Preparation

Depending on how things work out, my time at The Culinary Institute Of America could begin as early as this summer or as late as next January. With this on the horizon, I have begun to prepare myself as best I can for the experience. Anyone who has attempted to cook or bake at a high level has daydreamed about this prospect. Like most of them, I had always considered the notion a pipe dream and accordingly sought out an inexpensive culinary education at the local community college. In a way, I'm glad to went to that level of culinary school first. Before that, I was just a foodie who'd watched a lot of Food Network and created dishes friends and family seemed to enjoy. Having had that experience though, I know what it takes and what moving around a professional kitchen feels like. Among the most valuable things I learned in my original culinary school was that I don't have the mettle to be a cook. Baking and pastry arts is where I belong and where the pace is something to which I can adapt. Looking back on everything is proving crucial as I prepare myself for entering the most prestigious school I will have ever attended.

Already owning some CIA textbooks, I will bake my way through them, especially if I don't start until January. This is not to say that I'll be able to pull off everything in those books, mind you. Even with particularly challenging things like croissants, it'll be quite helpful if I've at least taken a stab at them. As much as I struggle with cake decorating, it might be time to break out my old tools and practice writing, borders, crumb coats, splitting, and even fondant again. Risen breads, particularly those that require fabrication, are also something up upon which I need to bone. Practicing candy some more would also be advisable because, while most of the fruits of the crash course in confection I put myself through last Christmas were well-received, I still need to figure out how to consistently temper chocolate, how to not burn starch-based confections, and how to consistently achieve dark amber on my brittles. My strengths, as well as my weaknesses, are also something on which I have a pretty solid grasp. Cookies, the actual baking of cakes, muffins, frostings, and generally in the quick bread family are areas that I will still practice before I enter CIA, but I am not as concerned about my competency in those areas.

The other aspect of my preparation is basically the mental part. Autism has its limitations. Having not made friends in my prior culinary program, I do not and ought not expect to make any friends in this one. Hopefully, I manage to keep my social unpleasantness to enough of a dull roar that my classmates will be willing to cooperate with me on group projects and with the general teamwork needed to make any kitchen function correctly. Otherwise, I plan to keep to myself, treating the CIA as an entirely educational environment, much in the way I did high school. None of this is to say I won't be friendly or that I am not open to pleasant surprises. There is also the dexterity and coordination problems that I will need to be ready to work through, especially fine motor skills and operating a broom and mop. More generally, there is the endurance I know I will need to develop, which will be aided by all the practicing I intend to do. My feet will hurt, my back will hurt, my hands and arms will be cracked, burned, bruised, calloused, and cut. Kitchen pain is the most distinctive form of pain I have ever experienced and it's either worth it to you or not. To me, it's all worth it, and I intend to be ready when I attend the greatest culinary school on Earth.

-Frank