Probably. It seems most cultures have a food product that involves meat between two slices of bread. For my last dinner stateside for a bit I had the burger at Reynard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Cooked medium rare, with gruyere cheese and caramelized onion, it was a truly perfect specimen of the genre.
While there I struck up a conversation with a Japanese guy sitting next to us. He had studied cooking in Paris, could speak 5 languages, and is currently the chef and owner of a restaurant in Nepal. We had a wide ranging discussion on the best places to find okonomiyaki in the East Village, art in the age of Instagram, and Japanese beer. I was struck by his ability to confidently discuss these topics in a language that wasn't his first or even second. He could have probably sat down at a restaurant anywhere in the world and had a similar conversation. His ability to fluently move between cultures make him globally competent and have probably helped him be successful in the cut-throat world of cooking. There are the skills we need to build in our students.
While there I struck up a conversation with a Japanese guy sitting next to us. He had studied cooking in Paris, could speak 5 languages, and is currently the chef and owner of a restaurant in Nepal. We had a wide ranging discussion on the best places to find okonomiyaki in the East Village, art in the age of Instagram, and Japanese beer. I was struck by his ability to confidently discuss these topics in a language that wasn't his first or even second. He could have probably sat down at a restaurant anywhere in the world and had a similar conversation. His ability to fluently move between cultures make him globally competent and have probably helped him be successful in the cut-throat world of cooking. There are the skills we need to build in our students.