Survival

Tuesday, October 24

So we all survived the chopping and basic cooking techniques four hour exam this morning but you could cut the tension with a knife as we did our test so to speak... but what cut would that be... Brunoise, Julienne, Chiffonade, Dice, Mince, Roll Cut, Matchstick, Bias, or Concasse.

The one chef had a board with the cuts she wanted and as you did each one you had to raise your hand and get your cuts evaluated before discarding them. She carries a clipboard to evaluate you and writes a lot of notes. When done this, we moved over to the cooking techniques and were asked to prepare a number of items. As I completed each one, I had to present a dish of the item to the chef for evaluation in appearance, texture, taste and appropriateness of the ingredient to the dish, i.e. fluffy and separated rice for salad.

While you are doing the cuts and cooking, the chefs are observing everything around you such as the preparation and cleanliness of your area and yourself, how you communicate with your colleagues such as if you have a hot pot or are carrying a knife, how you adhere to safety procedures and protocol with your station and in the kitchen, proper posture, and general notes.

So to celebrate our finish, the chefs prepared a nice meal from our careful and precise discards, including soups, salads, and a rice dish. Also, another student group just completed a brunch class and had lots of leftovers to share with us from omlettes, scrambled tofu and vegetarian reubens to a variety of muffins, puddings, breads and spreads. This was all a nice treat after a stressful morning.

The afternoon was spent on Menu Planning 2 and how to create balanced and beautiful plates and menus following several criteria such as colour, taste, texture, the 5 Phase Chinese theory, seasonal and natural ingredients for winter, etc. We have homework to create a balanced four course meal for presentation to the class and chef for critique.

In the evening, tried Angelica Restaurant in East Village. The ambiance, approach and menu are great and the food quite good.

Today, a brand new full-time class started and we moved upstairs to the newest kitchen and are now more senior. How strange and how fast time flies! The new class has an equal number of men so it seems that the classes are becoming more and more balanced, with more men interested in natural food, organic production and the environment, and the correlation between food, health and healing.