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.