So it begins!
Orientation started at 10AM, and consisted of a review of the history of the school, administration, schedules, and a tour of the school. We also got our uniforms and knife set.. YAY! The course will be 30 separate lessons over the next 5 weeks, with a written component as well. Unlike many other LCB schools, Ottawa is known to and does fail people.
The first demo class was taught by Chef Benoit. He's really funny in a mean, sarcastic kind of way. He kept on making comments throughout the demonstration. "It's okay if you don't like my sense of humour, I can be a bit of an ass." I'm a keener so I sit front row and enjoyed the banter. Since I'm paying big money for this, I don't want to miss a thing and also it forces me to at least look like I'm paying attention even if my mind wanders. I was attentive and ended up taking 12 pages of notes!
We covered etiquette and hygiene in the kitchen, different types of kitchen equipment, and a bunch of different cuts and terminology and then Chef Benoit made a Potage Cultivateur or Cut Vegetables' Soup.
Etiquette / Safety
- Roll up your sleeves
- No jewelry that could attract bacteria - plain bands okay.
- No facial piercings, or cover it up with band-aids
- Respond "Yes Chef" if you understand something
- Whenever in motion with something that could cause damage say "CHAUD-DEVANT"
- Tell people when you open oven
- When walking around, press the knife against your leg. Say "Knife!"
- If there is a hot pan taken out of the oven, sprinkle the handle with flour as a sign
- Do not put sharp things to be cleaned.. respect the cleaning staff.
- Do not cross contaminate... there are three different cutting boards. Blue = Fish, Red = Meat, Wood = everything else (bread, cheese, veggies)
- Ball up wet paper towel underneath the cutting boards to stabilize
Hygiene
- Paper towel is your friend
- Pink bottle is to disinfect
- Clear bottle is mixture of water with tiny bit of vinegar, makes plates shiny for presentation
- Towels are only for lifting hot pots and pans.. not for cleaning / drying hands. Remember: Paper towel is your friend!!
Kitchen equipment includes
- Plaque Chauffant (cooking surface - better than burners)
- Russe
- Marmitte
- Sautoir
- Sauteuse
- Poele a Frire
- Saucier (gravy boat)
- Bain Marie
- Chinois (strainer) / Chinois Etamine
- Tamis
- Cocotte (Dutch Oven)
- Ecumoire
"Garniture aromatique" which consists of 40% onions, 40% carrots, 20% celery. can be made clear without the carrots.
Different cuts
- Mirepoix is a rough cut
- Julienne is matchbox, 3.5 finger lengths.. 1-2mm thick
- Brunoise make tiny cubes from julienne
- Paysanne - 1cm cube cut into 1-2mm thick
- Ciseler - finely chopped onions. a) cut to edge of root b) cut across c) chop across
- Emincer - cut onion in half, then into long slices
- Concasse - chopped up fairly rough - use two hands and rock back and forth (Parsley, remove stems)
- Hache - chopped up to dust
Techniques
- Blanchir is putting something in cold water and bringing it to a slow boil. Rinse, cool and repeat as necessary to remove saltiness or bitterness. ie. salted pork belly
- Suer - sweat, cooking at a low heat, no colour change
- Mouille.. wet, add chicken stock or water
- Green beans, break ends and pull down, gets rid of the hard "vein"
Tomorrow is two practical labs, and one demo... killer.
