I like this!! succint, terse, on point! The best -
Thank you, sir!

And it is always amazing how a talented person in any endeavor makes the thing you've been struggling with look as easy and as smooth as an artist painting a still life.

Real simple a good cook is always needed and a true Chef is the king of cooks. Not everyone is inclined to being able to make good food. Your skills are VERY valuable.

well said, sir!!! . there is art in every endeavor. -- j
.

I have a friend who is lucky enough to have a personal chef.
this personal chef occasionally treats myself and my wife
to extraordinary culinary treats. . what a value this is,
and decadence is well deserved!!! -- j
.

It is completely in error, and very dangerous, to think that freedom equates to subsistence-level-autonomy. There are abundant studies that show that there is a huge value in specialization and trade. The affluence of our entire technological civilization depends on this, and the Gulch is no exception.

If we require, or even imagine, a Gulch in which everyone grows their own corn and hunts their own deer we are doomed to shed the technology we have gained over the last 5000 years. We desperately need chefs, gardeners, and mechanics. We need professional farmers and ranchers. We need programmers and engineers and doctors.

What we do not need is to carry the burden of bureaucracy and the weight of the willingly unproductive on our backs whilst we are trying to run briskly into the future.

If I have not made it clear enough: WE NEED CHEFS!

Jan

I view fine cooking as an art form that provides immediate gratification. I also respect anyone that has worked to perfect their skills especially when those skills are of value to others. Fine dining is one of the perks of being a civilized person.

I was raised in the delicatessen/restaurant biz and I can slice a mean corned beef. My coleslaw and potato salad cannot be topped. If you would like a cold-cuts deli tray, I could make one you'd be talking about for a while. However, if you want the kind of a meal that can be put together by a well trained chef, you'd be disappointed if you hired me. You'd also find me wanting as a finished carpenter, a house painter or a car mechanic. I know how you do all those things, but you'd just need to hire someone to do them right, because knowing how to do a thing and actually doing a thing well, are quite different from one another.

You have value if some one wants to buy your product. No more complicated than that.

Assuming you truly are a "Chef" and not just a Cook you do have value for any Gulch. Ayn chose an "Actress" to be a member of the Gulch, because she was a true artist, not someone that reads lines. Someone that would truly create exceptional event of art.
"Chefs" don't just cook food. Not the real ones. They create a "Culinary Event" that in and of it self is a true work of art.

As a chef you probably go to other restaurants and order familiar as well as new dishes. If the food is not good do you go back? probably not. However if it is good you will go back. It was the chef that made the good food so chefs do have value. Be proud of what you do.

"but shouldn't everyone be able to prepare their own food, making me excess"
1. Why do you think everyone should be able to and want to make their own food?
2. Regarding "excess", there's nothing wrong IMHO with excess if that means more than we need. In pre-industrial times, we knew we needed to produce more food, clothing, and shelter. Now we have more than enough of those. Most of the economy is geared toward things in "excess" of what we "need", which IMHO is a good thing.

I don't want to spend my time in the Gulch catching fish or preparing trout almondine. so I'm pretty sure I'll try and come up with some value to trade with you or simply Midas gold.

In AS there were a lot of steel makers, but only one Rearden. Of course a chef will have value, Chef.

Do chefs have purpose in the Gulch.

Thank you kind sir.

Don't undervalue yourself. You have value.