I touched on this in numerous earlier posts but I wanted to expand a little.
Working in a restaurant in a professional kitchen people fall into two types of categories. At least for me. Us and Them.
Us, we are the ones that cut, chop, dice and slice. Sear, grill, fry and blanche. We are the ones that are at the restaurant hours before it is even a thought in your mind. We are the ones who take the raw ingredients and with passion and with some know how transform the inherent beauty of that ingredient into something else. We are the ones who cajole, push, tempt and even sometimes threaten our ingredients demanding from them that they be the best damn thing that we can create. Us, we are the ones who drink, smoke, laugh, curse and make fun of one another, while standing over a searing piece of Foie Gras or Tenderloin or whatever. We are the ones that after a long day at work seek to let our hair down the same way as you but our manner is much different not to mention the hour. Us, we are the ones that choose or fate and celebrate it everyday and could never, I mean EVER sit behind a desk. Its not in our blood. And now after doing this for nine months I can tell you with no uncertainty that I have NO IDEA how I ever did sit at a desk.
Them – You, reading this. You are them. And them can basically be described two ways. Not us. And finally the ones that we seek everyday to wow, impress and tantalize. We are your servants and that is who we are. What we do truly is who we are. And you, THEM, are not us.
Pink Floyd once wrote;
Us, and them
And after all were only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Friday, September 19, 2008
Objectives for the coming months (file under always learning)
The kitchen environment provides me with the perfect opportunity to learn new things everyday. It is not like in a school environment where things are laid out for you plainly and you follow a certain path. My ability to learn new things is heavily contingent on my ability to be curious. To watch something that is happening, internalize it and then ask questions about it.
One of the things that I have mentioned to Chef B that I really want to start learning so that I can do it everyday are;
Butchery – on all manner of protein. I have learned, at least in part how to butcher tenderloin and a striploin and have worked with European Sea Bass but I want to learn how to butcher Salmon, Tuna, Cod, etc. As well as all manner of proteins.
I have also started looking at the financial aspects of what goes in the restaurant. I am trying to discern how a certain thing ends up on the plate and how that affects the price that the customer pays. I am ever curious about food cost as a percentage, labour costs, etc. These are things that are vital to know inside and out if you ever want to have your own building.
I am always watching how management deals with certain situations and I will continue to be so. When I am unsure of how a certain thing has been resolved I will ask questions and to their credit all of the Chefs are willing to answer them.
I am going to be moving into our sister restaurant soon. It is going to give me my first real (for any real length of time) experience on the line in a restaurant. I am going to learn how to prep my station inside, how to handle orders both on Garde and on pans.
The next few months are going to be extremely difficult but filled with the opportunity to continue being the best I can. I am excited and ready for the challenges.
C.S. Lewis once said; “Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” You only need to almost take your finger off once before you learn, by experience, that you need to tuck them. Or grab a hot pan without a towel. I think you get the idea.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
One of the things that I have mentioned to Chef B that I really want to start learning so that I can do it everyday are;
Butchery – on all manner of protein. I have learned, at least in part how to butcher tenderloin and a striploin and have worked with European Sea Bass but I want to learn how to butcher Salmon, Tuna, Cod, etc. As well as all manner of proteins.
I have also started looking at the financial aspects of what goes in the restaurant. I am trying to discern how a certain thing ends up on the plate and how that affects the price that the customer pays. I am ever curious about food cost as a percentage, labour costs, etc. These are things that are vital to know inside and out if you ever want to have your own building.
I am always watching how management deals with certain situations and I will continue to be so. When I am unsure of how a certain thing has been resolved I will ask questions and to their credit all of the Chefs are willing to answer them.
I am going to be moving into our sister restaurant soon. It is going to give me my first real (for any real length of time) experience on the line in a restaurant. I am going to learn how to prep my station inside, how to handle orders both on Garde and on pans.
The next few months are going to be extremely difficult but filled with the opportunity to continue being the best I can. I am excited and ready for the challenges.
C.S. Lewis once said; “Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” You only need to almost take your finger off once before you learn, by experience, that you need to tuck them. Or grab a hot pan without a towel. I think you get the idea.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
My Skill Level (file under always improving)
First off to my love C… I am so proud of you! Keep on being the you I know you to be. You are the most amazing woman in the world and I love you dearly. Shine on Mon Petit.
That said. I am working like a machine. As I’m sure you can tell from the lack of posts for the last little while. For which I am sorry but there is little I can do. My gas tank only has so much gas and lately it has been running close to empty.
So skills. Where am I?
I think that sometimes it is easy to forget that I have only been in a professional kitchen for 9 months. In fact today is nine months and one day. In that time I have progressed quite nicely if I don’t say so myself.
Over the course of the summer I was outside on the grill. In fact I am back on the grill this weekend (much to my chagrin) but hey we all have to do our job. Working the grill the main things that I learned is how to prep my station, how to clean my station, how to set up my station, organizing a station, reading and preparing chits and perhaps most important HOW TO OPERATE UNDER PRESSURE.
That brings me to an important point. We, those of us crazy fools, that choose to work in the kitchen, operate in a very different way than the rest of the world. We work hard; extremely hard (not that no one else does) but ours is a bit different. We are at work when most of you have finished your work. The unsung people in white that lurk in kitchens while you are downing martinis and canapés. We are still at work when you are nicely buzzed. I only belong in a kitchen and am grateful that I have found where I belong.
Knife skills are constantly improving. I had to rissole eight litres of potatoes. I have always been a bit concerned doing rissole. But I did fairly well. I am confidant that by the time of my one year anniversary there that my knife skills will have improved even more.
General kitchen skills are improving every day. Based on conversations I have had with A, K and Chef B I think that sometimes they forget I have ONLY been in a kitchen for nine months. I pick things up quickly and have a great conceptual understanding of food and pick things up quickly which serves me well.
Lately I have started being less boisterous at work. It is easy to be boisterous at work in order to cut through some of the mundane. But I feel that I need to keep my head down and just do my job. It is not necessarily easy to do but I feel that it is something that I need to do in order to be consistent with my stated objective of being the best possible chef I can be.
I am excited to go to work everyday. The challenges and obstacles excite me. I am thrilled to know that what I am doing now is directly responsible for the welfare of my family (on multiple levels – nutrition, financial and emotional).
I have another post coming right up.
Thomas More once said; “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed” And man am I getting an education.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
That said. I am working like a machine. As I’m sure you can tell from the lack of posts for the last little while. For which I am sorry but there is little I can do. My gas tank only has so much gas and lately it has been running close to empty.
So skills. Where am I?
I think that sometimes it is easy to forget that I have only been in a professional kitchen for 9 months. In fact today is nine months and one day. In that time I have progressed quite nicely if I don’t say so myself.
Over the course of the summer I was outside on the grill. In fact I am back on the grill this weekend (much to my chagrin) but hey we all have to do our job. Working the grill the main things that I learned is how to prep my station, how to clean my station, how to set up my station, organizing a station, reading and preparing chits and perhaps most important HOW TO OPERATE UNDER PRESSURE.
That brings me to an important point. We, those of us crazy fools, that choose to work in the kitchen, operate in a very different way than the rest of the world. We work hard; extremely hard (not that no one else does) but ours is a bit different. We are at work when most of you have finished your work. The unsung people in white that lurk in kitchens while you are downing martinis and canapés. We are still at work when you are nicely buzzed. I only belong in a kitchen and am grateful that I have found where I belong.
Knife skills are constantly improving. I had to rissole eight litres of potatoes. I have always been a bit concerned doing rissole. But I did fairly well. I am confidant that by the time of my one year anniversary there that my knife skills will have improved even more.
General kitchen skills are improving every day. Based on conversations I have had with A, K and Chef B I think that sometimes they forget I have ONLY been in a kitchen for nine months. I pick things up quickly and have a great conceptual understanding of food and pick things up quickly which serves me well.
Lately I have started being less boisterous at work. It is easy to be boisterous at work in order to cut through some of the mundane. But I feel that I need to keep my head down and just do my job. It is not necessarily easy to do but I feel that it is something that I need to do in order to be consistent with my stated objective of being the best possible chef I can be.
I am excited to go to work everyday. The challenges and obstacles excite me. I am thrilled to know that what I am doing now is directly responsible for the welfare of my family (on multiple levels – nutrition, financial and emotional).
I have another post coming right up.
Thomas More once said; “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed” And man am I getting an education.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Awww Shucks (file under a crack up job)
Anatole France once wrote; “What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster!” How very true.
As an Irish Scot whose family grew up in the heartland of Canadian Oysters (the east coast and no we don’t need to debate it) I was destined to enjoy oysters. Now while I say this I am aware of the fact that many of my brothers and sisters won’t go near seafood. But when you grow up in a family like mine (five boys and three girls) you learn that those subtle differences in food tolerance, awareness and enjoyment are the beautiful gift which, when growing up, let you have that one more bite without any sort of guilt.
I love Oysters. I always have. But the caveat here is that I only love RAW oysters. Sure I know that there are purists out there who will try to convince me that there are many more beautiful ways to eat an oyster but for me there is nothing more beautiful than slurping back a raw oyster and feeling the rush of the ocean as it courses through your veins. Tasting the changing of the seasons and the tide as readily as most people drink a coke. To some this may sound like an over stylized or romantic view but I assure you, if you’ve eaten as many oysters as I have, you will come to know that every delicious morsel on the half shell is a vibrant and dramatic voyage into the depths unknown which must be felt and internalized through your taste sensations.
So a few weeks ago we had a party that had a manned oyster station. As we have a restaurant that also does oyster shucking at the bar I thought it might be a good idea for me to start showing that I can shuck oysters as well. So how exactly do you shuck an oyster?
First off I would say that it is important for you to have a proper place to shuck oysters. First make sure that you have a steady place to do it. I would also recommend having some kind of riser to take you off of the surface. I use a block of wood.
Hold the oyster firmly in one hand and the oyster shucker in the other. Use a folded towel to place the oyster into so that you do not jab your hand and inflict massive amounts of pain on yourself also take note that the shell ridges are sharp! Slip the shucker blade between the top and bottom shell right by the hinge on back.
Run the shucker all the way around the oyster until you get to the other side. You will find that it takes a great deal of patience and understanding to find the right point. Some oysters just don't take kindly to people sticking knives in their shell. Be brave and put some muscle into it, but be careful - this is where you'll cut or stab yourself.
Using a twisting motion, pry the top and bottom shells apart. Be gentle but firm so you don't lose any of the liquor inside.
Cut the oyster free from his shell. He'll be connected by a tough knob on his underside; slide your shucker under and sever it. You can either go to the trouble of setting down your blade and using a little fork to pick the oyster out, or you can do like the natives do and just scoop him with your shucker and pop him in your mouth. Drink the liquor out of the shell.
One of the best Oyster shuckers I have ever met is Patrick McMurray, not only is he a fun young chap but extremely knowledgeable in the field. Check out his restaurant next time you are in the mood for some great laughs and even better Oysters (http://www.starfishoysterbed.com/ ) , trust me you won’t be disappointed.
So at any rate, the first party that I had to do it for was some electrical contractors at some type of industry event. Of course just like anything else you have the ones that know, the ones that don’t and the ones that pretend to. I usually tune out the last category but that is true in everything I do.
I had approximately 1200 oysters to shuck that evening. I set up my station. Grabbed my garnishes and set about liberating those slippery suckers from the shell. (I use the term liberated about as loosely as George Bush does when speaking about Iraq)
One of my greatest treats that night was that I got to introduce oysters to two very different people. One was a lady about fifty years old. It was pretty easy to convince her to have an oyster and once I had cracked one and gave it to her she looked at it for a moment. Asked about the proper etiquette and then down the hatch. She was a pretty easy sale.
The other was a young man, maybe ten years old, who was totally repulsed by what I was doing. He asked all kinds of questions throughout about a two hour period. He then came over and said that he wanted to try one. I asked him to pick the one that he wanted and then over the next few minutes explained to him where they came from and what I was doing to it when I jabbed it with the shucker. At every step I stopped so that he could see exactly what was going on. Over the course of the next five minutes he hummed and hawed and wasn’t sure if he would do it. I looked at him and admired his excitement and told him that I would do it with him. Sure enough, shucked and ready we downed that oyster and he started jumping up and down as excited as a kid at the end of the school year right as the bell went. It was a lot of fun.
The other party I did was about 800 oysters and was for some type of regional managers meeting of Toys’R’Us. I had been shucking Malpeque, Caraquet, Beau Soleil and Pacific Tigers. One of the men there (who falls under the third category I mentioned earlier) tried to tell me that Malpeque’s (pronounced Mal Peck) came from the lovely Mal P Cue Bay. It took everything in my power not to laugh out loud.
As well I’ve taken to calling Pacific Tigers Lil Kim’s because they fight back and are a pain in the ass to crack open. All in all though a lot of fun.
Oscar Wilde once said; “The world was my oyster but I used the wrong knife.” Are you using the right knife?
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
As an Irish Scot whose family grew up in the heartland of Canadian Oysters (the east coast and no we don’t need to debate it) I was destined to enjoy oysters. Now while I say this I am aware of the fact that many of my brothers and sisters won’t go near seafood. But when you grow up in a family like mine (five boys and three girls) you learn that those subtle differences in food tolerance, awareness and enjoyment are the beautiful gift which, when growing up, let you have that one more bite without any sort of guilt.
I love Oysters. I always have. But the caveat here is that I only love RAW oysters. Sure I know that there are purists out there who will try to convince me that there are many more beautiful ways to eat an oyster but for me there is nothing more beautiful than slurping back a raw oyster and feeling the rush of the ocean as it courses through your veins. Tasting the changing of the seasons and the tide as readily as most people drink a coke. To some this may sound like an over stylized or romantic view but I assure you, if you’ve eaten as many oysters as I have, you will come to know that every delicious morsel on the half shell is a vibrant and dramatic voyage into the depths unknown which must be felt and internalized through your taste sensations.
So a few weeks ago we had a party that had a manned oyster station. As we have a restaurant that also does oyster shucking at the bar I thought it might be a good idea for me to start showing that I can shuck oysters as well. So how exactly do you shuck an oyster?
First off I would say that it is important for you to have a proper place to shuck oysters. First make sure that you have a steady place to do it. I would also recommend having some kind of riser to take you off of the surface. I use a block of wood.
Hold the oyster firmly in one hand and the oyster shucker in the other. Use a folded towel to place the oyster into so that you do not jab your hand and inflict massive amounts of pain on yourself also take note that the shell ridges are sharp! Slip the shucker blade between the top and bottom shell right by the hinge on back.
Run the shucker all the way around the oyster until you get to the other side. You will find that it takes a great deal of patience and understanding to find the right point. Some oysters just don't take kindly to people sticking knives in their shell. Be brave and put some muscle into it, but be careful - this is where you'll cut or stab yourself.
Using a twisting motion, pry the top and bottom shells apart. Be gentle but firm so you don't lose any of the liquor inside.
Cut the oyster free from his shell. He'll be connected by a tough knob on his underside; slide your shucker under and sever it. You can either go to the trouble of setting down your blade and using a little fork to pick the oyster out, or you can do like the natives do and just scoop him with your shucker and pop him in your mouth. Drink the liquor out of the shell.
One of the best Oyster shuckers I have ever met is Patrick McMurray, not only is he a fun young chap but extremely knowledgeable in the field. Check out his restaurant next time you are in the mood for some great laughs and even better Oysters (http://www.starfishoysterbed.com/ ) , trust me you won’t be disappointed.
So at any rate, the first party that I had to do it for was some electrical contractors at some type of industry event. Of course just like anything else you have the ones that know, the ones that don’t and the ones that pretend to. I usually tune out the last category but that is true in everything I do.
I had approximately 1200 oysters to shuck that evening. I set up my station. Grabbed my garnishes and set about liberating those slippery suckers from the shell. (I use the term liberated about as loosely as George Bush does when speaking about Iraq)
One of my greatest treats that night was that I got to introduce oysters to two very different people. One was a lady about fifty years old. It was pretty easy to convince her to have an oyster and once I had cracked one and gave it to her she looked at it for a moment. Asked about the proper etiquette and then down the hatch. She was a pretty easy sale.
The other was a young man, maybe ten years old, who was totally repulsed by what I was doing. He asked all kinds of questions throughout about a two hour period. He then came over and said that he wanted to try one. I asked him to pick the one that he wanted and then over the next few minutes explained to him where they came from and what I was doing to it when I jabbed it with the shucker. At every step I stopped so that he could see exactly what was going on. Over the course of the next five minutes he hummed and hawed and wasn’t sure if he would do it. I looked at him and admired his excitement and told him that I would do it with him. Sure enough, shucked and ready we downed that oyster and he started jumping up and down as excited as a kid at the end of the school year right as the bell went. It was a lot of fun.
The other party I did was about 800 oysters and was for some type of regional managers meeting of Toys’R’Us. I had been shucking Malpeque, Caraquet, Beau Soleil and Pacific Tigers. One of the men there (who falls under the third category I mentioned earlier) tried to tell me that Malpeque’s (pronounced Mal Peck) came from the lovely Mal P Cue Bay. It took everything in my power not to laugh out loud.
As well I’ve taken to calling Pacific Tigers Lil Kim’s because they fight back and are a pain in the ass to crack open. All in all though a lot of fun.
Oscar Wilde once said; “The world was my oyster but I used the wrong knife.” Are you using the right knife?
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
It’s Been a While ( file under tired and busy)
Hello friends. Lend me your eyes and I will bring you on my culinary journey once more. Yes it has been a while. I have been working like a dog and unfortunately have not been able to write as I am so worn down.
First off a big hug and kiss to my wonderful C. She is away kicking ass and taking names again in NYC at Stella Adler and I could not be more proud. Sure maybe a bit lonely but it is a small price to pay to know love as I do.
I’ll admit it. I am an uber human. I can do things with super human strength and an awesome force of will. However I will also admit that the key word there is human. I have been going at break neck speed since January 18th of this year in pursuit of my dream. To become the best possible chef that I can. I have worked a paltry eight hour shift and I have worked a forty one hour shift. I have been bright eyes and bushy tailed and also bushy eyed and bright tailed. But I have endured.
This summer has been both enlightening and exhilarating. I have seen the reward of countless hours at work. I have witnessed the political, cultural and social climate of the kitchen, at first as an outsider and now as a somewhat seasoned newbie.
I would also like to apologize for not writing. It is not from lack of desire. Merely fatigue and working six if not seven days a week. Usually by the time I get a day off I am so tired, so wrecked, so incredibly drained that I find myself waking up, doing a bit of work, taking a nap and then some more reading or work. I had always known that the life of a chef was not the highly stylized and glamorous depiction that so many home cooks believe is reality that they see on television but I will say that I have come to understand and appreciate what it really means to be a chef. AND I’m just STARTING!
So today, I plan on writing about some of the fun experiences of that last few weeks;
Shucking Oysters – 1000’s of them
My skill level and where I see my flaws
Laughs, laughs and more laughs.
I will return shortly with what is sure to be a great post about shucking oysters.
A great Russian poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko once said; “Sorrow happens, hardship happens, the hell with it, who never knew the price of happiness, will not be happy” Do you know the price of happiness? I do and I am grateful for it.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
First off a big hug and kiss to my wonderful C. She is away kicking ass and taking names again in NYC at Stella Adler and I could not be more proud. Sure maybe a bit lonely but it is a small price to pay to know love as I do.
I’ll admit it. I am an uber human. I can do things with super human strength and an awesome force of will. However I will also admit that the key word there is human. I have been going at break neck speed since January 18th of this year in pursuit of my dream. To become the best possible chef that I can. I have worked a paltry eight hour shift and I have worked a forty one hour shift. I have been bright eyes and bushy tailed and also bushy eyed and bright tailed. But I have endured.
This summer has been both enlightening and exhilarating. I have seen the reward of countless hours at work. I have witnessed the political, cultural and social climate of the kitchen, at first as an outsider and now as a somewhat seasoned newbie.
I would also like to apologize for not writing. It is not from lack of desire. Merely fatigue and working six if not seven days a week. Usually by the time I get a day off I am so tired, so wrecked, so incredibly drained that I find myself waking up, doing a bit of work, taking a nap and then some more reading or work. I had always known that the life of a chef was not the highly stylized and glamorous depiction that so many home cooks believe is reality that they see on television but I will say that I have come to understand and appreciate what it really means to be a chef. AND I’m just STARTING!
So today, I plan on writing about some of the fun experiences of that last few weeks;
Shucking Oysters – 1000’s of them
My skill level and where I see my flaws
Laughs, laughs and more laughs.
I will return shortly with what is sure to be a great post about shucking oysters.
A great Russian poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko once said; “Sorrow happens, hardship happens, the hell with it, who never knew the price of happiness, will not be happy” Do you know the price of happiness? I do and I am grateful for it.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
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