Cooking is just like Accounting : Professor / Chef Julian Yeo

Chef Julian Yeo is a Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting at NYU Stern School of Business. Professionally is a professor of accounting he received a lot of teaching awards. Apart from playing with financial accounting numbers he loves to play with food ingredients in the kitchen and made cooking a hobby. Motivated so much towards cooking that he started taking recreational cooking classes in New York i.e., the Institute of Culinary Education, French Culinary Institute (FCI). After learning cooking, he made a habit to post food pictures cooked by him on his Instagram account @yeocancook.

Q.) Do you think accounting and cooking are interrelated? If yes, then how?

Chef Yeo: Just like accounting, cooking is about keeping things in balance. Instead of debit and credit, when I cook, I think about balancing spices with sweets, and fat with acid. With a touch of salt, you now have a dish with a depth of flavours.

Q.) Being a professor how will you define healthy food, especially for the school/college students?

Chef Yeo: My definition of healthy food is a little broader. Healthy to me is eating less processed food, preferably eating food prepared using fresh ingredients.

Q.) Which cuisine do you like to cook and why?

Chef Yeo: Over the years, I have enjoyed my exploration of different Asian spices, from Lemongrass, Szechuan peppercorns, Japanese Shichimi Togarashi, and Korean Gochujang to Fenugreek, Turmeric, and others. I always like to include an Asian “twist” in my cooking.

Q.) Did cooking brought any change in your life?

Chef Yeo: My cooking time is my time to decompress. It’s my meditative zen moments that I enjoy. When I chop ingredients, I don’t think about anything other than the tasks. It is a ritual that I look forward to daily. I feel that cooking has enriched my life.

Q.) Is cooking more difficult than doing accounting?

Chef Yeo: Practice, practice, practice! With practice, both cooking and accounting are not difficult. I guess having the right instructor/professor helps anyone to learn cooking, accounting, or both.

Q.) Why your plating is mostly in white & black cutlery, any specific reason?

Chef Yeo: I like the classic white or the modern black plates rather than more colourful plates or plates with design. To me, the white/black accentuates what’s on the plate. It forces our eyes to focus on the food items. I like the food to be the main focus.

Q.) Before cooking, you first learned it. So, do you agree cooking needs learning or that anybody can cook?

Chef Yeo: Everyone can cook. Elevated cooking is a learned skill that anyone can possess. Once you know the fundamental techniques (sauté, braise, stew, steam, roast, stir-frying, etc.) and how to treat the ingredients, making something delicious is within everyone’s capability.

Q.) Why your cooking time limit is only 30 minutes?

Chef Yeo: As a working professional, I don’t have the luxury of spending hours cooking. We have to eat, and I prefer to eat a home-cooked meal. For cooking to be a habitual life routine, I limit my active cooking time to 30 minutes (at least on weekdays). It is also a fun challenge that I set for myself.

Q.) Any advice for the upcoming chefs?

Chef Yeo: Keep doing what you love. The more you do, the more you will find people who appreciate or value what you do.