Behind the Scenes: A Vegetarian on a Mission

And just like that, my experience working with world-renowned chefs was over. With 4 full days under my belt working in someone else's kitchen --Anthony Ross' kitchen to be exact (executive chef of the Southbank Langham Hotel)-- using skills I've learnt both in school and at my current job I feel like I new person on a mission. This hotel kitchen (kitchen-s, actually) is larger than any other kitchen I've set foot in; it can really only work efficiently by working under the brigade system. Most of the chefs were approachable and will answer my questions, while others instill a sense of fear in my bones just by mere eye contact. However, being the little cook-in-training from the hospitality college with no name that I am, I couldn't muster up the courage to actually go an speak to any of the celebrities, if you will.

I have more positive than negative things to say about my experience during these past four days. I had rather high expectations, perhaps delusional illusions of grandeur to be exact, about what preparing fore this master class even would entail. A few of my college mates weren't as lucky as they was an spent more time than I care to mention in the cold larder kitchen where, apparently much magic happens, but all I witness was magic pertaining to sandwich preparation. I could have cared less if the sandwiches were going to be served to the Queen of England, really. I didn't agree to only half a paycheck this week to make sandwiches.

I noticed that at the end of the my 4 days that the students from other more well-known training institutions (Holmesglen Institute of TAFE and Fifteen, to be exact) were preferred over myself and my classmate to do the more exciting preparations. While I did learn how to properly peel an onion and how to pick herbs, I really don't see why the trainees from Jaime Oliver's Fifteen restaurant or the students from Holmesglen were any more capable at blanching spinach or sweating onions and celery for the soup base of a ribolita soup. In general, the trainees from Fifteen, Jaime Oliver's restaurant, were delegated the best tasks while preparing for London's River Café event. They got to saute the potatoes, they got to carve the meat for the final plate up...even though they had quickly gained a reputation for "unreliable".

The most positive thing I gained from my time at the Langham is a clearer idea of where I want to see myself next year after I finish my course. I making the cross over and will be actively searching for employment in fine dinning early next year. I had originally planned on working exclusively vegetarian establishments, but being that Melbourne is unfortunately devoid of a wide choice of them, I'd actually be doing a disservice to myself and vegetarian foodies across Australia. Watching the Fifteen trainees dash about the kitchen with their well-developed knowledge of Italian food made me feel a bit juvenile for not only working in a vegetarian restaurant (trendy or not) but for also thinking that I was learning going to learn something about cuisine in general at my current place of employment. I'm actually learning heaps at my current job, but nothing in the way of...erm...fine dinning.

I go the library every few weeks and take home every vegetarian cookery book I can find, including a few non-vegetarian ones. After 1 day at the Langham I went to the library, paid my over-due fees and grabbed every book I could find on prominent Australian chefs and food writers -- I've vowed to learn more about the Australian food scene. I'm hungry and thirsty for knowledge or all sorts and my mission won't only stop at the books, but will continue in my classes by being more assertive (do I really care if anyone in my class thinks I'm bossy?) and will be carried on at my place of employment by asking for more responsibility.

In the end, I was chosen to participate in the master class for a reason -- because someone believes I have potential. Before I start getting too sentimental and have to reach for a martini, I'll end on this note.

The New Gossip: The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

When I found out that the Food & Wine Festival was coming to Melbourne I got really excited, I almost felt a chill shake its way down my spine. I then had a look around the website and concluded, "Yeah. Right. Like I can afford to drop $150 on a meal, just for myself". That was weeks ago. Then this happened.

I was at my college last week on my way back from the kitchen getting my usual cup of tea in the morning and I noticed a new set of papers along the wall. I picked up one up and it happened to be a notice inviting 12 students from the college to participate for 4 days in the master class being held at the Langham Hotel for the Food and Wine Festival. When I read it I somehow felt that I deserved to be one of those 12 students; these sorts of demanding feelings never really happen to me. I clutched the notice in one hand and my cup of green tea in another and took the stairs (two at a time) to go drag some information out of my chef-instructor. "Do you know anything about this?" I practically demanded. One thing led to another and yesterday I found out that I was one of 12 students out of the entire college chosen to participate in the event.

Today was my first day and, boy, was it exhilarating. I will spend the next 4 days helping prepare for the master class, which will showcase the hottest chefs from all over the world. who will be giving lectures and demonstrations on their own cuisine. I was having a chat to the chef and apparently the chef from Spain speaks zero English and I was told that I'd be paired with this chef to help prepare for the master class. Andoni Luis Aduriz is one of the hottest Spanish chefs in Europe, closely following Ferran Adriá in his molecular gastronomy footsteps. Adriá is basically one of my chef idols. Both of their creations are like edible works of abstract art on plates. Art + Edible + Food = the best idea ever

These guys inspire me to push vegetarian cookery to it's limits, although I find I have little time to actually pursue such inspirations these days. With each passing day I spend frying away entrees at my restaurant, I become increasingly vocal about what I think vegetarian food should be and taste like.

From Dream World to Real World

Every single day that I've woken up from a night of slumber the first thought that forms in my head is, "I wish we could leave for Australia tomorrow...". It's been 2 months since I left El Salvador and have come to terms with the envy and failure and slight embarassment I felt for a good month afterwards. Up until a week ago I still had three more months of waiting to do.

About 2 week ago I was more or less convinced (although I didn't need much convincing given the circumstances) to enroll in a personal chef certification coruse in Miami that would begin on September 30. I enrolled in the course, bought my plane ticket, call my mother and told her I'd be spending 3 months with her and went through with the whole thing. As I write this entry I'm lounging in my brother's studio in Miami, a day after the personal chef course was meant to start. I woke up bright and early yesterday morning and made the trek down to Kendall - about an hour or so including waiting for public transport to arrive. It's a total of 3 hours from where my mother lives and 4 hours by plane from where Will is living. Once on campus grounds, I realise that I haven't got the classroom number. Upon calling the admin office to figure out where I'm meant to be taking this life changing course, I'm informed that the class has been canceled.

It would have been really swell if I'd have been informed BEFORE I flew down here. I'm still feeling a bit agro over that, as now I really don't have much reason to be in Florida before Christmas.

On the brighter side, I applied to culinary school in Melbourne (Australia) last week and I was accepted. So Will and I will be on a jet plane headed for the sunny land down under on November 15th.

Yes, your eyes read that correctly: NOVEMBER 15th, 6.5 weeks from now.

South for the Winter

The thing I dislike the most about the northeast is the weather. Sure, autum is nice with the colourful leaf changes and all, but that basically means thaty everything is getting ready to die in preparation for the winter. As Bill Bryson mentioned in his book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, in New England it's either winter, winter's just past or winter's coming. Utterly depressing.

So, I'm going down to Miami to live with my mother until the holidays while I participate in the Culinary Business Academy Personal Chef training program. I get to avoid winter, I get to spend some quality time with my family and I'm getting a head start on my dream career. The course normally costs $2,500 if you do the course at one of their main campuses, but they are a fraction of the price if you do them at one of their affiliate campuses - two of which are in southern Florida.

When did I come up with this idea? Yesterday. When did I decided to actually do it? Today. I called my mother yesterday and ran the idea by her and talked it over with Will. Today we decided it was the best choice and I registered for the class this morning.

Sometimes the best decisions are those made with haste.

On Becoming a chef

What do you do if you already know what you want to be when you grow up but you can't become that just yet? I want to be a chef. Yesterday I wanted to be a translator. Last year I wanted to get a PhD. I still want to be a translator and if I could afford it, I'd get a PhD as well.

So, now I find myself in this position. I know that I want to be a chef and that I WILL go to culinary school. But, the problem is that both of Will and I can't be in school at the same time, so I have to wait at leat two years. We also have to wait for our permanent residency application to go through and be settled in that department. What am I meant to be doing in the mean time? I can't work in a cafe or a restaurant because I have almost zero experience and that kind of job isn't going to pay for the lifestlye we want to have, make loan payments or pay for holidays to Fiji. So I guess I'll take the administrator -translator route for the next two years and see what happens after we get PR.

If I could spend days planning meals and cooking them I would, that's where the personal chef part comes into play. I might work in a commerical kitchen for a bit, just to get experience until we open up The Dirty Flamingo Bar, Grille & Hostel. I don't care for the hours that chefs have to work or the immense amount of stress that everyone is under in the kitchen. I can handle stress, but a lot of other people handle it very badly. That'll suck the fun out of cooking in no time.

NOTE: Jamie Oliver isn't my heroe or anything, I just bought his first cookbook at TJ Max for $5. Even though it wasn't a vegetarian cookbook, I bought because a)I like Jamie Oliver's School Dinners tv series and b) it was only $5! This is actually the first cookbook I've bought that wasn't vegetarian.