A Day in the Kitchen, and Then Some

This is what we cooked during our practicals, listed from left to right: Crêpes with a pear compote, roasted root vegetables, basic bread rolls and a green bean, potato and tomatos concasse salad.

Culinary school is everything I imagined. Being in the kitchen and actually getting the chance to make the recipes we were shown in our demo was great. What wasn't so great was that I felt like everyone else was holding me back, which is not such a great thing in itself. I know how difficult it is to learn a new language and be in a new country where you don't quite understand what is being said around you, however, if you're going to even attempt to go to school in a foreign country try and learn the language first! The instructor spent so much un-needed time re-explaining things that he explained and re-explained during our demo, it really annoyed me towards the end--especially how the people who understand the least are the first to rush to the scale to measure out ingredients they have no idea what to do with.

Many of the students from India and male, cookery is not something they deal with on a daily basis due to the fact they many (not all) of them come from "well to do" families with households full of servants. Notice the use of the word servants rather than housekeepers. They have servants, so the very idea that they are attempting to gain permanent residency through cookery is infuriating and uproariously funny at the same time.

So much for having heated discussions over French cheeses and Greek olive oils! Tomorrow is my first day working in a commerical kitchen for a function at the Melbourne Convention Centre. I somehow signed up to work for a temp agency for the hospitality industry and I have to start at the very bottom -- plating dishes in a kitchen.