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.