I’m a chef and I’ve been living a lie about the quality and authenticity of my food

I’m a personal chef for a upper class family in the US with a multi-million dollar house who go on many vacations every year. They claim they miss authentic European and Asian food after living abroad for several years. <br><br>When I first started cooking for them, I made elaborate dishes that took hours to make. I made my own pasta and ramen. I used 3-4 pots and pans for a single dish. I wouldisiert my sauces. I would make my own salad dressings. I would make my own dipping sauces. I marinated for 48 hours. <br><br>They said I was a great cook but they would always criticize the food, saying it didn’t taste like they remembered. I’d always ask for more specific feedback to try to improve the next time but all I would get was “it’s not like [country] [dishes]”. I use a lot of fresh produce but I assumed maybe they wanted something more authentic with preservatives or something (I don’t know, I was grasping at straws). <br><br>One day they went out to a high end restaurant and asked me to make a reservation for them. When I called to put their name down, I recognized the name of the restaurant as the same one my friend works at as an executive sous chef so I asked to speak to him and he came to the phone. I let him know who made the reservation and he said he’d take care of it. <br><br>Later that night he called me and asked me what they ordered. He said the owner was tired of making “high quality” food and was going to switch to more processed ingredients to see how long it would take for them to notice. <br><br>I was shocked when he told me all the processed things they used (boxed pasta, powdered Alfredo sauce, jarred marinara, etc). He also said he switched out the premium extra virgin olive oil they keep on their counter at home. <br><br>They didn’t notice. In fact they said it was the best authentic food they’d had since leaving Europe. <br><br>So I started using processed ingredients and cheap substitutions. Shitty instant chocolate powder instead of 70% cacao. Balsamic vinaigrette from a bottle. Gravies that are basically just flour and water. Jarred sauces. Frozen pasta. <br><br>They say everything tastes good but sometimes I get comments about it not being authentic. I don’t tell them it’s processed bullshit but instead just let them know I’ll try again next time. <br><br>When they go out to eat, they always come back and ask me to recreate the dish. I ask my friend if they had that dish and more often than not he’ll tell me he switched it to a cheaper ingredient and the family will never know. <br><br>I’m getting tired of this and I don’t know what to do. I’m really happy with my job but I feel like I’m living a lie. I miss making real food and I miss eating real food. I don’t make the food I want to make anymore because I know they’ll just complain it isn’t authentic.