Thursday, September 15, 2005

Cookin No. 24 - Banquet and the next day














Some of my classmates



Yesterday: I need a back massage. Today was wonderful, and very tiring. I arrived at the school at 11:30, and started cutting romaine lettuce for a Cesar salad, after that I began to cut red leaf lettuce in the chefanade (I have no idea how to spell this) style for a garnish. After that, it’s a blur. So many people were in the kitchen, and most of us new students were kind of in the way. But we learned how to get out of the way quickly, always a good skill.

After we moved down to the banquet area, and met Chef Char, who was going to be the grill master for the evening. He put whole garlic heads, red onions, and sprigs of rosemary and sage right on the grill so they would smoke and fill the area with a wonderful smell. And a wonderful smell it was. My mouth was watering.

Then came time to serve, I found myself at the sushi station, helping people by telling them what was what, offering wasabi and pickled ginger. Everything was going well until the rain started. I watched it come towards me, a wall of water, from the other side of the quad. My first reaction was to find a dry place for my camera, my pockets, and then I grabbed my sushi and ran. After the ceremony people were coming up to us and telling us how impressed they were with how fast we got the food out of there, it must have been 30 seconds and the food was completely inside. After a one minute rain storm we ventured back outside, and started serving again, until the rain came back. That was the end. After that, we grabbed as much food as our mouths would fill, and enjoyed the fruits and meats of our labor. And the pastries oh were they just delicious.

After lugging everything across the campus and into our kitchen, we washed, dried and put everything away; it was time to go home. So here I sit, with a beer and aching feet, feeling very happy with the day.

I got to know some of my fellow students so well, that they are starting to feel like family, like good friends that I never want to loose. Its amazing that after a few weeks, we are so close.

Today: I am sitting in a Smokey jazzy bar, attempting to access the internet. Actually I am the only person smoking, and today the internet is against me. I decided to take a little distraction from the couch, and moved my studying to the Hotel Bethlehem. Figuring this would be the prefect place to access the internet, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. The internet at home is down, and apparently too many business men are using the free hotspot here as well. Apparently someone does not want me to post this entry. Or I should just get my own internet.

The band is wonderful tonight, a piano, an upright base and drums. The men are in nice suits, and the piano player has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Around me tourists are enjoying the night, in this nice little lounge, with the polite waiters and good food. The drummer takes a sip of his martini with three olives, and the band takes a break.

I want to take a break from studying. My brain is rebelling, but I am nervous. Tomorrow are the final exams, and its important to me to get wonderful grades. I especially want a 100 on my nutrition final, which I don’t think would be too hard. It would be the first time I received a 100 on my report card since I was in grade school. And that would make me so proud to say I got a 100 %.

Today I had an interview with Dorie from the cheese shot at Wegmans. We interviewed for a full hour and at the end she informed me that I got myself a job! I am so excited; I think that to learn all about cheese would be wonderful for me, especially because I would love to open a wine bar. To know about cheese is like knowing all about wine, a good knowledge to have in the culinary world. And I will be sure to share all of that knowledge with you. If you have never been to a Wegmans, then you are indeed missing out. They really do spoil their customers with wonderful fresh food. The first time I bought a filet of salmon from them, I have to say it was the most beautiful piece of salmon that I had seen. And their cheese shop is not like any other you will find in a regular grocery store, any cheese you could possibly want, they have it. They display their brie as a berry pie, and feature a new wonderful cheese every week. They also have a wonderful olive selection, and even sell caviar. From $80 to $200 you can get top grade caviar. Not that I am a huge caviar fan, but my friend Chris loves the stuff. So I figure when she walks threw the door, I’ll give her the freshest can I can find. Not to play favoritism of course, I will treat all my customers just as well ;). I am also looking forward to working with Dorie as well; she stuck me as a wonderfully nice woman with a wealth of knowledge. Although I am not sure I want to leave the hot dog stand so soon, I am really starting to enjoy myself there, and I feel as if I am getting the hang of running around like a nut. So we will see how things work out, Dorie said that she is very willing to work around my schedule until I figure things out. I love working at Wegmans already, they are willing to work with me, and that’s a wonderful thing to find in a job.

Anywho, the internet seems to be working now, finally, so I am going to post, finish my drink, and blow this Popsicle joint, because I want to be rested for tomorrow, the big day.

The Salmon that we skinned, final presentation.
The pasta station
My sushi station
Desert, glorious desert
Seafood terriene (I am not positive on the spelling) this is the meat loaf of the seafood world
Head Chef Duncan, the man himself with a ice sea horse.






Until next time, Bon Appetite

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great banquet...Say, if you get a discount...can I get some caviar? Mmmm, caviar....
:)
C.

9:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i like your site lai and now i know how to spell your name glad i finally found your site

3:18 PM  

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