Work Experience - Part 2

You can't go wrong with this. Tomatoes, parmesan and/or mozzarella,
basil, red onion, a pinch of salt and pepper and olive oil.

 I did return a few times to the kitchen at that small hotel. I learnt more and more each time I went. The chef once gave me tomatoes, mozzarella, red onion and basil leaves and said to see what I could do with it. He seemed pleased with I did and it all went when served so I think it worked! Just small things like that were a good challenge for me and make you think differently because it can be difficult to make something out of seemingly nothing. Other times there was a lot to work with! Like when we prepared a ton of ribs in a Chinese style rub which introduced me to Terryaki. There I was up to my elbows massaging this rub into literally hundreds of these ribs in a huge tray. Great fun!

The chef challenged me
with a "guess the smell".
I had no idea this existed!

 As you can imagine, the kitchen can be a dangerous place. You usually sustain injuries from another person's carelessness (like Jamie Oliver who picked up a towel to dry his hands not knowing that the towel had been used to clear up broken glass) or things that you least expect to be harmful. For instance, I had placed a hot tray from the oven on our steel table earlier but it had been removed. I leaned on it a moment later with my hands to find that it was hot enough to cook on itself! Yeah, sore... Later on, I burnt my finger pads when about to lift a saucepan off of its hob but the handle had been over the gas next to it so the Burn-Eaz had to come out. Save those incidents I came out unscathed.

His device was like this but bigger

 There were some great tools in this kitchen and all of the best quality. Some were a complete bizzareity too. (My new favourite word.) We had good fun with a potato peeling race that he won (by a whisker!) before boiling them. When it came to mashing them he used a machine that's even better than mine! (See previous post 'Tools for the Job - Part 3') It was a huge food mill which he stuck on top of his even bigger saucepan and that made the perfect mash.

 One of my favourite things that I got to make while there was carrot cake. Simple enough and not necessarily that pretty but this sure delivered on taste! It seriously was delicious and all those who sampled it later seemed to agree too. I learnt how to make cream-cheese icing/frosting and how to apply it properly. The end result looked awesome and I was super proud of it, however, I had to rescue it somewhat after I discovered, to my horror, a little finger hole in the icing. To this day I know not whom the culprit was but my guess is that they were under four feet and possessed a most mischievous grin...

Everyone should have a go at this but ensure your
environment is safe beforehand

 It was I who caused a few blunders also. I was given charge of making a huge bowl of cous-cous but neglected to 'fluff' after adding the stock and so it became a semi-sphere of yellowed concrete. I nearly did it again only a few days ago but I wasn't going to make that mistake twice!

 The last day that I worked there I learned something super cool: flambe! (Needs a little acute accent over the 'e'.) Boy is that fun! We were preparing some chicken for a pie and some for skewering later so while I was 'sealing' all of the meat in very large pan I got to have a go at it but, as you have probably guessed, it can be hazardous. The chef I was working with at the time leaned over for something just as my pan went 'boom' but chefs, however, posses good reflexes so injury was avoided. Otherwise, that could have taken a potentially disastrous turn...

Making a salad at home

 So, among a whole host of other things such as working with asparagus for the first time, making hundreds of sandwiches, scores of cookies and Ben and Jerry's Pecan and Maple Syrup ice-cream, that kind of gives you an idea of what I got up to.

 Seasoned with Ductility,

 Jacob

 P.S. Be sure to read my "Tools For The Job" series and "Work Experience - Part 1". 

"To glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Creator  

of the universe and spread further abroad His glorious gospel." - Yours Truly