A Communal Engagement

My name is Ian Auger and I am a line cook, living and working in Brooklyn. I do not hale from a tradition of culinarians nor do I possess an archive of knowledge acquired through years of professional cookery. My background is primarily in history and literature, and it wasn't until my sophomore year in college that I even considered professional cooking to be an avenue to pursue. As many do, I stumbled into a restaurant through a series of nefarious events, and I am now proudly a cook nearing the completion of his second year behind the line. In relative terms cooking is still new to me, and I have a very great distance to travel before I can claim any sort of authority on the subject. However, with an educational background that encouraged critical examination and reinterpretation, I bring my curiosities to the processes of cooking. Young in my career as I am, the question of why is often posed when encountering techniques both new and old, thus eliciting experimentation and reanalysis of that which is often taken for granted. I am far from the first cook to have pursued these interests nor am I the most qualified to engage in the deeper scientific explanations of why food behaves as it does; however, I offer my curiosities and the ensuing investigations to this forum with the intention of providing a framework for others to build upon and contribute alternative perspectives and information. I seek a greater understanding of our craft, and I hope to find answers through this group and the larger community of those engaged within the business of food.