52 Food Jobs In 1 Year
Deep down I always had a desire to travel. The majority of my childhood was spent round the dinner table listening to many a story from my parents' 10 years abroad. Dad, a Ukrainian Cossack dancer, recalled anecdotes of masculine bravado dancing in Monte Carlo. Mum contrasted this with her romantically inclined tales of a hard-up artist struggling to make ends meet. From an early age I vowed that one day I would follow in their footsteps and see the world for myself.
Growing up, my hunger for adventure was met with an increasing passion for food, and it became clear that wherever I went in the future, food would form an integral part of my journey. Not content with simply being a food tourist or eating in the best restaurants, I wanted to immerse myself in food, communities, and culture and learn something along the way. I guessed that the best way to achieve this would be to work a range of food jobs. What I had not anticipated was undertaking such an ambitious project. But things gathered their own momentum, and after years of planning my dream, it is starting to become a reality: one year, five continents, 52 food jobs.
Starting here in the U.K., I will be heading east around the world stopping in world's greatest cities and food lovers' destinations. Jobs will range from cooking in Michelin-starred restaurants, to serving 60,000 people in a Sikh temple in Delhi. I'll be experiencing everything from coffee farming in Brazil to tea picking in China. And for the unknown areas with jobs yet to secure (well I guess that's where the real adventure starts). So here I sit just days before I start my first job as a brewer's apprentice at Thornbridge Brewery. And so begins the story of a Foodish Boy... let's just hope it doesn't turn into the plodding of the pot washer.
You can keep an eye out on my progress here on The Daily Meal, where I will be sharing with you all the very best tales, tips, and travel treats from my culinary odyssey. Any words of wisdom? Leave a comment below or check out my route map and blog here.
The Foodish Boy is 25-year-old Alex Nazaruk from the U.K. When not eating, he likes to cook. When not cooking, he's talking about food. And when he's not talking...he's probably eating. Follow his journey working a different food-based job every week for a year at www.foodishboy.com or tweet him @foodishboy.