American Hospitality Academy has given me a living hell of unnecessary pressure and hardships at the kitchen. But it made me work with perseverance and determination as I take the road less traveled.
When I first started my degree in school, AHA are molding the student to become like soldiers. Wherein they follow set of standards or systems that are built to prepare the students at the reality of being a cook which are backbreaking and laborious.
First the school thought me “Fundamentals” like knife skills, cooking methods, sauces and stocks, cooking terminology and so forth. Secondly, discipline, for instances I can’t be late, uniforms should be wrinkle free, all cooking equipment must be complete, books, homework, notebooks and pen are no exception as well and so on. Lastly it made me develop my attitude and character.
To be frank, Chef Gene is like Gordon Ramsay, strict and keeps shouting at everyone, sending students home whom can’t comply to the rules and regulations of the school. Yet in the long run, he’s been simply doing this “training method” to show the students that the kitchen is not for a faint of heart rather a passion and desire to cook relentlessly regardless of the pressure that the world has to offer.
It has been an honor for me that I had survived and learned from him — his methods at the kitchen, made me competent enough to work, rather exceptionally a “seasoned chef” at the kitchen especially at the USA. Without his methods, I may not be able to handle the responsibility of leading the morning banquet at my current sponsored workplace, internship program, here in the USA.
– Chef KR Oquindo
Cook and Live the AHA Way 