kitchen diaries
Becoming/being a chef is hard.
I purposefully didn’t allow myself to watch Top Chef, Masterchef or read Kitchen Confidential because I knew I’d freak out. I thought the lessons would be fun and relaxed but sometimes it would get so hard that I’d fall into old career relapse. Ang tawag ko dun “when coeds join America’s Next Top Model”
“Nevermind if I can’t cut this onion up perfect, I went to college! I’m good at something already…these bitches” hehe
I’ve been emailing Bea and the gang non-stop about my kitchen (nightmare) episodes. I’ve decided to share it here. Because….just because.
Week 1-2
Last week, classes started on a Tuesday. The night before that, I wasn’t that nervous because I’ve done a dozen of first days before. There wasn’t any finance to paralyze me or thick readings na pwedeng pang barbel, so I thought that I should be fine because I love cooking. :)
:/:(
Fifteen minutes into our class, I cut my left forefinger with my new very long and very big (11 inches ata) Chef’s knife. I was just assigned to divide and distribute leeks to the rest of my classmates. A simple task but it became quite daunting when several pairs of eyes are watching you waiting for their share of the leeks. HAHA! nakakapanic pag may nagaantay sa totoo lang. I excused myself and put a bandaid on it. But for some reason, the small cut managed to leak enough blood to fill up 4 bandaids and this is all because of some leek!
I couldn’t concentrate during class because I was bleeding on my board and couldn’t use my fingers properly to hold down the vegetables. Several deductions later due to my curly hair that insists to spring free from my hat, my “idle-I-don’t-know-what-to-do-about-classroom-cleanup-portion” and of course that bloody cut, I went home feeling slightly dejected. Okay not slightly, tumawag pa parents ko haha!
-Ay, I went to the Dr. pala and he put a bandage on it. the nurse gave me a tetanus shot too. the wound as of press time (haha) is closed na! yay :)
Good thing second and third day of practical was okay, the teacher was nice and patient and no major casualties occurred that day. I managed to do the precision cuts okay (but not super well). The teacher has to tell me how to hold the knife properly or how to cut veg in the right measurement. But that’s part of the lesson and I feel so happy when the teacher says “good, pretty good actually” or “excellent”.Sarap ng feeling haha! Compared to my classmates who have worked as apprentices in hotels and restaurants my lack of experience shows. They’re fast and furious and I’m just slow, unsure, and I’m very happy if I’m able to easily cruise and get the hang of it.
Today is the first day of my second week. We cut up a chicken into different parts. Again, I started with a disadvantage because our house help (yaya minda :) ) does all the butchery. I did an ok job with it but not as fast as I would have liked. I’ll have to practice tomorrow after school para relaxed ako sa test ko sa thursday. Else, I’ll be a headless chicken in a panic over cutting up my headless chicken on my butcher’s block! (hehe sorry…I had to)
We also have a theory component to our lessons. We have to learn proper hygiene procedures and also the terms (mainly french) of our recipes and cooking methods. I’ve christened myself (jokingly and in secret of course…well, you know now :P ) “the Asian nerd”. Alam niyo yung nerdy Asians sa US TV series? haha! Paminsan dinadaan ko sa recitation para magkapoints naman ako. Pambawi hehe. That’s why I think some of my classmates have asked for help with hw. But of course, the practical/hands-on part is more important in this class and I’ll have to work on that :)
