[Nfbwv-talk] Master Chef

[Bre Brown]

First, happy birthday toEd. I am sure he will enjoy his meal.

I will take my steak done.

It feels so good to be able to cook in the kitchen as a blind person.

Bre

On 10/17/12, Smyth, Charlene R <Charlene.R.Smyth at wv.gov> wrote:
> Feature Writer Alena Roberts - Interview with the Winner of Master Chef,
>
>
> Christine Ha
>
>
>
> I recently had the privilege of interviewing Christine Ha, the visually
>
> impaired winner of this year's Master Chef contest. She was a pleasure
> to
>
> speak with and I hope that my questions shed a little more light on who
>
> Christine is and how we can learn from her example. My questions below
> will
>
> start with the letter "A" and her answers will start with the letter
> "C."
>
>
>
> A: I know our readers would really appreciate some tips. I myself am not
> a
>
> good cook, but I know a lot of us are. Do you have some simple things I
> could
>
> write up on how we can feel safer in the kitchen and how we might be
> able to
>
> expand on our potentially simple dishes?
>
>
>
> C: Sure, there are some things I can come up with off the top of my
> head, and
>
> this is not just for visually impaired cooks. I think it's really
> important to
>
> have sharp knives. Spend some money on a good sharpening block. Often
> times
>
> our knife sets come with that tool, it's actually a honing tool, that
> people
>
> think is a knife sharpener. That tool is actually for honing after you
> sharpen
>
> the knife to get metal bits off. The reason why it's so important to
> have a
>
> sharp knife is so you don't have to use as much pressure. It's much
> easier to
>
> cut things and the slice is cleaner. When you're slicing and using less
>
> pressure, there is less danger of the knife sliding out of your hand and
>
>
> causing injury. So, contrary to what you might think, a dull knife is
> more
>
> likely to injure you then a sharp knife.
>
>
>
> Organization, I think, is also key. I think that most vision impaired
> people
>
> know the importance of organization since that's one of the ways you
> gain
>
> independence. So in the kitchen, being organized is also part of gaining
>
>
> independence. Hopefully the people you live with will be respectful of
> your
>
> need for organization and put knives back where they found them, spices
> back
>
> where they found them, and other gadgets back where they found them. I
> think
>
> that this is key to being a successful cook when you're a visually
> impaired
>
> person.
>
>
>
> For those who want to start expanding on their cooking it's important to
> note
>
> that I am pretty much self taught. I started cooking from cookbooks. I
> would
>
> read recipes straight through and follow them to the T. So once you
> learn how
>
> to follow a recipe and understand certain techniques and how things will
> turn
>
> out, then you kind of start understanding the science behind it. I think
> you
>
> should then start venturing out. For example you can take a recipe and
> start
>
> adding different spices and playing with the ingredients and being more
>
> experimental. Once you're confident in turning a recipe that's already
>
> established into something that's more like your own, then you could
> step up
>
> to doing something like we did on the show with mystery boxes where you
> just
>
> mix up things that are in season or gather what looks good at the
> grocery
>
> store and then just come up with something. That is something that
> definitely
>
> takes time and the desire to learn such a skill, but I think if you
> learn
>
> flavor profiles, what goes well with what, I think that helps with
> cooking.
>
> Sooner or later you got to let go of that cookbook. There's going to be
> a lot
>
> of trial and error, a lot of bad food, but you've got to spread your
> wings and
>
> let go.
>
>
>
> A: I know that a lot of visually impaired cooks are fearful of
> under-cooking
>
> meat. I myself have turned to using the crock pot as a way of ensuring
> that
>
> the meat is done, but there are only so many things you can cook in your
> crock
>
> pot. I also don't want to overcook my meat. Some might say that you just
> cook
>
> it long enough to make sure it doesn't hurt you, but then it might not
> taste
>
> good because it's overcooked. So what do you do to ensure that you're
> meat is
>
> cooked properly?
>
>
>
> C: I myself have no problem with tasting my food as I cook it. If it's
> raw
>
> then I'll spit it out and continue cooking. It's important to use
>
> thermometers, especially when cooking meat. I myself use talking
> thermometers
>
> in my kitchen. When you're cooking steak, a rack of lamb, or other
> meats, it
>
> comes down to the temperature when you're determining if it's rare,
> medium
>
> rare, or well done.
>
>
>
> A: Are there things you avoid when cooking, or is everything fair game?
>
>
>
> C: There are definitely things I tend to avoid cooking at home just
> because
>
> it's messy or requires a lot of precision. For instance, I'm not a big
> fan of
>
> seafood. I will scale a fish if I have to, but I would prefer not to.
> When I
>
> was on Master Chef, though, I was open to everything.
>
>
>
> A: What was the overall reaction from your fellow contestants when they
>
> learned you were visually impaired? I know that I saw a number of
> episodes
>
> where there was a lot of negativity and bitterness. I realize that this
> is
>
> reality television and that there's an editing process, but I'm curious,
> was
>
> there any point where you said to yourself that you weren't sure you
> could
>
> deal with the attitudes?
>
>
>
> C: I wasn't taken seriously at the beginning when there were still 100
> of us.
>
> I was come up to and asked things like, "Do you use a knife?" A lot of
> people
>
> thought I was going to stand on the sidelines and tell a sighted person
> how to
>
> make the food. As the competition continued it got better, though. I was
> often
>
> picked last for the challenges, which makes sense from the other
> contestants'
>
> point of view. When this happened, though, I did my best to prove to
> myself
>
> and the other contestants that I wasn't a disadvantage to their team--I
> just
>
> had to do things a little differently. I felt like I had to give my 200
>
> percent in comparison to the other contestants, but all in all I'm good
>
> friends with many of the contestants on the show and I have never felt
> pure
>
> negativity directed at me personally.
>
>
>
> A: Now that you've won the competition do you have any plans for your
>
> winnings?
>
>
>
> C: Since part of winning the competition is getting my own cookbook, I'm
>
>
> working on that. As a writer I'm excited about the writing process and
> the
>
> narrative of the book. I'm also gathering recipes that I want to
> include.
>
> Outside of that, I'm trying to finish my masters program since my other
> love
>
> is literature. I'm working on my memoir. My memoir won't focus on
> cooking, but
>
> rather dealing with my vision loss and my medical condition. I'm also
> planning
>
> to write up a formal business plan to present to investors. My hope is
> to open
>
> a gastro pub and an ice-cream shop in Houston where I live.
>
>
>
> We wish Christine the best of luck as she moves forward with her new
>
> endeavors.
>
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