There is a massive and almost indescribable difference between prep and working the line. First a la carte is a way different animal than functions. Obviously right. Well for the past couple of days I felt a pain like I haven’t really felt and I will explain it here.
Our new package for the 2009 function menu came out the other day including some additions for the 2008 holiday season. I was told that Tuesday was going to be quite a day when I got to work and man was it ever. I figured it would be all hands of deck so I was a little shocked when I got there that I was the first kitchen staff in the building. I didn’t think anything of it and just started going about my day. Pastry Chef J arrived and then I figured okay people will be coming now. NOT SO MUCH!
I had a few things I needed to tend to before I could even look at the prep list for the day such as stock and some protein issues. But then I looked at the prep list. 3 pages of things that I had never done before let alone seen or conceived of. By 9 I went and looked at the schedule and realized that it was going to be the me show that day. It was up to me.
I have to be honest here. I worked my ass off. I did everything I could to make the package a success. I know I messed up a couple of things but we’ll get to that later. I felt an incredible amount of pressure to produce. I felt an enormous amount of pressure personally because this was one of the biggest tasks that I had been assigned and I felt lost.
As a result of feeling lost I started with the things on the prep list that I knew I could do and do well with little or no input from anyone. This served me in two ways, the first was that it allowed me to calm down and secondly it allowed me to start the day off on a proper footing so that I would feel okay.
When Executive Chef came in he and I discussed the menu and the items for about twenty minutes. I learned a ridiculous amount in that twenty minutes. He has an incredible way of forcing you to think. Instead of giving you the answer he coaxes it out of you. Think of him almost like the kitchen version of Socrates.
Then it was off to the races.
So, bearing in mind that I did not have recipes or specs, the following is what my day was;
Savoury Egg Nog with Cayenne
Butternut Squash Bruschetta
Cranberry Maple Glazed Duck
Scallop and Lobster Salad
Poached Artic Shrimp Sheppard’s Pie
Sage and Apple Bread Pudding with Oka Cheese
Lobster Shrimp and Scallop Wellington
Apple Compote
One Bite Potato Salad
Cider Aioli
Stuffed Cremini Mushrooms
Chanterelle Veloute
Potato Galette
Apple, Sage and Yukon Bread Pudding
Cucumber Roma Salad
Roasted Cremini and Pickled Red Onion Salad…
I think you get the idea. In all the items equaled about 90 or so different components to compile approximately 50 dishes I had never made. It was daunting, extremely frightening and enlightening.
I was unsure why I was left to my own devices on this. I still am kind of wondering why I was left to my devices. Was it a test? If so for my own very personal reasons I would have to call it a failure despite the fact that I did the best that I could.
When I left that day it was decided that I would come in at 9 to finish off the rest. By the time I had left I had knocked off about two thirds of the prep list. I felt pretty good about the day if not a little unsure.
The next morning I came in and got right to work. We had about six hours of work to get accomplished in three. We had all kinds of prep still to do and to assemble and mount everything by 1 pm. Needless to say it was a bit of a shit show. But we pulled together and mounted the best assault that we could. A and I worked out the list that remained and started going to work. He on the proteins and myself on everything else.
We were hustling. I mean really moving trying to get everything done. The line started slowly trickling in and we started getting more help. We assembled the canapés first. Then the buffet items. Then station items. Salads and then mains. We were doing fairly well. Everything that was going out was at least passable. But of course because I am much harder on myself than anyone else it was a bit difficult for me to hear certain criticisms. Even though they were beyond constructive.
So we were able to identify the issues with the tasting. We knew up close and personal very quickly what worked and what didn’t. We knew what tasted good and what didn’t and perhaps why. All in all it was an up and down experience.
I did the best I could. In fact I think I did better than I thought was possible for myself. Pat on the back yes. But at the same time I tempered that with some rookie mistakes that I shouldn’t of made and if I hadn’t felt under the gun I wouldn’t have. But I think that too is part of the learning experience.
When it was over I felt relief first and foremost. Then after being relieved for a moment or two I started feeling bad about the things that came out less than stellar. I WANT TO BE BETTER EVERYDAY. But rather than beating myself up I looked at the experience, what I learned and what I can take forward and I felt pretty good.
I also made Caesar dressing for the first time yesterday off of a recipe that I was given by M, the Garde Manger Commis. I thought it tasted pretty good and put it in the fridge. 14 litres of it. L and I had a party to do which called for Caesar and so I pulled it out. Chef J came along and said; “What is this?” I told him it was the dressing. He looked at it, tried it and then said; “No, how did you make this.” My back was up against the wall. I had followed the recipe to the t, did I screw it up. Do something wrong. No idea. But Chef J looks at me and says; “I don’t even want to serve this. Let me check with Chef.” So he goes and comes back and so too comes Chef. Executive Chef asks how I made it and I showed him the recipe. My back was up against the wall and after the day that I had had I felt like a garbage bag just ready to get filled. As such I went outside to clear my head (which incidentally is filled with all kinds of family drama to boot). Sitting there with Chef B he started letting me know what I might have done wrong and working it through with me.
Executive Chef comes out the door, angry, I mean ANGRY and lets me know that I should be inside. Exact words if I recall correctly were; “We’re in there fixing your mess and you’re outside having a smoke… Get the f^&** inside” I put out my smoke and started walking inside after him. And realized that he was beyond right. He pointed out that this is how I will get better. By making mistakes and seeing how they get corrected. So that when I am a Chef and we have an issue with the Caesar dressing right before a service or during of 400 people that it can be corrected. He was right. Is right. And I was wrong for not taking the opportunity to learn how to fix it. My head wasn’t there. No excuse. It just wasn’t.
I don’t really like being stressed out. I don’t really like family drama. I don’t really like feeling the endless pressure associated with that. But Executive Chef was one hundred percent right. Because my head wasn’t in the game I couldn’t see it. But I pulled myself together and learned the lesson. Next time I make Caesar dressing it will be much, much, much, much better.
I am not a big fan of getting yelled at. And when Executive Chef yells at me it is both painful and hard. I understand. I do. I know what is going on and I am trying. The lesson I learned yesterday above all else is that I need to try harder, work smarter and keep on going… NO MATTER WHAT!
Talk about a rough couple of days, both mentally and physically fatiguing. And yet I still stand and celebrate the life that I have chosen and the people that are helping me become what I want..
Confucius once said; “When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.”
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Showing posts with label Canapes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canapes. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Odyssey (file under pulling off the Miracle of August 16, 2008) Part 2
I have been a part of a lot of things in my life that have made me proud. Since joining the kitchen in January I can tell you that I have never been more proud of us as a unit or brigade then I was during the Miracle of August 16, 2008.
As I said in the previous post we had to pull off 23,000 canapés and set up the site for a massive event of 1000 people who were all paying good money for a good cause and expecting great food.
After the pep talk from Executive Chef sometime after midnight our Saturday kicked into high gear. We had a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. Though I had been at work since 7:30 am on Friday morning I was still in pretty good shape. All of us were in fact. Here I would like to tell the story of Pastry Chef J.
Some food concepts by their very nature are extremely difficult to accomplish and Pastry Chef J had a difficult task in front of her. She had also been at work since around 7:30 am and was working on what effectively was a cheezie. But it was a cheezie that was made through an extremely difficult and arduous process that saw her working non stop for about thirty hours before taking a break. Step by step she worked as hard as she could to figure out how to make this concept work. After all it was simply a recipe and a concept and needed to be reworked and retooled in order to make it work. Her tenacity and force of will ensured success. Every once and a while I would walk over to what effectively became her test kitchen to make sure she was okay and ask if she needed anything. She just kept pushing. Working. Toiling to make this recipe and concept work. I was proud to see what she accomplished under difficult and trying circumstances. She displayed for all of us to see a work ethic that is very seldom seen and she did it all with good nature and humour.
The rest of us found ourselves working on all kinds of elements to make sure that we got everything done. There was the 1200 bread cups that I found myself working on because S was working on something else. The only thing that was a little annoying about the bread cups was that we were only able to make 76 at a time. Each batch was taking approximately 30 minutes from assembly to taking them out of the oven. When S was done working on what he had been he took over for me so that I could move on with E to the Quinoa salad and Smoked Turkey. I guess it was somewhere around 3 am when we got that started.
With a few beers and a few laughs we literally soldiered on and kept pushing to get done what we had to. There were the 1000 mini pizza doughs. The Foie Gras which had to be rolled. The 1000 chicken lollipops. 1000 mini Kobe burgers. 1000 mini salmon burgers. Shrimp had to be peeled, deveined and readied for a la minute preparation. There were the chicken pieces that needed to be cut for bacon wrapped chicken. There was the pork stuffed lychee and shrimp that needed to get done. Truly there was no shortage of work.
Approximately every hour we would assemble to have a quick status report and a smoke. Around 3 am we decided to order some Chinese food to give us a little boost of energy and a quick break to recharge our batteries.
Executive Chef could have gone home and caught some sleep but instead like a battlefield general he stood right there in the lines with us. Working along side us. Seeing his face, for me anyway, made it a little easier to do what had to get done. I had a new level of respect expose itself for him as we worked diligently through the night.
When we saw that someone needed help we would jump in and help. It was truly a team effort. We were the equivalent of the Yankees and we were proving it throughout the night. If there was a problem or an issue we all worked through it or jumped in to help where we could. It was remarkable by anyone’s standards.
At one point E and I were working on the Salad dressing for the Quinoa. My body was functioning perfectly but my mind was a little less than stellar. While trying to do some simple math I found myself transposing digits. Thankfully Executive Chef came along at just that moment and saved my ass.
The sun began to rise and the Miracle of August 16th was about to come together. A moment we could all be proud of.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote; “A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.”
This day created faith. For me anyway.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
As I said in the previous post we had to pull off 23,000 canapés and set up the site for a massive event of 1000 people who were all paying good money for a good cause and expecting great food.
After the pep talk from Executive Chef sometime after midnight our Saturday kicked into high gear. We had a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. Though I had been at work since 7:30 am on Friday morning I was still in pretty good shape. All of us were in fact. Here I would like to tell the story of Pastry Chef J.
Some food concepts by their very nature are extremely difficult to accomplish and Pastry Chef J had a difficult task in front of her. She had also been at work since around 7:30 am and was working on what effectively was a cheezie. But it was a cheezie that was made through an extremely difficult and arduous process that saw her working non stop for about thirty hours before taking a break. Step by step she worked as hard as she could to figure out how to make this concept work. After all it was simply a recipe and a concept and needed to be reworked and retooled in order to make it work. Her tenacity and force of will ensured success. Every once and a while I would walk over to what effectively became her test kitchen to make sure she was okay and ask if she needed anything. She just kept pushing. Working. Toiling to make this recipe and concept work. I was proud to see what she accomplished under difficult and trying circumstances. She displayed for all of us to see a work ethic that is very seldom seen and she did it all with good nature and humour.
The rest of us found ourselves working on all kinds of elements to make sure that we got everything done. There was the 1200 bread cups that I found myself working on because S was working on something else. The only thing that was a little annoying about the bread cups was that we were only able to make 76 at a time. Each batch was taking approximately 30 minutes from assembly to taking them out of the oven. When S was done working on what he had been he took over for me so that I could move on with E to the Quinoa salad and Smoked Turkey. I guess it was somewhere around 3 am when we got that started.
With a few beers and a few laughs we literally soldiered on and kept pushing to get done what we had to. There were the 1000 mini pizza doughs. The Foie Gras which had to be rolled. The 1000 chicken lollipops. 1000 mini Kobe burgers. 1000 mini salmon burgers. Shrimp had to be peeled, deveined and readied for a la minute preparation. There were the chicken pieces that needed to be cut for bacon wrapped chicken. There was the pork stuffed lychee and shrimp that needed to get done. Truly there was no shortage of work.
Approximately every hour we would assemble to have a quick status report and a smoke. Around 3 am we decided to order some Chinese food to give us a little boost of energy and a quick break to recharge our batteries.
Executive Chef could have gone home and caught some sleep but instead like a battlefield general he stood right there in the lines with us. Working along side us. Seeing his face, for me anyway, made it a little easier to do what had to get done. I had a new level of respect expose itself for him as we worked diligently through the night.
When we saw that someone needed help we would jump in and help. It was truly a team effort. We were the equivalent of the Yankees and we were proving it throughout the night. If there was a problem or an issue we all worked through it or jumped in to help where we could. It was remarkable by anyone’s standards.
At one point E and I were working on the Salad dressing for the Quinoa. My body was functioning perfectly but my mind was a little less than stellar. While trying to do some simple math I found myself transposing digits. Thankfully Executive Chef came along at just that moment and saved my ass.
The sun began to rise and the Miracle of August 16th was about to come together. A moment we could all be proud of.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote; “A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle.”
This day created faith. For me anyway.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
The Odyssey (file under pulling off the impossible beautifully) Part 1
We had a lot to get done. It may have taken Odysseus ten years to get home and we surely had enough to do but we only had thirty six hours to pull of a miracle. Could it be done? Surely, one must understand that what separates cooks from other professions is that failure is not an option no matter the circumstances. Things have to get done. And this truly is the story of overcoming adversity with grace and showing the true spirit of cooks.
I arrived at work at 7:30 am on Friday morning. I decided to finish the chapter of Ruhlman’s “The Making of a Chef” before I started my day. With a coffee and a cigarette I quickly finished the chapter and then changed into my whites. I knew what was before us and knew that we all had to show up with our A, B and C games all at the same time in order to pull off what was nothing less than the culinary equivalent off Hammurabi’s climbing of the Alps with Elephants.
The first thing that I started working on was Sunday’s brunch. L and I knew that we were behind the eight ball and as such made sure to get as much done as humanly possible to off set the loss of some of our cooks and to make sure that Saturday went as smoothly as possible.
So starting at eight I figured that between L and I we should be able to knock off brunch by around eleven. By the time E, D and L arrived I had knocked off a couple of the salads. Executive Chef came in and I gave him a brief update as to where we were and how we were progressing. By around 12:30 we did in fact knock off most of brunch and we all started preparing the Mise en Place for Saturday’s event.
Conceive for a moment if you will what 23,000 canapés looks like. The event was going to take over the whole site. We were charged with making recipes taste good that none of us had ever seen before let alone done. We all were laughing and carrying on trying to make the best of the situation.
It was at this point that tragedy struck. Head Chef got a call saying that his grandmother, the woman who effectively raised him, had passed. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my condolences to him and his entire family not just for myself but for all of us that work with him. As such Head Chef was going to have to go. This left Pastry Chef J to take care of one of the most difficult canapés of the event.
The day kept moving and time seemed to be at warp speed. Slowly but surely we all were knocking off everything that we could. When Chef J arrived we were all well on our way. All of us had been assigned our own things to do. But in the absence of our “jail birds” we started looking at what needed to be accomplished and just started doing whatever we could. To my mind it was incredible. We simply put our heads down and worked. No complaint. No arguing. Just working beautifully. I kept on saying throughout the day and the night before; “That’s why we’re the Yankees.” And I truly believed it.
Chef J had scheduled his vacation some three months before. And of course no one could have anticipated the events of the previous couple of days. After finding out about Head Chef’s loss I approached Executive Chef and let him know that I was in for the long haul. That I was going nowhere. We had work to get done and I could not justify something as silly as sleep when we had so much to do.
Friday went smoothly. We had some volunteers come in to help. Later in the day most of our missing cooks had been sprung without the aid of L’s cake bomb or Pastry Chef J’s cake with a file in it. We then went from full speed to warp speed. At around midnight Chef J was getting ready to go. Executive Chef came into the kitchen and gave us a pep talk. Looking around the room I was thrilled to see the faces that I did. Executive Chef gave all of us in the room the option to go home. He said you can stay or you can go. Three people made the decision to leave. The rest of us looked at each other and basically without words; “Soldier on.” And we did.
The next post is going to cover what I know term as; “The Miracle of August 16, 2008.”
Frederick Douglass once said; “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” To my mind, the struggles of this past weekend revealed true progress for our kitchen.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
I arrived at work at 7:30 am on Friday morning. I decided to finish the chapter of Ruhlman’s “The Making of a Chef” before I started my day. With a coffee and a cigarette I quickly finished the chapter and then changed into my whites. I knew what was before us and knew that we all had to show up with our A, B and C games all at the same time in order to pull off what was nothing less than the culinary equivalent off Hammurabi’s climbing of the Alps with Elephants.
The first thing that I started working on was Sunday’s brunch. L and I knew that we were behind the eight ball and as such made sure to get as much done as humanly possible to off set the loss of some of our cooks and to make sure that Saturday went as smoothly as possible.
So starting at eight I figured that between L and I we should be able to knock off brunch by around eleven. By the time E, D and L arrived I had knocked off a couple of the salads. Executive Chef came in and I gave him a brief update as to where we were and how we were progressing. By around 12:30 we did in fact knock off most of brunch and we all started preparing the Mise en Place for Saturday’s event.
Conceive for a moment if you will what 23,000 canapés looks like. The event was going to take over the whole site. We were charged with making recipes taste good that none of us had ever seen before let alone done. We all were laughing and carrying on trying to make the best of the situation.
It was at this point that tragedy struck. Head Chef got a call saying that his grandmother, the woman who effectively raised him, had passed. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my condolences to him and his entire family not just for myself but for all of us that work with him. As such Head Chef was going to have to go. This left Pastry Chef J to take care of one of the most difficult canapés of the event.
The day kept moving and time seemed to be at warp speed. Slowly but surely we all were knocking off everything that we could. When Chef J arrived we were all well on our way. All of us had been assigned our own things to do. But in the absence of our “jail birds” we started looking at what needed to be accomplished and just started doing whatever we could. To my mind it was incredible. We simply put our heads down and worked. No complaint. No arguing. Just working beautifully. I kept on saying throughout the day and the night before; “That’s why we’re the Yankees.” And I truly believed it.
Chef J had scheduled his vacation some three months before. And of course no one could have anticipated the events of the previous couple of days. After finding out about Head Chef’s loss I approached Executive Chef and let him know that I was in for the long haul. That I was going nowhere. We had work to get done and I could not justify something as silly as sleep when we had so much to do.
Friday went smoothly. We had some volunteers come in to help. Later in the day most of our missing cooks had been sprung without the aid of L’s cake bomb or Pastry Chef J’s cake with a file in it. We then went from full speed to warp speed. At around midnight Chef J was getting ready to go. Executive Chef came into the kitchen and gave us a pep talk. Looking around the room I was thrilled to see the faces that I did. Executive Chef gave all of us in the room the option to go home. He said you can stay or you can go. Three people made the decision to leave. The rest of us looked at each other and basically without words; “Soldier on.” And we did.
The next post is going to cover what I know term as; “The Miracle of August 16, 2008.”
Frederick Douglass once said; “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” To my mind, the struggles of this past weekend revealed true progress for our kitchen.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Breather (file under 6 Days 85 Hours plus)
As I mentioned in my previous post (a couple ago I believe but from today) I have spent the last six days doing nothing but work and sleep. I did manage to sneak in a few drinks after work which left me less than sober. Over the weekend I didn’t even have time to eat which is why three drinks hit me like a tonne of bricks. In fact from Thursday night until Monday afternoon I was not able to eat for lack of time. Naturally I was able to put a little nibble in my mouth but that was it. I didn’t even have time to do my Greens Plus. Why you ask is this the case, well, let me explain.
This past weekend Reservation’s patio season began in full tilt. We have patio space for approximately thee hundred and the opening of it also means that the grilling season begins. I am going to explain about this in my next post as I want to catch up on some of the other things that I have been working on.
First off, I would like to welcome A, our Saucier home. While he was at Chewton Glen (http://www.chewtonglen.com/ ) he was sorely missed by all of us. Especially me though I think as I can see that A and I are going to become great friends over the course of time. His experience at Chewton Glen was rewarding and educational. He told me that it is a very different environment from Reservation and that the way the kitchen works is extremely regimented, even more so than ours.
At Chewton Glen, the kitchen is run very much in the classical gourmet style. The food is beyond reproach and the brigade is tight. The day is approximately eighteen hours, five days a week and there is only time for a couple of smoke breaks. He said that the people that worked there were incredibly talented and that their work ethic was incredible. I asked him if he felt that Chewton would be a good place for me to do a placement and he said that perhaps it would not be right for my first. Who knows though as this is something that I am now considering for January to April of next year.
As I said I am thrilled that he is back and it was nice sharing a couple beers and a conversation with him. This summer I know that I will have numerous opportunities to pick his brain and get some of his valued input into what I’m doing. Having him back I have already felt the impact of his mentoring on my skills and know that it is only going to get better. Thanks A!!!!
As far as prep work is concerned my speed has improved. I can make litres of Aioli in no time flat. In fact yesterday I was able to whip off approximately four litres of it in less than five minutes. I have also expanded my repertoire to include Lemon Caper, Spicy Mango, Roasted Garlic, Truffle and French Onion. Learning to make the base was the hardest part and requires a certain mastery of technique. But once you have it you can flavour it just about anyway that you want. I recall back when I first started that Aioli was the bain of my existence. There were days that I would go through no less than five or six attempts at it. (Thank God their gone) It would constantly split on me and as I continued to work on it I began to realize the number of reasons that it could happen and adjusted my technique accordingly.
Canapés, of which we make literally hundreds on a slow week and thousands on a quick one, I’ve also seen a marked improvement on. I have learned how to do so many that it is hard to figure out where my brain stores all this information. Canapés range from the relatively easy Bruschetta all the way to the very involved Indian Candy Salmon. I now have about fifteen or twenty types of canapés that I have worked on but only two or three that I consider myself really good at. The rest I can execute but I am not quite comfortable enough yet with all of them. After all L has been there for five years and has quite a leap ahead of me but I have learned that I can apply my life experience to the kitchen and the transformation helps me to keep pushing forward.
Somehow, I’m sure due to my level on the totem pole I have become responsible for making our Peking Duck Crepes. I have been tweaking the batter for a while and have finally come up with one which both Head Chef and Executive Chef say is passable if not good. Depends on the day. But the tweaking, which I’ve made notes on has included more egg, less oil and more salt and vice versa. I have experimented with the mixture of cream and milk. I have also played with putting herbs directly into the batter. The reason for this is that both Executive and Head Chef had said that the batter was a little boring. As such using a chiffonnade cute I tried cilantro which didn’t work because it seemed to take away from the duck. I then tried scallions as we include them in the crepe. This too did not work and then I finally decided upon chives. The chives give a nice visual to the presentation and punch up both the flavour of the duck.
I also have been in charge of making cheddar fritters for about the past few months when we have needed them. I started with a regular batter and started tweaking it as well. I am nowhere near the final product that I would like but I have been getting better with the crunch factor (so important to both customer enjoyment, mouth feel and appeal for reasons I will explain later), while at the same time have a well cooked consistency on the inside. Again it is a matter of playing with the base ingredients and having the patience to test out various things.
We also do a fish and chips canapé at Reservation that I have been making for months. I have experimented with all kinds of variables in the recipe in order to again punch up the crunch factor. I have tried six different beers at this point and also the amount of beer that I use. So far the most authentic old style fish and chips batter I have come up with involves the use of a dark beer. Stout would be ideal but we don’t have one so for now I am just using a dark beer that we have on tap. At home I am going to play with various stouts in order to get that perfect flavour. On Monday I did have the best batter I have made so far which gave me the desired consistency and crunch but not the exact flavour that I am looking for. Some people may say that beer batter is beer batter but I just don’t agree. I can recall the best beer batter I’ve ever had (in Ireland) and it was far and above the most outrageously tasty and sensational batter I have ever come across. If I can recreate that I will be extremely pleased with myself. But as it stands I experiment.
As you can see from the images I have included my right pinky is already growing back quite nicely. My left hand seems to take quite a bit of damage as well just from the regular wear and tear of the kitchen. But I find that each time something happens which brings me pain it causes me to learn the lesson quite quickly. Jokingly I refer to them as my growing pains but in reality I do feel that way. As if they are helping me to get better.
In terms of receiving, as I’ve mentioned before, I track everything that comes in. One for a practical reason (that of knowing if the question gets asked what we have in house) and the other is for my long term project which is always at the front of my mind, my Restaurant. In any given week, now that the busy season is upon us I may be required to move as much as five tones to various storage areas. A point I will touch on in my next post about the weekend.
Veal Stock has become second nature to me. Though there are numerous variables that I need to contend with each and every time. Consistency of heat, water levels, vegetables for the Mire Pois, red wine, peppercorns, etc. There are so many variables that can affect the outcome that I must be aware of and attempt to control. The remi, demi and jus that result from three days work in total are my baby and I now am confident that I am doing it the way that Chef wants and expects. My yields are a variable obviously but I am shooting for anywhere between thirty six to forty eight litres yield on stock and remi to produce approximately twenty litres (if left a little soupy) or sixteen litres which is the ideal level for perfect clarity, consistency and colour as well as taste.
My knife skills are improving. I know that as time goes forward I will be even more able than I am now. My brunoise at least looks like a brunoise now. My rissole is getting closer to an ability where I can eyeball it though I know that Head Chef would say I have a long way to go AND whats more I know that and strive to improve each and every day that I am at work. My stated goal is to have my complete knife compliment by October so that I can start working on all things kitchen, including butchery. I have already butchered a few things, tenderloin, a striploin, and some Bronzini but I want to get to the point that I can butcher anything. This is one of the things I want to have a good handle on by January.
So these things said I leave with you the following thought from William Makepeace Thackeray; “To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness?”
This is how I live my life… to the fullest, with a smile on my face and love firing from my soul. I choose greatness every time I enter the kitchen. Can you choose greatness?
Dream big and inspired!!!!
A la prochaine
SDM
This past weekend Reservation’s patio season began in full tilt. We have patio space for approximately thee hundred and the opening of it also means that the grilling season begins. I am going to explain about this in my next post as I want to catch up on some of the other things that I have been working on.
First off, I would like to welcome A, our Saucier home. While he was at Chewton Glen (http://www.chewtonglen.com/ ) he was sorely missed by all of us. Especially me though I think as I can see that A and I are going to become great friends over the course of time. His experience at Chewton Glen was rewarding and educational. He told me that it is a very different environment from Reservation and that the way the kitchen works is extremely regimented, even more so than ours.
At Chewton Glen, the kitchen is run very much in the classical gourmet style. The food is beyond reproach and the brigade is tight. The day is approximately eighteen hours, five days a week and there is only time for a couple of smoke breaks. He said that the people that worked there were incredibly talented and that their work ethic was incredible. I asked him if he felt that Chewton would be a good place for me to do a placement and he said that perhaps it would not be right for my first. Who knows though as this is something that I am now considering for January to April of next year.
As I said I am thrilled that he is back and it was nice sharing a couple beers and a conversation with him. This summer I know that I will have numerous opportunities to pick his brain and get some of his valued input into what I’m doing. Having him back I have already felt the impact of his mentoring on my skills and know that it is only going to get better. Thanks A!!!!
As far as prep work is concerned my speed has improved. I can make litres of Aioli in no time flat. In fact yesterday I was able to whip off approximately four litres of it in less than five minutes. I have also expanded my repertoire to include Lemon Caper, Spicy Mango, Roasted Garlic, Truffle and French Onion. Learning to make the base was the hardest part and requires a certain mastery of technique. But once you have it you can flavour it just about anyway that you want. I recall back when I first started that Aioli was the bain of my existence. There were days that I would go through no less than five or six attempts at it. (Thank God their gone) It would constantly split on me and as I continued to work on it I began to realize the number of reasons that it could happen and adjusted my technique accordingly.
Canapés, of which we make literally hundreds on a slow week and thousands on a quick one, I’ve also seen a marked improvement on. I have learned how to do so many that it is hard to figure out where my brain stores all this information. Canapés range from the relatively easy Bruschetta all the way to the very involved Indian Candy Salmon. I now have about fifteen or twenty types of canapés that I have worked on but only two or three that I consider myself really good at. The rest I can execute but I am not quite comfortable enough yet with all of them. After all L has been there for five years and has quite a leap ahead of me but I have learned that I can apply my life experience to the kitchen and the transformation helps me to keep pushing forward.
Somehow, I’m sure due to my level on the totem pole I have become responsible for making our Peking Duck Crepes. I have been tweaking the batter for a while and have finally come up with one which both Head Chef and Executive Chef say is passable if not good. Depends on the day. But the tweaking, which I’ve made notes on has included more egg, less oil and more salt and vice versa. I have experimented with the mixture of cream and milk. I have also played with putting herbs directly into the batter. The reason for this is that both Executive and Head Chef had said that the batter was a little boring. As such using a chiffonnade cute I tried cilantro which didn’t work because it seemed to take away from the duck. I then tried scallions as we include them in the crepe. This too did not work and then I finally decided upon chives. The chives give a nice visual to the presentation and punch up both the flavour of the duck.
I also have been in charge of making cheddar fritters for about the past few months when we have needed them. I started with a regular batter and started tweaking it as well. I am nowhere near the final product that I would like but I have been getting better with the crunch factor (so important to both customer enjoyment, mouth feel and appeal for reasons I will explain later), while at the same time have a well cooked consistency on the inside. Again it is a matter of playing with the base ingredients and having the patience to test out various things.
We also do a fish and chips canapé at Reservation that I have been making for months. I have experimented with all kinds of variables in the recipe in order to again punch up the crunch factor. I have tried six different beers at this point and also the amount of beer that I use. So far the most authentic old style fish and chips batter I have come up with involves the use of a dark beer. Stout would be ideal but we don’t have one so for now I am just using a dark beer that we have on tap. At home I am going to play with various stouts in order to get that perfect flavour. On Monday I did have the best batter I have made so far which gave me the desired consistency and crunch but not the exact flavour that I am looking for. Some people may say that beer batter is beer batter but I just don’t agree. I can recall the best beer batter I’ve ever had (in Ireland) and it was far and above the most outrageously tasty and sensational batter I have ever come across. If I can recreate that I will be extremely pleased with myself. But as it stands I experiment.
As you can see from the images I have included my right pinky is already growing back quite nicely. My left hand seems to take quite a bit of damage as well just from the regular wear and tear of the kitchen. But I find that each time something happens which brings me pain it causes me to learn the lesson quite quickly. Jokingly I refer to them as my growing pains but in reality I do feel that way. As if they are helping me to get better.
In terms of receiving, as I’ve mentioned before, I track everything that comes in. One for a practical reason (that of knowing if the question gets asked what we have in house) and the other is for my long term project which is always at the front of my mind, my Restaurant. In any given week, now that the busy season is upon us I may be required to move as much as five tones to various storage areas. A point I will touch on in my next post about the weekend.
Veal Stock has become second nature to me. Though there are numerous variables that I need to contend with each and every time. Consistency of heat, water levels, vegetables for the Mire Pois, red wine, peppercorns, etc. There are so many variables that can affect the outcome that I must be aware of and attempt to control. The remi, demi and jus that result from three days work in total are my baby and I now am confident that I am doing it the way that Chef wants and expects. My yields are a variable obviously but I am shooting for anywhere between thirty six to forty eight litres yield on stock and remi to produce approximately twenty litres (if left a little soupy) or sixteen litres which is the ideal level for perfect clarity, consistency and colour as well as taste.
My knife skills are improving. I know that as time goes forward I will be even more able than I am now. My brunoise at least looks like a brunoise now. My rissole is getting closer to an ability where I can eyeball it though I know that Head Chef would say I have a long way to go AND whats more I know that and strive to improve each and every day that I am at work. My stated goal is to have my complete knife compliment by October so that I can start working on all things kitchen, including butchery. I have already butchered a few things, tenderloin, a striploin, and some Bronzini but I want to get to the point that I can butcher anything. This is one of the things I want to have a good handle on by January.
So these things said I leave with you the following thought from William Makepeace Thackeray; “To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness?”
This is how I live my life… to the fullest, with a smile on my face and love firing from my soul. I choose greatness every time I enter the kitchen. Can you choose greatness?
Dream big and inspired!!!!
A la prochaine
SDM
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Functions, Parties, Events (file under always an adventure)
So when I joined Reservation I was completely unaware of some of the things that go on in a kitchen of that size. Of course when I started I was beyond green. I had only passion, drive, a great work ethic and a desire to be the best that I could. Since starting I have learned so much and I am grateful for every day that I am there. One of the things that has struck me is the preparations that are made for functions, events and parties. There is always something going on and as we go into the summer season I have become aware of the fact that we may have days where we have ten functions of all different sizes. So far we have been busy but not nearly as busy as I know we will be by the time I get back from Mexico in a couple of weeks.
At Reservation we can do functions for as few as ten people and as many as we can fit in the establishment. The largest event we have done since I have been there was for around two hundred but I’ve gotten the feeling that in the summer that number can multiply by two or three.
In terms of functions the first thing that happens when L and I get into to work is to look at the function sheets. A function sheet is filled with all the pertinent data that we need to structure our day to prepare. It has the event name, the person throwing it, the date of the event, the revision date for any revisions that have been made, the starting and ending times, the number of people expected, the location as well as the menu broken down into canapés and dinner offerings.
We have quite a few canapé options at Reservation. Some of these include crab cakes, shrimp lollipops, fish and chips, quiche, vol au vent, carpacchio, Bruschetta, spring rolls, duck crepes, Vietnamese rolls and butter chicken stay just to name a few. As you can imagine some of these are fairly easy to prepare and assemble. Others not so much. L and I are capable of preparing these fairly quickly and when it comes time to plate them we can go from zero to one hundred in a minute flat. The cold canapés take a little bit longer to plate as they are a little more labour intensive. The hot canapés merely require to be fired and plated and we can send out five dozen in a matter of minutes.
Dinner options are always to the client specification but usually entail a soup or a salad, an entrée and a dessert. But some menus are more intensive and have a soup, salad, appetizer, entrée and dessert. L and I have developed a system where he and I can do a party for up to forty five people on our own without assistance from any one else who happens to be around. We can plate those forty five in approximately three minutes from start to finish for each course and have them at the table within four. Over forty five it becomes quite difficult to manage and we have to use the line method.
A note on the plating line. Obviously the plates start at the far left of the line. Starch is laid down first. The plate then moves to the right where it gets its vegetables. Next are protein, then sauce, garnish and a wipe. In this manner we can send out a party for one hundred approximately the same time as if it is just L and I doing it. I do expect that as the summer approaches we will be doing parties like this even faster and that so far I am just on my learning curve. As well either Executive Chef, Head Chef or Chef J will expedite the line result. So lets for instance say that we have a table of nine. The Chef will call out the order which we acknowledge. We get all the plates down for that table which he then expedites through the servers. All the while we are working on the next table so that there is a steady stream to the guests. It really is one of the most beautiful ballets I have ever seen. Six or seven people plating in a very tight space. All the while making exceptions to the plates. Some want rare, medium rare, well done, some have nut allergies or preferences. It is remarkable to see but even more remarkable to be a part of it. While at the same time the front of house servers are streaming out with plates that we have done in less than a minute for a table.
For example we recently had two parties going at the same time. One was a wedding which had 68 guests and the other a wedding “celebration” for 56. We had to try and juggle the canapés in such a way that the parties that were overlapping would have a staggered service. One party had twenty dozen canapés while the other had fifteen (I think, I’m going from memory not my notes). Even though they both entered their respective venues at the same time we were able to get the canapés out for the second party first so that we could start concentrating on dinner. Even though we timed our stagger perfectly the second party delayed sitting down but we had enough cushion built in that we were able to work it.
For the wedding celebration that we started to plate first we had orders for 26 soup, 26 salad, 26 chicken, 26 salmon and two vegan meals. For the wedding at the other venue we had to add an extra course. For that one we had 68 soup, 68 gnocchi, 30 salmon and 38 beef as well as one vegan meal. And as I’ve come to learn this dance is one that needs to be choreographed perfectly, especially as we approach the summer “busy season.”
Also communication is key. It is imperative that the left hand know what the right hand is doing and if there is a problem it needs to be vocalized and dealt with. That type of clarity and quick response is something that I thrive on. I love the rush, the excitement and the result.
I pay attention to every aspect of what we are doing. I recall the first time I was on a line I was as slow as molasses. Now I’m better but there is always room for improvement. I pay attention to what everyone is doing; I pay attention to the Chefs and even the servers as I feel that all of this will serve me in my goals.
Aldous Huxley once said; “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” How true it is.
Dream big and inspired.
A la prochaine
SDM
At Reservation we can do functions for as few as ten people and as many as we can fit in the establishment. The largest event we have done since I have been there was for around two hundred but I’ve gotten the feeling that in the summer that number can multiply by two or three.
In terms of functions the first thing that happens when L and I get into to work is to look at the function sheets. A function sheet is filled with all the pertinent data that we need to structure our day to prepare. It has the event name, the person throwing it, the date of the event, the revision date for any revisions that have been made, the starting and ending times, the number of people expected, the location as well as the menu broken down into canapés and dinner offerings.
We have quite a few canapé options at Reservation. Some of these include crab cakes, shrimp lollipops, fish and chips, quiche, vol au vent, carpacchio, Bruschetta, spring rolls, duck crepes, Vietnamese rolls and butter chicken stay just to name a few. As you can imagine some of these are fairly easy to prepare and assemble. Others not so much. L and I are capable of preparing these fairly quickly and when it comes time to plate them we can go from zero to one hundred in a minute flat. The cold canapés take a little bit longer to plate as they are a little more labour intensive. The hot canapés merely require to be fired and plated and we can send out five dozen in a matter of minutes.
Dinner options are always to the client specification but usually entail a soup or a salad, an entrée and a dessert. But some menus are more intensive and have a soup, salad, appetizer, entrée and dessert. L and I have developed a system where he and I can do a party for up to forty five people on our own without assistance from any one else who happens to be around. We can plate those forty five in approximately three minutes from start to finish for each course and have them at the table within four. Over forty five it becomes quite difficult to manage and we have to use the line method.
A note on the plating line. Obviously the plates start at the far left of the line. Starch is laid down first. The plate then moves to the right where it gets its vegetables. Next are protein, then sauce, garnish and a wipe. In this manner we can send out a party for one hundred approximately the same time as if it is just L and I doing it. I do expect that as the summer approaches we will be doing parties like this even faster and that so far I am just on my learning curve. As well either Executive Chef, Head Chef or Chef J will expedite the line result. So lets for instance say that we have a table of nine. The Chef will call out the order which we acknowledge. We get all the plates down for that table which he then expedites through the servers. All the while we are working on the next table so that there is a steady stream to the guests. It really is one of the most beautiful ballets I have ever seen. Six or seven people plating in a very tight space. All the while making exceptions to the plates. Some want rare, medium rare, well done, some have nut allergies or preferences. It is remarkable to see but even more remarkable to be a part of it. While at the same time the front of house servers are streaming out with plates that we have done in less than a minute for a table.
For example we recently had two parties going at the same time. One was a wedding which had 68 guests and the other a wedding “celebration” for 56. We had to try and juggle the canapés in such a way that the parties that were overlapping would have a staggered service. One party had twenty dozen canapés while the other had fifteen (I think, I’m going from memory not my notes). Even though they both entered their respective venues at the same time we were able to get the canapés out for the second party first so that we could start concentrating on dinner. Even though we timed our stagger perfectly the second party delayed sitting down but we had enough cushion built in that we were able to work it.
For the wedding celebration that we started to plate first we had orders for 26 soup, 26 salad, 26 chicken, 26 salmon and two vegan meals. For the wedding at the other venue we had to add an extra course. For that one we had 68 soup, 68 gnocchi, 30 salmon and 38 beef as well as one vegan meal. And as I’ve come to learn this dance is one that needs to be choreographed perfectly, especially as we approach the summer “busy season.”
Also communication is key. It is imperative that the left hand know what the right hand is doing and if there is a problem it needs to be vocalized and dealt with. That type of clarity and quick response is something that I thrive on. I love the rush, the excitement and the result.
I pay attention to every aspect of what we are doing. I recall the first time I was on a line I was as slow as molasses. Now I’m better but there is always room for improvement. I pay attention to what everyone is doing; I pay attention to the Chefs and even the servers as I feel that all of this will serve me in my goals.
Aldous Huxley once said; “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” How true it is.
Dream big and inspired.
A la prochaine
SDM
Monday, April 21, 2008
Guess Who’s Back? (file under working lots and catching up with love)
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
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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