This week I found the principles of Exploration at work in a kitchen. Not exactly what I expected to find while attending the Philadelphia Flower Show.
I sat in on a live cooking demonstration with Chef Edward Lee, Brooklyn native, Bravo television star, and now Louisville, Kentucky based owner of Magnolia 610. Lee was preparing fresh food and talking about all that goes into the making of amazing meals.
As he was prepping hummus and tossing a salad, foodies and wanna-be’s asked questions about what makes good recipes and how to create them. He said the only way to have a good recipe is to have ten bad ones.
As an Explorer, that sounded familiar to me. Lee went on to explain the importance of experimenting, about tasting and about trying a variety of ingredients to find the right ones— the ones that taste just right. He went on to say that for every time you find a recipe that works, there were ten that didn’t. But from those ten you get insight on the foods, their taste and the combinations of flavor. It's ten bad recipes, ten experiments, ten attempts to get the one that's right. In the preparation of a memorable meal you learn about flavor, learn about texture and learn about what works and what doesn’t.
I'm again reminded that throughout our lives, if we choose to explore, there are ways to learn, listen and move forward every day. Explorers take the events and the ingredients they've been given to make new things happen. That can happen not only in your kitchen, but in your family, your business and your community.
Ready to Explore? Get out there and start experimenting! And while you’re at it, invite me over for dinner (preferably on your eleventh try).