Snow Day – If you’re not a Cook!

Toronto was blanketed today with an insane amount of snow and for the first time in ages it was the thick, wet, packing almost what you would imagine North Pole snow to be like. Of course living in Canada I am very used to the snow and Toronto on any given year can be on the receiving end of the lake effect. Fortunately most of the time it hits America’s armpit; also known as Buffalo. Speaking of which you know who I’m going for in the Superbowl? Who cares; I’m working. But my love will certainly be cheering for the Giants.

Can anybody guess how my day started? Stock, Remi and Demi of course. Didn’t take long to figure that one out I hope. As I was doing this I also was doing the receiving for the day. First the grouper came in; “But where is the monk fish I asked?” Later was the answer. For some reason snow turns this city into a well congested mess. Delay. Delay. Delay. But the monk fish did come in the afternoon so no harm no foul. Then came the dairy and frozen goods. Lots of them. 3 cases whipped cream, 2 cases butter, and the brunch items for Sunday, you get the idea.

Then came the bread and the veggies. We consume a ridiculous amount of vegetables. Far more than any of you would think. Our order generally fills two or three type written pages with everything from Butternut Squash, Herbs and Tomatoes to Baby Carrots, Baby Beets and Fennel. It crosses the spectrum of everything that you could imagine. And we use it very quickly.

Looking at the function sheets for tomorrow I saw an event at 11 and another later. So it is time to do the prep. I know to all of you prep must sound boring but really it is an opportunity to get your Mise en Place correct, get much needed practice in the fine art of your knife work (I am getting better at brunoise) and get a feel for the amounts that are needed for various sizes of functions. The one starting in the morning is for 60 adults and 12 kids. There is a lot of prep involved for an event like this. But as I said it gives me the opportunity to learn new things and get better at things I’ve already been shown.

Obviously as service was going to be relatively slow tonight (though much better than expected) due to the snow storm it gave me time to do all kinds of prep. It has been snowing now for a full twenty-four hours. This allowed me to learn how to prepare new dishes for functions. Get better at telling when the demi is ready to be taken off the stove and refrigerated. I got to prepare the Bruschetta today which meant practicing my brunoise with something even hard than an onion or shallot. A TOMATO. And it truly did help my knife skills as I started to feel a bit more confidant though still fairly slow. But a great beginning at a very difficult skill. Moreover, once I had finished (or so I thought) I had chef taste it. It took a couple of seasonings but finally; “Perfect!” I didn’t quite pat myself on the back but it did feel good to hear that from Exec Chef.

Just as I had asked Exec Chef to identify his main influence I asked Head Chef today. Without skipping a beat he said Marco Pierre White. I only now found out about Marco Pierre White (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Pierre_White) I asked why and Head Chef simply answered that he was a hard ass. I took it at par at that moment but after researching when I got home. Come on, 3 Michelin Stars at 33. Shiiiiiiiit! Someone worth delving further into to be sure. He has a picture in one of his book of Gordon Ramsay crying in one of his kitchen. GORDON RAMSAY crying! Shiiiiiit!

I then learned how to make Truffle scented Aioli. Ah, yes please. Incidentally did any of you realize that the reason that pigs and dogs can be trained to find Truffles is because it gives off a scent that is identical to their olfactory senses as that of the pheromones of their partners? No wonder those little buggers dig and dig and dig. I mean I would too. Wouldn’t you? Not to mention the fact that the prize they find can cost up to $200 for a single Truffle. I’m sure for the herders it is a pretty good return on investment. But back to the Aioli. It is far more complicated than it seems. I could get into the minutiae but as I said before in an earlier post I do not want to betray any of the secrets that the Chefs have. If you’re really curious about the generalities of it you can go here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aioli. I had always thought that Aioli was from Italy but as I learned last week it is actually from Provence. And have any of you even wondered why the French became so dependant on sauces; Bueller, Bueller – Quite simply their food sucked ASS (perhaps the reason French women are so skinny?) so they needed to mask it. Naturally it has gotten better with time as have their sauces but that is the original reason. After making the “perfect” seasoned and tasting Aioli (YES!) I moved onto a mango infused Aioli. Again not easy and again “well done!” Double YES!

I then did some more prep work for the function and then started doing a thorough scrub down of the kitchen. C could easily tell anyone that one thing I hate is cleaning. The vacuum cleaner sends me running faster than a Cheetah after an Antelope (or Coyote after Road Runner)S and generally I don’t like cleaning. I think it is a throw back to my childhood but I can’t be certain. At any rate, cleaned the prep stove, range and convection oven. Thoroughly cleaned the underside of the station table as well as the bins for flour, salt flour and sugar. Again I hate cleaning but not nearly as much as I love my new path. Then we deck scrubbed the floor and mopped it. A long day but after completion Head Chef gave the prop fist and said on you go. Had it been busy I would still be there. Right about now cleaning so I guess I also had a bit, an itsy bitsy little bit of a snow day bump.

I hope that everyone’s day was as inspired, beautiful and rich as mine. If not tomorrow is another day. Shoot for the stars. If I can do this you too can do anything you want. What are you afraid of? What are you waiting for?

There is an old Punjabi proverb that says; “Eat moderately, walk on the straight path, and you needn’t worry.” Now how true is that! I leave it with you. Talk amongst yourselves.

Be well and laugh… It helps!

SDM