Swedish Fish

I have shared my favorite chef's story with various people. With my former students, I became passionate telling them his story. Telling about his background and how he became a chef and his journey. I could tell they were interested enough, their 5th grade minds processing things and trying to stay afloat before their attention spans withered. 'Swedish fish!' One of my boys called out, and his group of friends joined in the laughter. Their love for candy and the Swedish fish candy in particular made them relate my favorite chef, Marcus Samuelsson's story to their sweet tooth imagination.

Samuelsson was raised in Sweden but he wasn't born there and isn't Swedish by blood. He is Ethiopian, but his sister and him caught tuberculosis along with their mom who died because of it, but Marcus and his sister survived and were able to treated at the hospital. They were later adopted by Swedish parents. His upbringing, language and world is Scandinavian and not until much later did he go back and visit his home village in Ethiopia and meet his birth dad, siblings and step-siblings.

The point being for why I brought up a man named Marcus Samuelsson to my tutoring students, my class of 5th grade students and even some friends is because I find his story inspiring, motivating and despite all of the challenges and views people had of him because of his skin color- rewarding and energizing. I really love his passion and drive to become a chef despite some of the hard moments and situations he endured and despite that he waned to become a soccer star but didn't make it. That energy to get back up again when you fail and don't succeed made Marcus even more aggressive and passionate in his interest and love for cooking and combining flavors and cultures together.

 I wanted to give my students a taste of his journey to the kitchen and eventually owning his own restaurant. All of the hard work, determination and perseverance and finally he achieved his dream, his calling of becoming a chef. It wasn't just for my students to hear a little bit about a man they never heard of who grew up in Europe but was African, it was also for me to continue to stay inspired and strong in my endeavors and dreams. This isn't the first time that I've written about Marcus Samuelsson on here. http://samakti.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-summer-when-it-all-began.html 

I just finished reading his memoir 'Yes, chef' for the second time and it really is a page turner. I am excited to cook one of his recipes from his restaurant cookbook tonight. I admire his enthusiasm, energy, eclectic taste and optimism. Even the challenges and the very long and hard work ethic a chef has to put in, and opportunities that he didn't always receive after fighting for it but didn't give up on his dream. I really like his quote, "Sometimes the worst thing that happens to you, could actually be the best thing that happens to you."