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.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)