Speed and Organization (file under settling in quite nicely)

Speed and organization are the name of the game. The perfect choreography of putting things together as quickly as possible, at least as it stands now. And the same is true in Wendy’s as it would have been at Le Cirque. Speed and organization, the latter being the first focus and the first being the secondary result. It takes time in order to learn to organize a station into a workable set up. Currently to set up my station I need to do the following;

Cut and blanche fries
Cut and blanche sweet potato fries
Cut Onions for frizzled onions
Prepare flour and corn starch mixture
Make two different kinds of burgers, one regular and one Kobe
Move proteins down from Protein fridge to line fridge, proteins include;

Kangaroo
Striploin
Prime Rib
Filet
Shrimp
Chicken
Fish for fish special

Slice tomato
Lettuce
Mozzarella Cheese
Grate Parm

Blanche Macaroni, penne and spaghetti

Form and blanche Meatballs
Prepare Tomato Sauce
Make Mac and Cheese Sauce
Portion Lobster
Make bread crumb and Parm mixture
Move Milk and 35% Cream
Cut butter into knobs

Slice jalapenos
Prepare Broccoli
Bok Choi
Snap Peas

Jalapeno Aioli
Chipotle Aioli

Move buns, onion, sesame and onion twists.

Sear Tuna

Cut and prepare root chips (sweet potato and taro)

I’m sure I am forgetting something. It seems rather short a list at the moment but I think that you get the basic idea.

The first step is figuring out the best way to move when you are at high speed. Once you have figured this out you need to figure out a way to organize your fridge and station so that you can optimize your performance during service. Again this is true whether you work at Wendy’s or Le Cirque.

To now I have been working with the system that was given to me. Over the next few days I plan on tweaking the system into one which works for me. Not that the current one does not but I have seen that there are definitely some efficiencies that I can achieve by shifting some of my 9 pan and ¼ pans around as well as playing with the position of certain things in the fridge.

As I play with the positioning this week I will keep you appraised.

I liken what we do a lot to boxing. Truly it is a choreography that requires you to be clear of mind and able to move without really thinking. More acting than reacting.

I am really happy here. I feel that I have been given a chance to spread my wings and fly. I feel that I am a valued member of a team where everyone has a role to play, yet is not entirely defined by that role. I am learning a lot. Some of which has to do with the move to a new restaurant and some which has to do with the practical application of knowledge. The way that a steak reacts to your fingers when you press down against it. The way that you have to train your mind to be ready for anything. The way that a hamburger reacts to resting. The way that things stick to pans if you haven’t applied the right heat to it and let it get hot enough. All things that seem simple but in fact, with the rapid fire tic, tic, tic, tic, tic of the printer. The beautifully incessant noise that summons all cooks to the line, to make someone’s day. There is a very short learning curve on the line. Either you get it or you don’t.

I know that in three months I am going to be really, I stress, REALLY, good on the line. Not that I will be the best I can be (in a futuristic sense) but that I will progress everyday with a smile on my face and know that I am doing exactly what I want to do with my life. Working toward my goal. Which some of you may or may not be clear on. As such my next post will relate to that.

Richard Bach once said; “A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed...It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.”

As such I feel that I am currently the cloud and that my Chef is the sky. Yet I do see the horizon and feel that everyday I am reaching one step closer toward it. Are you? Are you dreaming big and inspired? Are you following your passion? Living the life that you want to live? If not, why? Today is the day to start living for you. To be the you that you know you were born to be. Are you?

A la prochaine

SDM

This Weeks Terms Learned

Reservation is an incredible place to learn. I am grateful to Exec Chef an Head Chef that they have allowed a newbie like me into their kitchen.

These are some of the terms that I learned this week;

Béchamel;

Name derived from the Marquis de Bechameil. It is a white sauce that is created by mixing roux with seasoned milk.

It is one of the five mother sauces

Brunoise;

A minute dice.

Espagnole;

Sauce made from Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes and Sweet Peppers.

It is one of the five mother sauces

Salpicon;

Diced ingredients (fine dice) bound with sauce. It comes from Spanish sal (salt) and picar (cut). It can be sweet or savoury.

Hollandaise;

Hot sauce made from emulsified egg yolks and clarified butter. It is the foundation for numerous other sauces.

Veloute Sauce;

Sauce made from white veal, fish or chicken stock thickened with roux. It is the foundation for numerous other sauces.

Choron;

A revolutionary chef in the 19th century from Caen who became chef de cuisine at Voisin.

He is famous in part for a Christmas Eve Menu in 1870 which included animals from the Paris Zoo including; Kangaroo, Wolf, Elephant and Antelope.

Choron also invented a sauce which is an emulsified hot sauce used with eggs, fish and steak.

Voisin;

Paris’ best restaurant for the mid 19th century to 1930. It was favoured by among other people Zola and the Prince of Wales.

Tian;

A Provencal Earthenware dish used in the oven. Multitude of shapes but usually square or rectangular with raised edges.

Gastrique;

Vinegar and sugar reduced to almost nothing. It is usually used with dishes using fruit (such as duck with cranberries).

Parmentier, Antoine Augustin;

Born 1737; Died 1813.

One of the greatest proponents of the potato; legend was that he had ‘invented’ the potato. Not quite but nonetheless a major advocate of its many uses. It was widely cultivated for 200 years before he was even born though not widely in France. (I think only two provinces had potatoes in them before Parmentier. But he changed all that!

He became an advocate after being held as a prisoner of war during the 7 Years’ War. He went onto advocate the use of the potato to stave off famine. In France, due to Parmentier it became favoured first by the King (who signaled his approval of it by wearing a potato flower on his jacket), then the Aristocracy (who proceeded to plant it on their own estates) and then only after a dinner held in honour of Ben Franklin at Les Invalides did the lay people accept it. Numerous dishes bear his name. He also did work outside of the potato with such things are the artichoke and maize.

Les Invalides;

A Parisian Military Complex filled mainly with museums and monuments but also a veteran’s hospital.

Stage;

An Apprenticeship in another restaurant usually in a city different from your own and more often in a foreign country.

These my friends are only some of the terms I learned. But these are the biggies.

I was going to post a picture today of my two hands. They have been cut, calloused, nicked and torn. Both Exec Chef and Head Chef have told me not to do anything with them, as it is imperative that my hands get tougher. I know have a callous growing on my callous on my left hand and a massive slice on my right. I have about four little nicks and cuts on both hands and got a bad burn on my left hand yesterday.

All in all a great first week.

Lucretius once wrote; “Quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum” which means; “What is food to one may be fierce poison to others.”

It is my fervent wish that you all have an inspired day!