So days 2-4 of Skills were interesting to say the least. Day 2 was mainly a day of some simple knife cuts again and learning how to make stock. The actual definition of stock is a flavorful liquid that has been cooked from aromatics (veg, spices etc) and bones from an animal. We make stock every single day. Usually 2 kettles of Chicken and 1 of something else, lately White Beef Stock but eventually Fish Stock, Veg Stock and Brown Veal Stock.
Anyway at the end of Day 2 we get our Vegetable Beef Soup recipe and notes. We turned our stock into broth by cooking it with the beef meat and doing everything all over again with meat and an aromatic blend. We walked into class on Day 3 and immediately the kitchen was bustling, everyone is running around trying to get mirepoix (for those who don't remember a combo of onion/leek, celery, and carrot/parsnip for stock flavoring) done for the day. 240 pounds of bones = 30 pounds of mirepoix, so 15 pounds of onions and 7.5 pounds of celery and carrot. Each day, each team is responsible for one of them. So we had celery which needed to be cleaned, peeled and chopped as well as the excess cleaned and bagged. All this is done while getting the things for our knife trays set-up (3 potatoes, 4 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tomatoes, 1 shallot, a bunch of parsley and the stuff for a satchet). Finally, setting up our water bath's (basically a large pan with water to hold stock and butter and what not to keep it warm). A lot of running around.
Now the fun starts, at 7:30 whether your team is done or not, knife trays begin... 60 minutes. 2 onions sliced 1/8 in, 2 onions small diced, 1 shallot minced, 3 garlic cloves minced, 1 bunch parsley minced, 2 tomato concasse (peeled, seeded and rough chopped), 1 potato medium diced (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 in cubes), 1 potato batonnets (1/4 x 1/4 x 2 in sticks), and 1 potato half julienne (1/8 x 1/8 x 1 in sticks), half brunoise ( 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8 in cubes). Let me tell you that cutting something to 1/8 of an inch is hard. All this must be done in 60 minutes with increasing speed so by the final we have 45 min. You go up, show Chef your tray and he tells you and if they look off will take out a ruler or his model of cuts and compare. So far I've done great on everything except the potatoes. My battonets and medium dice are pretty good but my brunoise and julienne need work, that 1/8 in is getting me.
After knife trays, it's on to demo time. Chef prepares Veg Beef Soup for us as we watch, he gives us a sample of his to compare for seasoning and says... GO! We run away and begin. 1 oz Clarified Butter heated to sweat the onions, carrots, turnips, celery, leeks, parsnip all that had to be medium dice before we could begin. After that, add the garlic for about 1 minute. Add 1 quart of beef broth and the satchet (parsley stem, thyme, cracked peppercorn, 1 garlic clove and a bay leaf or 2 all wrapped in cheesecloth). Simmer 25 minutes. When its ready, add the tomato, beef, and cabbage for 5 more minutes and then remove satchet and season. When I brought it for tasting he said veg were cooked perfectly, seasoned very well, the only complaint was a bit less butter next time. Not bad. Clean-up, lunch, lecture and then we were free.
Friday... Day 4. What Chef calls, "the easiest day of the class." It was. We went in and did stocks and knife trays until about 8:30-9. Then it was time for us to make Onion Soup! Easily my favorite soup of all time and decently easy to make. We took 1 oz of butter and heated over med-high heat and then dropped in 1 pound of onions and just let them sit and caramelize. After a few minutes, that brown stuff starts to form at the bottom (we call that "fond") and you take it off the heat and stir so that the steam from the onions deglaze's the pan the onions scoop up that brown, sugary delicious. After you do this a few times and your onions and nice and brown we add the chicken broth, and satchet and then wait. 30 minutes. Add 2 oz sherry wine and simmer 5 more minutes before removing the satchet and seasoning. Oh and we also toasted sliced french bread with butter and cheese to make croutons as a garnish. Well let me say Chef loved mine. "Excellent color, seasoned perfectly... Right on." Exact words so I certainly felt accomplished. And then for the last time that week, clean-up, lunch and lecture.
I'm excited for Tuesday (we have off Monday), because it's Consomme day which is basically the clearest and most flavorful soup you'll ever eat. But more to come on that.
This weekend I finally got to play frisbee at a tournament with a pick-up team about 45 minutes from here so even though my body hurts, it was great. The rest of the weekend is just me being lazy.
Chef Werblin
ps. I'd venture to say that in the last 4 days, I have said "Yes Chef" and "No Chef" at least 500 times... at least.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I'm Developing My Skills
First day of Skill Development 1. Obviously like any other first day, we spent a solid hour going over everything in the kitchen and getting acquainted with our home for the next 6 weeks (this is the same kitchen and people we have Skills 1 and 2 with). Then we started our normal production, Chicken Stock and White Beef Stock. Neither is terribly hard but we used 120 lbs of Chicken Bones and 60 lbs of Beef Bones for stock. We broke into the team we will have for the next 3 weeks and cut mirepoix (for those who don't know, mirepoix is a 2:1:1 ratio of onions, celery and carrots added to the stock in the last hour for flavor).
Of course each of the first 3 groups have the normal 4 people per group but since there are only 14 people in the class, my group has 2 people meaning we do double the work for the next 3 weeks... fun. Anyways, after that we each had to do our daily production which today was simply; mincing 1 shallot, mincing 3 cloves of garlic, mincing a bunch of parsley, 1 tomato concasse (a tomato that is peeled, seeded and roughly chopped) and 1 satchet d'epice (a herb mixture containing a garlic clove, some parsley stems, a spring of thyme, cracked peppercorns and bay leaves wrapped in cheesecloth). It wasn't hard at all. Then we just skimmed our stock (took off all the crap that comes out off of the bones) and went to lunch for an hour).
After lunch we finished our stock, bagged it up, cooled it down and then stored it. After an hour of lecture we were done.
Tomorrow is the when it gets for realsies. Walk in and start stock production right away and then make, broth as a team, clarified butter as a team, and our knife trays for the day each. Knife trays starting tomorrow consist of 2 onions sliced 1/8 in, 2 onions minced, 3 shallots minced, 4 cloves garlic minced, 2 tomatoes concasse, 1 potato into batonetts, 1 potato into julienne, and 1 potato into brunoise. Basically a ton of cutting that we end with a knife practical of all the same cuts.
Try some of these cuts yourself and then imagine doing all that in 1 hour.
Chef Werblin
Of course each of the first 3 groups have the normal 4 people per group but since there are only 14 people in the class, my group has 2 people meaning we do double the work for the next 3 weeks... fun. Anyways, after that we each had to do our daily production which today was simply; mincing 1 shallot, mincing 3 cloves of garlic, mincing a bunch of parsley, 1 tomato concasse (a tomato that is peeled, seeded and roughly chopped) and 1 satchet d'epice (a herb mixture containing a garlic clove, some parsley stems, a spring of thyme, cracked peppercorns and bay leaves wrapped in cheesecloth). It wasn't hard at all. Then we just skimmed our stock (took off all the crap that comes out off of the bones) and went to lunch for an hour).
After lunch we finished our stock, bagged it up, cooled it down and then stored it. After an hour of lecture we were done.
Tomorrow is the when it gets for realsies. Walk in and start stock production right away and then make, broth as a team, clarified butter as a team, and our knife trays for the day each. Knife trays starting tomorrow consist of 2 onions sliced 1/8 in, 2 onions minced, 3 shallots minced, 4 cloves garlic minced, 2 tomatoes concasse, 1 potato into batonetts, 1 potato into julienne, and 1 potato into brunoise. Basically a ton of cutting that we end with a knife practical of all the same cuts.
Try some of these cuts yourself and then imagine doing all that in 1 hour.
Chef Werblin
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Meat, Meat, Meat...
Excuse my long absence but between lots of work, moving my room down the hall, starting an ultimate team and just kind of forgetting a little I haven't updated this in about a week so this will be a long entry (giving fair warning). Well now that I am done with Meat ID and Fabrication, I'll give you the play by play of all the crazy things I did.
The first day of class was pretty relaxed but since we only have 7 days we still had to jump right into cutting. In class at 6:15am and cutting until about 9:30 until clean-up and then lecture at 10:30am till noon. So the first thing was do a little ID on Beef or Bovine. Then he demoed how to take apart a giant Shoulder Clod which was pretty easy, and then trim and separate a Beef Top Round and finally, de-bone a Beef Shank. None of it was super tough but since it was the first day and was all new, nobody's was really good.
For reference, the left is the Shoulder Clod, the middle are 2 Beef Shanks and the right is the Beef Top Round (easy to ID because of the spot of meat in the fat on top). Taking apart those bad boys is a ton of work and takes more finesse than you would think. Anyway, the parts of the Shoulder Clod include the "Heart" of the Clod and the Top Blade (this is has a thin layer of collagen right through the middle). The Top Blade is sometimes separated into two little steaks from the collagen and we know them as Flat Iron's. Basically everything here is best cooked braised or stewed except the Top Round which can be roasted (typical deli roast beef comes from here).
Day 2 was still a Beef day since there is so much beef. This time we did the more obvious cuts that everyone knows, the Beef Tenderloin (filet mignon) and the Strip Loin (NY Strips and tender roasts). We had to trim and clean the Tenderloin which really easy but just takes some time removing fat and connective tissue. Then was the Strip Loin which was a bit more challenging. You can leave the bone-in but for our purposes we de-boned
it (kinda tough) and then
cut one part into Strip Steaks and one part we tied into a roast.
The left is a package of Flank Steaks on top and a Beef Tenderloin on the bottom. Then on the right is a Boneless StripLoin that can be cut into steaks.
And right below is nearly every cut of Beef from a whole cow carcass broken down into the parts of the 4 main primal cuts of Beef (Chuck, Rib, Loin and Round from head to tail). The left is the Loin (top 4 pieces of meat) and the Round (bottom 2 pieces). The round is missing a few cuts but the Loin is basically there. On the right is the Chucke which is also basically all there (top 4 cuts) and then the Rib which is missing some cuts as well (bottom 3).
Day 3 was badass... although we only cut veal cutlets (Day 3 was Veal Day), we watched our chef break down an entire veal carcass. It was very cool and I wish I had a video to show you. But regardless we cut lots of veal cutlets out of the Top Round and Shoulder Clod (veal has the same cuts as Beef seeing as it is just a baby cow). Turns out I'm pretty good at doing this since Chef said my cutlets were excellent.
Day 4.
So the left is a whole side half of a pork carcass and the right is a Grass-Fed Cow (we got a local one in to compare with the normal Grain-Fed).
So Day 4 was Pork. It was a tough day, definitely. We took a center cut pork loin de-boned, cleaned and fabricated the whole thing into a piece of meat that could be rolled and tied into a BRT (boned, rolled, tied) Roast. I did pretty well but it was challenging. The rest of the day wasn't so hard but it was a day full of a lot of cutting in general. Then we took a Pork Boston Butt (pork shoulder) and boned it and separated it into pieces to try and cut it into cubes. This is difficult because there is so much fat running through the meat that you only get about 40% of the meat to be usable cubes but luckily for us, all trim from pork is basically usable for sausage. I don't have any pork pictures unfortunately but a Boston Butt is a large, square piece and a center cut rack is a large, long rack with the rib bones in.
Days 5 and 6 were both easy days too. Day 5 was lamb day and the only thing we did was tie a little lamb roast and French a Rack of Lamb (clean the bone that sticks out to give a nice clean presentation). Then again we cut pork cubes cause apparently they needed a whole lot of these for the last few days to some lovely Meat Music provided b our chef, which made it fun.
Day 6 was poultry and again we didn't do anything too hard. We trussed a pretty small chicken (trussed is tying it) and we broke apart the entire thing into bone-in breasts, boneless legs and wings. Once you get the hang its really easy and I did 4 of them in about 15-20 minutes. So if you ever want to know how to completely break down a turkey or chicken, just ask me.
Our last day was a freebie, sausage day. We just ground pork trim with seasoning and ice and then pumped it into casing to make sausages which we tasted, Italian and Breakfast, both good. Then we made pork cubes... again... I'm really good at making pork cubes.
So that was my week of meat class. I really enjoyed it and it was a pretty easy class. The weekend is boring. I really have nothing planned except for a frisbee practice on Monday (we have off). So starting Tuesday I enter Skill Development 1: Basic Stock and Sauces (and Knife Cuts). I'm super pumped for this class since this is the beginning of actually learning how to cook and prepare food.
Other than that, life has been pretty good here. Extremely tiring, but good. Oh and I got A-'s in both Meat and Fish which is pretty good since I'm the only one in my class who did that in Fish and I think 1 of 2 that did in Meat. Its funny how well you do in something when you really enjoy it. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the fantastic weekend weather as much as me.
Chef Werblin
ps. I moved my room to down the hall with a friend of mine cause my old room was awful. Pretty much the best move ever... and I'm no longer on the bottom bunk
The first day of class was pretty relaxed but since we only have 7 days we still had to jump right into cutting. In class at 6:15am and cutting until about 9:30 until clean-up and then lecture at 10:30am till noon. So the first thing was do a little ID on Beef or Bovine. Then he demoed how to take apart a giant Shoulder Clod which was pretty easy, and then trim and separate a Beef Top Round and finally, de-bone a Beef Shank. None of it was super tough but since it was the first day and was all new, nobody's was really good.
For reference, the left is the Shoulder Clod, the middle are 2 Beef Shanks and the right is the Beef Top Round (easy to ID because of the spot of meat in the fat on top). Taking apart those bad boys is a ton of work and takes more finesse than you would think. Anyway, the parts of the Shoulder Clod include the "Heart" of the Clod and the Top Blade (this is has a thin layer of collagen right through the middle). The Top Blade is sometimes separated into two little steaks from the collagen and we know them as Flat Iron's. Basically everything here is best cooked braised or stewed except the Top Round which can be roasted (typical deli roast beef comes from here).
Day 2 was still a Beef day since there is so much beef. This time we did the more obvious cuts that everyone knows, the Beef Tenderloin (filet mignon) and the Strip Loin (NY Strips and tender roasts). We had to trim and clean the Tenderloin which really easy but just takes some time removing fat and connective tissue. Then was the Strip Loin which was a bit more challenging. You can leave the bone-in but for our purposes we de-boned
it (kinda tough) and then
cut one part into Strip Steaks and one part we tied into a roast.The left is a package of Flank Steaks on top and a Beef Tenderloin on the bottom. Then on the right is a Boneless StripLoin that can be cut into steaks.
And right below is nearly every cut of Beef from a whole cow carcass broken down into the parts of the 4 main primal cuts of Beef (Chuck, Rib, Loin and Round from head to tail). The left is the Loin (top 4 pieces of meat) and the Round (bottom 2 pieces). The round is missing a few cuts but the Loin is basically there. On the right is the Chucke which is also basically all there (top 4 cuts) and then the Rib which is missing some cuts as well (bottom 3).
Day 3 was badass... although we only cut veal cutlets (Day 3 was Veal Day), we watched our chef break down an entire veal carcass. It was very cool and I wish I had a video to show you. But regardless we cut lots of veal cutlets out of the Top Round and Shoulder Clod (veal has the same cuts as Beef seeing as it is just a baby cow). Turns out I'm pretty good at doing this since Chef said my cutlets were excellent.
Day 4.
So the left is a whole side half of a pork carcass and the right is a Grass-Fed Cow (we got a local one in to compare with the normal Grain-Fed).So Day 4 was Pork. It was a tough day, definitely. We took a center cut pork loin de-boned, cleaned and fabricated the whole thing into a piece of meat that could be rolled and tied into a BRT (boned, rolled, tied) Roast. I did pretty well but it was challenging. The rest of the day wasn't so hard but it was a day full of a lot of cutting in general. Then we took a Pork Boston Butt (pork shoulder) and boned it and separated it into pieces to try and cut it into cubes. This is difficult because there is so much fat running through the meat that you only get about 40% of the meat to be usable cubes but luckily for us, all trim from pork is basically usable for sausage. I don't have any pork pictures unfortunately but a Boston Butt is a large, square piece and a center cut rack is a large, long rack with the rib bones in.
Days 5 and 6 were both easy days too. Day 5 was lamb day and the only thing we did was tie a little lamb roast and French a Rack of Lamb (clean the bone that sticks out to give a nice clean presentation). Then again we cut pork cubes cause apparently they needed a whole lot of these for the last few days to some lovely Meat Music provided b our chef, which made it fun.
Day 6 was poultry and again we didn't do anything too hard. We trussed a pretty small chicken (trussed is tying it) and we broke apart the entire thing into bone-in breasts, boneless legs and wings. Once you get the hang its really easy and I did 4 of them in about 15-20 minutes. So if you ever want to know how to completely break down a turkey or chicken, just ask me.
Our last day was a freebie, sausage day. We just ground pork trim with seasoning and ice and then pumped it into casing to make sausages which we tasted, Italian and Breakfast, both good. Then we made pork cubes... again... I'm really good at making pork cubes.
So that was my week of meat class. I really enjoyed it and it was a pretty easy class. The weekend is boring. I really have nothing planned except for a frisbee practice on Monday (we have off). So starting Tuesday I enter Skill Development 1: Basic Stock and Sauces (and Knife Cuts). I'm super pumped for this class since this is the beginning of actually learning how to cook and prepare food.
Other than that, life has been pretty good here. Extremely tiring, but good. Oh and I got A-'s in both Meat and Fish which is pretty good since I'm the only one in my class who did that in Fish and I think 1 of 2 that did in Meat. Its funny how well you do in something when you really enjoy it. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the fantastic weekend weather as much as me.
Chef Werblin
ps. I moved my room to down the hall with a friend of mine cause my old room was awful. Pretty much the best move ever... and I'm no longer on the bottom bunk
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Fish Smell Defeated
My last 2 days of Seafood were interesting. Monday we did Crustaceans after just practicing some basic fillet cuts. We picked crab meat and then went over everything from lobster to crab to scallops. It was a pretty easy day overall and the tasting was pretty excellent. Tasting was just a few types of crabs as well as lobster and scallops so even though it was 8am it was pretty good.
Then today was the big day... Finals Day. We had to shuck 300 oysters on the half shell for a kitchen and since we had 8 people the Chef made it a race... 37 a piece. I came in second! Then we took the 10 questions ID Final where he pulled out 10 fish, had us name them and some other facts about them. It was decently easy. Finally we had a quick 20 minute lecture and tasting. Today's tasting... Caviar and Smoked Fish. A plate of 10 caviars and some smoked fish which probably was $75 of food on the plate per person. Most of the caviar wasn't too bad, it isn't fishy like you'd imagine and they all have distinct flavors. I will say the most interesting one was the $99 per oz... thats $1600 per pound! It tasted like creamy pumpkin pie which is so strange but weirdly good. The smoked stuff just tasted like either smoke or what it was cured in. Last but not least was the written final. 40 questions and terribly easy. I did very well overall in the class.
Right now I'm still in the process of getting this frisbee team going and it's finally coming into form. Other than that, Meat starts tomorrow at 6:30 which is a nice change from 5am but it still pretty early. I'll be sure to report on how butchering meat occurs.
Stay Classy.
Chef Werblin
ps. Guava Glazed Ribs for dinner... might be the best thing I've eaten here.
Then today was the big day... Finals Day. We had to shuck 300 oysters on the half shell for a kitchen and since we had 8 people the Chef made it a race... 37 a piece. I came in second! Then we took the 10 questions ID Final where he pulled out 10 fish, had us name them and some other facts about them. It was decently easy. Finally we had a quick 20 minute lecture and tasting. Today's tasting... Caviar and Smoked Fish. A plate of 10 caviars and some smoked fish which probably was $75 of food on the plate per person. Most of the caviar wasn't too bad, it isn't fishy like you'd imagine and they all have distinct flavors. I will say the most interesting one was the $99 per oz... thats $1600 per pound! It tasted like creamy pumpkin pie which is so strange but weirdly good. The smoked stuff just tasted like either smoke or what it was cured in. Last but not least was the written final. 40 questions and terribly easy. I did very well overall in the class.
Right now I'm still in the process of getting this frisbee team going and it's finally coming into form. Other than that, Meat starts tomorrow at 6:30 which is a nice change from 5am but it still pretty early. I'll be sure to report on how butchering meat occurs.
Stay Classy.
Chef Werblin
ps. Guava Glazed Ribs for dinner... might be the best thing I've eaten here.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Can You Say Sleep Deprivation?
Yea it's bad. 4 hours a night just doesn't cut it for me. Luckily class is entertaining enough to keep me awake. Thursday was the next family of fish, the Bass family. We did our usual, ID and some cutting to practice and then we shucked... and shucked and shucked and shucked. We had 700 oysters that got delivered and all needed to be shucked so with the 9 people in my class we each had to do 40-50 to get a jump on it. Let me tell you, shucking oysters is hard as hell. Once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad but it is insanely tiring. After my arms were thoroughly shucked out we had tasting and lecture. I figure since tasting is most interesting I'll go ahead and talk about that.
First we tasted a Wild Striped Bass which are large fish, it was very meaty and a bit sticky but all in all pretty good. Then we tried the Hybrid Striped Bass which is the farm-raised version of the wild that is much smaller and much less delicious. It kind of tasted like top-soil, actually that's exactly what it tasted like. Then we tried Vermillion Snapper, not terribly delicious but meaty, it would probably be good breaded and with a lot of sauce. Next were the "high activity" fish that are rich and flavorful. First here was Swordfish which I had never had before. For not being a "fish" person I really enjoyed it, very tender and moist, pork-like almost. Then Tuna, Yellowfin, not Bluefin because Bluefin are about to be extinct thanks to the friggin Japanese. It was very meaty and filling but has a metallicy blood-taste that is similar to red meat. Last we tried an expensive, expensive little anchovy. They were packed in oil in a big container that sells for a very large amount of money apparently but our chef let us taste them. Now when people think anchovy they think little gross brown things that go on pizza and are awful. Well let me tell you, these "Boccaronas" were amazing. basically salt and vinegar little fishies without a fishy taste. So good. An interesting day.
Friday was our Mollusks day. We cut a few fish each and then did our shucking, clams and oysters. We each did 1 clam and 3 oysters... then we ate them... raw... at 8am. Now I've only had clams once and they were cooked and it wasn't my favorite thing not because of taste but because of texture. But since I go to a school for food I'm expected to taste everything. The raw Quahog (most popular, also known as "Steamers") clam was gross, pretty much a gooey blob of saltwater. The oysters weren't awful. There are 3 types, Western (Pacific Coast) and then Northern and Southern (Atlantic Coast). They were a combination of briny and salty with different fat levels. None exceptional, although I thought the Southern one was better. After clean-up we tasted cooked mollusks. First was a blue mussell, surprisingly I enjoyed it. Next was a wellfleet clam, relatively small but actually one of the best things we've eaten in this class. Finally just Bay and Sea Scallops. If you've ever had them you know Sea Scallops are way better and if you like them, they're excellent, which they were.
The usual for the rest of the day. Lunch, nap, dinner and then weekend fun. So far its been a nice relaxing Saturday. I woke up late, had lunch, through a frisbee around for a bit and then did some homework and paperwork I had to get done before I head out tonight.
I know I said this once but I'll do it again. If you like hot sauce buy a bottle of Sean's Boo-Yah online (only $8). This stuff is fantastic.
Chef Werblin
ps. I've been thinking of team names for school... CIA Main Course. Tell me that isn't an awesome name.
pps. here's some pictures
First we tasted a Wild Striped Bass which are large fish, it was very meaty and a bit sticky but all in all pretty good. Then we tried the Hybrid Striped Bass which is the farm-raised version of the wild that is much smaller and much less delicious. It kind of tasted like top-soil, actually that's exactly what it tasted like. Then we tried Vermillion Snapper, not terribly delicious but meaty, it would probably be good breaded and with a lot of sauce. Next were the "high activity" fish that are rich and flavorful. First here was Swordfish which I had never had before. For not being a "fish" person I really enjoyed it, very tender and moist, pork-like almost. Then Tuna, Yellowfin, not Bluefin because Bluefin are about to be extinct thanks to the friggin Japanese. It was very meaty and filling but has a metallicy blood-taste that is similar to red meat. Last we tried an expensive, expensive little anchovy. They were packed in oil in a big container that sells for a very large amount of money apparently but our chef let us taste them. Now when people think anchovy they think little gross brown things that go on pizza and are awful. Well let me tell you, these "Boccaronas" were amazing. basically salt and vinegar little fishies without a fishy taste. So good. An interesting day.
Friday was our Mollusks day. We cut a few fish each and then did our shucking, clams and oysters. We each did 1 clam and 3 oysters... then we ate them... raw... at 8am. Now I've only had clams once and they were cooked and it wasn't my favorite thing not because of taste but because of texture. But since I go to a school for food I'm expected to taste everything. The raw Quahog (most popular, also known as "Steamers") clam was gross, pretty much a gooey blob of saltwater. The oysters weren't awful. There are 3 types, Western (Pacific Coast) and then Northern and Southern (Atlantic Coast). They were a combination of briny and salty with different fat levels. None exceptional, although I thought the Southern one was better. After clean-up we tasted cooked mollusks. First was a blue mussell, surprisingly I enjoyed it. Next was a wellfleet clam, relatively small but actually one of the best things we've eaten in this class. Finally just Bay and Sea Scallops. If you've ever had them you know Sea Scallops are way better and if you like them, they're excellent, which they were.
The usual for the rest of the day. Lunch, nap, dinner and then weekend fun. So far its been a nice relaxing Saturday. I woke up late, had lunch, through a frisbee around for a bit and then did some homework and paperwork I had to get done before I head out tonight.
I know I said this once but I'll do it again. If you like hot sauce buy a bottle of Sean's Boo-Yah online (only $8). This stuff is fantastic.
Chef Werblin
ps. I've been thinking of team names for school... CIA Main Course. Tell me that isn't an awesome name.
pps. here's some pictures
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
My Body Hates Me
So this is how my day goes until next Tuesday... 4:15 alarm goes off, get up and ready for class, in class at 5am until 11am, quick lunch, shower for 20 minutes to stop smelling like fish, nap until 4pm, dinner, homework, sleep again.
My sleep schedule is so off that come Tuesday my body won't know what to do.
Anyway, yesterday we had our actual chef for our fish class. We started out at 5am with usual pre-class duties like getting ice and removing fish for ID and Fabrication. We scale the fish (take the scales off) which I must say is the worst thing ever since scales are literally in every crevasse of your uniform and body. After that we do an ID for the day and go over the families of fish (Salmon/Trout, Cod, Bass, Flatfish, Misc). Then for the first time we pulled out our knifes and started to cut. We each did 3 flounders which yields 12 fillets. This is a flat fish and requires a flat cut method that isn't terribly hard once you get the hang of it. Although the chef said we did well, all of our fillets were pretty butchered for the most part. This kitchen provides fish to the entire school and every other kitchen in the school so if we mess up, they don't get fish... we don't mess up. We then clean-up and are in the lecture room from 9am-11am. Probably the strangest part of my day aside from waking at 4am is tasting. We taste everyday and since we start so early and are in lecture by 8:30-9am, that's when we taste. So yesterday we tasted 5 flatfish. First was flounder, it was flaky and pretty tasteless. Next was Dover Sole which is a pretty prized fish that is quite expensive and tastes like butter. Third we tried Turbot (pronounced Tur-bo) and it was interesting with a firm texture and almost milky taste. Next we tried Halibut which was firm but not terribly flavorful and lastly, we tasted Skate which is a ray. Easily the most interesting because it was extremely soft and kind of tasted like vegetables... I know, weird.
After a lazy night of homework and tv it was time for bed.
4:15 again. Awesome. In class at 5am and then scaling and getting ready for ID. We had a bunch of new fish today and after our ID we learned our new cuts and practiced. Salmon/Trout are almost all soft-boned and require a very easy straight-cut method. Basically all other round fish are hard-boned and require the much harder up-and-over method. We practiced both and my straight-cuts are pretty god because they are easy but both of my cuts came out pretty well. After clean-up we went to the lecture room for tasting... 11 kinds of fish at 8:30am, bleh. First taste, Atlantic Cod which is literally flavorless. Then Haddock which most people know as a fish and chips type fish. Next was Hake which was kind of crab-tasting but very fibrous. Then we tried Pollock (fun fact, Pollock is the fish used for almost all commercial fish, Filet O' Fish and generic fish consumption), its not very good otherwise. Cusk was next and it was gross, chewy and flavorless. The next batch is all Salmon and Trout so they all have strong flavor. First here was Atlantic Farm-Raised Salmon which is the salmon most people think about when they eat salmon, no one will ever see a wild Atlantic on their plate. It was ok, kind of sticky. Next was a better salmon, Coho (Silver) and this was less greasy and much cleaner in flavor. Then Arctic Char which is trout, it was my favorite and was briny with a mild salmon flavor. The next two Trouts, Steelhead and Farm-Raised Rainbow were both pretty good but the Farm-Raised was sticky and firm.
The rest of my day was my standard de-smellifying and sleeping before homework and hainging out. Only 2 more days till the weekend and I can't wait.
Chef Werblin
My sleep schedule is so off that come Tuesday my body won't know what to do.
Anyway, yesterday we had our actual chef for our fish class. We started out at 5am with usual pre-class duties like getting ice and removing fish for ID and Fabrication. We scale the fish (take the scales off) which I must say is the worst thing ever since scales are literally in every crevasse of your uniform and body. After that we do an ID for the day and go over the families of fish (Salmon/Trout, Cod, Bass, Flatfish, Misc). Then for the first time we pulled out our knifes and started to cut. We each did 3 flounders which yields 12 fillets. This is a flat fish and requires a flat cut method that isn't terribly hard once you get the hang of it. Although the chef said we did well, all of our fillets were pretty butchered for the most part. This kitchen provides fish to the entire school and every other kitchen in the school so if we mess up, they don't get fish... we don't mess up. We then clean-up and are in the lecture room from 9am-11am. Probably the strangest part of my day aside from waking at 4am is tasting. We taste everyday and since we start so early and are in lecture by 8:30-9am, that's when we taste. So yesterday we tasted 5 flatfish. First was flounder, it was flaky and pretty tasteless. Next was Dover Sole which is a pretty prized fish that is quite expensive and tastes like butter. Third we tried Turbot (pronounced Tur-bo) and it was interesting with a firm texture and almost milky taste. Next we tried Halibut which was firm but not terribly flavorful and lastly, we tasted Skate which is a ray. Easily the most interesting because it was extremely soft and kind of tasted like vegetables... I know, weird.
After a lazy night of homework and tv it was time for bed.
4:15 again. Awesome. In class at 5am and then scaling and getting ready for ID. We had a bunch of new fish today and after our ID we learned our new cuts and practiced. Salmon/Trout are almost all soft-boned and require a very easy straight-cut method. Basically all other round fish are hard-boned and require the much harder up-and-over method. We practiced both and my straight-cuts are pretty god because they are easy but both of my cuts came out pretty well. After clean-up we went to the lecture room for tasting... 11 kinds of fish at 8:30am, bleh. First taste, Atlantic Cod which is literally flavorless. Then Haddock which most people know as a fish and chips type fish. Next was Hake which was kind of crab-tasting but very fibrous. Then we tried Pollock (fun fact, Pollock is the fish used for almost all commercial fish, Filet O' Fish and generic fish consumption), its not very good otherwise. Cusk was next and it was gross, chewy and flavorless. The next batch is all Salmon and Trout so they all have strong flavor. First here was Atlantic Farm-Raised Salmon which is the salmon most people think about when they eat salmon, no one will ever see a wild Atlantic on their plate. It was ok, kind of sticky. Next was a better salmon, Coho (Silver) and this was less greasy and much cleaner in flavor. Then Arctic Char which is trout, it was my favorite and was briny with a mild salmon flavor. The next two Trouts, Steelhead and Farm-Raised Rainbow were both pretty good but the Farm-Raised was sticky and firm.
The rest of my day was my standard de-smellifying and sleeping before homework and hainging out. Only 2 more days till the weekend and I can't wait.
Chef Werblin
Monday, August 23, 2010
3 Weeks New
So this weekend was my BIRTHDAY WEEKEND! It was pretty awesome. Saturday we woke up and went to the Hudson Valley Rib Festival. Tons of famous rib vendors selling tasty delicious food with amazing bbq sauces. I tried a few and then walked around and checked out some of the other vendors. Easily the best one was a hot sauce guy called Sean's Boo-Yah sauce. He had 3 heats I tried, Not-So-Hot, Sorta Hot and Real Hot. I ended buying a bottle of the Real Hot because it was so amazing and the best I've ever had.
Saturday night we went to the Drive-In movies and paid a whopping $5 for two movies, The Expendables and Dinner For Schmucks. The Expendables was ok, lots of gun fire and yelling in a rambo-style thing. Dinner For Schmucks was terribly disappointing, a few cheap laughs but not the constant laugh, insanely funny movie I had so hoped for. I guess for $2.50 a movie it was worth it. Sunday was a rainy, crappy day and the family came for my B-Day to have lunch and see the campus which they couldn't do because it was gross out. After they left I did about 2 hours of homework and passed out around midnight.
Today was... interestingly awful. Up at 4:15am, at class at 5am.... no one's there... obviously. Another few people showed up and we sat around until 5:30 when a chef strolls in and tells us our normal chef isn't here today and he'll be filling in. After he explicitly states we won't need our knives today we know this is gonna be long and not fun. We learned about the fish kitchen and watched him demo how to do the 2 cuts for Round Fish and 1 cut for Flat Fish. After a little clean-up we had a 2 hour lecture while the 8am class started in the kitchen... that chef didn't stop yelling the entire time we were in lecture and it was crystal clear to hear.We got out around 11am.
I'd say the best part of the day was when the TA and Chef told us about how our actual Chef will be a yelling machine. I can't wait until tomorrow when he expects us all to know how to somewhat do these cuts and we can't because we've yet to touch a knife. Oh, by the way, every other class did cutting today except for us... I shoveled ice. Good day. I tried to nap when I got back and slept for an hour before there was enough noise in my room to drown out 20 crying babies. I woke up, did some more homework, got dinner and now I'm taking a break for the homework and writing this.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I can't wait till we are done with Seafood and Meat.
Chef (not so sure anymore) Werblin
ps. I used to enjoy cooking
pps. The other chef we listened to yell today made roughly 3 people cry and I quote "Who do you think you are? You're nobody and you're going nowhere"... great way to teach... and this is supposed to be the best culinary school in the country/world.
Saturday night we went to the Drive-In movies and paid a whopping $5 for two movies, The Expendables and Dinner For Schmucks. The Expendables was ok, lots of gun fire and yelling in a rambo-style thing. Dinner For Schmucks was terribly disappointing, a few cheap laughs but not the constant laugh, insanely funny movie I had so hoped for. I guess for $2.50 a movie it was worth it. Sunday was a rainy, crappy day and the family came for my B-Day to have lunch and see the campus which they couldn't do because it was gross out. After they left I did about 2 hours of homework and passed out around midnight.
Today was... interestingly awful. Up at 4:15am, at class at 5am.... no one's there... obviously. Another few people showed up and we sat around until 5:30 when a chef strolls in and tells us our normal chef isn't here today and he'll be filling in. After he explicitly states we won't need our knives today we know this is gonna be long and not fun. We learned about the fish kitchen and watched him demo how to do the 2 cuts for Round Fish and 1 cut for Flat Fish. After a little clean-up we had a 2 hour lecture while the 8am class started in the kitchen... that chef didn't stop yelling the entire time we were in lecture and it was crystal clear to hear.We got out around 11am.
I'd say the best part of the day was when the TA and Chef told us about how our actual Chef will be a yelling machine. I can't wait until tomorrow when he expects us all to know how to somewhat do these cuts and we can't because we've yet to touch a knife. Oh, by the way, every other class did cutting today except for us... I shoveled ice. Good day. I tried to nap when I got back and slept for an hour before there was enough noise in my room to drown out 20 crying babies. I woke up, did some more homework, got dinner and now I'm taking a break for the homework and writing this.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I can't wait till we are done with Seafood and Meat.
Chef (not so sure anymore) Werblin
ps. I used to enjoy cooking
pps. The other chef we listened to yell today made roughly 3 people cry and I quote "Who do you think you are? You're nobody and you're going nowhere"... great way to teach... and this is supposed to be the best culinary school in the country/world.
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