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27. A Tale of Two Cities
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in With the Fire on High, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age and Teen Parenthood
Creativity vs. Professional Norms
Food and Connection
Caregiving, Independence, and Identity
Support, Community, and Mentorship
Summary
Analysis
In addition to teaching students to cook and work in a professional kitchen, Chef Ayden is also making everyone prepare for the ServSafe test, which will enable students to work in real restaurants. His favorite test prep method is a verbal pop quiz. Now, he turns to Emoni and asks what temperature chicken is done at. Emoni didn’t study the temperature portion since “chicken is done when it’s done,” so she explains what color the chicken should be when you cut into it. He cuts her off and asks her for the information necessary to label food in the freezer. Emoni lists several things. Chef Ayden says Emoni isn’t technically right or wrong—she understands in practice what works, but cooking is “more than just instinct.” When he turns to Pretty Leslie, Emoni drops her head in shame.
One of the ways Chef Ayden treats his class like a real kitchen rather than just a classroom is by preparing students to get an industry certification through the ServSafe test. Though Emoni wants to be a professional chef, she’s not taking studying for the test seriously: even if she knows what chicken looks like when it’s done, that’s not going to cut it on a test that expects a specific temperature and will consider any other answer wrong. And telling Emoni that cooking is more than instinct also tears down what Emoni loves best about cooking: using her instincts to pair spices.
Themes
