Ok well fish class is over and yes it did get better we still went from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm each day but we were able to get some short breaks and on the last day chef Clark took us to one of the kitchens that he had prearranged with that kitchen’s chef for us to be feed a nice lunch.
Yesterday I started in my first kitchen class called Skills 1 and today we actually got to turn on the stove top burned and boil water. It was part of our knife tray. A knife tray is a skills exercise were we peel three onions then we slice one, medium dice one and small dice one, next we peel and dice three cloves of garlic, mince one shallot, and make tomato concasse, that is to skin (this is done by putting them into the boiling water for about 20 to 30 seconds), seed and cut into quarters two tomatoes, then we chopped some parsley, next is peeling five potatoes and cutting them into lots of different things some fine julienne (that is 1/16” x 1/16” x2” long) and fine brunoise (that is 1/16” cubes), then some regular julienne (that is 1/8” x 1/8” x2” long) and some brunoise (that is 1/8” cubes), then some batonnet (that is 1/4” x 1/4” x2” long) and some small dice (that is 1/4” cubes), then some ½” x ½” x 2 “ long cuts and some medium dice ½” cubes and some large dice ¾” cubes and some ¾” x ¾” x 2” pieces. All that is graded by the chef for size, quality and straightness of cut. The Chef had nothing bad to say about my cuts so I guess I did ok. As a class we also made about 15 gallons of chicken stock and about 8 gallons of beef broth today. To make that much chicken stock we start with 120 pounds of chicken bones, about 22 gallons of water and about 30 pounds of mirepoix ( 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery chopped into large pieces) and one very large pot. In fact it’s not really a pot but a floor mounted steam jacketed kettle for making stock or sauces in.
I have a writing class mid-tern exam tomorrow that I have been thinking about what to write for it and it’s a challenge as the subject choices don’t excite me but hopefully something will come to me before the test tomorrow.
Only 12 more days of class until summer break we finish class on July 2nd and don’t restart until July 28th. I have big plans for the break and I will provide updates as it gets closer.
Until next time keep cooking and remember drink no wine before it’s time.