More about food and healing...

Friday, December 8

Today we were in intensive lectures all day about food and healing, including the key causes of illness according to a number of experts and theories and the explanation of different dietary approaches such as Atkins, the Zone, and the Blood Type and their pros and cons. Besides rest, healthy food is a major contributor to a strong immune system and the increased use of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans will nourish and strengthen. One of the ways to avoid disease in our society is to minimize the amount of animal foods and the foods most associated with this. Commercially raised animals have antibiotics and other chemicals routinely added to their feed and there is no regulation currently to ensure this doesn't happen, so this also means the milk and milk products from these commercial animals are also affected. The best way to avoid this is to buy the highest quality products you can and try to find out where they come from. I can't write more than this on food and healing at this time as my notes are at school so when I retrieve them I will try to remember to come back to this entry as it's a very important area. The study of what's in the food that we are eating today, the politics involved, how this food we are eating is contributing to the sickness and disease of individuals in our society at an alarming rate despite advances in medical technologies and drugs, the importance of natural and whole foods in our diets and sustainable local agriculture and producers, and the correlation of food with health and healing is what makes this school so unique and why I came to study here.

Friday Night Dinner House Shift

So I did last front of house shift for a student's dinner, a part-time chef's class. The theme was Moroccan and the ambiance and food beautiful and delcious. It's always nice to meet the family and friends that are very excited about being there and so supportive. It's fun to be able to speak them about the chef course, the food, and their experiences on the cheering end side. They loved the food and gave the student chefs a standing ovation afterwards. The service staff, including me, were even given a round of applause. The meal was called the "Modern Moroccan Table" and included: Roasted Garlic and Almond Soup with a red beet reduction and seeded barley loaf; Orange, Endive and Watercress Salad with three grain couscous, oil-cured olives and champagne-orange vinaigrette; Napoleon B'Stila with roasted root vegetables, fava puree, sauteed kale, slow-roasted cipollini onions, preserved lemons, zahtar phyllo, harissa and chermoula sauces, and a Fourless Chocolate Torte with minted vanilla cream (from nuts) and pomegrante syrup. Sounds like a lot of work and it is. Everything has to be as natural, whole and as fresh as possible, with no processed foods or perservatives, nothing prepared can sit or wait in storage or the refrigerator for more than 24 hours, and a variety of cooking methods that preserve the nature of the food and best bring out flavours have to be used. A lot of work for six student chefs even with some student assistants on Thursday and Friday nights. And, our team will be there next...

Afterwards, we were able to try almost everything and it was as delicious as it looked and smelled when we served it.

Long day and it's nice to be finished all my house shifts required to graduate. Next week I am in the kitchen on Thursday and Friday nights, and I only need one more kitchen prep to graduate, which will be our own Friday Night Dinner on January 5.