Julienne & Brunoise

My first week of school has come and gone and I can safely say that I'm no worse for wear.

The first practical classes have been devoted largely towards familiarization of our tools and classical knife cuts. In short, we're beginning with the fundamentals. I love the fundamentals. The first knife cuts we were told to produce were a julienne and brunoise of carrot.

The classical knife cut called julienne is defined as a stick cut to the dimensions of 2 mm x 2 mm x 5 cm. The brunoise cut are cubes formed from the julienne sticks taking on dimensions of 2 mm x 2 mm x 2 mm.

There's something beautiful about these cuts and the skill it takes to produce them. There is the focus, discipline, and attention to detail that must be attended to when performing the cuts to the exact measurements specified. There's also the connection to the knife, the tool of a cook. A sharp knife helps this process immensely and there's further skill taken to keep and maintain a sharp blade.

Personally, there's the search for perfection in looking for exact uniformity in every single sliver and cube of carrot. Maybe that's what I love. That search for perfection and the knowledge that I'm creating order from a form of chaos.

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Order Up, One Education!

Tomorrow is my first day of school, culinary school. It's the beginning that I've been waiting to come for nearly three years. I'm not scared, nervous or excited about the prospect of beginning school; it's simply part of the journey I've been on for some time.

This weekend I re-read the book that probably started everything for me, Michael Rulhman's The Making of a Chef. I thought it would be fitting to read about the life of a culinary student albeit at a better school hundreds of kilometres away.

The book has put me in a good frame of mind. I feel readied, my mental mis en place is checked off, I'm good to go. I want to ask questions, I want to learn, I want to experience.

Ordering, one education.
Fire, one journey.
Pick up, life.

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Cook vs. Chef

"A cook and a chef are different entities. Chef is a title. A chef can be good or bad or everything in between; he or she can be a hotel chef, restaurant chef, TV chef, personal chef, or a corporate chef. Chef denotes a job. But when you are a cook that is who you are. It's your spine and soul. It suffuses all that you touch."

I've seen this quote being cited by both Michael Ruhlman and Eric Ripert. I'm not sure who said it but it's a damn good quote.

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Hospitality

At the very basic the job of a Cook is to feed people. This simple act is one of huge generosity; the Cook prepares food with the basic fundamental principle to feed people who are hungry. The need for food is primal; according to Maslow it is a physiological need that must be fulfilled before we can attend to our other desires. The fact that Cooks help fulfill and satisfy this need for others, by nature, makes them very hospitable and generous individuals by nature.

Being inherently hospitable and helpful people we often find it hard to say no to people and enjoy helping whenever and wherever possible. We're often aware of our nature and sometimes we have to draw the line on what we can and cannot do; it's not easy to say no.

Hospitality is the nature which this profession revolves; serving and pleasing others. That said, even though we often say yes to many things and go out of our way it does not mean we like to be taken advantage of. We're aware of when this occurs and it hurts; we like to serve by choice not by obligation.

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Crabs to the Slaughter

I've been waiting for live crab to go on sale for several weeks. This past weekend they finally went on sale at my local T&T for $3.99/lb; a total steal. I trekked down to the store and stood in front of a large tank filled to the brim with Dungeness Crabs scrambling to climb out. Clutching a gargantuan set of tongs, I picked out four boisterous crabs; all of them fought back as I attempted to remove them from the tank. I figured that my logic of feisty equaling fresh was pretty sound.

I took the four of them home and stashed them in a cooler until they'd be slaughtered. I prepared my mis en place and all the time I was watching the clock. I was waiting, almost dreading, for the minute I'd slaughter the crabs. And then, it came.

I've slaughtered crabs and lobsters before but it was different this time. This time, I felt closer to the product and thought more about how I'd be taking the life of an animal to feed myself. Maybe this means I've grown as a cook and have taken that step in learning what it means to respect your product.

I took the crab, flipped it on to its back and plunged a Chef's Knife into it's Abdomen just above its apron. I hoped the one swift stab was to kill the crab as quickly as possible. It seemed to work. I quickly dispatched each crab, cleaned and dismembered them and then immediately set onto cooking.

This dish, the national dish of Singapore, has always been a favourite. Chili Crab, has a great balance of flavours ranging between sweet, savory and spicy. It's a thrill to eat with nothing more than a bowl of steamed rice or some good bread. Although this is not traditionally made with Dungeness Crab it was still good eats.

But in the end, this wasn't about the food. It was about learning respect for my product and doing it justice. I killed an animal, four animals, so I could eat. Respect for the product, those animals, was the first step in creating something worthy of eating.

Respect and wanting to do the product justice will result in great food every time. I'm sure of it.

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