Actually, I've learnt a lot more than that. More of this later, first I thought I'd bust some myths. These may not be things you've ever wondered but I know I did, hence why I'm sharing:
1. Waiting staff work very hard. Not that I've tried yet. They break 16,000 steps in an easy shift, and a good one can spot an incorrectly plated dish, tell you who ordered what and how long ago, and manage to smile and make conversation with customers at the same time.
2. Tipping in cash is better. Most restaurants will divide tips between staff based on the number of hours they've worked, but credit card tips go through payroll and are therefore taxed. Either way, most staff are reliant on them to some extent.
3. The knives you use for cooking at home are probably rubbish. If, like me, you get by with a serrated set from somewhere like Argos, stop now. Go and buy yourself at least one chef's knife and probably a sharpening stone or steel; you can read about sharpening knives in an earlier post here
My two roles are very different. At the all-day café I work on the cold counter. Here I am plating soups to salads to sticky toffee pudding. Presentation and portion sizes are important but I am not involved in the preparation of what goes onto the plate. The pace varies wildly from dead (time for cleaning) to frantic, with simultaneous orders for crayfish baguettes and knickerbocker glories, with a takeaway customer standing in front if you and rightfully expecting prompt attention and service for their takeaway slice of quiche and salad. This is when the counter begins to resemble Hiroshima. If you come to the café and spot these symptoms, try not to order one of these dishes from me and expect to remain friends. Every day at the café is different and I enjoy conquering busy times and getting home at 1am footsore but with a bag of leftovers and a pocketful of tips for the holiday jar. However, I sense that what I can learn without moving from this role is limited.
My other role is in the kitchen at a restaurant, as yet somewhat more undefined but I am biding my time in the hope of greater trust in my capabilities, a greater proportion of my week spent there and a continuing opportunity to learn. Here I help with the preparation of pantry items and with plating amuse-bouches and starters as part of a tasting menu. My favourite moment so far was being asked "Do you know how to quenelle?" and being able to answer "Yes!"
Quenelling is the formation of a neat oval of foodstuff by transferring it back and forth between two spoons. (This video shows the technique quickly and quite well, although I agree with the comments that the finished article isn't very attractive!) I have now quenelled red onion chutney (tricky) to whipped cream (use a single warm spoon and be quick so as not to melt the cream) to hundreds of mini meringues (wet the spoons between each one). It maketh the difference between a dinnerplate and a visual feast.
There have been other lessons I've not enjoyed learning quite as much. But they will stick with me, just the same!
- When you see a nail brush, buy one. You will never find one when you truly need it...
- Preparing scallops means their smell will follow you around for days. Even if you have managed to buy a nail brush. Not good by the next day if you had found yourself going for 'one' post-work drink... Consider gloves!
- Double cream is much easier to whip by hand if you halve the quantities.
- Asking questions can be advantageous, and may ultimately save you both time and tomatoes.
I've become rapidly aware that professional kitchens trump the majority of home kitchens in terms of the equipment available and ingredients to hand, so will try to keep things simple in this regard. So I thought I'd share a nice easy one for now: vanilla ice cream. (n.b if you happen to have a Pacojet lying around at home this will make this easy, but to own an ice-cream maker is fairly common these days so that will suffice. If not, freeze slowly and churn at intervals to prevent ice crystals forming).
Vanilla Ice Cream (makes approx 1l, reduce quantities according to your requirements!)
750g cream
250g milk
480g egg yolk
240g sugar (vanilla sugar is best if you have some)
3-4 vanilla pods
(n.b Professional kitchens use weight instead of volume which saves a lot of time. 1g is roughly equivalent to 1ml. Egg yolk is used from a carton in this context, this recipe calls for the yolks from about 2 dozen eggs, which would enable you to subsequently quenelle lots of meringues!!)
Scrape the seeds from the inside of the vanilla pods and whisk briefly into the milk and cream to incorporate. Carefully bring the milk, cream and spent vanilla pods to a a simmering boil without it catching on the bottom of your pan. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together until pale in colour.
Whisk 2/3 of the hot milk and cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture and then return this to the pan and cook slowly on a low heat, stirring gently until the mixture thickens. At this point strain the mixture into a tub and discard the vanilla pods (straining will also remove any lumps should any of your custard happen to have caught on the base of the pan). Allow to cool before freezing.
This method can also be used to make custard for crème brûlée, the quantities change however, no milk this time but for every litre of cream use 200g caster sugar and about 2 dozen egg yolks, with 2 vanilla pods. Instead of freezing, cook on a low temperature, about 100℃ for approximately 30 minutes.
Eggs are so clever, in my opinion. And once you've conquered custard, so are you.
I wasn't sitting down to read this at the beginning - but did in the end - phew! The sense of excitement, happiness and breathlessness came through loud and clear - Brava!
ReplyDeletePromise: never to order baguette and glory together!