mynamejoe

Just so I understand correctly, each day some group is required to clean up after the chef-instructor? If so, that's ridiculous. You are paying the school to teach you culinary skills, not to be a lackey for their chefs. I would never dream of asking a cook in my employ clean up after me, and I pay them! It is important that a cook realize the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves, but there are other ways to do that. Other than this one irritating thing (to me, anyways), it seems like you picked a good school.

Nesita, as far as I could tell from the Summit site, the closest it comes to NYC is Pennsylvania. Hopefully, you will be able to track it down by next Spring, when they are brewing Maibock.

Out of ten paragraphs John wrote about e-gullet, I counted three that said something that could be perceived as negative. What about the other seven that said good things? Unfortunately, his article has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy in this thread, it seems.

I hate assuming, so could you clarify exactly what you mean by "skills"? Do you mean technique, creativity, palate, the ability to put a bit of themselves into what they are preparing, or all or some of the above? Also, as professional cooks also have a lifetime of cooking under their belts (both at home and at work), why do you think that a home cook develops said skills while the professional does not? BTW, I also don't think that home cooks would necessarily make better chefs or vice-versa. I'm just saying that certain comparisons can't be made between the two. My stance on the matter is that, regardless of time spent cooking and where that time was spent (home or work) has no bearing on the eventual level of ability of a cook. As Steve Klc put it, "No amount of school or on the job experience guarantees that you have any taste or palate or skill or creativity. Only your work testifies to that. " I think that applies to all cooks. edited for redundant semantics, God I'm picky!

Leslie, I don't think that a comparison can be made between cooking at home and cooking in a commercial setting. The two are completely different. Also, this topic pertains to what makes a better professional cook; it's not about cooks in general. I also believe that home cooks make mistakes just as much as professionals do, it's human nature to err. BTW, the benefits you listed for school and on-the-job training are the skill sets necessary to be a professional cook. Mom never taught me that, so for a professional cook, it's got to be one, the other or preferably both.

I wouldn't say it's bad. It just leans more towards objectivity. Nice article, John.

I've done something like that. I take tomatoes, blanch to remove the skin, chop 1/2"x 1/2", and mix with basil, chopped garlic and garlic-infused olive oil. I like the grilling idea better, hope you don't mind if I put it on a menu someday.

It is both safety and textural. If the friction of the grinder raises the temp of the meat above a cerain degree (I forget the exact temp, will have to look it up), the meat will not bind together well. It'll be kinda mealy and fall apart easily. Regarding wheher or not you should trim meat you are going to grind, only if you want to exactly control the lean to fat ratio. Silverskin, gristle and veins/arteries should always be trimmed out and discarded.

Boy, am I behind the times!

I'm not sure why I'm helping if you're not going to do a silly dance, but here goes. In a perfect world, removing the membrane every time would be great. In restaurants, we don't always do it because it takes too long. A little trick to get by with: lay the ribs, meat-side down, on a cutting board. With a stiff-bladed boning knife (if all you have is a flexible, use a small chef knife or even a paring knife), start making slashes through the membrane (at about a 45 degree angle to the bones) about 1.5 inches apart from each other. Then, make more slashes at an angle that will form a diamond pattern of cuts through the membrane. Like this: then like this: As far as reheating goes, follow Jaymes' and Mark's instructions. Just be careful they don't get dried out when re-heated (I recommmend frequent taste tests to help avoid this)

If you like German food, try John Ernst. I'll have to try to get in touch with my Milwaukee relatives to find out more. Maybe my cousin has finally got his teppan-yaki grill set up. Yes, a teppan-yaki grill in his home, I could hardly believe it either when he asked me where he could get one.

You're using the right grip (at least for cutting most veggies), it'll just take practice and concentration on what you're trying to do. Even after 20 years of professional cooking, I still can slip up if I'm not paying attention. Next question, what's the other hand doing? By that I mean how are you holding what you are cutting? One piece of advice: don't take what you are taught as gospel. The names of vegetable cuts, methods for making soups, stocks and sauces, and even the necessity of turning on the vent hood before you turn on equipment will change from kitchen to kitchen. I'd stay in the habit of turning on the vent hood first, though. If you turn equipment on and forget the vent, you will not only soon be working in a sauna, but you stand a slight chance of setting off the fire-suppression systems. It's a nasty mess that takes days to clean and usually requires inspection by a fire marshall before you can use the kitchen again. From what I understand, it would not look good on a resume'.

Sounds like a good first week. Don't worry overly much about your cuts right now, they'll come with practice. Out of curiousity, how do you grip your chef knife?

Answers, in order of the questions: Definitely yes, yes, and yes (but just you). Seriously, I'm just getting over a bit of a cold, myself. So unfair in the summertime, especially having made it through the winter without catching one. I generally eat simple food if I've got a cold, as a cold usually affects my sense of taste. No sense to me wasting time or money on a more elegant preparation when not even beer tastes right.

There's no monetary reason for the skimping done with the starch portion of a meal, most of the time (truffled mashed potatoes being one of the exceptions). I think it's done to make the already miniscule portion of the protein on the plate at least appear as if it were more. Wilfrid has a good point, though; diners should never leave an establishment hungry. Ever. I'll have to remember to include at least one rich, filling and decently portioned course in tasting menus whenever possible. Thanks for the tip, Wilfrid, I don't want to be the cook caught between Tony Finch and the food when he barges into the kitchen wondering where the rest of the meal he paid for is being held back! For the record, my eating habits are about the same as Tony's and my cooking and portions reflect that; perhaps I should move to London, where I would be assured at least one regular customer.

Too many chefs in the US see pictures of these tiny portions of food, then seek to emulate that. When questioned they say it's based on "European-style" dining (Euro-style to them means a meal of many courses). That's fine if the plate in question is indeed part of many courses. However, when selling a plate a la carte, chefs should portion and price them so that they could stand alone as a meal. This can be done while maintaining profitability, at least I've always been able to do it. Another problem is some chefs are greedy bastards, too. They know of the existence of the "totally ignorant punters", so they try to get away with what they can. I once worked for a chef that, before a new menu roll-out, costed out a venison dish based on a 6 ounce portion (170g). When it came time to butcher the meat, he told me to cut 4 ounce portions (114g). I said "yes, chef" and went back to cutting 6 oz portions after he left. Turns out he had costed the dish based on a poor estimate of what the venison would cost. He was trying to pass off the cost of his mistake on the customers. As to the weight-obsession issue, the only time it enters into my mind is when I'm making a new menu. I make sure to include some dishes that would interest the health-conscious customer. However, if that means these dishes will have smaller portions, the pricing of the dish should reflect that.

Hello Malawry! I am very much looking forward to your on-line interactive journal. As former moderator of the culinary students forum at ChefTalk, this matter holds particular interest to me. I think you will get more out of your school experience by doing this, especially due to it's interactive nature. Thanks for letting us come along for the ride, so to speak.

Summit is also on the web here

I just realized it was a trick question. My new answer is, because chefs generally work in the foodservice field and not other professions.

I whole-heartedly agree. The type of behavior which I've stated has it's place at times does not include "cruelty, humiliation and abuse". If my communications with my staff serve no constructive purpose in the smooth operation of my kitchen, then I am clearly wasting energy and everybody's time. Except the time a guy decided that conducting a little physical horseplay which resulted in him falling on the floor 2 feet away from the fryer was a good way to have fun. It was one of the few times I had ever dressed down an employee harshly (actually made him cry), but I would do it again given the same circumstances. BTW, have you worked for the Roux brothers, Tony? A chef I once worked for trained with them for a year, he said they were not so nice. That was a while ago, though, and people do change.

Actually, this kind of behavior is a trend that is falling off, not rising. It was worse back when I started. Do I feel it's acceptable? At times, yes. If a cook makes a mistake and I can see that they know they screwed up and they are willing to hold themselves accountable for their mistake, I say lesson learned and leave it alone. When they get whiny and the excuses start to fly, let's just say I have zero tolerance for that. Let me add that it would also have to be a repeat offender. Sorry for the edit, but by my error I had posted copyrighted material. I'll see if it's still on-line, or should Bourdain happen to stumble by soon, get his permission to post it. Found the article (and others) here

While I understand how it affects income to the restaurant and to the server, I actually like it when the customers linger. It usually means they like the place, which means that my kitchen staff and the service staff have done their jobs well. Regarding the diner incident, had you thrown a nice right jab to her head (she's apparently not using it, anyways), then there would have been reason to ask you to leave, otherwise, this kind of thing is not done if you want repeat business. If it ever happens to you again, Stella, perhaps you should throw the punch; at least you'll know that you are leaving with cause.

I'm also a fan of Schneider Weisse, especially if it's agitated before pouring (gets the sediment off the bottom of the bottle and into the beer, where it should be). Just about any Belgian ale will do for me, as well. My current fave is Delirium Tremens. My all-time best is a local (Saint Paul, MN, USA) brew called Summit. Their maibock is beyond me to describe. They also brew a pale ale that is my regular pour and a very good IPA.