Daniela Martinez
Staff Writer
Bob Pickert Jr. was in the midst of transitioning into college when his first book “The Adolescent Chef” was published in April of 2017. Now a freshman at Dominican, Pickert is steering towards a career in accounting despite having his culinary success catching the attention of DNAinfo, a Chicago neighborhood news site, and Good Morning Chicago.
According to his Facebook page, Pickert began cooking at the age of five by helping out his grandmother and was seven years old when he starting taking culinary courses for children. Pickert continued his education and pathway to culinary as he grew.
“My grandmother inspired me to become a chef. I was practically raised in her home because my parents were working all the time, she always cooked for us. She would make me and my siblings help with things like cutting veggies or peeling things. This introduced me to the culinary world,” said Pickert.
Pickert went to Kendall College in 6th grade for advanced culinary courses. these corses were meant for high school seniorsfor advanced culinary courses when he was in 6th grade, courses meant for high school seniors. “I was the youngest person in the course and I was able to keep up with the rest of the students” Pickert said.
By the time he was half way through high school, Pickert was an employee in Tria Sorelle, a catering extension to Bridgeport’s Fabulous Freddies
Italian Eatery.
It wasn’t until after a trip to Europe when Pickert began his journey to becoming one of the handful of young adults to ever publish a cookbook. It was for this reason that Pickett’s cookbook was named “The
Adolescent Chef.”
“I wanted to distinguish my book from others while also promoting myself, I wrote the book when I was 17 and published it when I was 18.” ‘The Adolescent Chef” contains more than 30 recipes primarily focusing on Mediterranean styled food.
Picket’s inspiration was derived not only from his grandmother, but his travels as well. “My grandmother was Polish, but I’m Italian. I was fascinated with the Italian world, the spices, and herbs. I personally traveled to Italy and loved the culture,” Pickert said, “My favorite part of the book is when I describe the first pizza I had in Rome. It’s in the intro to the entrees, I also love making the Mushroom Risotto, they are my favorite.”
As for writing the book, Pickert expresses the difficulty of this task that took him 8 months to complete. “Some recipes needed work and constant testing and editing, although it was hard, I look forward to writing another one. I’ve started it but I’m not sure yet. If I do it I will focus on all aspects of Italian culinary.”
When asked what he would you like people to take away from his book, Pickert said“The book is meant for people who want to try something new with old recipes because they have a modern approach.”
As for his favorite words of encouragement, Pickert says, “Live life with flavor.”
Dominican University is full of talent, if you would like to keep up with “The Adolescent Chef” you can follow him on social media at @The.Adolescent.Chef.
martdani@my.dom.edu