Ratatouille

No I am not referring to the movie. Although it would've been fun to watch that all day instead of standing. My legs are so exhausted I think they may fall off any moment now...I may need to invest in some Dr. Scholl's for those oh so attractive shoes I showed you earlier.

So I'm now 3 days deep into culinary school...which means I'm almost a chef, right? Not so much. Since I haven't blogged about my first few days because of exhaustion and a little bit of laziness aaand a little too much Mad Men, here's a brief recap of Day 1 and Day 2:

Day 1 started off with an extremely early wake up call (5:15...eek!) and a car ride into NYC with Dad. He even dropped me off right in front of school...such great service. After getting into the building, I picked up a duffel bag filled with my uniform: 3 chef shirts, 3 pairs of black and white checkered chef pants, 3 aprons, 3 hats and 3 dish towels. We were given our locker numbers and sent to change into our overstarched and bright white uniforms. The women's locker room was a mad house with women of all levels changing into their uniforms as quickly as possibly while chatting about weekend plans and who their new chefs would be (while we were entering into the first day of Level 1, every other level was also switching which means new chefs, new responsibilities, etc). I felt slightly overwhelmed listening to all the other women, but also excited to be surrounded by people who loved food and cooking just as much as I do. After finding my locker and getting changed into my very stiff uniform that I felt like I was swimming in, I headed back out to our classroom, the kitchen. In the kitchen, surrounded by stainless steel, everyone took a place at a station across from another student. We were met by our chefs, Chef Nic and Chef Nick. Chef Nic, our head chef, was only with us for the day while our real chef for Level 1, Chef Rogers (pronounced Roghay with a soft g) was on vacation. The other Chef Nick, the assistant chef, will be with us for the rest of Level 1.

Chef Nic introduced us to the kitchen, showing us where all the pots and other equipment could be found and listed all the French names for the pots, pans and other equipment before going through Auguste Escoffier's kitchen brigade organization system, which is sort of like a management system in the kitchen for who does what. For example, the head of the kitchen is usually the chef de cuisine, followed by sous chef, followed by the chef de partie, who consist of poissoiner, sauciere, garde manger, etc. Slightly confusing, especially in French, but important nonetheless in remembering how a professional (French) kitchen stays organized. We then moved onto knives and our fancy new kitchen equipment provided for us. We were each given a black knife set along with various other kitchen utensils. Everything was so shiny and new and waiting to be used on those gleaming stainless steel pots surrounding us. Being in the kitchen was so tempting, everything just asking to be used. But as newcomers, we were only trusted with some basic chopping techniques on our first day. For good reason too...about half the class managed to slice their fingers or hands at least once while attempting to emincer onions and julienne carrots.

Day 2 began with a brief introduction to Chef Rogers, our chef instructor for Level 1 and then we were allowed to bring chairs into the kitchen for a lecture on sanitation from Chef Tim, a boisterous chef who peppered his slightly boring lecture on how to handle food properly with stories from when he was private chef to celebrities like Starr Jones and Goldie Hawn and his proclamation that regardless of the danger and how many times he has to go to the hospital, he will always eat oysters. Although parts of the lecture on sanitation and food handling were boring, it also brought up some interesting topics of conversation like the industrialization of our chicken and meat industries in America and why bacteria like E. Coli and Salmonella are so important for chefs to know about and avoid. From reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and watching Food Inc., I was already pretty familiar with most of the things he described to us about the meat and poultry industries like the filthy conditions that our chickens live in, the required USDA certification on meat that essentially means nothing except that it came from a cow with four legs. He emphasized the important of knowing where your food comes from because as a chef when someone gets sick from something you serve them, it is your responsibility to figure out where it came from and how the customer got sick. Knowing where your food comes from as a chef is also important in terms of getting the best product, which is somewhat related.

After our lecture from Chef Tim, Chef Rogers returned to get a chance to meet us all and tell us more about himself. Through his thick French accent (even though he said he was born in the Bronx he was raised in Paris) and quiet voice, I heard a little bit about his prior career as a chef...working in France, Greenwich and New York. Then Chef Nick, the assistant chef in our kitchen, told us about his prior experience in the culinary world...after graduating from college he pursued a career in journalism and went to culinary school at the FCI to start a career in food writing only to realize that he never wanted to sit at a desk ever again. Chef Nick seems like somewhat of a hard ass at times, but I think he really just appreciates people who pay attention and follow direction in the kitchen (you'd be surprised at the people who don't)...I think he might have a little soft side in there somewhere. Chef Rogers is not 100% serious while cooking and seems to have a somewhat lighthearted approach to his cooking. So far he has been a good teacher, allowing us to have a little independence while showing us the proper ways to do things.

Today was the first day we were entrusted to cook something! Ratatouille and a Beet and Goat Cheese Timbale with Frisee. After standing for two hours while Chef Rogers went through a powerpoint of how to identify certain foods (pretty basic things like tomatoes, artichokes, eggplants, herbs, etc), Chef Rogers showed us a demonstration of how to cook the Nicoise-style Ratatouille, or vegetable stew. After a quick lunch, we were let out on our own to cook one with our partners. My partner for the week is Christian, a guy from New Jersey who just graduated from high school. We made a pretty good pair and are on similar skill levels with chopping and generally understanding what we were supposed to do. We were happily humming along with our recipe while the two students next to us started arguing..."I paid attention and I know what I'm doing if you would just listen." "No I know I am right and this is wrong!" Hopefully my next partner and I will not be like that...

The ratatouille was made with onions, green and red peppers, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic and a bouquet garni (herbs tied with string) of basil, parsley stems, a bay leaf and thyme. The thing that has been most difficult for me to adjust to in the kitchen classroom is the constant buzzing and the rush of all the students. Everyone grabbing the ingredients and pots and whatever else we needed was just absolute chaos. Hopefully as we get more attuned to the classroom things will be a little calmer. It's also difficult to adjust to the way that the chefs like us to set up our stations...for example we have to keep our station clean of everything but what we are chopping, and we have to make sure we keep our onion peelings separate from our tomato skins because they save each of those for different recipes. It can end up being a lot to remember, especially when one of the chefs suddenly appears behind you, watching you nearly slice your finger off from nervousness simply cutting up an onion that you've cut a million times before. But it's pressure and pressure is something that is naturally a part of any kitchen.

As our ratatouille simmered away on the stove, Chef Rogers demonstrated our next recipe, the beet and goat cheese timbale, or salad. It required mostly prepwork, no real cooking and it all had to be done wearing plastic gloves since it was an item that wouldn't be cooked. Because of the bacteria on our hands, we always have to wear gloves with items that will be served raw. We started by peeling and macedoining (cutting into dice shapes) beets and granny smith apples. Then we had to meticulously wash the frisee leaves, parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon, make a vinaigrette with shallots and white wine vinegar and soften the goat cheese. The most challenging part was the plating. We used a 3 inch ring to mold the beets and goat cheese into a small cylinder shape, the beets, marinated in the vinaigrette on the bottom and the softened goat cheese perfectly flattened to the top of the ring. Then we had to remove the ring...I happened to forget the important step of getting the ring wet first so my goat cheese which I had so carefully flattened did not stay where it should have, but I was able to get it back into its proper shape and cover any deformities with the frisee. Around this structure, we put the dice shaped apple, and more vinaigrette. It was so beautiful! The deep purple of the beets contrasting with the stark white of the cheese and the bright green of the frisee on top. Then the carefully sprinkled vinaigrette around the edge of the plate. It looked like something from a restaurant! Christian, my partner, and I took our plates up to the chefs to taste and were given a thumbs up (well not really, they would never give you that much credit, but they didn't hate it or criticize it too heavily which is basically the equivalent).

So that is all so far! Tomorrow we are learning a new type of cutting vegetables: tourner, which is turning a carrot or potato or turnip into a 7 sided oval-shaped object. Who knows why the French feel its necessary to make such shapes out of vegetables...but after tomorrow I will know how!