The Lion's Pride vol. 4 (June 2015) | Page 66

Culinary Capstone Project Tai Wang While growing up a few distinct sounds will be seared into my mind, it like a song melody that is forever embedded into your mind, for me it is the constant sound of woks over a jetstream like fire stir-frying food, or the noodle man slamming dough against the wood bench while the dough is hand pulled into beautiful strands of noodles. You see, my parents owned a Chinese restaurant and being born into the restaurant life was a curse and a blessing for me. Growing up and being exposed to the food industry at a young age I was like any other kid, I much rather have had that burger from a fast food restaurant, or that microwaved boxed meal from the grocery store. It wasn’t until my late high school, early college years did I finally appreciate food and wanted to replicate dishes I ate at restaurants and at home. So why culinary school? Working in the foodservice industry for the last 6 years, and finally in 2012 with the decision of changing my lifestyle and turning vegetarian, a huge question and lightbulb sparked in my head. Where the heck is my food coming from? I started cooking for myself a lot more (terribly I might add) while eating less processed foods and ultimately