Everyone has their geeky little quirks, and one of my many
would be Star Trek: Voyager. I’ve seen every episode at least a dozen times and
yet there must be about twenty-five episodes of it on my DVR.
You maybe asking yourself what this has to do with school,
and I’m here to tell you. As I read through the food-borne illness assignment, I
realized that whoever wrote this book was speaking Star Trek. Words like:
pathogens, biological contaminants, infectious disease, microorganisms,
facultative bacteria, and so on… were filling the pages.
If you’ve ever seen an episode of Star Trek: Voyager you’d
know that words like this are part of every show. There is always some sort of microorganism trying to take over the
ship, or some type of infectious disease
plaguing the crew.
As I turned the pages of the book, I felt as though I had
stepped into Voyager’s “sick bay” and the doctor was teaching me how to prevent
people from food-borne illnesses, essentially turning a boring section of my
catering course, into something kind of entertaining.
When I worked in the restaurant industry I learned all about
cross contamination and making sure my hands were washed prior to handling
food. Sterilizing cutting boards, countertops and dining room tables were just
a part of the daily routine. Thus teaching me about food safety, but I must
admit, with the exception of salmonella and E. coli, I never really learned the
proper terms for the different contaminants in a kitchen. Now I do.
I once wondered, who on earth talked like they do on Star
Trek, and now I know…chefs!