Can a chef be an artist?

Though many people don't realize it, cooking is a form of art that has been overlooked and unrecognized. Cooking is a skill that is hard enough to master, but it takes a special kind of chef to transform their food into a type of edible art.  I've watched numerous episodes of Cake Boss, and the way the chefs sculpture their cakes seems to be similar to the procedures used in architecture, and watching them decorate the frosting is almost like watching a painter hard at work. It is also interesting when the chef presents the food in a creative way on your plate. The most talented chefs know that the arrangement of food can somehow affect its taste, since the better the food looks the more appealing it is. Beyond the looks and presentation of the food, the act of cooking itself can even be considered art. Everyone can cook to a certain extent, but not everyone can cook well. There is a sort of precision to cooking, where you need to heat food in the oven for an exact amount of time or add just the right amount of seasoning to get the flavor you want. You need to have enough knowledge of ingredients so that you can know what to use as a substitute when you're out of a certain ingredient, or make a savory concoction out of foods that don't even seem compatible with each other. Anyone can cook using a recipe, but only a true artist can experiment with whatever ingredient they please, create their work of art, and perfect it with enough detail until it becomes a masterpiece.