SOMA GET FIT.

by Melissa Beaugrand, Soma Get Fit Chef

Cooking is something that I started doing at a very young age. My mother started teaching us girls as soon as we could hold a spoon. I have memories for as long as I can remember of being with my family and helping to prepare meals. It always seemed the more people, the more fun when I was young as there was always laughing and talking and teasing. Personalities really come out during meals, especially if there is a preference (or dislike) for what is being served.

Now that I cook for a living, cooking has a slightly different feel to it for the most part. I am in a professional kitchen which is VERY different from a home kitchen. I don’t get to enjoy the meal with the people that I am cooking for, and neither do I get to watch them enjoy it. There is no talking about likes or dislikes, there is no feedback first hand. Most importantly, I rarely know the people that I am cooking for.

It was so rewarding for me to cook for Edward last month. We met at the beginning of his stay here at the farmers market, and I tried to get a sense of what he liked and disliked. Because he was so agreeable and open and easy to talk to, I really feel like I got to know what his general eating habits were. I was able to tweak his meals based on what I thought he normally eats, yet make it healthier and more low calorie.

I also got to get feedback!! Yay! Because of what I learned about him, I added more cilantro, I made sure all the carrots were raw. I added lowfat cheese. The feedback was first person – he was able to tell me face to face that he loved something – and it was so rewarding to see his eyes light up thinking about a meal that he had eaten.

I think that is what I am going to enjoy the most with SOMA forthwith. I will get to not only meet great people, but get firsthand feedback and be able to make them happy with the food that they are going to eat. Food makes people happy. Food makes me happy. Seeing my food make people happy is priceless.

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