Hello faithful readers,
The week has finally come to an end. I got my first taste in the kitchens and it was interesting. Friday I had my first practical, at 7pm. It lasted about two and a half hours. There are 7 of us, including me. There is supposed to be 8, but the girl never showed up. So I am the only girl my group, B, out of the 7 students. This could be good and this could be bad. I don't know yet.
I was early to class and walked into the kitchen. In the other schools the students got there atleast 15 minutes early to set up their stations. Things work differently here then the other schools. You wait for the chefs to allow you to come in. So you sit and wait for the practicals and for the demos. Good thing to know.
We were in the production kitchen....where the chefs come to assemble their mise en place for demos. So the 7 of us went into the kitchen and began to unload. I felt so weird and actually alittle nervous. I of course picked the smallest space to work on, only a cutting board could fit! But I made it work.
I felt alittle lost. I had no idea where anything was or what to do. Do we use garbage bowls? Do we unpack our knives and utensils and just leave them on the table? So I light my stove or will the chef do it? What the hell am I doing here and why are there no girls?! So I freaked out for a half second, or maybe a little longer, and then pulled myself together. I bugged the guy beside me to ask all the questions, like where are the cutting boards, where are the plates, and where is the fridge? I felt so stupid for asking him these questions, but I never got a tour of the kitchen, so I couldn't feel that bad.
The practical was all about cold dishes- salmon tartar, cucumber with cream cheese and crab, shrimp tempera, stuffed cherry tomatoes, chicken sate, and beef carpaccio (which we ran out of). It took me while to find my groove. The whole idea of mise en place (gathering all your ingredients for the dish together) completely slipped my mind. I did the best I could, so I worked one recipe at a time. And it worked! I was not the first nor the last to present my dish to the chef! That has to say something about me, right? The chef I did good. My sauce was good and my presentation was good too. He was very nice and told me if I needed anything, help with recipes or presentation to come find him. He was very nice and very helpful!
Then it was time for clean up and soon we could go after it. The kitchen is very quite when we were working. No one was really talking except for the occasional questions, which would have been asking something. People are very focused on their tasks, cutting a brunoise (very find dice of vegs) or assembling their plate. It was very different from what I was used to. In Paris, my group was very talkative and we sang alot - Oh Happy Day....In Australia, there was just so much noise from the chefs talking to one another or dishes being dropped for some smart ass joking around. Maybe it all has to do with what cycle I was in at the time. In Australia I did basic so people were just getting to know one another. There were three classes and the classes were all together, in one large kitchen. In Paris, I was in intermediate. People were tired of cooking and the constant repetition of filleting fish and making concasse! We needed something to break up the silence. And in Ottawa, you have to be focused. This is the last step. This is what the chefs really look at when making recommendations. Or maybe, it was just the first day of cooking in a group. Give it time and I am sure the kitchen will become loud and crazy!
I think this school is going to be the best. Definitely more challenging and it will test me, I LOVE THAT! Welcome to superior cuisine 2007. Stay tuned.