Beyond the bullshit,mind numbing crap one is bombarded with by the likes of the Food network, there is an actual reason chefs of worth do what we do, the way we do it. No created for TV chefs, hey we can teach you just don't lose that smile, no talking heads,but real chefs. Chefs who not only know their craft but love it, live it, feel it to their very being. It is who we are. Hours spent getting it right, sweating endlessly in kitchens ,curiosity, flavors, textures, contrasts, that perfectly done something no matter how simple is a matter of intense pride. These are the ones we need to support, not for them but for what they represent. Passion.It is we who benefit, they make our lives richer more fantastical. Alas food is that moment, that release of ecstasy as great as any arisen from that prefect sunset, work by Leonardo, or word by Hunter S. Everyone who has put knife to board, diced an onion,made anything successful owes a debt to those before us. It is they who showed us right from wrong, how and why, the enlightened path to culinary greatness. Greatness surely not measured by celebrity, greatness measured by palate. Don't forget this, ever.
There is a reason great chefs are the way they are whether they know it or not. Like other artists, chefs may not necessarily do it for money or fame. No, they do it so you can feel what they feel, taste what they taste, see the world through their perspective, taste what it was like when that flavor was burned indelibly into their brain. It is wonderful that beyond the written word, or picture, these experiences can be brought forth as memories as vivid as the day they happened. Not by brush and pigment, or pen to paper but by the very tactile experience of which we all share, eating.