Last day at The Seafood Restaurant and as you may have read from my last post I felt there could be a little Deja Vu going on.
Upon my 08.30 arrival I was indeed assigned to halving and juicing a box of Limes, grating a block of Parmesan and mandolining a load more shallots ! However punk rock Johnny (who I was partnering ) gave me a sharper mandolin and advised me to only cut one end of the shallot, so that I had something to hold on to, and to throw away the end as soon as it became awkward. Sage advice that I did not receive yesterday and which saved me from further injury today.
Then suddenly excitement- breakfast were in trouble and needed 2 pineapples being diced and 2 bags of oranges to be segmented ! Just the job for an aspiring chef like me, so I was given the responsibility to assist – indeed the breakfast front of house were very grateful for my quick action in this respect. Nice to be appreciated !
Being Good Friday the restaurant was to be very busy with 142 for lunch – a figure that exceeded the previous days dinner numbers and more than twice of any lunch time slot this week. Stephane went on the Pass for lunch and in fact did the same at breakfast – I never did see him actually cook !?
As a lot of families were in with children we were receiving many Fish and Chip orders so actually I was assigned to Limerick Steve responsible for deep frying duties and we were ensuring these items reached The Pass on time. This at least got me involved in some tasks I had not seen before – like coating Prawns ( that I had prepared Wednesday) in batter and then a mixture of desiccated coconut and Panko breadcrumbs for a deep fried starter and also nappe a load of Whiting in a similar manner for one of the Fish and Chip meals on offer at lunchtime. Also seeing how these are deep fried and probed for the correct temperature like all other fish before it gets to The Pass.
I also got involved in peeling and chipping potatoes- excitement levels up another notch – and asked to block each potato to create 4 Fat chips and use the off cuts to produce thin chips. Whatever else could not be used was to go Mash. I was left to my own devices for a while and when Steve got back he exclaimed that my fat chips were way too big and my thin chips too thin – all useable but consistency is King and mine were not consistent with his. Oh well another job I will not be securing on a permanent basis !
Before ending my shift I was also asked to “Brunoise” a load of Carrots, Celery, Leek And Onion for another large pot cook. My colleagues at Leiths school will be amused by this as we just love a “fine dice” and in pretty large quantities so you can imagine the fun I was having !
To brunoise or not to brunoise that is the question …..
I finished my last task and went around the kitchen thanking everybody for their patience and the time spent with me and went off in search of Stephane and AJ to do the same. Had a quick debrief with both and they in turn thanked me for my assistance during the week. I did explain to them it was interesting to see the workings of a professional kitchen at first hand, but that the week had not quite been what I was expecting as it was 5 days work experience without actually cooking. Again they explained their situation in that this is how they provide work experience and that they felt it was the most valuable assistance they can provide a student.
What were the main things I learnt from my experience?
– Firstly that team work is invaluable in the kitchen environment and that everybody relys on their first shout to be actioned immediately – You need to be paying attention to every chefs call at all times
– An essential part of a chefs day is spent prepping for the following days to always have a back up in the fridge/storeroom so that you never run out of anything
– Cleanliness is sacrosanct and attention to issues like nut allergies likewise. ( we had one order come through with this highlighted and I had been adding the peanuts to the Thai salad so of course had to wash my hands thoroughly before even setting out the plates for this order and not use any utensils used for other services)
– Although not mentioned before, Labelling and dating all food with a future use by date is also imperative
– It’s very hard work in the kitchen and most of the Guys in the Seafood Restaurant do more than their allotted hours for little reward, but they such pride in their work and do not want to let each other down.
Of course I have nothing to compare it to Kitchen Wise, but I would not be surprised if many other kitchens have similar environments.
My Experience was over and I decided to drive home that evening rather than stay another day as I was concerned the Easter traffic could be even worse on a Saturday. I left Padstow in beautiful sunshine and within 15 miles the rain started, in Somerset I drove through a 15 minute snowstorm!!! and the rest of the journey to London was undertaken in torrential rain. However managed it in just under 5 hours, and at last I was back to my own bed after an unforgettable and unusual week.
But am I better cook ???