Meet America's Young Aspiring Teen Chefs!

Shermie

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Do you know of any teenagers who grabbed the limelight, appeared on TV and have shown off their culinary skills & talents?

Here are two who appeared on the Food Network's challenge show Chopped.

They are Joel Allette & Hunter Zampa. Zampa went on to become the winner in an ep of the show, receiving a scholarship for a training course with the American Institute of Culinary Arts. :piesmiley1: :eating2:
 

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luvs

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i watched. i'm un-impressed. they're not adults. they're not in that industrial kitchen realm. wait until reality hits & mommy cannot pave their way, as adults. that school is not a school i would have chosen, either, tho--
 
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Shermie

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They have to start somewhere.

Some of the world-famous chefs started out cooking when they were very young kids, such as Emeril Laggase & Aaron McCargo Jr.. Laggase was 10 and McCargo was only 13.
 

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Shermie

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And here's another one who wants to become a chef and open his own restaurant - my grand nephew.

He likes to cook & bake, and he has cooked for me and his brother when they stayed at my house. I'm so proud of him!!

Does he look like he doesn't like to eat or cook? Hah!! :eating2:
 

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luvs

'lil Chef
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i began before i hit 5th grade. being a Chef requires skills unknown. i was a kiddo; not a Parents' hope of a future Chef/retirement dough. took me a few years -to be a a Doctor, or to be a Chef.......



& those guys mentioned- they're 2 of many, many Chefs. they gained (then lost) popularity via television.
 
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luvs

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& most real Chefs- they taste. that's that. some/many seem to think we dine as we choose. HA! we have staff lunches. leftover dinner meals.
 

Shermie

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There was a show titled Chefography that used to be on the Food Network. I've seen the reruns on its sister network the Cooking Channel.

It was a show detailing the biographies of the Food Network stars, how and when they started cooking and how it became their ultimate passion.

My grand nephew whose pic appears above, he likes to watch Guy Fieri and his show Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. And cooking is fast becoming his passion as well.

While he and his brother (who says that he doesn't like cooking) were up here, I gave him some pointers on knife skills. He saw me chopping a onion one evening while he was helping me cook. He was amazed at how fast I chopped the onion!! He wanted to try it as well, so I let him try it. I even showed him how to use the food processor!! He was amazed at how fast it pulverized & pureed a can of tomatoes!!

His mom was petrified when she found out, but I had assured her that he was in no danger of cutting himself, because I was supervising him to make sure that it didn't happen. He was trilled that he got the chance to use a Chinese cleaver to chop up part of an onion!! But who better can teach him right now than his mom, dad and me?!!

Of course, I wasn't going to just "throw him out to the wolves" (let him cook by himself) - not that!! It was my chance to be his "teacher" and give him an opportunity to help make dinner. Whenever I cooked, he was right there, offering to lend a helping hand. Of course, I just couldn't say no. He wants to cook, and he wants to do it for a living!!

I'm encouraging him to stick with it, get his education, go to collage and from there into a culinary arts school. He's a big boy!! The big kid whose pic appears at the top of this page reminds me of him!! He's also a big boy, so you know that he's been cooking for some time now!! :eating2:
 
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QSis

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I have not seen the teen version of "Chopped", but the adult show is REALLY intense! I am always amazed by their talent and creativity under all that pressure. I'll look for the teen version.

I loved "Master Chef Junior", where the oldest kid was 13! Those kids are absolutely, jaw-dropping, great!

Lee
 

Shermie

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Yeah, I wanted Joel to win, but sadly, it didn't happen. But I'm so glad that Hunter won!!

He beat the odds and came out on top!! But the others were also congratulated and won smaller scholarships to the ACAI, so they did not leave empty-handed!

Hopefully, Joel will return to the show for a 2nd chance to win!!
 

luvs

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i'll remain none too impressed. if only those talented tots knew of things to soon follow-- a family-esque kitchen is not comparable to an industrial 1.
 
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Shermie

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They're just kids, for Pete's sake. What on earth is so wrong with them wanting to become great chefs? I applaud them wholeheartedly.

As I explained to you before, great chefs don't just happen overnight. They start at home in the kitchen. Either food & cooking gains their interest, or they move on to do other things, such as becoming sports players, musicians or something else.

At least they are not hanging around in the streets becoming drug addicts, drug pushers, drunks, bums or gangbangers. They want to do something very positive with their lives, and what better way to do it than to want to make an honest decent living? :tiphat:
 
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Shermie

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I have yet to hear about a chef using recreational drugs or excessive alcohol, other than being told that Julia Child used to drink wine in excessive amounts on her cooking shows.

So you're saying that my aspiring & ambitious grand nephew might end up that way? He doesn't even like alcohol, nor does he like cigarette smoke, nor does he like enclosed areas that reek with cigarette smoke, even though he's too young to drink or smoke. When he & his brother were dining out with me, he told me that anything that ever even touches an alcoholic beverage, such as a cherry, he won't eat it.

I hope that his sincere & intense hatred against those bad things stays with him when he grows up! I'm quite sure that his parents, myself and others will be there for him to help him get through any bad times and bounce back into his happy self.
 
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Shermie

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i close my book on this 1. except to say, many Chefs use drugs/alcohol when reality begins to adhere.

doctors, too.

http://www.thefix.com/content/addictive-careers-6596?page=all



Not for nothing, but I have to speak out again on this subject.

I don't have any beefs with you ate all. I've never disrespected you at all, and I want to keep it that way.

But whatever may be going on in your life is none of my business, and you have absolutely no right whatsoever to bash young children or anyone else for that matter just because they want to become chefs.

I'm very proud of them and my grand nephew for choosing that line of work. That is all. :bonk::eating2::piesmiley1:
 

luvs

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i'm not bashing--plain & simple. i'm saying, & i know via my own eyes & ears, that there is a very high rate of substance use in Chefs. very.

they're mostly teenagers on those shows- higher education & real life pressures & realities often begin to hit during those & following years, then follow these guys. a reality. u cannot dispute fact.
 

Shermie

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i'm not bashing--plain & simple. i'm saying, & i know via my own eyes & ears, that there is a very high rate of substance use in Chefs. very.

they're mostly teenagers on those shows- higher education & real life pressures & realities often begin to hit during those & following years, then follow these guys. a reality. u cannot dispute fact.



That theory is mostly said about former child actors who have gone awry. Gary Coleman was one, Todd Bridges, Maculay Culkin and Drew Barrymore, to name a few.

But I've never heard of chefs at any age that I know of having done that.:mellow:
 

rickismom

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I agree luvs - if you're ever read any books about famous chefs you will find that Mario Batalli not only does cocaine but goes on drinking binges where he'll polish off a case in one evening!
 

Shermie

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But still, on one can really predict or theorize the actual future of these bright brilliant young teen chefs, except for me to say that I truly hope that they succeed very well in life and become the young brilliant adult chefs that they would like to be.

I'm not predicting, nor am I wishing any bad luck on them at all, but I always believe that out young children become happy and successful at what they do, as long as they don't do things to hurt themselves or others along the way. :piesmiley1::eating2:
 

Shermie

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I see my grand nephew (pictured above) becoming the size & talent of the young teen
Joel Allette (top left at the top of this page).

He's always in the kitchen and likes to know more & more about cooking & baking!! I hope that his passion for food & cooking grows even more as he gets a little older!! Hah!! :piesmiley1::eating2:
 

luvs

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u just dunno until you've gone there & worked that place. & i won't/cannot say 'sorry' fer speaking fact. i know. i lived that. saw it. know it. knowledge is a major factor in so many things.
again, not downing-- simply speaking of truth.
Chefs have not got things easy- lemme tell u.
 
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Shermie

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I love to cook & bake, which is why I decided to go into culinary arts training.

The problem was, is that when I completed the program, I had a bloody hard-as-hell time trying to find a job in the field!! Ended up with some thankless demeaning job working in the bloody dishroom!!

Them I got stricken & sick! That is when I decided that no job like that is worth keeping, if it is going to become a life-or-death decision, so I left it!!

I will NOT work in a dishroom again!! They can go kick rocks!!! :furious:
 

luvs

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i'm ill/near death. i have a feeding tube, a pacer/defribbilator, have gotten jumped to life multiple times....... gives me further reason to continue on. my doctors-- they're amazed i'm alive. i'll work myself until i dissolve. work ethic. that was placed into my mind when i was a mere tot. u simply cannot give in. u cannot. not where i was raised, anyhow.
u gotta get references. great ones. not mediochre, not chitty. great. & a many a Chef that has u under their wing may well provide 1.
 
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Shermie

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I'm so sorry to hear about your illness and the many health problems that you have!! I didn't know that you had that many health issues, and I hope that there is a way for you to rebound from all this!

As for me, I'm not even LOOKING for a job as a cook or a chef. I'll be lucky if I get a light duty job sitting down, because I can't stand up too long. My legs start to hurt from diabetic nerve pains. That was one of the problems associated with that job that I had working in the dishroom!!

I had to go to the men's room and pretend that I had to go to the toilet just to sit down and get off my legs for a while!! Working 10-hour shifts was just too much for me!! And they only gave me one break the whole time there, which was lunch break!! Part-time people got no break at all!!

This is part of why I just gave up looking for a job. Too much crap to have to go through just to keep a job!!! It is not worth it any more!! My hard labor work shifts are done!! My health and well being come first. :sad:
 

luvs

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yeah, i'm ill. very. 'cept, i give my best to staying here & being okay, i defy odds as often as i can. none too sure as to how. neither 'er those pros that i see so often. i luv baffling my doctors. gives 'em food fer thought.:corn:

have u got neuropathy-- i have that. i make myself look beyond that, tho. i hear you, except my mind says, 'keep occupied. u won't think over stuff so often.'
 
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luvs

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Well, I hope that you get well soon. :wink: :piesmiley1: :eating2:

i have a few working on me- docs, ppl i know, cooks, Chefs. 'cept very few know of my situation unless i choose to let 'em know. they feed me, anyhow. they push food on me (my home nurses, namely--) kinda often. i use my tube feeds, too. it'll blow over, sherm, & then i'll be healthy again. i think i may be in kidney failure again, except i have a doctor's appt. very soon. she'll look into that one.
 
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