Hello, and happy Monday everyone!
This past week has been a thrill, beginning with my exams on monday, stir-frying and pot-roasting practical classes, and ending with a tour of a couple wineries. I have a lot write about, so I will start with where I left off last.
Body moves began my Wednesday last week, and we learned more service drills, how to serve tables, and specifically this class, how to use a fork and spoon like tongs to grab bread, and place it on to the bread plates at a table. I was very very frustrated by the end of this class, as this is next to impossible to do! The day however went on to nutrition class second, where I learned that no one really worries about underweight people. I get to the class, and we learn about body mass index. The weight that someone should be at such a height, and activity level. I, however, am quite underweight, even though I eat quite a bit of food, as you can all imagine. I learned, (or was told, because I already knew this) that my metabolic rate is just higher than most people. So with this confirmation of knowledge, I went on to, yet again, ask what I can do about this. I should weigh around 155-160 lb, I however, (after losing about 5 lb due to stress recently) only weigh about 130. So... after receiving no real answer as to how I can do this, I went through the class, found out that other than my under-weightness, I am a pretty healthy person. We went into stats about obesity, why it's dangerous, and that's good to know and all... but how can I fix being underweight without sitting and eating fat all day long? I went to ask the instructor after class, and after a slight topic change after the question was asked, I realized that I will probably never know, and so I have deemed this class completely useless, and that's where I stand until someone can explain to me how to gain weight in a healthy manner.
Culinary management followed, and exams came back. I didn't understand a good portion of it as well as I thought I did, and although I didn't fail, I will be re-writing this test to improve my mark, as I am a little disappointed in myself with it. I am learning though, and I have gotten the opportunity for a re-write, so I will gladly take it, and improve on my mark.
The next day, we did some more stir-frying, and more burning of the only two cloths I have left. Just building some character in them I guess, but one has a defined chunk burnt out of the side now. Wine followed, and it was a pretty exciting class. Wine is one of those things, that can be really hard to understand, or completely life changing once you do understand it. In order that we, as students, can begin to understand wine a little bit better, we got to taste some very raw products that make up the different tastes and feelings associated with wine. A very sweet product to start off, and then a very bitter product after that. The 3rd was absolutely horrible, but it represented tannin, and then an acid to go along with everything. On their own, they tasted horrible, but after a bit of mixing, we could get them all to combine to a somewhat drinkable level. However, we moved over to wine tastings after these products, and the wines were pretty good, although I can't remember what they were at the moment. Wine class was followed by commodities, where we learned about different types of oils and fats. We then, got to taste olive oils after class, just as we would taste wine. Most of my classmates did not really enjoy this, but I found it pretty fantastic. We tasted four types of olive oil, from different bottles, different methods of producing, and different quality levels. My favourite was, I believe, a Spanish olive oil, and it had a very very peppery taste after you swallowed it. It was quite an eye opener to how much something like a clear bottle can change, and ruin this fantastic product.
Day 5, we began the day with practical cookery, where we learned how to pot-roast. There were only 3 recipes for the class of 11, but once we finished cooking them, I realized that if there were any more, none of us would be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day, as it was quite a bit of food. We cooked four whole chickens, and a huge slab of bacon, basically just a large pork roast. I will upload pictures later on in the week, and answer any questions anyone has about the dishes during this time as well. Culinary management followed, and we are now beginning a new chapter in the world of culinary management. Restaurant design, concept statements, and quite a bit of interesting history into how certain restaurant types have evolved from the "Escoffier" type meals, to something more modern. I am interested to see where this class goes, and I'm very excited for the future classes that will be taking place every wednesday and friday.
Our commodities test followed culinary management, and was on fats and oils. Other than two simple questions, that I really should have known the answers to, I think I did very very well. I will get my results back this Friday, so I am hoping that I get a good mark on it.
My first shift running dishes took place Friday night. After scrambling around to find some nice shoes, and to try to find a decent belt, I ended up wearing my scottish ghillies as footwear, and going without a belt. Luckily this wasn't a problem, but my night began as the coat person. I would take people's coats as they entered the dining area, and hang them up on the hanger that corresponded with their table. After a few people came in, and two tables at once, I was worried that I may had gotten a couple coats mixed up, but luckily everything worked out pretty well. We were short staffed, but we performed a nearly flawless service. Running dishes to tables, presenting the menu after trying everything I could to memorize the names of the dishes, and the night went on to be one of the best nights of the week. I received quite a few compliments, which was very nice, especially considering I have never served on the floor before in my life. I am looking forward to my next service and considering applying for a position as a server some day, just to gain a little bit more experience in this part of the restaurant. Whether this will ever happen or not is uncertain, but I'm keeping it open, as it is a lot more enjoyable that I thought it would be.
This post is one of my longer ones, however I have not yet included the wine tour, as this will probably take up an entire post on its own. I will try to post while I upload last week's pictures, however I need to get a few assignments done, as is always the case here at the Stratford Chefs School. Enjoy the rest of your week, and feel free to comment, critique, or ask any questions either here on my post, or on facebook. Thank you for reading.
Paul
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