Day none! What does a culinary student do on a day off?
Posted on | April 9, 2009
Term one ended yesterday. It was a pretty amazing term despite being peppered with lashings of sarcasm and ending on a sour note. Still, I learned an insane amount and am still amazed at the depth of knowledge of all the chef’s and how consistently willing most of them are to help. And help quite a lot.
Tomorrow, I trot off to Term two.
And it’s a whole new ballgame.
Term two, what have I gotten myself into?!
Once again, all the first term students were broken into two groups. I am in the group that starts at 8:00. Most of the students I studied with in the first term are in the group that starts at 9:00. In fact, only two notable students are starting at 8:00 with me: Sweet Line Chef and Complaining Girl.
Every silver lining has a cloud.
For the first twenty days, our schedule is the same as it has been for the last twenty days: In the kitchen for demonstrations and production 8:00 – 11:00. Then lecture from 11:00 – 1:00. Then, for the second twenty days, our schedule is 9:00 – 11:00 in the lecture room and 11:00 – 2:00 in the kitchen.
I like the 8:00 – 1:00 schedule better.
And, much as we do now, we switch chef instructors when we switch schedules.
Welcome to chef, erm, what nickname should I give him?
The chef we are having for the first twenty days is interesting. For one thing, he never smiles. Ever. Well, pretty much never. Although I did see him smile the other day. When I mentioned it to the students in the student lounge three of them immediately fell out of their chairs and one instantly burst into tears and ran out of the doors, arms flailing.
Well, sort of.
But I can see this being a problem for me; I connect to people through humor.
Still, the quiet one’s often have a very wicked, very droll, very dry humor. So, we’ll see.
But, on the other hand, I helped him one Saturday weeks and weeks ago when he taught a consumer class and managed to catch some of his lecture. Smart man. A lot to learn from him, I think.
He came to our class two days ago and gave us a taste of what to expect in the second term. Three things stick in my mind. First, he does not allow whistling. Fine by me, when I try to whistle dogs not only do not come, but actually run under the nearest bed and cover their ears with their paws and whimper. But it is going to be a big problem for Kid Courageous who has music in his blood and who constantly breaks into a whistle only to be constantly told to quit it. Second, the chef has a beribboned and bejeweled oven mitt which he makes students who eat food with their hands wear. It’s the sort of thing I would expect from, oh, a kindergarten teacher (don’t they do something along these lines for kids who continue to suck their thumbs?) but, hey, if it works, power to him.
And, third, he does not allow smiling in the kitchen. And if he catches you smiling, he has even gone so far as to invent a gesture (two fingers to his mouth) to indicate you are to stop smiling. Instantly.
His theory is if you are smiling you are not focusing on your cooking. And you are there to focus on cooking.
I don’t know about this.
Term two: Eggs and mayonnaise and shellfish, oh my!
So what’s on the menu, so to speak, for my second term? All sorts of interesting topics. First, we start with egg cookery. Marvelous! I’d dearly love to learn to make a perfect egg. Ideally, a perfect omlette.
(Hey, I wonder if we will learn how to make a soufflé. Now that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? I can make a decent one. Well, erm, only if you like it concave. Because mine starts to collapse about 30 seconds out of the oven. Of course, my aunt, who is a wonderful cook, suggests I run, don’t walk, with it to the nearest table, screaming for everyone to sit down, NOW! I go one better. I invite them to the kitchen where they all stand, waiting, forks in hand. Which means everyone gets to see it deflate. Sigh.)
After eggs, we’re learning all sorts of cold cookery. I didn’t catch what this entails; once he said we’ll learn how to make a mayonnaise my brain got busy doing a silent woo hoo for a minute so I missed the rest. Then forcemeats, healthy cooking, and beef. And, in the second half, fish and shellfish, game, and bakery with a week or so doing something called live fire. I have no idea what this is, but I am frightened. Very, very frightened.
This all sounds so much more interesting than chicken (yawn) and pork (you know how I feel about that, enough said). So I’m excited.
And as for my blog?
I’m here; I’m committed; and I’ll be writing everything important. But there will be a change: I won’t be writing every day. See, here’s what a typical day in the first term was like for me: In the kitchen by 6:30, home by 2:00. Getting organized / taking care of home chores until 3:00 or 4:00. Writing blog post until late afternoon. Meeting husband, preparing, and having dinner. Then spending my nights teaching class some nights and studying / reading / doing homework / practicing knife skills / memorizing / preparing for class other nights.
It’s been non-stop. And everyone is telling us they won’t be so easy on us for the second term. That they are “taking it up a notch.”
So I’m going to post less often. At least a couple of times a week, for sure. And I’ll include all the key things, of course. But not daily; not for now. I can’t do both my blog and my studies and do both, well.
And I want to do well at both.
Finally, what on earth am I to do with myself today?
Here’s what I have planned. I want to wash all my knives and chef’s uniform and side towels and four-way (apron). I want to hone my knives. And I want to get back to practicing knife skills.
I told my husband to take the day off from his chores. He’s been doing more than his share to buy me time to do everything, so I want to give him the day off. I also want to take care of some of those chores I’ve been putting off for when I had time. I have time.
I have a chapter to read for school. It is on egg cookery, so I am looking forward to it. But I had to hand in my study guide for grading and won’t get it back until tomorrow, so I can’t complete the questions until the weekend.
I need to buy paper towels. I’d like to give myself a pedicure. I have to do our budget. And I’d love to flip through my latest copy of Saveur.
This should keep me busy until noon. Then what should I do?
Comments
4 Responses to “Day none! What does a culinary student do on a day off?”
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April 9th, 2009 @ 9:09 am
You’re a perfect example of the saying, “If you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it.” I’m amazed at all you accomplish in a day. Wow.
Congratulations on the end of term 1. I’m looking forward to hearing about term 2– and if it’s less often so you can take care of yourself, then I think that’s great.
April 9th, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
light some candles and have have some good relaxation with hubby
September 9th, 2009 @ 7:36 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
September 16th, 2009 @ 5:53 am
Thanks for creating a really informative site. It’s more than most people do! The Day none! What does a culinary student do on a day off? : was very helpful indeed. Jeremy.