mramella

...I think that all skills found in a professional chef text would be important for a home cook. But speaking as someone who hires would be chefs and the like, i think one big skill most culinary schools chould be teaching is humility. Accept that you are not god's gift to food and even the greatest acknowledge that there is much more to learn.. Oh, and yes i am a culinary grad and yes i would have and did skip the class on humility as well.

I know furikake has been mentioned already, but while living in hawaii we used to get these kits to make "hurricane popcorn". I used to send them home to family and friends and they would go nuts for 'em. Furikake, arare,...? Not sure what else was included. Anyone heard of it or know if it still exists? Love hot buttered popcorn mixed with arare and a movie at Pearlridge Mall. Aiea-style!

My ex decided to surprise me and friends with a roast turkey and all the fixins type meal. First time ever even attempting in the kitchen. Found a recipe for mashed potato that included orange zest. Well, not knowing what it was, in went the whole peel, pith and all. Must have brushed my teeth for 2 hours to get that sour taste out of my mouth. Luckily(?) i was the first to go after the potatoes so no one else shared the misery.

I would love to see a book on "kitchen speak". Seems like every kitchen i'm in, people have a new and interesting way to describe the most mundane things. Case in point.. the microwave. Have heard waitstaff told( and told waitstaff) to "nuke it, zap it, french kiss it, pop it in the french oven, give it some radar love, etc.. I think it's one of those things that makes the back of the house one of the most uniques places in the world. Where else would "Pittsburgh style" relate to "Black and Blue" relate to extra rare?

Hello everyone. I'm sure I'll just end up repeating and re-hashing all the good information everyone else has posted, but I just had to throw in my two cents(us back of the house people are like that). As a single dad of 2 (2 1/2, and 10 months), and a food service director for a private boarding high school, i admit i do know a little about the subject. My kids, fortunately, are the easy ones. They are growing up eating as healthy as i can manage. It's really hard when the older one has been to McD's with his mom and really wants a "chicken box". But i use the same strategy on my two as i do the 500 i feed 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. Moderation. They're most certainly gonna go nuts for chicken nuggets and french fries, but if you offer them healthy options, they will almost certainly give it a try. Another easy fix is lots of fresh fruit. My kids love fruit, and most of the kids at work will grab it as a quick fix on their way out of the dining hall. I am also lucky in that the school here does not allow vending machines and the like, so there's less that I'm up against. Likewise, if i don't have the sugary junk stuff in my house, there's no battle there to fight. For sweet stuff, my son goes for whole fruit frozen pops, fresh fruit, and sugar free cereal bars. At work, we always offer sugar free alternatives for dessert, and there is always a salad bar, fruit bar, and plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. Kids like choices so the more you can give them, and the more ways you can "sneak in" the healthy stuff, the more often they are going to choose it. Next battle...convincing my 2 1/2 year old that cheetos is not an acceptable starch.

Well Kent, you have certainly hit upon something. It's not so much leftovers, but items that were over-prepped the night before. If they prepped 12, but only sold 8, guaranteed you're getting one of the first four. The thing i don't like about eating early is the inattentiveness of the staff. Having been a hotel exec chef(read that as 24 hour restaurant service), our pre-meal meeting was at 5 pm. Before that, servers were too busy getting stations ready and preparing for the evening to worry about specials and such or god forbid a paying customer. Also, i always felt(and please don't let this offend all the wonderful servers out there, it's only my back of the house opinion)but, i always felt the servers were looking for the "dinner rush" to support their night and didn't pay much attention to the lowly "early bird-ers"

Oooh two points for bubblehead. I forgot all about the law of garnish. It gives a "fun" atmsosphere to all sailors. Isn't that in the P-7 somewhere? As someone who is now in institutional food service(500 boarding students, 3 meals a day), i can tell you that they would really appreciate paprika sprinkled all over their food.

Alright, been reading all this and truly amazed, but i gotta weigh in for the surface guys. The Navy undoubtedly spends an incredible amount of time with its food service programs. All of it well appreciated by service members. I can't remember what they were called but there was even a group of chiefs that would inspect adn help improve your program. NFMT? maybe? I had an associates in culinary when i joined, so Navy "A" school in San Dog was kind of a joke, but it gave solid fundamentals to those who were stepping foot in an industrial kitchen for the first time. I was a Ney runner up twice(once ashore,once afloat), so i got to take two trips to the CIA that i still haven't forgotten. As someone who is now a food service program director, i know that i would be hard pressed to find someone as perfect for a kitchen position than a military-trained chef. Think of it. Someone who can obviously work under pressure, adapt quickly to changes, think outside the box, and someone who was always in uniform and squared away, less the galley sup have a talk with him. Best of luck to you bubblehead, and i am so glad to see that they finally did away with Mess Management Specialist. MS2(sw)