Greetings and welcome to Cooking-Dojo!
It is here within these virtual walls that I would like to share my "Way of the Warrior", or rather, my "Course of the Chef." Much like any martial discipline (shout out to yoga too!), good cooking is grounded in applying proper techniques (striking, grappling, alignment, braising, roasting, etc), lots of practice, and the heart of a champion to always get up when life knocks you down!
My journey began about a year ago when I began training in judo, taekwondo, and akido. The goal was to get into great shape, work on getting belts, and to test myself against others in competition. During this intensive training period, I was invincible! There was no way that Johnny of Kobra Kai was gonna put this Quinja-san in a body bag!
After a few months of training, I got a cool work assignment and was sent to Oxford, England for six weeks... during a night of intense merrymaking (Apparently, there was this "futbol" World Cup going on at the time.) I got accidentally knocked down and I realized, "I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up." [look it up on YouTube] It dawned on me... I was not invincible! All the martial arts training had made me mentally tough - I simply blocked out all the pain! Yes, size matters in martial arts... that's why they have weight classes! (Granted in the Thunderdome early days of the UFC are an exception but the sport has gained rules during its push for mainstream acceptance.)
Coming back to the United States (and some would argue -- coming back to my senses), I realized that, coupled with my horrible breakfall technique, 50lb+ differential in sparring partners, and likely countless mini-concussions... I needed to try something different so when I heard about this class called "Knife Skills"... Much to my chagrin, this was not a weapons class!
However, the Way of the Warrior changed to the Course of the Chef...
The mission of Cooking-Dojo is...
1 - A place where aspiring Chefs can practice and share their techniques!
2 - A place where we can all laugh... hey, so long it's not a mortal "flesh wound!" [British accent]
3 - Hopefully, you will like and follow my blog as my goal is to audition for Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef or Chopped. Why? Back in elementary school, I had a childhood "friend," Mary Theresa... I don't know what her current situation is, but if she's watching...
OK, so that's the storyline from Slumdog Millionaire... but hey, I had to give some love to my women readership out there!
No, the real reason is this... much like the guys on The Ultimate Fighter, I want the opportunity to test my culinary skills against the best... you could say... I want to be The Ultimate Foodie!
Shout out to BJ Penn and Hawaii...
Shout out to GSP and Canada...
I'll end this first blog with an inspirational quote for aspiring chefs... (Check out around the 20 second mark of the clip.)
"[Cutting] boards don't hit back."
- Bruce Lee's comeback when the villain O'Hara tries to scare him, Enter the Dragon (1973)
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