I took a few gigs with a roommate who is a gastro chef doing catering a few years ago for the hell of it. Was really quite the experience. I love to cook but never had done it for like 80+ people on a level of expectation of a certain high quality before then. Made Spanish Paella for one event, Brazilian steak at another... Everyone thought I was some special professional foreign chef flown in from Canada which is the funniest part. We just rolled with it because while we didn't even intend for anyone to think that, they just loved it. They even invited me for doing their Christmas dinner but I figured working over those days was a bit much and politely declined.
One of the things it helped me realize is that I need to be in better shape. Felt like I got in a fight or something after each gig, spending all day and night preparing a ton of food is NOT easy, it is extremely demanding and you need to make sure of a bunch of stuff that matters less if you're just a programmer like kitchen hygiene.
When I still worked in kitchens I used to cycle long distances (40+ km) in relatively short average times (approximately one hour) almost every day, and a busy shift in the kitchen still wiped me out. Sometimes I was even sore the next day (it depends on what needed to be done). I guess I'm trying to say I'm wondering what sort of herculean fitness would not have difficulty with the work.
Not as much as I make doing software engineering for sure, but the money was really good relatively speaking especially considering this wasn't in some typical Anglosphere country. It was otherwise super rewarding though. Made for some cool videos to share on Instagram
One of the things it helped me realize is that I need to be in better shape. Felt like I got in a fight or something after each gig, spending all day and night preparing a ton of food is NOT easy, it is extremely demanding and you need to make sure of a bunch of stuff that matters less if you're just a programmer like kitchen hygiene.