Or you could call it longed for freedom.
Chef Ali is loud, concerns himself with rules only so far as he can circumvent them, and might be the most impressive instructor I've had so far. More on that another day.
In garde manger, we'll be doing lots of salads, buffet trays, appetizers and hors'doeuvres (or however you spell it). Chef rolled through the get to know you first day bullshit and broke us into teams, then announced what each group would be preparing tomorrow. My group will be doing potato salad, butter bean salad, a cheese tray and 20 different canapes.
"What kind of potato salad do you want, chef," we ask.
"The best one I've ever had," says chef.
And that's about how things will go in garde manger. Instruction will be more or less socratic, in that we are responsible for stretching our culinary muscles and leaning on chef for help when we are in the weeds.
The group gathered after class to riff out ideas. How about a potato salad without mayo, just a vinaigrette? Sounds good. Let's do two - one with, one without. Right. Butter bean salad with, I dunno, an almond vinagrette? Could be good. Let's try it.
So, you see, the spirit of experimaentation is high in the group. We'll see what happens as we collectively fuck up a few things. As I've said, I don't particularly like working in groups around the stove, and I can see myself getting pissed if I sense any attitude. But it's a good group I've got, so I'll just dig in and go.
This sort of freedom is exactly what I've wanted out of culinary school. Give me an ingredient, a general direction, then let me riff on it until I come up with something really good. Let me ruin 15 pounds of red potatoes in search of a new take on potato salad. Let me put together some vile vinaigrette combinations before stumbling across that one in a million that shouldn't work but somehow does.
So I've got to come up with half a dozen canapes and I don't think nachos will cut it. Or will they?
Chef Ali is loud, concerns himself with rules only so far as he can circumvent them, and might be the most impressive instructor I've had so far. More on that another day.
In garde manger, we'll be doing lots of salads, buffet trays, appetizers and hors'doeuvres (or however you spell it). Chef rolled through the get to know you first day bullshit and broke us into teams, then announced what each group would be preparing tomorrow. My group will be doing potato salad, butter bean salad, a cheese tray and 20 different canapes.
"What kind of potato salad do you want, chef," we ask.
"The best one I've ever had," says chef.
And that's about how things will go in garde manger. Instruction will be more or less socratic, in that we are responsible for stretching our culinary muscles and leaning on chef for help when we are in the weeds.
The group gathered after class to riff out ideas. How about a potato salad without mayo, just a vinaigrette? Sounds good. Let's do two - one with, one without. Right. Butter bean salad with, I dunno, an almond vinagrette? Could be good. Let's try it.
So, you see, the spirit of experimaentation is high in the group. We'll see what happens as we collectively fuck up a few things. As I've said, I don't particularly like working in groups around the stove, and I can see myself getting pissed if I sense any attitude. But it's a good group I've got, so I'll just dig in and go.
This sort of freedom is exactly what I've wanted out of culinary school. Give me an ingredient, a general direction, then let me riff on it until I come up with something really good. Let me ruin 15 pounds of red potatoes in search of a new take on potato salad. Let me put together some vile vinaigrette combinations before stumbling across that one in a million that shouldn't work but somehow does.
So I've got to come up with half a dozen canapes and I don't think nachos will cut it. Or will they?
