“How did you think of that?”

Whats your biggest influence?

For people who don’t cook, when they see something that is new, and done well, they always ask, “How did you come up with that?”

Not all of us are lucky enough to have a whole culinary test kitchen like Ferran does above, but creativity can come from anywhere.

Well for me, to be honest, it just happens. There are a couple levels of inspiration that must happen in order for a dish to truly become yours. This works for me, doesn’t mean it will for you.

1. Initial Inspiration: Food

Whats available? What makes you think? What intrigues you? Pick it up, does it smell proper? Feel proper? Look proper? You start with iffy products, chances are you will end with iffy products, who knew?

For those of you who have seen the show Chopped, I usually like to think like I’m just opening a basket, except with a little more time and freedom involved, but you get it. Even when I watch the show I try to come up with an idea before they do, and see how they compare. It benefits me, and I see where my thoughts compare to other culinary professionals. I bet you’re going to do this from now on if you already watch the show. You get better as time goes on.

2. Secondary Inspiration: Influence

Influence can come from family and culture, a book, a TV, or from the fountain of knowledge I call brain, for short. Generally everyone has a style they gravitate to, so it really narrows down what direction one goes with their cooking.

Personally, I really enjoy an avant garde (experamental or innovative) approach, but still keep some classical techniques. I also enjoy to keep the visual appearance modern. But the technical notes scream classical.

3. Final Inspiration: Why are you cooking?

This changes for me with my reason for cooking. Is this for my parents? (Meat and Potatoes.) Is this for friends? (Something cool, yet relatable and tasty.) A cute girl? (Starting to pull out all the stops.) For work? (Pride, and for the guest.) Usually when its at work or at home for myself, its all about what music is going in my head. I can tell my food varies (both written notes and actual cooking) when the music changes. The food I think about when hearing Phil Collins is a little different than the food I think about when hearing Gold Panda. Hard to explain, but oh so true.

Its all about what type of feeling and emotion is going behind the dish. That’s what makes your food yours, and thus creating your own style based of influences. The food industry is all about passing down techniques and creating new ones. The older chefs inspire the younger cooks, pushing them to further heights. To be the one who inspires is what chefs all dream about. Inspiration to inspire is the biggest motivation.