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I think the general perception of culinary school is something along collegial academia meets “Top Chef.”

Well guess what?

It’s slightly less glamorous… Sure things may change once the class’ skill level improves, the recipes get more complicated, and grades, even jobs are at stake… but right now I’m four hours into a sanitation lecture and that seems a long way off.

“SANITATION IS NOT AN OPTION,” excellent, lesson learned now can I have those eight hours of my life back?

Its day 3 and things are looking-up. Food is finally in front of us. An endless stack of Idaho potatoes, waiting to be medium diced. It’s the end of the day and my perfect little cubes are not so perfect, and certainly not cubes.

I diced potatoes, minced shallots, and diced, sliced (and everything in between) onions, don’t let me forget peppers, celery, cabbage.

And I will never be the same.

Imagine one morning a complete stranger walks into your bedroom as you are putting on your shoes, about to leave the house and explains that you are not going anywhere until he shows you how to walk.

I know it hard to imagine- but humor me…

There will be no walking at all, until you can demonstrate that you can walk as he has just taught you.

Well, we have all cut vegetables before, loads probably, but there was a case of potatoes (and other vegetable friends) in front of me and I was not going anywhere until I could chop them the way Chef said to.

This objective was not as simple to achieve as one might imagine. I submit my cut and bandaged left hand has evidence. At one point Chef pointed out that I better learn to move my left hand out of the way, or pretty soon I was going to be more blood than flesh…

Finally, before I leave you with a recipe from my first week at school (and trust me it’s a winner), I want to open the discussion to a subject that I will continually address throughout the future of this column. Our connection to our food source. And this does not refer to whether or not food is organic, local, or even healthy.

To put it another way, salad comes from the ground, not a plastic bag, chickens are more then disembodied breasts, and no fruit or vegetable (no matter how popular) grows all year long.

I hope that by offering many examples of the growing disconnect between humans and their food, it will become more apparent that there are many facets to this issue and it effects all of us in between (and even beyond) the Berkshire Mountains and the Napa Valley.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Dead Meat: Fabricating Meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish

RECIPE FOR WEEK 1: Mashed Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered length-wise

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 Tbsp heavy cream

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

METHOD

1 Peel Potatoes

2.Blanche potatoes in a large pot. Add 1/2-teaspoon salt. Add water until potatoes are covered. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until done – a fork can easily be poked through them.

3 Warm milk and melt butter, together (80% to 20%), with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 sprigs of thyme, and 1 sprig of rosemary, in a saucepan on the stove. 4.Drain water from potatoes. Put hot potatoes into a ricer. Then add to bowl cream and melted butter mixture. Mix with a heavy spoon. Salt and pepper to taste Serves 4.

Sam K. Simon is a natural-born gourmet. He is currently enrolled in the Culinary Arts Diploma Program at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City