can employ these techniques correctly.  I even understand the "why" behind a lot of these techniques.  When I follow a recipe, it turns out well way more often than not.

This makes me a good cook.  It does NOT make me a chef.

I watch competitions on The Food Network like The Next Food Network Star, or the Next Iron Chef.  Even watching competitions like Iron Chef or Iron Chef America make me realize that I'm not a chef.

The people in these competitions take ingredients and from them, synthesize new culinary creations.  They take the ordinary and make the extraordinary.  They don't need directions to follow.  They don't need a specific set of measurements and directions to create something delicious.  They have the education and experience required to be able to create something new.

They have learned through education and through trial and error what can be combined to please the palettes of most people.  They know how to add herbs and spices in the right combinations to make something that tastes "right" to most people.  They understand which seasonings complement which foods.

So no, I'm not a chef.  But I'm content to be a good cook.  I like being able to replicate what culinary minds greater than mine have invented.  I like being able to RE-create delicious things that others have invented.