Hello all! I’m sorry for the brief lapse in posts. It has been an interesting couple of weeks filled with ups and downs. Mostly ups though. It is beyond amazing to have C back. It was difficult being apart for so long but it is for the best. Our love has consistently stood the test of time and space. Transcending it and it will again when she returns to NYC. That is the nature of love and I am grateful everyday for it.
At Reservation everything is going amazing. I have really begun to pick up on my speed and technique and I am feeling beyond comfortable in the kitchen. Some of the things that stood in my way (perhaps because of a lack of understanding) are no longer issues at all.
For instance Aioli. It is difficult to make Aioli to begin with. I had been splitting my Aioli’s quite a bit and it was driving me nuts. Executive Chef came over when I was making one and he walked me through it again after I had split yet another. Aioli is extremely temperamental and requires exceptional skill and masterful timing. Naturally Aioli is made with eggs and oil as well as a flavouring agent. To start the Aioli you must separate the yolks and then add them to the robo coupe. It was generally believed (before science had proved differently) that an egg yolk was only capable of incorporating 8 ounces of oil. In fact, as science has now proven (as well as trial and error) an egg yolk is capable of incorporating 16 ounces of oil.
As I was making my Aioli’s to begin I was not giving the protein enough time to stretch and thus was not able to incorporate the oil properly. The result is a kind of stringy and bubbly mixture (that almost resembles cellulite is you can believe it). Now though I take the appropriate time (which is dictated by the protein itself) before I start to incorporate the oil. The last stage is to incorporate your flavouring agent. More often than not I have been making Truffle Aioli, Mango Aioli or Lemon Caper Aioli. Each used in various ways. The Truffle Aioli is used as a compliment for our hand cut French fries (my hand!!!!), the Mango is used for mini crab cakes (a canapé at parties and functions) and the Lemon Caper is used with another canapé of shaved beef carpacchio on olive oil crustini. The Mango is still a bit tricky for me but all in all I am comfortable with making any Aioli now.
As I have gotten better it has been observed and my responsibilities have gradually taken on different and new tasks. We all are accustomed to the way that my days start. I know that I have given you all a picture of what it is that I have to put away. It usually starts with the vegetables. Right now we go through approximately three hundred pounds of vegetables a day. I imagine in the summer that that number is going to triple. Dry goods, which includes things such as flour, sugar, oil, frozen products and dairy amount to approximately two hundred pounds on a slow day and on a Friday it can be as much as one thousand pounds. This would explain why my already chiseled physique (if I don’t say so myself) has become even more like Michelangelo had made a marble of me. I also put away fish and meat. Fish usually is about fifty to sixty pounds a day and meat can be as much as two hundred pounds on a busy day. If you add all these numbers up you’ll see that on a slow day I’m moving about three hundred to four hundred pounds of product. On busy days I could be moving as much as fifteen hundred pounds. Can you say biceps?
My stocks are incredible now. My consistency is there and I am producing approximately eighty litres of finished demi each week. Of course the remi is the result of approximately 180 – 220 litres of liquid being reduced down to about 16 litres. I have also expanded my repertoire of stocks. I am now responsible for making Veal Stock, Fish Stock, Light Chicken Stock, Dark Chicken Stock and Lobster Stock. One day before C came home I noticed that I had developed a zit. I’ve never had zits. Ask anyone that knows me. Well the reason for the zit was that I made every one of the afore mentioned stocks over a twelve hour period. All that fat steaming up at my face brought out a zit or two and while my stock was great my face paid the temporary price. You’ll be pleased to know that my face is back to normal now.
I have also started searing off the proteins for events and functions. I have seared salmon, Black Cod, White Fish, European bass, Tuna, Grouper and Artic Char. I have seared Chicken, tenderloin and striploin. I am learning how to do the various proteins properly and how to deal their “doneness” by feel, smell and sight.
My next post is going to deal with functions and how they come into being. The work that is required and my role in them.
I also wanted to say that it is normal for people to have questions about where they are and what they are doing. I myself had to search deep within myself in order to establish what is was that makes me happy and what I could do for the rest of my life. In the past I have done more jobs than you can imagine. Some have been incredible and others have been quite pedestrian. Through it all though I have strived to be better. This year I have really opened my soul, my heart and my mind. I have become the man that I always thought I was supposed to be. My making the selfish decision to join a professional kitchen has been the most transformative event of my life (next to C entering it). I hope that all of you realize that questions, doubt, self loathing, fear and complacency are a part of life. But they are not the end all. They are the beginning. You need to reach beyond and find what truly resides inside you. What is your passion? What is your drive? WHAT IS YOUR DESIRE? Ask these questions and answer them and I can guarantee that you will find a joy that is unparalleled. That said I remember fondly Descartes; “Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum.” Which translates to; “I doubt, I think, therefore I am.”
Life is the oyster that you’ve always wanted. You just need to dream big and inspired.
Back shortly.
A la prochaine
SDM
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