and a final analysis on the art of being a sociopath.
My butchery final is 5 hours off, so I'm busily stuffing my head with cuts, categorizations, and various sundries involved in the art of meat fabrication. In case I wasn't clear in recent posts, butchery sucks.
However, I did change my mind on the instructors. I wish I could take any one of the cuisine or garde manger classes with Chef Marc and Chef Matt. For all of the sound and fury of the first week, the nazi jokes, the lip service given to militaristic professionalism, this pair was fun to work for and learn from. Granted, I couldn't run around the classroom screaming SHIT FUCK SCREW while spinning around with a knife in one hand and a beef tenderloin in the other, but for as much as the entire class disliked butchery, we did manage to have some fun with the situation.
As I said before, this class has become a unit, and the chefs saw that. We also produced like maniacs, far exceeding necessary production, which will always serve to endear students to instructors.
I think I referred to Chef Matthew as a pompous asshole, which may or may not be precise. Certainly, he's cocky, but his style of teaching grew on me over the last week or so. He's loud, but positive; he's demanding, but easy with praise when a job is done well; in a good mood, he's actually sort of a goof, which is entertaining. And, without question, he cares about the students, is interested in the ambitions of the students, wants them all to be prepared for what lies ahead. That is a golden quality in a teacher.
Chef Marc is not at all the nazi we were prepped for. He's actually the opposite. Now, he does have a short temper, but he's also very patient and very willing to demo the same cut of meat as many time as necessary to make absolutely certain that the student understands what's going on. Marc is a chef before he is a butcher, so he was always there with a strong opinion on how to prepare the product we were cutting, which was often fascinating. It would have been easy to simply demonstrate the cuts and get the hell out of Dodge, leaving us bored stiff, cold and blood drenched. Instead, taking apart a tenderloin, you could see filets and chateau briand and consider different methods of preparing it and serving it. And he loved questions about cooking. Chef, what could I do with a gallon of rendered duck fat? Get out your notebook, kiddo, 'cause chef is about to UNLOAD. Everything he cut came with two or three quick recipes and plating options. And, as those crazy europeans will tend to do, chef could show you exactly how to cook and serve every part of a carcass in order to cut down on loss.
Europeans will eat anything with a sauce.
Still, butchery is distasteful and requires a certain detachment in order to be done efficiently. This is not a cow. Moo. This is not a lamb. Baa. This is not a rabbit, which has the same structure as a cat. Yes, a cat. Meow. This carcass never lived or had feelings. This is simply a very messy root vegetable. This is not a fist-sized liver. This is not a handful of intestine. This is not an eyeball. Squish.
The garde manger II class is next to Chef Marc's butchery class. During the course of butchery, he would idle next door to see what they were working on and lend assitance were he could. That I will look forward to. Chef Marc is a homespun European cuisine chef, and I know little about rustic European cuisine. As Chef Dylan said, the best thing you can do for yourself in learning to cook is to get good at cooking things you wouldn't ordinarily eat.
So, it'll be a weekend of recovery and then back to the welcoming arms of saute pans and hot ovens.
My butchery final is 5 hours off, so I'm busily stuffing my head with cuts, categorizations, and various sundries involved in the art of meat fabrication. In case I wasn't clear in recent posts, butchery sucks.
However, I did change my mind on the instructors. I wish I could take any one of the cuisine or garde manger classes with Chef Marc and Chef Matt. For all of the sound and fury of the first week, the nazi jokes, the lip service given to militaristic professionalism, this pair was fun to work for and learn from. Granted, I couldn't run around the classroom screaming SHIT FUCK SCREW while spinning around with a knife in one hand and a beef tenderloin in the other, but for as much as the entire class disliked butchery, we did manage to have some fun with the situation.
As I said before, this class has become a unit, and the chefs saw that. We also produced like maniacs, far exceeding necessary production, which will always serve to endear students to instructors.
I think I referred to Chef Matthew as a pompous asshole, which may or may not be precise. Certainly, he's cocky, but his style of teaching grew on me over the last week or so. He's loud, but positive; he's demanding, but easy with praise when a job is done well; in a good mood, he's actually sort of a goof, which is entertaining. And, without question, he cares about the students, is interested in the ambitions of the students, wants them all to be prepared for what lies ahead. That is a golden quality in a teacher.
Chef Marc is not at all the nazi we were prepped for. He's actually the opposite. Now, he does have a short temper, but he's also very patient and very willing to demo the same cut of meat as many time as necessary to make absolutely certain that the student understands what's going on. Marc is a chef before he is a butcher, so he was always there with a strong opinion on how to prepare the product we were cutting, which was often fascinating. It would have been easy to simply demonstrate the cuts and get the hell out of Dodge, leaving us bored stiff, cold and blood drenched. Instead, taking apart a tenderloin, you could see filets and chateau briand and consider different methods of preparing it and serving it. And he loved questions about cooking. Chef, what could I do with a gallon of rendered duck fat? Get out your notebook, kiddo, 'cause chef is about to UNLOAD. Everything he cut came with two or three quick recipes and plating options. And, as those crazy europeans will tend to do, chef could show you exactly how to cook and serve every part of a carcass in order to cut down on loss.
Europeans will eat anything with a sauce.
Still, butchery is distasteful and requires a certain detachment in order to be done efficiently. This is not a cow. Moo. This is not a lamb. Baa. This is not a rabbit, which has the same structure as a cat. Yes, a cat. Meow. This carcass never lived or had feelings. This is simply a very messy root vegetable. This is not a fist-sized liver. This is not a handful of intestine. This is not an eyeball. Squish.
The garde manger II class is next to Chef Marc's butchery class. During the course of butchery, he would idle next door to see what they were working on and lend assitance were he could. That I will look forward to. Chef Marc is a homespun European cuisine chef, and I know little about rustic European cuisine. As Chef Dylan said, the best thing you can do for yourself in learning to cook is to get good at cooking things you wouldn't ordinarily eat.
So, it'll be a weekend of recovery and then back to the welcoming arms of saute pans and hot ovens.
