My Job is to Cook with Bacon Jerky?
If you asked me when I was 17 what I wanted to do with my life, I would have said open a three Michelin Star Restaurant. I was obsessed, apprenticing at The French Laundry, tearing through pages of White Heat, winning $30,000 scholarships to culinary school. By 21, I was burnt out and quit. I didn’t cook for a solid three years.
When I started Mantry ten years ago, I thought recipes would be a place we could differentiate ourselves. Try to do inventive things with the awesome small-batch food products we found. Spanish Chorizo? How about Ramen. Cold Brew Coffee? Why not Creamsicles…
I went from fine dining to finding ways to cook with Jerky. It was a hell of a transformation, one I felt a little embarrassed about in the beginning. I thought that any chef I used to work with would think I was a complete joke. In time, I grew to love the challenge of working products into recipes, like a mini Iron Chef competition with myself. I repurposed the passion, I got the spark back, I just enjoy cooking. Forget the foams and the handmade truffle agnolotti and bring on the bacon jerky for Hot Honey Caramelized Apples With Bacon & Bourbon Chocolate.
Some times burning out is just the beginning.
Reggie Milligan, Co-Founder at Mantry.com
