The Fraiche Dining Experience

I'm a little late with this update, but Kim, Katie and I went to Fraiche for lunch a few weeks ago. I had a rare Saturday off (only my second one since I began in May), so I decided to make a reservation. Dinner would have been nice, but with Katie teething, we never know if it is going to be a good day or a bad day, so I decided to play it safe with a lunch reservation.
We were seated next to the windows by the restaurant manager (Phil) and it was a sunny day, so we had the full overlooking view of the city.
Even though we were not there for dinner service, I still wanted to do a 3-course meal. Chef came to our table to say hello and asked what we were planning to have. This part requires a little background:
The previous day, the last thing I did before going home was take bison short ribs out of their braising liquid and put them in inserts for the dinner service. While doing this, the aroma of the ribs made me want to take one and sneak into a corner and shove a whole short rib down my throat. When our server (Ashley) said that the chef's daily lunch creation was bison stroganoff, I decided I'd have it....I wanted the bison, regardless of what form it was in. So when I mentioned to Chef that I was getting the daily creation, I said, "I didn't realize bison was on the lunch menu." He said, "Yeah, you can have bison for lunch." I wasn't really sure what he meant. More on that in a bit.
For appetizers, I had the compressed watermelon salad and Kim had the charcuterie plate.

For our mains, I ordered the chef creation mentioned earlier and Kim ordered the Pemberton Burger. When it was served, Ashley had Kim's burger, and Phil had a plate of bison short ribs and said it was "something special from the chef". Chef actually prepared a dinner service meal for my lunch....I would have been completely satisfied with the pasta, so this was a real treat.

The bonus about going during Saturday lunch service is that I knew the pastry chef (Kimberley) was in, so I knew the desserts would be great. I had the panna cotta and Kim had the chocolate trio. They were served by Kimberley, who wanted to say hello and see Katie, of course.

Katie also had a taste of the meals. She had some carrot curls from my salad, some bison, and some strawberries from my panna cotta. Ashley took a photo of us after the main course.

After a very satisfying and tasty meal, I was getting ready to face the music with the arrival of the bill. Ashley approached our table, and informed us that Chef had taken care of the meal. I was floored. I was also very grateful. I thanked him profusely on the way out of the restaurant and during my shift the next day.

Before leaving, we did manage to pop out on to the deck and snap a few photos:

The week following this meal was when I made the decision to take my chef up on his offer and accept a permanent position. While deciding not to go back to school at this time was difficult on some levels, I realized that leaving Kim and Katie for 8 months was not going to be in anyone's best interest.
The support for this decision from friends, family, my program director at the Culinary Institute, and co-workers was amazing.
So just like that, my internship became an apprenticeship and I am on the (slightly longer) journey towards my Red Seal through experience alone.
Other than to learn the basics, the reason I went to the Culinary Institute in the first place was to eventually be able to work at a restaurant like Fraiche. I still can't believe how the pieces fell into place.

While the name of this blog is probably obsolete now, I'll still try to update as time permits and if I have something interesting to say.   

  

New knife!

I decided to bite the bullet today and lay some cash out for a new chef's knife. I have the chef's knife from my school issued knives, but having one knife is like having one pair of shoes....sometimes you need different styles for different tasks. (You usually don't wear the same shoes to a wedding and to play tennis.)

My school knife (Wusthof) is a heavy, German steel with a full tang and bolster. My new knife (Global) is a light, Japanese steel that is all one piece with no bolster.

A point to ponder: Is it just a coincidence that Germany and Japan make the best knives in the world and were also the axis powers in World War II? Just curious.

My internship is still going well. I've been working shifts all over the time clock. My evening shifts are typically spent helping out on garde manger station and doing the dessert station for dinner service. My day shifts are spent doing the garde manger station and dessert station on my own.

Last week I got another lasting reminder of my internship. We were breaking down the kitchen after dinner service and I was responsible for the deep fat fryer. At the end of each day, all the oil is drained, and the fryer is thoroughly cleaned. This includes taking all removable parts to the dishpit. As I was taking the rack that holds the baskets in place to the dishpit, the set of tongs I was using slipped and the rack swung around and came to rest on my wrist for a few seconds before I threw it to the floor. Since it had just come out of the 380°F oil, it left a pretty noticeable burn. That's gonna leave a mark.

 
I am currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. He is coming to Vancouver on a speaking tour in October. Ironically, the ticket prices are a little on the high side, so the aspiring chefs who should hear him speak probably can't afford it.

Day shift on the way, I should get some rest.

A New Entry!

Yeah, yeah....it's been over a month since my last entry. This is the reality of the profession I've chosen: Unfortunately, some things are going to fall by the wayside.

But now that I've committed some time, here are some words.

A lot has changed in the past month. I've evolved from the "the guy in the kitchen who hasn't got a clue what is happening" to "the guy in the kitchen who has slightly more of a clue to what is happening". My chef is really giving me the complete experience. I work in all areas of the kitchen, from dish-pit shifts to working the garde manger (cold food: appetizers, salads, etc.) & dessert stations on the busiest of busy shifts: Saturday night service. 

Not to offend, but the dish-pit is the lowest rank in the kitchen. According to the chef: "Everyone works the dish-pit at some point in their career." Thankfully, I'm getting my dish-pit duty out of the way during my internship.  

Basically, when I work dish-pit, I am cleaning every piece of dishware, cutlery, cookware, and miscellaneous kitchen thing that isn't moving. It is a gruelling shift and when all the dishes are done, I get to take all the garbage and cardboard recycle 2 floors down to the garbage room that smells exactly like you imagine it would. The fun doesn't stop there. Then I get to take about 15 litres of really hot deep fryer oil to the oil recycle which, unfortunately, is located in the odoriferous garbage room. After all that fun, I get to mop the floors and take the used side towels to the laundry bins. My back REALLY hates me after a dish-pit shift. To add insult to injury, everytime I work a dish-pit shift, I am at the restaurant until about midnight, then I'm usually scheduled for a kitchen shift the next morning. No rest for the wicked. 

Fortunately, my dish-pit shifts are going from once per week to "as needed"; which is about once every two weeks....(still better than once a week). 

For the past month, I've been working mostly day shifts. Twice a week with the pastry chef and the rest of the shifts are working lunch service and prepping for evening service.

I've done really well with the pastry chef, to the point that I am regularly doing the daily batches of bread rolls and working the dessert station at lunch service. My chef has dubbed me "a master-baker". (If you say it quick enough, you get an insight into the un-PC world I've gotten myself into.)

Things were getting pretty routine until one of the hot-line chefs, Pong Pong, decided to leave. (Yes, I know Pong Pong's real name, but this is how he introuduced himself to me, so in this blog, he'll be Pong Pong.) Tonight was Pong Pong's last shift. He has decided to leave Fraiche to go back to working with his former chef. His former chef decided to take a break from his job to do a little thing called "Top Chef Canada". Then his former chef happened to win the title of Top Chef Canada. This industry breeds loyalty, so when Chef Dale MacKay opened his own restaurant, Pong Pong couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with him again. 

This has changed the dynamic. When I checked next weeks's schedule, suddenly I am set for all night shifts. 

In the past week, I've been working a few night shifts here and there, getting a feel for the garde manger and dessert stations. The garde manger chef is Erica. On Friday night, chef told me I was working with her to learn the station. His words: 

"Tonight you're working with Erica....so basically you're Erica's bitch...OK?"  

Then he left for evening with these parting words:

"Erica....make sure David learns what to do tonight; yell at him if you have to. David.....don't take any shit from Erica tonight." 

The combination of intensity, passion, and comic relief that the chef provides makes this internship worthwhile.

Sidenote: I finally got the chance to introduce the kitchen brigade to Kim and Katie last week when they came to pick me up after a day shift. This led to the chef's quote of the week when I came into work the next day:

"Holy f**k man.....that baby looks JUST LIKE YOU!" 

I've heard this many times before, but not nearly as colourful.

I'm rambling, yes, but it is difficult to summarize a whole month. In a nutshell:

• dish-pit shifts: brutal, but thinning out
• day-shifts: learning the ropes in a "behind the scenes" sorta way. What I've spent the last month doing.
• night-shifts: the main show! Looks like I'll be doing these more regularly now that Pong Pong has left.

My internship portfolio requires that I get a picture of myself with the kitchen brigade. Here is the official photo, taken last week.

Left to right: Executive Chef Jefferson Alvarez, hot-line chef (Jason), pastry chef (Kim), me, garde manger chef (Erica), hot-line chef (Pong Pong)

(Chef is doing his "fighter stance"....he was in a professional MMA fighting league in the past.)

It is closing in on 1:00 am, and the baby monitor has just picked up some noise, so I'll probably be swinging into "daddy mode" soon. Switching between chef mode and daddy/husband mode has been the norm for the past month, so updates may be few and far between. I'll do my best to keep up with everything.



Charity Event

Hopefully I'll have time for a better update in the next few days, but for now, just a quick update.

I just returned from a charity event that Fraiche and about 10 other Vancouver Restaurants catered. It was the Brian Jessel Cabriolet Charity Gala, with special guests, Barenaked Ladies.

We served foie gras tarts (red wine & apple chutney center, bruleed, & topped with apple ginger caviar and savoury sponge toffee) and made-in-house mocha ganache chocolates topped with fleur de sel. Both were a HUGE hit with the patrons.

Tickets for this event ranged from $200 to $500.

The promotional material for the event (click to zoom):

Here is a photo of me and the garde manger chef serving at the event:

Aside from the experience of being at an event such as this, I enjoy working these events because I get to chat directly to people about the food that we are serving. Explaining to people how the sweet and savoury flavours blend together and seeing their reaction and hearing the compliments when they take a bite is very rewarding. 

Off to bed....new shift in less than 8 hours.

  

Fraiche Review

I'm now into my third week at Fraiche Restaurant. It has been demanding and rewarding....and demanding. Oh, and rewarding. Here is a review by a critic that was in recently:

http://travel.aol.ca/2011/05/31/winding-up-the-mountain-for-a-culinary-adventure/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook

In case the link expires, here is the text:

Winding Up the Mountain for a Culinary Adventureby Michelle Hopkins , Posted Tuesday 31st May

As we walk into West Vancouver's elegant eatery, Fraiche Restaurant, four couples are already waiting to be seated in the packed house
Within less than five minutes the Venezuelan-born executive chef, Jefferson Alvarez, arrives with a tray laden with a goat-cheese appetizer as the hostess takes drink orders.
I can't think of too many executive chefs who do this. Alvarez spends several wonderful minutes with us and shares his deep passion for food and people. One of our fellow diners tells us that this isn't unusual behaviour for Alvarez.
At one point my dining companion starts up a conversation with a man dining at a nearby table. It seems they're huge fans of Alvarez, following him to Fraiche from Commercial Drive's Divino. It was while at the helm of Divino's that Alvarez received rave reviews in Vancouver Magazine, Nuvo, and the Globe and Mail for his culinary wizardry. We were certainly excited to taste what this chef had to offer.
However, before I get into the cuisine, I have to talk about the views. This award-winning restaurant is truly a destination eatery. It boasts what many fine dining patrons consider some of the best views in town.
Perched at the top of West Vancouver's toniest postal code, it has sweeping vistas of Burrard Inlet.
So here we are, seated by the floor to ceiling windows, drinking up the views of Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park, when the manager/sommelier Phillip Reigh greets us. If you find yourself in an adventurous mood allow Reigh to choose wine pairings for each course. Without taking too much of our time, he explained each pour as we went along.
Then it was onto our culinary adventure into which Alvarez can't help but infuse some of his homeland's flavours.
We started with a wickedly delicious Burrata mozzarella salad and hot house heirloom tomatoes with wild celery and fresh basil.
At Alvarez's suggestion, we share local spot prawns ceviche with fresh chickpeas and avocado nori crisps. What an incredible combination of flavours. (Alvarez's roots are certainly showing here!)
Because I'm not a big fan of white wine, Reigh poured me a Kronenbourg Blanc beer instead. It's a flavoured wheat beer that's fruity, with good citrus notes and slightly sweet. It was a perfect pairing for BC Spot prawns. I don't even like beer but this was unlike any suds I've ever tasted.
A collision of ingredients and bright flavours happen yet again for our main course – smoked bison short ribs.
At the end, I couldn't eat another morsel but my partner always finds room for a little dessert. He wasn't disappointed when a Chocolate Trio with Montilla Alvear Cream came to the table, paired with a sweet sherry dessert wine.
There's something kind of magical that happens when everything comes together -stellar service, marvelous ambiance, stunning scenery and outstanding food - and you leave feeling like it was worth every dime.
Many restaurant critics call Fraiche one of the Lower Mainland's best kept secrets, however, I dare add that with Alvarez at the helm, it won't be for long.
At a Glance:
Fraîche Restaurant 2240 Chippendale Road West Vancouver
For reservations: 604-925-7595 or http://www.fraicherestaurant.ca/

First Week in Vancouver

I've been in Vancouver for a week now and things are going smoothly. Landing my internship within a few days of arriving was definitely task #1....so I'm glad that worked out the way it did.

I've had two "normal" shifts since my stage on Saturday night. For the next few weeks, I'll be working mostly day shifts because that will give me more one-on-one time with the chef while the restaurant is not as busy.

On day 1, I spent part of the morning doing what EVERY east-coaster is familiar with....shelling lobster. Every east-coaster except me, that is. I had to get a Venezuelan-born, Toronto-trained, Vancouver-based chef to teach me how to shell Atlantic lobster. Oh well....I am here to learn.
After the lobster, I was prepping live spot prawns (the biggest of the prawn/shrimp family). The process: Twist the head from body, put the head on a sheet pan going to the freezer, put the body in a container going to a pot to be quickly blanched, then shell. (When needed, the heads are taken from the freezer and deep fried during service, to be used as a garnish on one of the dishes.)
The rest of the shift was spent doing vegetable/herb prep work.

On day 2, I was in with the pastry chef. Turns out she is originally from Saint John, and has a BBA from UNB Fredericton, before deciding to become a pastry chef. She was at UNB while Kim was getting her MBA, so small world.
This day was interesting. We made milk buns and cheese-topped whole wheat buns for the bread baskets, and then larger hamburger-style buns. Later I chopped rhubarb for the rhubarb crumble, helped out with a few batches of ice cream using liquid nitrogen (she did, not me), and various other little jobs here and there. By mid-afternoon, I was bouncing back and forth between the pastry chef and the line chef, so I was also doing a bit of prep for the line, such as shelling a bunch of raw chickpeas....again, a new experience.

From what I understand, I'll be on day shifts until I get many more hours under my belt and eventually work my way into some evening shifts where the real-time action is.

So a few more shifts coming up this weekend, lots to learn.

By the way.....this has been sort of a pet-peeve of mine for the last 5 years. The grocery stores in Charlottetown use the terms "rutabaga" and "turnip" interchangeably. I mentioned it to an employee when I first moved to Charlottetown, but was met with a blank stare. My first stroll through Save on Foods upon arrival in Vancouver had both vegetables, so I had to buy one of each to demonstrate the differences. Rutabagas are longer compared to turnips which are rounder. Most distinctively, rutabagas are yellow-fleshed and turnips are white-fleshed. Their taste is even different, rutabagas having more of a cabbage taste and turnips are sort of radish-like.
Attached is a photo of my rutabaga and turnip side-by-side. I captioned the photo with the exchange I heard when they met for the first time.

I have today off, so time to get some fresh air.
    

  

Meeting Went Well

Just a quick update:

Last night's stage at Fraiche led to a good meeting with the chef today and an offer to do my internship with him.

This should be an interesting summer, if last night was any indication.

Intensity....Thy Name Is The Restaurant Business

Well.....that was intense. Every bit of work I've ever done in my life (except maybe fighting a raging forest fire) paled in comparison to what that shift was like.....but the sense of accomplishment after a dinner service like that is rewarding.

I went in at 2pm, and after some brief intros, was making fresh pasta. Then odds and ends prep work (depulping preserved lemons, prepping different dressings, etc.) until about 6pm....the restaurant is closed from 3pm to 5pm, but people don't really start rolling in until about 6pm. Then it is just a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr until 11pm. We prepped mise en place for 50 amuse bouches and the end tally on the night was 92 customers.....including a critic from the Vancouver Sun!

I was working the garde manger station with the regular garde manger chef (a recent culinary graduate). Typical of a restaurant of this size, the garde manger station does the amuse bouche, cold apps, salads, & desserts.
I bounced around between jobs....helping plate desserts and apps, filling bread orders, making the extra amuse bouche dishes and eventually making & plating the salads.
The evening staff consisted of the executive chef (expediting and plating entrees), two hot-line chefs (that station looks absolutely insane), a dishwasher, garde manger chef and me.
  
The restaurant closes at 10pm, but given the busy evening, we were still plating until almost 11pm. After service the crew spent about an hour scrubbing down the kitchen and getting all the dishes done and put away. Apparently it was a good well done because Chef Alvarez treated us all to a Stella while we cleaned.

Chef Alvarez is an interesting fellow. Light-hearted at times, intense at others. He wants me to drop in this afternoon to chat. We'll see where it goes from there.

Arrived in Vancouver

I've made it to Vancouver. I've been here a couple of days, adjusting to the time change, admiring the lush greenery, and taking Cailin on walks that have nice changes in elevation.

I contacted the executive chef at Fraiche Restaurant in West Vancouver yesterday and he told me to drop in for a visit today. While he does not have any (paid) openings at present, he invited me to do a stage anytime. (A stage is from the french term "estagiere" meaning apprentice). A stage in North America is basically a working job interview.....I go in and work for free and see if there is a good match.

So tomorrow (Saturday) I'll be heading to the restaurant to do a stage with Chef Alvarez. This should be interesting.

A link to the restaurant: http://www.fraicherestaurant.ca 

Check out the view from the dining room: http://www.fraicherestaurant.ca/gallery.php

I'll update in a few days with some new experiences.

End of Term Wrap Up

My first term is done. Jumping into the middle of Year 1 was not an ideal way to approach the Culinary Arts program, so it has definitely been an interesting few months. I had no idea what the future had in store when I started back at the beginning of January, but I think I'll call this term a success. I took five program courses plus a certification course and here were the final marks:

Entremetier: 90
Cold Cuisine I: 93
Stocks, Soups, & Sauces: 94
Food Production & Service: 97
Nutrition for the Culinary Professional: 95

ServSafe Certification: 96

I maintained an average of 94, while the class average usually hovered around 70 to 75. They don't give us class rankings, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my 97 in Food Production & Service was probably top mark in the class. w00t!

Since the first few months went so well, my chef instructors recommended to the program director that I do my internship this summer instead of next. The program director has also ok'd a plan for me to do the first year courses I missed (from starting late) concurrently with my second year courses this fall. It will be challenging, but it will mean that I will graduate with my current class, as if I started in the fall of 2010!

So I am heading to Vancouver soon to do my internship. I don't have anything lined up yet since it is difficult to secure work 4000+ kms away. Everyone I have spoken to (chef instructors, internship co-ordinator) all agree that the best approach will be to actually go to Vancouver and line something up once in town.

I should note that I've had one offer....a "true" internship of $0/hr...experience only. I've been told that internships pay upwards to $10 or $12/hr, so $0/hr is a little on the low side. Technically, I need to have a paying internship because I need to be able to log my hours towards my apprenticeship and the ultimate prize.....the Red Seal. This engineer is gonna be a journeyman! (In 3 to 5 years.)

That's the wrap up. I plan to update once I have the internship lined up, so check back through the summer, or better yet, get Blogger to send you an email when I update.
 

Slow but sure....

I've resigned myself to the fact that this blog will not be as regular as I had hoped. There has been lots of exciting stuff happening lately, but so little time to write about it. (Culinary happenings and life-happenings....all good.)

Chefs Gala 2011:

This was an awesome experience.  I helped Chef Jeff prepare one of his signature dishes on Friday.....Parsnip, Vanilla and Apple Soup with Rosemary Walnut Bread Pudding and Wild Rice Fritters. I thought that there may be a handful of students helping out, but was surprised when it was just the two of us. I confess...I was proud to be chopping, cooking, and prepping next to the 2010 PEI Chef of the Year.

On Saturday I arrived at the Culinary Institute around 3pm. Since Saturday was "the day", there were 16 other student volunteers for the Gala. I was still with Chef Jeff on the soup station, and while other students were helping prep, on Saturday I was helping cook. As far as I can tell (in my infancy in this profession), in the kitchen, there are three places to be: prepping, cold line, and hot line...the level of prestige is in that order. Once again, I was pretty proud to be the only student from my group to be trusted with cooking off the items required for this $150 per ticket meal.

The meal was scheduled be served at 7pm. The time spent prepping on Friday and cooking on Saturday was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush at 6:30pm when you hear the emcee at the microphone talking about the evening's schedule and when all of a sudden there are 150 fancy gold-rimmed plates covering every flat surface of the kitchen being plated with the first course of the evening.....that's when the realization hits that there are 150 people sitting just outside the kitchen doors that have paid a lotta money to eat food that you've helped prepare. Simply awesome.

Of course by this time, I was keeping the two 11-litre rondeaus of soup hot enough for service, but not so hot that it burned....it was a cream soup, so one mis-step and it could have burned. I remember thinking, "If I burn this soup after putting about six hours of labour into it, I might as well go home, lock the doors, and choose another career path.....if I live to see the sunrise."

That's when things got interesting. I had no idea, but four students were going to be chosen, by drawing out of a chef's hat, to be excused from service and join the people out in the dining room for the evening's meal. I was one of the four that won!

The meal was amazing. Seven courses, five of which had wine pairings. Here is the menu from the evening:

     I was seated a table with the three other students, the 2010 Atlantic Chef of the Year and the 2011 Atlantic Chef of the Year. Pretty neat conversations through the evening.

After the gala, I discovered another neat aspect of the culinary world....the chef's afterparty. After eating for 3 hours, I went upstairs and had (free) drinks and appetizers for another 2 hours. I met some interesting people, one of which was a second year student from Vancouver who gave me some tips on the Vancouver market.

All in all, an experience I won't soon forget....regardless of the fact that I had to take a cab home and pick up the car the next day.

As for course work, I scored 96% on my ServSafe Certification, a certification course administered by the US National Restaurant Association, accepted world-wide and valid for 5 years. (A pass is 75% and there is a 35% failure rate for applicants.)

In my Entremetier/Cold Cuisine course, I scored a 93% on my Entremetier final exam (class average = 70%).
I had my black box practical exam today. For this black box, you are paired in groups of two and asked to design a sandwich, then two weeks later prepare 24 sandwiches to be sold on the cafeteria cold line.
Being a late addition to the program in January, I was the 17th person in a 16 person class, so Chef Linda asked if I was ok doing the sandwich black box on my own. I accepted and came up with:

A Cilantro Lime Chicken and Avocado Sandwich on Chipotle Pepper Focaccia with Roasted Cumin Mayonnaise & Monterey Jack Cheese

I tested the focaccia, mayo, and chicken marinade at home over a period of 2 weeks, but in separate taste tests, so didn't actually taste it all together until today.

Once again, the adrenaline rush you get minutes before the Chef calls you over to have your black box preparation graded is quite something......a recipe you designed and assembled is about to be scrutinized.
I was shocked by my mark: 51.5 out of 51! I lost a half point for seasoning (I never salt things enough), but gained a bonus point for not having a partner. Chef Linda was pleased by the used of textures and commented that every bite was full of various flavours that could be tasted separately.
Bonus: All the sandwiches were sold out in less than an hour. This was unfortunate for Kim who arrived for lunch at 12:10pm, for the sole purpose of trying my sandwich. I guess I'll have to replicate the sandwich at home.

Assignments and tests upcoming, so this will have to suffice as an update for now.

Dear Blog....

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you for over a month. I haven't been seeing other blogs, but I just haven't had time for you. Between my family and my course-load, you unfortunately are the one that has to suffer. Although I'd like to say I'll pay more attention to you in the future, we both know that might be an empty promise.

Now that I have that apology out of the way, now I have to sum up the last month:

The final two weeks of Food Production & Service went well.....really well.....final mark of 97% well. The class average for the course was 77%, and I'm pretty sure I had the highest mark in the class. I hope I didn't peak too soon....too many courses remaining.

I just finished week #2 of my final rotation for this term. I am currently in Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I. It is two courses in one, taught by the same instructor, so they are taken concurrently....not exactly sure how that works, but by the end of April, I'll have two more courses under my belt. In this course I rotate through four stations:
Entremetier, 2 stations, vegetable prep and starch prep
Cold Cuisine, 2 stations, sandwich and salad

I still have 7am class, so that part hasn't changed. Benefit: traffic is very light at 6:30am. Drawback: I'm up at 5am everyday, even on weekends when I don't need to be.

My instructor for this course is Chef Linda Hellingman. She is a very interesting instructor; very sarcastic, very knowledgeable, and wants us to taste as many different things as possible. We have tasting sessions during class time. In the past two weeks, (on various days), this is what I've eaten at 7am:

Dragon fruit, passion fruit, key limes, regular limes, pineapple, starfruit, cape gooseberries, tamarillos, asian pear, medjool dates, lychees, papaya, plantains, pomelo, jerusalem artichoke, shittake mushrooms, chantrelle mushrooms, morel mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, waxy potatoes, mealy potatoes, dill, cilantro, basil, tarragon, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary.

During kitchen time, I've tasted many more things...way too many to list. In addition, we work out of one of the second year kitchens, so the Charcuturie class often has things for us to try, such as:

Elk, rabbit, horse, pheasant, quail, beaver, moose, duck, fois gras, various pates/terrines/forcemeats, and other mammals and birds that I didn't identify before having a taste.

More about Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I some other time (maybe).

This week has been interesting. I was asked by my instructor from Food Production & Service (Chef Jeff McCourt) if I would help him out for an event Saturday night.

The event? The 2011 PEI Chefs Association Gala Dinner.

This is a seven course meal where the 2011 PEI Chef of the Year award will be announced. Chef Jeff is responsible for the soup course (Parsnip-Apple-Vanilla cream soup with a walnut bread pudding) , so I helped him prep today and will be helping him at the Gala. I was pretty flattered to have been asked. Tickets to this event are $150 each and needless to say, there will be lots of chefs present. This will be quite an experience. With any luck, I may even write about it in the next few days.

Delinquent

It seems I've let my blogging duties slip a little recently. I won't be able to catch up on everything in the last two (+) weeks, but here is a brief summary:

My Food Production & Service course is going very well. The instructor is fresh out of the industry and has been a wealth of hands-on knowledge. That has been great for this course since we are working the lunch-time cafeteria. There really is no greater way to learn the trade than to be immersed in it with paying customers.

In week #1, I was on entremetier station (vegetable and potato station). The vegetable and potato is chopped/cut by the Entremetier class (which I take in March/April), and our class cooks it. So week #1 involved a lot of steaming, roasting, and seasoning.

In week #2, I was on tournant station. Traditionally the tournant chef in a kitchen is the swing chef....able to work where needed, so must have a working knowledge of all stations. For this course it involved getting everything ready for lunch service. Slicing the bread from the Bakery class, plating and garnishing the desserts from the Pastry class, and then from 11am to 1pm, serving the food in the cafeteria. I was glad when week #2 was finished.....I prefer to work in the kitchen, and this station was more about the service side than the production side.

I am currently in week #3, and this week I am on line cook station. I cook the main course meals prepared (mostly) by the Butchery class. I have been working the grill mostly this week, grilling bacon-wrapped pork medallions and sausages for yesterday's mixed grill, and grilled pineapple slices for today's baked ham and I also grilled lamb skewers today. We typically plan for 120 to 150 portions per day, so I've been getting plenty of practice with cross-hatching on the grill.

The class is divided up into groups of 3 to 4 people. I am in a group of 4, and we work fairly efficiently, so after we finish preparing what we need to do, we usually help out on the other stations. I find this gives me exposure to lots of different techniques, so I like this set up.

I have a test and a report due for class tomorrow, so I'll end here. As a preview for the next entry, I met with the program director today and I've been given the green light to do my internship this summer, opening the door to graduating with the Class of 2012 instead of the Class of 2013. This was a significant meeting.

For the record: I ended up with a final mark of 94% in Stocks, Soups, and Sauces and a 95% in Nutrition for the Culinary Professional. I am currently maintaining a 95% average in Food Production & Service. How can I possibly keep up this performance??

I'll try not to let two and a half weeks go by before the next entry.

Classroom Sunrise

I don't think I've ever been in class during a sunrise; until this morning.

Today was the start of my 2nd rotation. Nutrition and Stock, Soups & Sauces courses are now complete, and I started Food Production & Service today. The class portion is from 7am (still dark) to 8am (light), and then we are in the kitchen from 8:15am to 1:15pm. In Stocks, Soups & Sauces I prepared things to be used by the Food Production & Service course. Now the shoe is on the other foot. I use the things prepared by them to serve to the (admiring?) public in the CIC cafeteria.

This course is quite a shift in procedure. In SS&S, the onus was on getting what needed to be done completed by 5pm so we could go home. If it took until 5:15pm, well, it just meant you got home a little later. With Food Production & Service, the "Production" part has to be done by 11am, because that is when it shifts to the "Service" part, and there is a line of hungry people waiting to be fed for the next 2 hours.
So there is definitely an adrenaline aspect to this course that wasn't present in the previous courses. 

Since this is only day 1 of this course, there isn't much in the way of study material yet, but the instructor for this course said some things today that stuck with me:

1. "Mise en place isn't just the preparation of ingredients and equipment. It is also mental preparation."
This is very important in this course because you always have to be thinking a few steps ahead....for example, when the line is calling out for a new tray of vegetables, you can't be in the kitchen still preparing it; you have to come up with a method to always be prepared. Time management is key. (an the food still has to be fresh; you can't prepare it all at 10am; a fresh batch has to be ready to go as needed.)

2. "Culinary Arts is an art form that involves all 5 senses." 
I hadn't really thought about this until he said it. Most other art forms involve various senses, but since Culinary throws the sense of taste into the fray, it hits on all of the senses. People like a visually appealing meal (sight). It has to smell good (smell). It has to have an appealing texture (touch). If it is supposed to be crunchy, you had better hear that "crunch" (hearing). Most importantly it has to have flavour (taste). The sense of taste is the sense that is missing from other forms of art such as paintings, songs, books, sculptures, dance, photos, etc. Such a simple statement really conjured up a lot of thought for me.

My instructor for this course is Chef Jeff McCourt. He is a graduate of the CIC (Class of 1991). He worked as Michael Smith's sous chef for 4 years at The Inn at Bay Fortune, becoming executive chef when Michael Smith left. He was head chef at a Resort & Spa in Ireland for a few years before returning to PEI to be executive chef at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and then Red Shores Casino. He is a new instructor at the CIC, having just started in January (same day as me). Even though it is only day #1, I've already had a few personal chats with him and look forward to learning a lot about the industry from him.

This is going to be an interesting rotation.         

Leave It To Cleaver

Phew! There is light at the end of the tunnel. The past week and a half have been spent buried in books and notes and honing kitchen skills. Assignments/quizzes/presentations/practical exams/finals....all conquered so far. "Just" the final exam left in Stocks, Soups & Sauces on Friday and then on to a new rotation on Monday.

I got my black box practical exam score yesterday: 98%!! As I mentioned in the previous post, I was pleased with the final product, and it turns out that Chef Wicki was also. Where I lost my points: My yield was slightly below 3 litres (the sauce simmered too hard at one point, and I knew this) and my choice of pot. I should have used a shorter, wider pot and I went with a taller pot. The kicker: I had the shorter pot in my hands, then opted for the taller pot when I overthought the situation. Moral: Go with your gut.

Today, I was on the stocks station. Along with the 300 litres of potato chowder for the hockey tournament, we were also getting the groundwork done for a fish stock to be done on Friday. There were 27 pounds of fish carcasses to be chopped up into 3 to 4 inch sections. I last did this on my 3rd day of classes....back when things were pretty overwhelming. At that time I was using a chef's knife belonging to a classmate. Chopping fish parts with a chef's knife is very time consuming and DANGEROUS.
I recalled that I had a cleaver at home. A cleaver that would have been very handy at the time. I went home after day 3 and added the cleaver to my knife roll, should I ever need to chop, chop, chop. Knowing I had just the piece of equipment for the job, I offered to take care of the fish bones.
A bit of history: Kim's Aunt Carolyn gave me that cleaver many, many years ago. I thanked her for it at the time, but I never really had a practical use for it until today. (I don't do much home butchery.)
Well, that knife made my job so easy today, and I got plenty of compliments on the knife. (That might sound corny, but in the atmosphere of a commercial kitchen, compliments are taken in high regard.)
It made me realize that this change in my life was most likely meant to be, and I think Carolyn saw that all those years ago. I wish I could thank her again.

A photo of the solid piece of sharpened steel:

  
The opposite side sporting the new "D Savoy" engraving:

Thanks again.

Black Box was Red

This is the last week in this rotation, so all of my final exams and assignments are scheduled through the week.
I had my black box practical exam in Stocks, Soups, & Sauces today;  I drew Tomato Sauce. That was a lucky draw, since I made a batch of tomato sauce at home on Saturday (I'll post the step-by-step when I have more time). So I replicated my method from Saturday and made 3 litres of tomato sauce. I liked how the sauce turned out today....now to see how well Chef Wicki liked it. The black box practical is worth 15% of my overall mark. 
Tomorrow I have a written test on sauces, group presentation on Wednesday on Espagnole sauce, and the final exam on Friday. I did the majority of the Powerpoint presentation for Wednesday and it is going to be a visually appealing, dare I say, kickass presentation.....now to get the others in my group up to speed tomorrow and we'll be in good shape.

My other course this rotation is Nutrition.....100% on my first report/presentation and 92% on my midterm exam. Coming up this week: Assignment #2 and final exam, both on Wednesday, worth a combined 55% of my final mark. I should probably get on those.

What I had for lunch today:
Soup: Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Puree
Pork Ribs
Starch: Roasted Garlic Risotto Cake
Veggies: Drunken Leeks & Ratatouille
French Bread
Coffee
(I had the dessert at break: Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise)

In addition to my black box practical, I was on the stocks station today. Every year the Culinary Institute prepares 300 litres of PEI Potato Chowder for a minor hockey tournament. The stocks station prepares this, so I split my time between making tomato sauce and peeling and slicing buckets and buckets of potatoes.

Off to study.  

Week 4 Wrap Up

Well, that week flew by...wha' happened??

This module of Nutrition and Stocks, Soups, & Sauces is winding down, and that means that the assignments, reports, and tests are coming at a blistering pace.

Week 4 was much like week 3, just a lot more studying. My black box practical test for Stocks, Soups, & Sauces is on Monday. This is where I go into the kitchen, draw a stock or a sauce out of a pot (stands to reason), and then I prepare what I've drawn. No recipes, no help from anyone else. The possible choices are:
Stocks: brown, white, or vegetable
Sauces: bechamel, veloute, espagnole, or tomato

I have step by step instructions on a brown stock in this blog, so I think I will do ok with a stock. I'll do all right with bechamel and veloute sauces. The two iffy choices right now are espagnole and tomato, since these are fairly involved either in ingredients list and/or technique.
With recipes, this practical test would be a snap. I've made these sauces so little that I haven't had the time/practice to make them "automatically" yet. I might try making a tomato sauce this weekend to get a fell for the technique and ingredients list. One of my classmates made the tomato sauce on Thursday night, and drew tomato sauce for his blackbox on Friday.....worked for him.

Lots of great lunches this week, but because I've been delinquent in keeping up the blog, I'll just list yesterday's lunch. Here is what I had:

Turkey Vegetable Soup
Madras Chicken Curry (my group made the curry sauce)
Starch: Coconut Rice (on its own this would not be my first choice,  but it went well with the curry sauce)
Veggies: Honey Glazed Parsnips, Green Beans with Shallot Butter
Raisin Bread
Coffee

In the kitchen my group made a creamy tomato basil sauce, a maple glaze, chicken gravy, and we clarified a pound of butter each.
Clarified butter is removing the milk solids and water from butter, leaving behind only the purified butterfat. This is accomplished by heating the butter to a simmer. As it simmers, the water is evaporated of and the milk solids fall to the bottom. At just the right point of caramelization of the milk solids, the pot is removed from the heat, set aside to cool slightly, and then strained slowly through a fine mesh strainer.
The tricky part is knowing exactly when to remove the butter from the heat. Caramelizing the milk solids slightly gives the clarified butter a rich, nutty taste; caramelizing the milk solids too much gives the butter a burnt taste and ruins $5 worth of butter.
Clarified butter is used in veloute, espagnole, and hollandaise sauces as it gives a far more stable sauce than if whole butter is used.

Ok, it's Saturday morning, the coffee is kicking in, time to get an assignment done, then off to the engraving shop to pick up my newly engraved knives. Someone suggested engraving on the first day in the kitchen and after a few instances of "Is this your knife or mine?" I thought I'd better get it done.

Week 5 is going to be like flying into Charlottetown on a Beech 1900 on a windy day, but bring it on!

Week 3 Wrap-up

Just wrapped up week #3. Things are going very well. My confidence level is doing something it hasn't done in ages.....growing.

This week:
Soups test: 92%
Assignment #1: 90%
Terminology test: 97.5%

Coupled with the 100% last week...this has been a pretty good 3 weeks.

Chef Wicki prepared another meal for us today....and it didn't include odd parts of a cow. He (and another student) made some Andouille sausage on Wednesday. I helped on Thursday with the smoking process. Today the sausage was ready. Andouille sausage is a smoked, spicy sausage, excellent in Cajun dishes such as Gumbo and pasta sauces.
Chef wanted us to enjoy his sausage try the Andouille sausage, so he made a pasta sauce and penne which we got to try during the afternoon break. Most excellent. (I hope my praises of his food will make up for my corny jokes, should he ever find this blog.)

Today my group made a tomato coulis, Marchand de Vin sauce (red wine sauce with a demi-glace base), and a fish veloute (to make a Vin Blanc Sauce on Monday).

Lunch was much better today; (I think I just chose the wrong combination of choices yesterday). Here is what I had:
Beef Barley Soup (excellent)
Rustic Tuscan Pasta with Turkey Sausage (The sauce:  Roasted Garlic Tomato Concasse...the one we made yesterday)
Veggies: Macedoine of Vegetables
Bread: Focaccia
Coffee

Looking forward to week #4.

Into the Sauce

I started on the sauces station today. While stocks and soups were interesting, sauces are a whole other thing. A stock is forgiving, a soup is pretty straight forward as long as you follow the recipe, but a sauce demands proper technique and attention.

We start all of our sauces with one of the mother sauces (or leading sauces) and then make derivative sauces from the leading sauces.

Sauces start out with a roux, an equal mixture of fat (typically clarified butter) and flour. As the flour cooks, the roux goes from a white roux, to a blond roux, to a brown roux. When the roux reaches the stage you want, you add the appropriate liquid. A liquid + a fat/flour mixture = a thickened sauce. The sauce is then simmered to reduce to the appropriate consistency.

Today my group made: Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce, a Veloute (to eventually make a Vin Blanc Sauce), a Chicken Gravy, and we finished a demi-glace (to make a Marchand de Vin Sauce tomorrow).  

Terminology test went well.

Today for lunch....hmmm....I'm usually not picky, but I found it to be not great. Then again, I usually find lunch to be excellent, so my "not great" might be someone else's "ok".
Here is what I had:
Lemon Okra Tomato Soup (should have had the artery-blocking Zucchini Bisque)
Pan Fried Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis
Starch: Kasha Pilaf (not a fan)
Veggies: Honey Glazed Parsnips, Bok Choy
Bread: Baguette
Coffee

Tomorrow: more sauciness

Another Test

Another quick update since I am studying for a terminology test...might as well be a French test with all those crazy French terms. Last weekend I was explaining to John what I was up to in the kitchen and realized that I was sounding like a pretentious ass with all the French terms. What I probably looked like:

Lunch was pretty good today. Here is what I had:

French Onion Soup (again with the French; I don't usually do French Onion Soup, but my group made this and I sliced many pounds of onions for this)
Grilled Lamb Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce and Lamb Jus Lie (Lamb Jus Lie on top, Tzatziki on the side)
Starch: Lebanese Couscous
Veggies: Sautéed Corn and Broccoli Almondine
Vienna Bread
Coffee

Today in the kitchen my group made Lemony Chicken Okra Tomato Soup and Zucchini Bisque. The bisque tastes awesome, but in 16 litres of soup, we used 5 cups of butter and 10 cups of heavy cream. I think I'll skip it tomorrow since I don't want my arteries clogging during the test.

Ah yes, the test.....must go study.