Perfection

Much has been discussed throughout history with regards to perfection. An ever-elusive goal, perfection has been the siren's call for mankind. A conversation for philosophers, artists, engineers and Chefs alike.  For sure, there is no more innately human quest than for the compass setting to reach the elusive shores of perfection through the rocky, turbulent coastline of achievement. Sadly, (and somewhat discouragingly) when you consider that the carrot on the end of the stick will always remain unattainable, perfection is most commonly equated with an abstract scaling towards that which is good. The thought that a tangible, perfect item exists is erroneous; exponentially so when you factor in the plurality of everyone's individual ideals of perfection, and infinitely so when you factor in the ideals of perfection throughout the ages.  Many things elude to, but fall short of, the destination. Perfection is indefinable. It all (and we all) miss the mark. Instead it might be wiser to view perfection as a journey; a search for perfection whose path is paved with imperfect stones. Perfection, ironically enough, is easiest to find when looking at something done wrong. And what better place to find a kitchen anecdote than here?

It was a day like any other; production for the day’s service was moving along, for the most part. Today's perpetrators were lollygagging in their work, thinking that they were better prepared than they were (as is always the case). So, they were not moving at an optimal speed for success, nor were they paying proper attention to detail; not ideal characteristics for successful cooks. Unfortunately this particular station was all about details in advance, it was my garde manger station. And the task at hand was the ever humbling crouton. You see a crouton, when done correctly, is a beautifully cut dice (in this case) of bread which has been carefully trimmed of the crust and sauteed in butter until a golden brown crunchy pillow of bread is produced. They go on a salad (in this case).

Well that's the way I would like them anyway...in my perfect world. But, it’s not a perfect world, RIGHT?

As it turned out the rampant torpidity had caused the station to fall behind and the cooks make a last ditch effort to catch up. With time fleeting and no time to do the job properly, vis a vis saute the croutons in butter, the anxious cook tossed the delicate cubes onto a sheet tray, drizzled them sporadically with half melted butter and dismissed them into the oven. SLAM. The minutes passed when an attentive cook would have remembered to pull the mise en place out of the oven for service. A distracted cook might have even remembered to pull them when the first order for the salad came into the kitchen. However this kitchen "Nero" has the capacity to neglect them joyfully until a billow of smoke made everyone in the kitchen painfully aware that the guest would be waiting more than a few minutes for their simple salad.

Moments later the cook approached.

“Chef? Is this too burnt?” smoldering sheet tray in hand.
I don't know, what does one say at a time like this. The waste of time and resource, the disillusioned guest...

“No Nero, it's not too burnt....you burnt it perfectly.”
"So what should I do?" crocodile tears began begging for a lifeline.
"Again." I paused, "You should do them again."
"Really?" he questioned. "Again? Are you serious?"
"As far as you know Nero, I've never lied to you. So yes, again."
"Chef, why do you keep calling me 'Nero'?" he paused.
"Look it up. You might learn something. Right now, I want my croutons!"

It's amazing how fast a cook can produce croutons when they need to; especially when compared to the inordinate amount of time he fiddled about when carbonizing the first batch.

Can true perfection be achieved? Depends on how you look at it. If it is a perfect perfect than no. Objective, absolute perfection cannot be achieved in that abstract "good" way,. There will always be a flaw. Don’t fool yourself, you are not perfect. What you do is not perfect. Nor is anyone else for that matter. And if you think otherwise that’s just pride talking. Intrinsically we know this; even our superheros that we create have innate, built in flaws that somehow make us relate to them and feel better about ourselves. Instead, you should be realistic and know you will never attain perfection, but you might come closer than before or even closer than anyone else. But know this, you will move towards but never arrive at your destination. Take heart though, it is that pursuit which makes it worthwhile. Look forward to the time when you are less imperfect than you are now.

Absolute objective perfection…not a reality, not in this world anyway. Everything and everyone is, to some degree, imperfect. Embrace it, learn from it. Unless of course you are talking about a perfect imperfection...than yes, there are plenty of those already.