Guest Blogger 3- Chef Tom Coates

Hello blog readers,

Who DOESN'T love great food? Probably not anyone reading this. Culinary expert, Chef Tom Coates is up on the guest blog this week! He discusses his passion for cooking, and the importance of his foods and ingredients looking their best through food photography. Tom and I have known each other for a few years now and one of the first things I picked up on about him was his enthusiasm, and the way his eyes lit up when he discussed cooking. Personally, I know this feeling very well as it is the same unbridled fervor I feel towards photography. I also love to cook, so we had an instant connection and alliance built upon our first meeting. 

Chef Tom offers advice and cooking tips/instructions for others who enjoy the art of cooking in his short Sense of Cooking Youtube videos. Check them out they are very informative. He also sells Cutco knives, which are some of the best cutting, well built knives on the market. They are truly unmatched. If you are in the market for a set of fantastic knives, other culinary equipment, or are just looking for a few tips to better your kitchen skills contact Tom at the info below. Heres Tom...    

• Growing up in an artistic family I was always looking for my own way to express my creativity in a different way. The culinary arts gives me a way to create using all of my senses to not only make something look beautiful but to nourish your body and feed the soul. When I get into the kitchen I lose track of time and the only thing that matters is how I can transform a few raw ingredients (or in many cases a whole bunch of them) into a masterpiece. Something that makes your mouth water as the aromas waft toward you, each item strategically planned to work together making your taste buds go crazy. The textures and mix of hot and cold, crispy and soft, sweet and sour keep your brain guessing and make each bite different than the last.

  
  

  I almost think of it as cheating because to me cooking is easy. Unlike a painting, sculpture, or play that has to speak to you in some way, food can be packed with emotion. From the smell of fresh baked cookies that remind you of grandma’s house or the beef stew that your mom used to make. I love to cook and if I never had to clean another dish ever again it would be the only thing I ever did. Being able to use different ingredients everyday, never making the same thing twice.

  
  

  Something that I have started to discover with my cooking show is that making the food is the easy part - being able to capture these creations in a photo which encompasses the essence is the challenge. The ability to make a group of onions uncooked still in its papery shell look appealing is a skill for the elite. You may have snapped a picture of a plate of food when you were out at some hit new restaurant. Then with tons of adjustments on Instagram you were able to get a few likes. Now try it with a head of lettuce or potato. The problem with food however is that no matter how much time you put into planning and creating it it is gone in minutes. That is why the partnership between culinary arts and photography is so important.

  
  

  

  
  

  Chef Tom Coates

  810-459-6718

  chef.tcoates@gmail.com

  www.senseofcooking.com

  www.youtube.com/senseofcooking

  facebook.com/senseofcooking

  IG: @senseofcooking