A Taste of Home Europe Fed Our Army Well

       As the Chef at the PNC, I always look forward to Taste of Home.  It's an opportunity for me to connect with the student-athletes of LSU, their families, and their culture.  Being able to tie an emotion to food is equivalent to creating, and on occasion recreating, a memory in a person's life.   In my mind that builds a bond that is everlasting.  In an interesting turn of events as Taste of Home Europe brought an old memory back to me.  

        I was pleased to hear from the mother of two of our Swedish student-athletes who suggested a fish soup she would prepare for them as children.  This is a Taste of Home moment where we could really connect to memories they hold dear.  But it was the next conversation via text with two French student-athletes that, once again, altered my perception of Taste of Home.  They listed off Tarte Tatin,  Foie Gras and Tartiflette as memorable dishes from their past. Suddenly it was me who was chasing down memory lane to a time in my career as a young chef preparing these very dishes- a time of learning and immersing myself in the culture of the kitchen. For the first time in my life, I had found independence, trading in the anxiousness of wonder for the confidence of knowing what I was going to do with my life.  In that moment I remembered what is was like to be that young and ambitious chef and have my whole career ahead of me.   I felt a bond to these young student- athletes and where they are in their own lives.   It was a powerful moment for me, hoping I had been to make that connection for them. 

I humbly pay thanks to all of the student-athletes who take time out of their schedule and grant us a peek into their lives, their families, and their culture.