FaustianBargain

With respect, I think there might be a reason for that. ← Yes? ← Seriously? I think the reason no one agrees with you is that your judgment of this situation is off, for a whole lot of reasons that people have already explained. ← I'd probably be tickled silly if the chef took the time to come all the way outside to explain to me how he cooks his food and what went into it. But I think I finally see where you guys come from. It will be helpful while evaluating future situations and for reference. Thanks.

Yup. No doubt about that. But like I said - that's life. How does one preserve self-worth, confidence, motivation and pride in the job if this is the case? If you grow a 'thick skin' and turn a 'deaf ear' in order to appease the customer, where is the connection between the one who is served and the one who is providing the service? It is the 'i am the sorry. i am sorry. i am sorry.' equivalent of sticking your fingers into your ears going 'nyah..nyah..nyah..nyah', no? If 'I am sorry' will make everything fine and sunny, then why make any attempt to change from better to best?

With respect, I think there might be a reason for that. ← Yes?

Agree. Here is where I have a problem. While the customer has the right to complain, how come the chef doesnt have the right to address the complaint in any manner..defensive or otherwise. The raw crabcakes were the evidence, so to speak, werent they? Is it not better than simply telling the customer that they were indeed using quality ingredients? If the message from the kitchen had been a simple verbal, "no. we dont use filler. we only use grade 1 crab lumpmeat.', how convincing would that be to the customer? HOW do you prove that you are not using inferior/lesser quantity of the promised ingredient? Remember that this is a new restaurant. They might have as well considered Randi as a regular(her third time there) and taken the liberty of bringing out the raw crab cakes. Maybe the restaurant was empty. Remember too that they are a new restaurant. Maybe eager, but unjustifiably defensive? I dont think so. The only choice left for the chef is to 'take shit.' It is a no-win situation. It forces one party to take responsibility regardless of facts. An assumption was made and a message was passed. Evidence was brought out to dispel the doubts about the quality of the ingredients used. Which part of this string of events was 'out of control'. Why the knee jerk reaction and defensiveness about the allegedly unjustified defensiveness of the chef? Now, what really bothers me is that I seem to be the only person who thinks that it was not an inappropriate reaction. Whether or not it was required is a different question. Maybe I am just not in touch with the Real World.

I see. Thanks.

May I?

Oh dear god! I remember those! I am salivating now.

Maybe you should reread her post then. It just sso happens that the only part of the complaint that the chef addressed was the filler. Why dont you follow your own advice and reread her post? There was no suggestion that the lack of peppery kick was communicated in the complaint that went to the kitchen. There was, however, a clear mention that there was a complaint about the 'filler' and the confusion that ensued about its meaning. That quote you pasted was what Randi communicated to us, egullet members, about the lack of peppery taste. While we are rereading this thread, can you please help me find the bit where I allegedly claimed that a chef's job is tougher than others' jobs. I tried looking and I couldnt find it. Maybe you jumped to hasty conclusions? It's alright.

I agree, but here is the thing I dont get..I have to draw from Randi's example again..why is bringing out the raw crabcakes considered 'creating a scene'? It wasnt abusive? A complaint went to the kitchen. There was no abusiveness or harsh language from the chef. The client herself though that he was being 'defensive'. I mean..how fine is the line between not pissing off the customer and licking ass/quitely accepting blame for alleged 'bad cooking form'? edited to add: on a slightly diff note...have you ever come across a restaurant that takes responsibility for food poisoning episodes? Even if they are responsible. sometimes being silent = agreeing. doesnt customer service recommend that the kitchen/management NOT accept 'blame' even though a comp may be offered to keep the customer happy.

please? edited to ask: yogurt/mango marinade, i am guessing?

Er, at least that's what I understood. ← hardy har har It's mostly the cheeses, pastries and halal sausages that I miss along with a whole bunch of other stuff. The free range chicken just doesn't taste the same as a Volaille de Bresse. Even the bread. I have a really high metabolism and I play soccer. I need a calorically dense diet to maintain my weight. ← NOW, you are just showing off.

I think all knive skills, turning or otherwise, is about symmetry...or as Francophobes will tell you, anal retentiveness. I like symmetry. Symmetry rocks. Have you ever scratched your left cheek three times because you had to scratch your right cheek thrice. And you scratch your right cheek thrice because you do everything three times? Yea. Welcome to the club. Enjoy your turning. re waste: at home, yes. you wont believe the amount of edible stuff that goes into the bins. especially at the higher end places. when I was studying at the cordon bleu(this is London), one of our chef instructors would actually instruct us NOT to bin the scraps. 'i am going to use it to feed the staff', he'd say. I dont know if they really used that stuff to feed the basement staff or it was a subtle message to avoid waste. maybe a joke? I hope it wasnt a joke because I always..ALWAYS..packed all the scraps, the prepared food that I almost never got to take home and sent it to the basement. whatever it was, I have become very conscious of the stuff I bin and wastage.

Turning vegetables also leads to a lot of wastage. This, I loathe unless the scraps are diligently collected. For the staff meal, perhaps?

Chaat is becoming my staple these days. I think it is increasing my stomach acidity tho'... I have always wondered why London hasnt taken onto chaat. Chaat and beer are made for each other. This slavish attachment of pubs to curryhouses is tragic. Episure, are you in town? Is that Bangalore?

What is mango kuchela. What do you do with this? Is it a chutney? And if anyone has a mango pickle recipe, I'd love to make this. ← I just used two raw mangoes to make a quick Indian pickle. I have to check my cookbook for the other 'authentic' mango pickle recipes. These are rather elaborate as they require a different variety of mango and about two weeks to 'mature'. The whole thing took me about 10 minutes. The quick mango pickle: peel mangoes grate mango..to the seed heat oil+add black mustard seeds until they splutter asafoetida+red chilli powder+salt to season add the grated mangoes the finer it is grated, the quicker it cooks. I took about 5 minutes. My instructions ask me to use a little extra oil as it will keep the pickle(more like a relish, actually)longer.

Ahh, yes. But sweet mango lassi is made from ripe, sweet(mmm) mangoes. I am looking for raw, unripe mango recipes. There are plenty of Indian recipes, but I am looking for raw mango pairings..with fish/shellfish or as a relish for certain meats..i am thinking fatty meats as the mango will cut through the fat...maybe with something bland? raw, unripe green mangos taste tart...tastebuds puckeringly, eye lids squishing tart..traditionally, they(because of the tartness) match well with chillies(or paprika..which is a touch sweeter than red chilli powder).

I have no idea what you just said up there, so I will refrain from commenting. Since you brought up Randi again, may I remind you that the 'complaint' that went to the kitchen from the customer was not about the 'pepper', but about the 'filler'? Of course. You dont know me. How can it be a personal attack? Surely, you cannot attack anyone/anything about which you know little or nothing. Chefs work very hard. I know. There was no comparison between chefs and the 'others' who also have tough jobs to do. Maybe, you can point out to me the bit where I may have made such comparisons? Unless you think I made the comparison between the job of the diner demanding consistency in between bites and burbs and that of a chef. Although, a chef's job is harder than the diner who is eating the fruits of his labour. I will be most grateful if you tell me when, where and how this 'baseless assumption' was made. Was it between the job of a programmer and a chef? Maybe there was some comparison between the back breaking work food critics do and that of a commis chef on his feet for 16 hours a day? Oh..or maybe I, because I am thick, compared the soul crushing duties of a lawyer with that of a chef who burns his arms just because... I must have mentioned and disparaged someone's hard work making random comparisons. Or else you wouldnt say this, would you? Or would you? I think the respect should be mutual. The customer must respect the knowledge and talent and hard work of the chefs. The chefs must respect the purchasing power of the customer and strive to make the dining experience as memorable and pleasant as possible for the diner.

Ayran is definitely different from the salt lassi I like.. I like my ayran with mint, salt, lemon juice and yogurt. Salt lassi, my favourite version, is thinner and has asafoetida, curry leaves, salt. There is another version I like with green chillies, mint and cilantro blitzed well and added to the yogurt. The former version(my summer favourite) is made from Indian buttermilk while the latter is thicker and made with yogurt(my winter fav). edited to add: of course, there is no One Way to make salt lassi. The above listed are just my favourite preparations.

Indian recipes include raw mango chutney, mango rice and the unbeatable mango chilli pickle.. any other recipe suggestions?

I used to hate turning vegetables. I didnt think they had any place in the real world. Until I was given potatoes to turn at this one place I went to work. The next day, I picked up a bag of baby potatoes and carrots to practice. It seemed worthwhile once I knew that it was no useless knife skill. The only thing better than turning potatoes is turning mushrooms.

France has a stronger tradition of mentorship.

thanks, kew and teepee, for the blog and the pictures! We used to have family in KL(and some distant version of family is still there) and my uncle sometimes slips into Malay while speaking. You can take the Indian out of Malaysia, but you cannot take Malaysia out of the Indian! I am going to pass this blog link to him. He will be thrilled, for sure!

You are missing the pint. Randi is not saying that their menu should always have those crabcakes. Her point is simply that when they do offer them, consistency is in order. I agree wholeheartedly ← I would never suggest that quality has to be compromised. I only meant that the chef might have had to compromise on the quality of a product if he cannot compromise on the quantity. It is a trade off. Professionals prefer quality over quantity. Consistency, among other things, can only be as reliable as the consistency of the quality of what goes INTO a dish. Customers expecting consistency on their terms are not being reasonable if they dictate to the chef, a professional, where and how the tradeoff must take place. Farns, I typed several responses to your post, but this version is the one I decided to post. If you choose to reply and if I don't have to wrestle with self censorship in the future course of our discussion, do remember that you'll be granting me a favour by allowing me to respond in kind.

It's a conspiracy promulgated by bugbrains such as myself who don't happen to know what the kitchen's terminology is. Now...now...no need to get defensive. To be honest, I dont know either. I am only retrieving from the information Randi herself provided. edited to add from Randi's older post:

RR, I think everyone is missing one crucial bit of information. That being Randi's complaint that there was too much filler. Filler in the kitchen is inferior meat instead of good crab lumpmeat. Randi was referring to breading as 'filler'. Any chef who takes pride in his cooking will be appalled if a customer accuses of him of using inferior fish as 'filler' instead of the lump crabmeat. Randi took pains to explain this, yet everyone seems to want to ignore this very significant misunderstanding. I wonder why.