The reality of a careerin professional cooking is exposed in Peter Gebauer’s freshman endeavor, Omnivore’s Travel: Career and Legacy of aChef. Gebauer is the executive chef at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Bingo Casino, where heoversees all culinary operations at the thriving entertainment destination, adomain that encompasses 12 food venues, including the casino’s cateringdepartment and the award-winning Dream Dance Steak restaurant.
Omnivore’s Travel is equal parts professional memoir andtravelogue, with a good measure of valuable career advice for would-be chefs.The narrative follows Gebauer from his native Germany,where he developed a passion for cooking at an early age while helping hisgrandmother, also a chef, prepare Bavaria’slocal specialties. Gebauer details his unique upbringing, in which he “learnedto butcher livestock and was soon recognized for preparing the family’s Sundaylunch feast on his own while still in elementary school.” There was never anydoubt in his mind that one day he would become a professional chef.
Compiling much of thebook’s content from personal journals and photographs that span his nearly40-year career, Gebauer is a witty and vivid writer who has a gift forendearing himself to the reader. In a similar vein as bad-boy chef, author andfood-show celebrity Anthony Bourdain, Gebauer is delightfully honest, recallinghow, when he was working for Royal Viking Line, he was busted by management forpreparing a Balinese omelet made with “magic mushrooms” for the entire culinaryteam, including the cruise ship’s executive chef.
Like most foodies,Gebauer’s memories are laced with all things edible. His deep appreciation offood, and the people who prepare it, is displayed in his exquisite descriptionsof the different styles of food he encountered at worldwide ports of call whileworking onboard luxury cruise lines and as a chef in Hong Kong, the MiddleEast, Germany, Singapore and the Caribbean.Readers are given a mouth-watering account of bienenstich, “a layer cake filled with whipped cream and toppedwith caramelized sliced almonds,” in Germany, som tam, “a tangle of crisp, unripe papaya, peanuts and driedshrimp, tossed in a lip-tingling dressing of fish sauce, palm sugar and limejuice,” in Thailand, and calza, “apiquant dish made of boiled and crushed potatoes, lime juice, ajichilepaste and seasonings, often topped with stewed octopus,” in Peru. Gebauer alsoincludes elaborate menus from a few of his most memorable meals.
Omnivore’s Travel develops a superbly detailed pictureof what life is like in hotel, resort, cruise line, theme park, and evenairline catering kitchens. Gebauer offers insightful commentary and humorous anecdoteson the cooking industry, as well as helpful suggestions for those eager to makethe leap from home cooking to the professional trade.
After relocating to Milwaukee to join Potawatomi Bingo Casino in 2006, Gebauerfounded the PBC Culinary Academyto offer culinary courses for all team members.
“Mentoring, in myopinion, is just as important as a good formal education or training,” Gebauerexplained in an interview. “I didn’t have a mentor; that’s why I make it soimportant [at Potawatomi].”
Gebauer, who earned thetitle of Master in Culinary Arts in 1986, is in the editing phase of his nextbook, Culinary Academy: The ComprehensiveGuide, a textbook that explains culinary fundamentals and basic cookingmethods based on courses he has taught.
While Omnivore’s Travel isn’t immune to theoccasional typo and awkward phrasing that sometimes occur when self-publishing,it certainly doesn’t subtract from the overall reading experience. The lessons,experiences and information Gebauer has collected in Omnivore’s Travel make the book very satisfying for many readers,from people who like to cook to people who love to eat.
Omnivore’s Travel can be purchased as a paperback book or forthe Kindle at Amazon.com.n
