Navigating Your Career Planning: Try Cooking Ratatouille
It was an Autumn evening in 2007 when I left France to go to China. I was heading to Michelin Maps and Guides’ Beijing office to work as a junior editor for the travel guides. I told my family and friends that they need not miss me; I would be back shortly. It would be just a year.
We are now at the end of 2017.
All these years in China, between Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, have been fruitful and have led me to eventually oversee the Chinese operations of one of the most famous, if not the most famous guide for restaurants in the world. Until most recently, I was the head of the MICHELIN Guide in China. I am now launching my own consulting firm and investing in new ventures.
My story starts with a dish, a very down-to-earth one, originated from the South of France and popular and known under many different names in Italy, Greece, Hungary and Spain, but in France we call it: “la ratatouille”.
Cooking ratatouille does not require any particularly good cooking skills — you can ask any chef you meet. Some would say, it is, actually, one of the simplest recipes in the world and anyone can cook it. It is what I cook when I want some comfort food and not have to think too much about the cooking.
There is no specific rating system for the finest ratatouille instead this dish is entirely the expression of the individual who cooks it. Take my family as an example, my mother, my father and my sister, all of them have different ways of cooking it. Within such a small circle, each family member’s ratatouille comes out a different way, a different taste.
The ingredients are all the same: aubergines, courgettes, onions, peppers, etc, but you can play on the quantity, on the cut of the vegetables, on the intensity of the heat, on the sequence you put each ingredient into the pot. And, you can add your own little something, a secret ingredient perhaps, and in the end the ratatouille you cook becomes your signature ratatouille.
Really what it comes down to is one’s inspiration of the moment, and letting oneself be guided by intuition. So when a few months ago I was asked by IDEO to share my story of what influenced my career choices at their event “Under the Influence” in Shanghai, I was amused. Because so far the evolution of my career has been a little like cooking ratatouille.
I do not have a career plan; I never had, so how did I end up working in the travel and gourmet food industry in China for such a long time? What was the recipe for all of this?
After giving some thoughts to it, I found out that a few ingredients have helped me cook up this journey to China and to the world of gourmet food.
I was born in Lyon, the capital of gastronomy in France and I come from a family who has seen generations of gastronomes and food lovers.
I now live between Shanghai and Hong Kong and many people ask me: “Why did you study Chinese in the first place?” It is a frequently asked question, but, actually, I have no idea. It seems just like random circumstances that have led me to study Chinese and to work here in China.
I have a bad memory but I do recall my very first encounter associated with China. It was a Chinese restaurant in Lyon, the name of which I have naturally forgotten.
Once in awhile, my parents would take my sister and me there for lunch after school. At the time, going to a Chinese restaurant was like an adventure. I learnt how to use chopsticks there by myself following the instructions on the paper wrapping — I remember being fascinated by the ambience and by the fact that everyone there was talking in a language that I could not understand. My first taste of Chinese food was steamed pork with black mushrooms and sweet and sour chicken, dishes that I now come to know that you would rarely find in China. On special occasions, we would order jasmine tea, which at that time I found to be very distinctive and delicious.
These visits to the restaurant left me with an impression of China as an exotic place, and I decided that one day I would visit it.
Fortunately for me, my family owned a computer quite early on. Which leads me to the second ingredient of my career ratatouille: PC Globe, an electronic atlas of the world.
I am not sure how many people still know about this software, but as a child I would spend hours on PC Globe, designing trips across Europe and Asia, trips that would in the end lead me to China and India, where until now I have never set foot.
Anyway, I remember the white map of the world on blue background that was run under MS-DOS and which provided information about demographics, tourist spots, and political backgrounds. That was how I first became familiar with the world, via a software package — which helped quench my thirst for adventure.
Soon though, PC Globe was replaced by a much better and more comprehensive software, Encarta.
By better, I mean it was really better. With Encarta I could now watch videos of the countries, understand more about their history, their culture, what food they eat, what music they listen to. I was more than just learning about their national flags and the size of their populations. I was also able to really map out my journeys to China and India.
So from France, I would go to Italy, then Turkey from where I would enter into Asia. Istanbul after all is the gate to the Orient. After Turkey, I would sometimes make my way through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan. And sometimes, I would travel from the South, though Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq then back to Iran.
My itineraries were full and my journeys would be epic.
Obviously, Encarta did not warn me about the geopolitical situation of this region nor issues to do with visas.
Anyhow, based on my itinerary, I was to get to China, where I was to stay for a while discovering the country. And that is where I am now. And all those hours, in which I indulged myself in imaginary trips of the mind, I am proud to have made visiting Iran and the destination of China real.
And just for the records, my itinerary tells me that I am supposed to next take a train to Vietnam, then go through Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and finally reach India. I could make a detour through Malaysia and the Philippines, there are countless of options, but I need to go back to Turkey first I think, since I was lazy, and took a direct flight from France to China.
I should also mention the boat journey I had imagined that was going round either Africa or through the Suez Canal. Well, that was inspired by one of my favourite books: Homer’s Odyssey.
Homer is one of the most famous poets of Ancient Greece and a major influencer of the European culture.
The Odyssey tells the story of Greek King Odysseus’ ten-year struggle to return home after the Trojan War. In this decade-long and difficult journey, Odysseus uses his intelligence to outsmart his enemies, overcome obstacles and win wars. He overcame the mighty God of the Sea who wanted to trap him, beat the one one-eyed giant who wanted to eat him and defeated the sorceress who turned his army into pigs. He is a master of disguise, a voice of reason, a cunning diplomat all in one.
I discovered the book by chance on one of my visits to my grandparents’ house and was instantly spellbound by the character and the story. I loved the book so much that I read it several times between the ages of nine and twelve. I related easily to a hero whose accomplishments were made not only because of his courage and strength, but because of his cleverness. And as I was already using PC Globe at the time, I was able to follow the great journey Odysseus was making on a digital map.
The book has had a lasting effect on me. It has taught me to believe that thinking smartly about how to overcome challenges at work and in life is as important as being bold and strong.
A Chinese restaurant, a software package and a book have shaped my career so far, and there is maybe a last ingredient but a significant one: my grandmother.
My grandmother is 92 and she has only just realised that she is old. She said to me when she turned ninety: “Florent, now I am starting to feel old, I am a granny.”
I think my grandmother is lucky to be saying that, but I know it is not just because of luck that she has been living a fulfilling life. It is because she has always been strong-minded and demanding of herself. She does not really sympathise with self-pitying, and she would always keep up a fighting spirit. She is the kind of person who does not like to rely on others — even now she lives by herself in an apartment next to my parents’ home. She is still doing her housework and is really quite active for a lady of her vintage.
As a young adult, my grandmother started from nothing, and with my grandfather, set up and built their own business. A small clothing shop where they worked and also lived. Over the years, they worked hard, made a steady living and many friends. Even though she would not use that word to describe herself, she is kind of a self-made woman.
When I get to see her, which is not often enough unfortunately, she would tell me stories: stories of her past, stories of the present. Some stories that I have heard many times before, some stories that are totally new to me.
We usually sit in her kitchen, before and after lunch and we would talk. I try to remember all her stories, but as I mentioned, I have a bad memory so thankfully, she would repeat some of them. She would also sometimes comment on something she has seen or read about China and asked me what I think about it. Then she would inquire about my life there. Always she would conclude: “Florent, the most important thing is that you are happy with your life.”
My grandmother passed this amazing attitude and outlook towards life onto her children. And my mother, passed it onto me and my sister. Like my grandmother, I too believe in being independent and self sufficient. I take on her faith in life, and I aspire to her strength and vitality. It is perhaps all this that has led me to start my own business now.
Finally, I have come to a point where I must share the secret ingredient I add to my ratatouille.
After I have thrown in the mix of Provence herbs to the onions, garlic, red, green and yellow peppers, the tomatoes, the aubergines and the courgettes — I have been adding a Chinese ingredient. It is a flavoursome and mildly fiery chilli. I found it on a trip to Hunan with my sister six years ago and I have been adding it to my ratatouille ever since. The chilli gives my dish a delightful spicy kick, an exquisite tingle to the tongue, and an excitement that lifts the spirit.
In the end, as I mentioned, there is not a specific rating system for the finest ratatouille, instead it is entirely the expression of the person who cooks it.
And I realise that when it comes to one’s career, the most important thing to do is to learn to navigate the world on one’s own terms.
By all means, add your secret ingredient, but do not fret if it feels like you do not have a plan.
