Easily, the most common question I get asked is "Which do you like better: Teaching Mathematics or Cooking?" And my response is always the same: "I like them both. When I am in the classroom, I like teaching and when I am in the kitchen, I like cooking." After several years of doing both, I decided to contemplate this question more thoughtfully. For now, this is what I've concluded (with some levity, of course):

1. As a chef, I am inspired by my ingredients. In a Mathematics class, my students rarely seem inspired.

2. My students want instant gratification (translation: the correct answer and the easiest method to arrive at it). As a chef, I often want instant gratification from my guest (usually after the first bite).

3. I hate grading student work. I love developing menus.

4. Mathematics is one of the purest of disciplines. I have contaminated most classical flavor profiles with my penchant for bold fusion cuisine.

5. Everybody is a chef these days. Even scientists and physicians will hesitate to admit being proficient in Mathematics.

6. While developing flavor in a dish, I rely on my physical senses. While developing and demonstrating a solution to a mathematical problem, I rely on my mental senses (and these days, also my eyesight).

7. I am a patient teacher. I am an impatient chef.

8. I am required to multitask in the kitchen. I am expected to be excruciatingly linear (step-by-step) when teaching Mathematics.

9. Being a chef requires the support of an entire "brigade". Being a Mathematics professor is mostly a solitary profession.

10. Mathematical discoveries have and continue to change the world. I am now learning that chefs can also change the world though their actions and advocacy.

I am glad that I don't have to choose yet, but if I had to, I would teach Mathematics part-time and run a small seafood cafe on a beach.