Cool Culinary Careers: Sports and Outer Space
by Judi Sandall
Chef School Review Columnist
Modern chefs are cooking ‘outside the box.’ Emeril has designed space-age recipes for NASA astronauts. Meanwhile, other chefs are preparing personalized gourmet meals for sports teams or overseeing the kitchen at your favorite sports bar. Culinary career options are more varied than ever.
Space Chefs
In an effort to raise public awareness for the International Space Station program and to improve the morale of the astronauts, NASA requested the assistance of celebrity chefs. The culinary mission: make freeze-dried food tastier. As astronaut Thomas Reiter put it, “Our perception of taste is a little bit decreased; we have a longing for a little bit spicier food.”
Emeril Lagasse answered the call. He obliged the astronauts by ‘kicking it up a notch’ with his recipes for jambalaya, mashed potatoes and bacon, and garlic-spiced green beans. Astronaut Jeff Williams suggested that Emeril join them in space some day as the onboard chef, to which Emeril replied, “Now, that would definitely be kicking it up a few notches.”
Sports Chefs
Another emerging culinary career is sports nutrition. One company, XALT Sports, hires “professional chefs, who all come from the top culinary schools and in many cases, have extensive experience in cooking for professional athletes.” These chefs prepare high quality personalized meals, geared to an athlete’s personal food preferences and nutrition needs. Sports nutrition programs seek to keep the athlete in peak competitive form by maintaining nutritional goals, even with the rigors of travel. Cost-effective gourmet meals are delivered directly to chartered flights in major cities throughout the U.S.
Sports Fan Chefs
Sports fans deserve quality cuisine too. New sports-concept restaurants have posted high scores by marrying brand identity with upscale cuisine and state-of-the-art sports viewing. Fox Sports Grill and ESPN Zone executive chefs prepare upscale menu items that are competitive with other noted dinner houses. In addition to traditional sports bar fare, the chefs also prepare items like Salmon BLTs and goat cheese bruschetta that have a more sophisticated culinary flair.
Culinary Career Combos
Today’s culinary school graduate has more career choices than ever before. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that job openings for chefs will be plentiful through 2014. As more and more culinary school graduates prepare for careers ‘outside the box’, you can combine your love for food with one of your other passions. Who knows, you may be the first chef to take your culinary expertise into outer space or to the table of your favorite NFL team.
About the Author
Judi Sandall is a technical writer, sports enthusiast, and regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Sources:
NASA
Nation’s Restaurant News
Xaltsports
Posted on April 2, 2007 at 1:09 PM
Earlier: Transform Your Cooking Talent into a Culinary Career
Later: Gourmet Special Effects, Courtesy of the Chef
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