5:15 am: AHHHH! I'm going to be late at this rate! I thrust myself up and hop in the shower. I make 2 Vi Shakes, grab my chef coat and my bag and out the door.
6 am: On the road again. My husband and I live in the country and I drive an hour to work. I actually find that it's a good buffer time between waking up and playing well with others. I'm not what anyone close to me would call a morning person. In fact, all morning people remind me of the 'case of the Mondays' lady from Office Space.
7am: Turn the equipment on and start my prep list.
When I was a baker, I worked from 8pm to 6am by myself. It gave me control of where everything was and how my night was going to go. It was a great time of reflection for me. When I came to a full kitchen line, I realized silent, alone moments were very few and far between. The kitchen is so loud that I wonder if anyone in the dining room can hear us yelling for runners or making calls to the expo line. There are only 2 hours in the morning that you can truly be alone with your craft.
Mise en Place means Everything in it's place. A good chef/restaurant sets par levels and makes a good prep list. Knife work is my favorite. Cutting vegetables for a high volume restaurant will definitely give a new chef practice, but it really is more than that. I never feel more connected to the food than when I'm holding it's raw ingredients in my hand and I never feel more accomplished than when I present the finished work.
I don't mean to glorify the work. Food Network paints a beautiful picture and I'm all for it if it means people will show interest in good food but lets be clear, it is no cake walk. It is standing on your feet, cutting not a few oranges but 50, slicing 30 onions not 1, eating standing up, drinking shakes because you can eat them faster, a substantial callus on your index finger from holding your knife for several hours, stifling heat and smelling like a fryer at the end of the day. That's not even the half of it!
Prep is so important. It is how every customer can get their meal in 10 minutes or less. Prep means that your food is on the brink of being cooked. Every cut counts. If you are good with a knife, then you will waste little. Coring strawberries verses cutting the leaf end off so you can save just a tiny amount of strawberry. Did anyone's parents ever tell them that every penny counts? Well in a restaurant, literally every penny counts. Appearance is important. Even if you aren't the type of consumer to complain, you notice when your food has no love put into it. Love is the most important because EVERYONE notices when there was no love in the kitchen.
All the crazy has a flow to it. We have our own language. Like a surly band of pirates [laughs]. We come in, do hard work, clean up, have a few drinks and hit the sack but it all starts with prep. Everything in it's place.
No comments:
Post a Comment