Pate a Choux, a Love Story: Expressions of a culinarian

The “culinarian” is a casual term used synonymously to describe “chefs” and “cooks.” In this article, I suggest there is more to the label than its synonymity, advocating a culinarian as a serious pupil of culinary arts. I present a story entitled Pâte a Choux, a Love Story to portray five exclusive characteristics of the culinarian, theorizing the culinarian as a thinker, aesthetic operative, ethical being, creative liver, and creative expresser. Existing social science theories and literature are woven into the fabric of the story, offering an academic discussion that is both theoretical and artistic. I conclude with a provisional definition of the culinarian for future research, alongside a reflexive research memo on the employed narrative methods. This monograph also features two exclusive pâte a choux recipes, courtesy of World Pastry Champion—WeiLoon Tan.