[Nfbwv-talk] Master Chef

[Karen McDonald]

Bre, I sure hope he enjoys it.  The cake I will make tomorrow 
will be one I haven't tried but it looked good and it's easy but 
most important, I have everything I need to make it, (smile.)
Karen

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Bre Brown <bre.brown24 at gmail.com
To: NFB of West Virginia Discussion List <nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:30:21 -0500
Subject: Re: [Nfbwv-talk] Master Chef

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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