Day eleven: Friends in high places

Posted on | May 28, 2009

If you like to eat, it pays to know a chef. If you like to cook, it pays to know a kind chef.

I know a kind chef.

And when I showed him the mango chutney I had made, he sprinkled a little of his magic dust on it and transformed it from decent to divine.

Let me tell you about it.

Today, we finished the items we had been working on all week.

For example, we had been brining corned beef. Today, it was roasted. We had spiced and ground liver. Today we made pate. And we had been chopping apples. Well, today, we made apple and chicken sausages.

Now the pate was fine, but not really my cup of tea (it’s not the flavor so much as the texture I find so off-putting). And the sausages were pretty darn good, but it was my chutney that delighted me to no end.

See, I thought I made a pretty darn good chutney. In fact, I was so pleased with it that when the Nepal Chef snuck out of the first term kitchen to see what we were cooking in the second term kitchen, I gave him some of my chutney to try.

He tried it. Then he said, “Come with me. I’ll show you something.”

So followed him into the first term kitchen. And I watched as he retrieved his secret stash. And I stood silently by as he grated a tiny bit of Asian sugar.

Then he grabbed a jar of mango powder and back into the second term kitchen we went where he dropped the sugar into the chutney, added a pinch of the mango powder, and stirred.

He tasted it. Then he gave me a tasting spoonful of the stuff to try, so I could taste it.

It was amazing.

Amazing in flavor. Amazing that he knew exactly how to turn my nice little chutney into a truly spectacular chutney. And amazing that it took him all of three seconds to do it.

Nepal Chef, the artist
There is a famous story about Picasso. See, the artist was sitting at a table at a Parisian cafe. A woman sees him, approaches him, and asks him to draw something for her, promising to pay whatever he asks.

Picasso grabs a nearby napkin and executes a fast doodle.

She said “How much?” and he replied with the French equivalent of several thousand dollars.

Aghast, the woman said, “But it only took you a minute!”

“No madam,” said Picasso. “It took me my whole life.”

I’ve been in culinary school not quite three months. The Nepal Chef has been cooking professionally for twenty years. For me to learn to do what he did in three seconds is going to take me nearly twenty years.

I’m on my way.

Comments

7 Responses to “Day eleven: Friends in high places”

Susan C
May 28th, 2009 @ 9:24 am

I’m always thrilled when someone can take whatever I’ve created (in the kitchen or at the computer) and bump it up to the next level. How great for you to be learning from a generous teacher.

And what the heck is “Asian sugar”?
bruleeblog
May 28th, 2009 @ 2:36 pm

Asian sugar? Do you mean like yellow rock sugar? Or sugar cane?
student
May 28th, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

I found out that Asian sugar is palm sugar. Look for something light yellow. And, the one we had, was in a disk shape (about the size of a large palm).

Sorry to have been vague!

Cheers, all.
Dawn V.
May 28th, 2009 @ 6:09 pm

Inspiring!
Laura [What I Like]
May 29th, 2009 @ 1:29 pm

Hmmm, I’ve been meaning to pick up some palm sugar from my favorite Thai grocery…now you’ve inspired me to do it, and perhaps ask after some mango powder as well!
foodcreate
May 30th, 2009 @ 5:30 pm

Wow. Asian surgar delicious

Thanks for sharing~

and you can visit me if I can visit you:)

Welcome!
foodcreate
French Cooking Terms
September 9th, 2009 @ 12:52 pm

Thanks for creating a really informative site. It’s more than most people do! The Day eleven: Friends in high places : was very helpful indeed. Jeremy.