Allez Cuisine... for Geriatrics: Go Cook for Comfort

I would like to introduce you to a different world of cooking. Imagine a kitchen where you are never in the weeds, where the temperature never rises above 82 degrees, where 401Ks are not a reference to baseball strikeouts, where the beer flows like wine. No not Aspen.  I’m speaking about a place that most of us will end up.

Retirement homes.

Welcome to the world of geriatric cooking. Yes, old people. However, I feel that I must make a distinction. This is not cooking for people that can’t feed themselves or need a blender to eat. I don’t work in a nursing home - not that there is anything wrong with that. I happen to work in a “retirement community.” I call it that out of respect for the residents, after all many are war vets, factory workers and in general blue collar, salt-of-the-earth people. Many of the residents still drive, basically most still have a good quality of life with some assistance from the staff. I must stress that it is very important in this type of cooking arena to tie the cuisine we serve to memories and comfort for these wonderful people. After all, taste and smell are tied to memories much in the same way music is. A certain song may take you back to a concert a few years ago or to the time of your first kiss or that time you took too much peyote and ended up in a Las Vegas motel room and all you can remember is getting tea bagged by a minor - sorry I spelled that wrong I meant a miner, like a coal miner...

Food brings you back.

So with that in mind, our residents' comfort is our top priority when planning and cooking. They are the reason we give 100%, 100% of the time. The residents are the reason that I have self fulfillment from this line of work. It is paramount that we create that type of cuisine, no matter how difficult, so we can provide these people comfort and pleasure in the final years of their lives.

Like I stated prior, just the smell alone of a roasting turkey or fresh baked apple pie can take you back to that special place or time. So, we have weekly meetings with the residents (called menu chats) in order to make the dishes they want, not what we would like to make. A lot of these comfort foods are what you might refer to as simple American comfort food: Meatloaf, mac-and-cheese, breaded pork chops, chicken noodle soup, etc. We do step it up a notch and get a little creative. Our mac-n-cheese for instance has three cheeses, ziti, and bacon-breadcrumb topping, yada-yada. Also we do have a “theme meal” once a month were we do make top notch cuisine, whether the residents like it or not! After all, it is important to try new things, even if you are 95. We almost never use canned or pre-made anything. We order proteins locally, along with produce from the market. The dairy and the bakery is also local. Just like the "real" restaurants do.

My point is this: my job is very similar to that of a restaurant line cook/chef. 

For most people eating is the highlight of their day. It is what gives us pleasure and comfort on a regular basis. However, the culinary road I travel is different than the standard restaurant, each with its own pros and cons. The customers are the same every night and meal time is the only social time in their day. It is important to provide great service and great food each and every night, just as you would in the “real” restaurant world. The importance of our efforts though may in fact be greater: My guests chances of this being their last meal are much higher. After all, whether it is the new hot Bistro downtown or it is the retirement home across the street from a flower shop, you are only as good as your last meal, doubly so when it might be theirs. 

So make it with love and add a dash of comfort.

Coming soon, "A Day in the Life of a Geriatric Chef" where Ill discuss steam tables, batch cooking, food molds, finger foods and, yes, the robo coupe.

Matt Janish