Day one is orientation, house rules, facility tour, filling out forms, buying supplies and textbooks, including my very own kit of chefs knifes, lockers and fitting for uniforms.
I am glad I see some familiar faces on Campus. People I have worked with for the last three and a half months. It proves to be a source of encouragement to sit with colleagues during break time and catch up with the rest of the world.
Week one is tough. I am physically exhausted by the time my day is done, but I am also mentally drained from a lot of information and the challenge of textbooks, homework and the lack of a routine.
I haven't sleep well the first few nights and on day three I am wondering why I am putting myself and my family through this.
But things get better from here. Lot's of great encouragement from family and friends and also the fact that I have a great instructor. She makes learning interesting, allows for feed back, has numerous ways to communicate facts and procedures to make them 'stick' in your head.
We learn how to use our chef knifes and cut and dice.
We learn how to make white stock from chicken bones and brown stock from veal bones. And since we are learning the 'Art of French Cooking', I will be brushing up my french vocabulary.
We learn about: mise en place, mire poix, emulsion and beurre mainie, as well as the difference between a sachet and a bouquet garni and also the difference between herbs and spices.
On Friday we make carrot soup, tomato sauce (with tomato concassee) and penne primavera.
Unlike my primavera sauce, this one has vegetables (carrots, celery root, zucchini, mushrooms and tomato) of different texture. By applying different cooking methods to the vegetables and pasta they are all done 'al dente' (soft but not mushy, tender but not crisp). We season with salt and pepper to enhance the flavours not to give it flavour.
This is the end of my first week and I am looking forward to more to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment