Carr 1 Lavinia Carr Professor Chalisse Forgette English 122-1852 26 September 2019 Gaining Insight through Ganache Traditional academia is seen as the gold standard, where the teacher is the center of the equation and learning is done through memorization and regurgitation of a set curriculum. Typically, a person is thought to be intelligent if they pursue knowledge through reading, thinking and studying this set curriculum. Although a lot of knowledge can be gained through traditional methods, that is not the only way to learn. Given today’s complex societal challenges, many people find that traditional methods of learning are too rigid and that they tend to have a one method fits all approach. In fact, many people learn important skills by working blue-collar jobs. An increasing number of prominent figures in the academic world are beginning to argue that intelligence can be learned not just by reading and writing academic texts. Mike Rose, a prominent education scholar, argues that intelligence can be gained even through a mundane job, such as waitressing. I can attest that many of the skills I learned while baking cakes have helped me in other aspects of my life. A good example would be multitasking and thinking fast on my feet. Another prominent figure, Gerald Graff, argues that even hobbies, such as sports have hidden intellectualism. He makes the point that the fundamentals of intellectual life can be learned through talking to friends about your hobby and that schools are missing out by not encouraging students to use their nonacademic interests as aids in their academic studies. Graff makes a valid point, and some countries have adapted to the idea that academic learning can be combined with hands on Carr 2 skills. Some schools also offer classes such as cooking and baking, which help students to develop skills that they would otherwise not develop in an academic setting. Academic intelligence is seen as possessing the skills necessary to score high on math reasoning and language in an academic setting, which is usually achieved by repeating information, but those skills can sometimes leave a person unable to navigate life outside an academic setting. Intelligence is the ability to successful navigate life outside the classroom, which means being able to: multitask, communicate thoughts, give clear directions to others, make decisions fast, and improvise, just to list a few. The skills needed to be considered intelligent, can easily be acquired through something as simple as cake baking and decorating. There are many steps in the baking and assembling process of a cake that would greatly improve a person’s cognitive abilities. Many people might see baking as being something creative rather than intelligent, but I argue that baking involves a lot of cognitive processes. And therefore, certain facets of intelligence can be gained and developed though means that are not strictly academic in nature. A few years ago, I decided to attend Le Cordon Bleu, in London, where I was living at the time. I had always liked the thought of baking, but I never got serious about it. To be honest, I was guilty of thinking that baking was something that grandmas or mothers did for their children. I never equated baking to being something intelligent or even all that artistic. However, I was mistaken, and I realized this on the first day of school when I witnessed a pastry chef create something that looked too pretty to be eaten. I thought to myself, well he makes it look so easy, I am sure I can recreate this. Boy was I wrong, what I made looked more like a lump than a swan. Right then I realized that baking takes great skill and patience, two things that I did not yet possess, but I was determined to. First thing I learned is that baking involves a lot of chemistry and mathematics knowledge; there is a fine balance between ingredients, and each has a role to play. Carr 3 There are certain temperatures that eggs need to be in order to get a perfectly fluffy sponge cake, too hot and you end up with scrambled eggs and a cake that looks more like a pancake. There were many things that I did not consider before, such as the need to have ingredients at room temperature, and the need to preheat an oven. I never realized that there were so many intricacies involved in baking. This was the moment when I realized that pastry chefs and bakers alike possess a unique kind of intelligence that isn’t taught in a classic academic setting. Chefs can visualize the end product before they even start baking, they are able to see ‘in the future’, whereas classical academia focuses on ‘now’ type of thinking. Therefore, we should all be aiming to expand our skills by learning new trades, which in turn would expand our understanding and intelligence. I must give credit to the rise of television chefs for motivating me to attend a culinary institute which proved to me that intelligence can come in many forms. In my one year studying at Le Cordon Bleu I learned how to plan and manage my time efficiently, how to multitask successfully, how to create recipes from random ingredients, how to communicate and give directions to others, how to have patience and most importantly that baking isn’t just for grandmas. A lot of the skills I have learned such as the correct handling of knives and spatulas are also skills that Mike Rose talks about in his paper “Blue- Collar Brilliance”. He makes the point that the use of different tools requires “studied refinement of stance, grip, balance, and fine motor skills”, a point which I agree. It is extremely difficult to smooth out a mirror glazing on a cake, you have to be fast, hold the spatula at a certain angle and do it in very few strokes. I remember my first attempt looked more like a dull, matte glazing, rather than a mirror glazing. Like most people I vastly underestimated the skill required to create the kind of cakes that we call “Instagram worthy” today. Even though baking might seem like a trivial endeavor, it is in fact a complex one. When baking we make use of our imagination, using and developing our fine motor skills, planning, considering Carr 4 gravity and its effect on a larger cake. All the cognitive processes that take place while baking can easily be seen as intelligent, which means that intelligence isn’t necessarily gained only through academic means. Although baking is not a hobby anymore, I do agree with Graff, when he argues in “Hidden Intellectualism”, that hobbies can be a varied source of learning. When a person has many hobbies, they get to dive deep and learn more on that subject than they would if it wasn’t a hobby. In a sense people with hobbies become experts. Graff points out that his own interest in sports led him to learn a vast amount of information, which contributed to his intelligence. He argues that classical academia would benefit greatly by allowing students to read and analyze texts about subjects that they are interested in. Even If many people can look at baking as being something creative rather than intelligent, baking thought me many skills, one of which is the importance of time management. Each cake recipe has steps listed out and a precise order in which they must be completed and by baking many cakes you learn how to achieve a completed cake in the time listen at the top of the recipe, something that many novice cake bakers find difficult to achieve. Although time management can also be learned in an academic setting over time, schools fail to teach this important skill when students need it. Whereas a cake recipe for example, teaches you that skill the first time you bake a cake. Often people forget that baking requires a lot of forethought and planning, the use of fine motor skills and great understanding of gravity and spatial awareness. Before the baking process even starts a person must research recipes and ingredients. A good baker can consistently create highly adored creations, but a great baker can create unexpected new crowd-pleasers. The next big thing won’t be invented on a whim it’ll take some trial and error to find a blend of flavors and textures that work in harmony. Just like Graff I agree that schools should incorporate subject matters that are of interest to students. Hobbies do encourage students Carr 5 to dive deeper and become vessels of knowledge. In fact, the idea of baking without assistance connects with the deep yearning children have for more freedom and responsibility. Therefore baking is as intellectual as any traditionally academic subject. Intelligence should not be thought of as just something that college graduates possess; it should include all methods of learning. We miss out on learning interesting and new things by deeming them to be unintelligent. The academic establishment should try other methods teaching and testing students, which are centered around life outside school, such as how to get the best interest rate for a loan, a mortgage, how to avoid getting bad credit. Learning more applicable skills, while also learning general knowledge concepts will greatly benefit society by creating fully functional members of society. Applicable skills allow us to bridge the gap between “book smart” intellectualism and functional intelligence and therefore become well rounded individuals.
