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

Snow Day – If you’re not a Cook!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be well and laugh… It helps!

SDM