Chef's Diary

alors….ça y est, dimanche 30 décembre, 01h55 et c’est la fin de l’année où j’ai pris mes premiers pas dans le monde de cuisine professionnelle – la transformation de consultant en cuisinier est loin d’être arrivée à la fin du cycle, mais, à la fin de ces premiers 3 mois (le 8 octobre me semble assez lointain !), je me sens bien avec ce que j’ai mis en route.

J’ai écrit il y a 1 ou 2 semaines que je cherche un “mentor” / un parrain / un “guru” qui me guiderait pendant mes premières années. Je sens tjrs ce besoin-là. Pour l’instant je fais les choses comme je le sens – c’est à dire,

En fait, je ne sais pas si ma démarche est la bonne – je veux absolument réussir, mais je ne sais pas si je suis sur le bon chemin…..je pense que “oui”, tel que je vois les choses aujourd’hui. De toute façon, c’est quoi “réussir” ? Qu’est-ce que je veux faire de cette vie de cuisinier ? En rentrant ce soir en vélo je me suis dit de ne pas oublier que j’avais en tête – tout au début – un lieu “anglais / français”, échange des cultures, autour de la “bouffe” et de la cuisine, mais aussi de la musique, photo, journalisme, romans…..je me vois bien attirer par le monde de cuisinier “perfectionnist”….gastronomique….maîtriser les gestes et les produits….mais pour réussir cela il me faudrait au moins plusieurs années du métier……et même avec 10 ans, peut-être au final je n’aurais pas le “talent” pour être le grand cuisinier.

La vérité est que je ne sais pas ce que je veux faire dans ce métier – comment laisser ma marque.

Par contre, ce que je sais, c’est que je suis bien parmi les autres qui se trouvent dans ce métier. C’est un monde tellement vaste…..on pourrait se spécialiser dans tellement de choses différentes (cuisine de champignons / que de la cuisine sur une base de saffron / que du fois gras / ……..).

En tout cas, à cette fin d’année, je suis content avec ce que j’ai fait cette année – autant dans la cuisine que chez Capgemini, à vrai dire.

Bonne année à tout, toute et tous, et vivement 2008 !

This week I started my 2nd period of training in La Fontaine Gaillon kitchen – Wednesday to today (Friday) to be more exact. I was a bit apprehensive on Wednesday morning whilst going to work, but in the end, I picked up pretty much where I left off over 6 weeks ago. The team hasn’t changed, the menu has (with essentially the fish changing – no merlan / whiting, for instance) and the number of customers has dropped off dramatically – all restaurants in Paris (maybe all of France for all I know) seem to have a long quiet time during the festive period – something which is not the case in the UK…..at least not when I was a waiter 20 years ago !!

The big change for me since my return is that I am finally “au chaud”, as they say over here. That means that I am finally working on the hot plates / gas rings. My job is essentially to serve the mashed potatoes, heat the vegetables in the poêle, cook the ravioli and dress the plates (heating the leek julienne and the beurre fondu and truffle sauce in the process). Since I’ve been back we’ve had between 11 and 50 customers each midday service…in other words, very few !! However, given that I have just started au chaud, the lack of customers has been a bit of a blessing for me, at least. Just to list the things that I’ve been doing this week (I haven’t done this for a while !),

One of the complications of running a kitchen during the festive period is the lack of customers (at least, during the midday service), lack of fresh supplies (we had no fish delivery on Wednesday, our first day back after Christmas) and, thus, managing the stock – pretty obvious, I know, but for a restaurant like La Fontaine which is so reliant on fresh produce which arrives daily, this festive period is a bit tricky to say the least.

I’d like to say that it was great to be – finally – at the hot stove / plate / rings, but to be honest, it was a bit of an overload….even with very few customers, my head wasn’t prepared for the different things that I was meant to remember

……”2 bowls of creamed potatoes, put out the plates for the next 2 orders going out…that’s a bowl for the scallops….ohh, you get the sauce ready for that by the way…..and a plate for the cod……3 raviolis….get the juliène heated up in the poêle which you then dress in a bowl with a little beurre fondu and truffle….why didn’t you get the vegetables for the bass ?!….no, don’t bother, I’ve already got them…”

……phew, way, way out of the comfort zone…however, strangely, I most certainly don’t want to stop being with the guys “au chaud”. Anyway, I’ve never been one for liking the comfort zone.

On that note, I’ll say goodnight and here’s to a rousing finale to my culinary 2007 tomorrow at Le Zephyr….I want it to be a good end to my 2007…a big 2008 awaits !

First of all, 1 week without a single post….I can only apologise to my faithful following in France, Switzerland, the UK, the US all the way thru to China ! It’s not that I’ve been particularly busy – simply no juice for writing. Don’t know why.

Having said that, I have been pretty busy during the spare time that I get – mainly trying to organise a trip to some top kitchens and markets in London for me and some fellow students (and teachers !). As well as that, I’ve also spent a fair bit of time trying to organise the Christmas dinner for the people from our training course – students, teachers and admin staff included.

So, to give you an idea of what is being planned for the visit to London, first of all a copy of the email that I sent to Gordon Ramsay Holdings, followed by a forum post that I put on the Jamie Oliver web site.

I am writing to you following the advice of one of your colleagues, who I spoke to this lunchtime.

I am currently training to be a chef here in Paris (oct 07 – may 08). As a part of this training, I suggested to my fellow students (aged between 21 and 48) and teachers that it would be very interesting to visit some of the top kitchens in London. Being an Englishman in Paris for over 6 years, I am always trying to promote our chefs and cuisine wherever possible. My idea is to organise a couple of days to visit 2 or 3 top kitchens run by British chefs, as well as some markets (Borough, New Covent Garden, Smithfield, etc) and suppliers. My visit is fully supported by my catering school – Greta Métiers de l’Hôtellerie.

I am in the early days of planning the visit where I need to identify those restaurants which would be interested in allowing a group of 5-10 French cookery students/teachers to meet members of the staff in the kitchen of one of your restaurants (Royal Hospital Road, Petrus or Maze would be of particular interest) – the aim being 2-fold :

show the French students and teachers that good food and great ideas are alive and well and being pushed to their limits in the UK

to give us a good idea of what differences (if there are any) there are between French and British kitchens (we are all working in different Parisian restaurants). It would also be very constructive to be able to “feel” the passion that drives your staff, and also to see what kind of training your staff receive.

I am currently talking with a friend of mine who is a journalist for a major British national to see if our visit would be of interest. Given that Gordon Ramsay is planning a new restaurant in the west of Paris, maybe our visit could be a source of publicity for you ?

Anyway, this is an initial contact to see if the general principle would be possible. If this is OK, then we could talk about the details.

Working already in 2 restaurants, I know that time is difficult to find in kitchens. However, if I have choosen the Gordon Ramsay restaurants for our visit it is because, not only is he the best (and British), but you clearly have a serious respect for training, encouraging and developing new culinary talent.

Thanks in advance for your time, and hopefully we will speak soon

By the way, I have to say “hat’s off” to the backroom staff at Gordon Ramsay Holdings – they have been extremely polite, quick in their response, and willing to find a way of accomodating us. As it stands at the moment, we have at least got a visit to Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, with an interview with Mark Sergeant (Head Chef) and one of the trainees, and then a Head Office visit to meet the people who organise the training for all Gordon Ramsay staff. So, a big thank you.

The other restaurant that I am trying to organise a visit to is “15″ – the Jamie Oliver inspired restaurant which is a base for the “15 Foundation”. Why ? Well, because Jamie Oliver has been a great source of inspiration – not always for his cooking, but 110% always for his energy, his passion, his willingness to discover (and show that he is not the master of everything) – and also because I admire the principles upon which the “15 Foundation” bases itself….principles which seem to me to be lacking a little bit here in France. Before copying the message that I sent to one of the top men at the “15 Foundation”, a quick reminder of the principles of the foundation…..

I find this approach pretty damned refreshing, and very British (it’s my French wife who said that, in fact). I know that I’m just at the beginning of my cuisine career (so I have a lot of things to see here in France, and elsewhere – so this is simply a general impression about French attitude to diplomas, age, number of years experience, background), but I’m not sure that the above principles are omni-present in French society.

Anyway, the discussion about differences that I have noticed between British-French cultures is for another post. Onto the message that I sent (to which I am yet to have a reply !),

my name is Dom, I’m 38, English and currently 8 weeks into an 8 month French Cookery diploma (CAP Cuisine, it’s the main entry-level qualification here in France) here in Paris (I’ve been in Paris for 6 years as an IT consultant and am at the beginning of changing my career path – computers to cookers !).

I know that, being 38, I do not match the “15 Foundation” selection criteria, however, I do have 2 questions concerning the Foundation.

1) are there any plans to set up something in France – possibly one of the regions where there is a particularly high % of Brits ? Given that Ramsay is heading over here soon, and also taking into account Jamie’s growing profile over here (good exposure on “Cuisine TV” on cable telly), surely the time is right to take on the “French Challenge” head-on ? The Foundation’s ethos of investing in youth / not letting the past dictate the future / paper qualifications not being as important as real life experience / having fun are things that are often lacking in the traditional French system. What you have all done over the last 5 years would really be a breath of fresh air to a trade which is in difficulty (not enough people attracted to fill the many vacancies, more restaurants closing than opening….).

2) As I said at the start, I am currently 8 weeks into an 8 month traditional French cookery training course (at the Greta des Métiers de l’Hôtellerie, in Paris). I have proposed to my student colleagues, and equally to the teachers, to organise a 2 day trip to London to visit the kitchens of some of London’s top “British” (that is, set up and inspired by home-grown chefs) restaurants. My aim is to show the French people that I study with that good food and great ideas are alive and well and being pushed to their limits in the UK. I am currently in discussion with Gordon Ramsay Holdings, and would like to know if you think that “15″ w

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Yep, I know it seems a pretty improbable combination, but seriously, since starting my chef training (7 weeks ago) I have lost approx. 5 kilos (just under 1 stone) ! I still don’t really know why, because I’m still eating as much as before, if not more. The only differences that I can see are that

Actually, reading thru this short list, I guess that it’s not surprising that I’ve lost weight. Especially when you take into account that 9 or 10 hours at a desk is replaced by approximately the same time (well, when I’m working at either the Fontaine Gaillon or the Zephyr) standing, carrying….or even running, during the service !

The problem is that I can’t really afford to lose weight since I’m already not exactly what you’d call a “muscle man” ! So, to remedy this issue, I’ve renewed my gym membership, and I’m going to get back into a basic 2 or 3-times a week routine, at least when I’m at school. Monday and Friday mornings will now include a 1 hour session at Club Med at République which isn’t too far from my home near La Villette, Paris. My aim ?….get back up to 68 Kilos (11 stone)….my normal, “fighting” weight before my 2nd period of placement at La Fontaine Gaillon.

Just a footnote – of course, I know that some of you will be saying that I’m a lucky thing losing weight without doing anything in particular. Well, maybe that’s one of the positive side-effects of working in this trade (thought I’m not really convinced of that….how many skinny chefs do you know ?). Just bear in mind that working in kitchens for 10+ hours is also very tiring….and I’ve bearly even started….I know that the real hard work is sitting there waiting for me. Anyway, alot of my friends are telling me at the moment that I’m looking very drawn and tired….and, so that you all have an idea of how I am, I thought that I’d add a “mug shot” of me at the moment…that way I’ll let you decide if I’m tired or not !

Cette semaine nous sommes tous rentrés à l’école pour reprendre le rythme scolaire – beaucoup plus doux, c’est clair, que mes 2 semaines de travail à La Fontaine et au Zephyr. Par contre, je commence à trouver une certaine calme au fourneau à l’école (….parce que soyons clair, je ne suis que très rarement au fourneau quand je suis au restaurant !) et au poste des entrées / desserts quand je suis en cuisine aux restos. Je n’ai tjrs pas la rapidité de geste autour du poisson (préparer le merlan à l’anglaise, désarrêter le saumon – avec un econome, que le chef m’a appris ce soir – et retirer sa peau me prendre bcp plus de temps que les chefs), mais je pense que je commence à enterriner le besoin de tjrs vouloir trouver les raccourcis, toute en respectant les étapes à suivre. A l’école, M. Charron (l’un de nos profs pour nos travaux pratiques – TPs) veut nous guider de moins en moins, qui va nous rendre de plus en plus autonome – une progression qui me plaît énormément. Du coup, nos TPs vont devenir de plus en plus intéressants (parce que parfois, il faut le dire, le référentiel du CAP Cuisine n’est pas passionnant !).

Ce soir nous avons fait 70 couverts et nous étions 2 (même si JB – qui vend les coquillages devant le resto le soir – est venu parfois pour me donner un coup de main, et le chef m’a pas mal aidé avec des remarques du style “le pain grillé pour le fois gras, mettre toute de suite les oeufs coquotte quand le bon de commande arrive….”) en cuisine – moi et le chef. Donc, j’ai dû assurer les entrées et les desserts (avec l’aide de JB), et je m’en suis sorti assez bien (l’équipe est bien gentile avec moi, il faut le dire).

Au final je découvre que je suis assez calme – ceci dit, je cours parfois parce que je n’arrive pas à garder en tête l’ordre de mes tâches…donc, je perds le fil parfois. Mais globalement, je ne panique pas, qui me rassure déja. Encore plus rassurant, c’est que j’aime bien la pression quand le service commence et les bons de commande arrivent sur l’imprimante…..il y a une énergie que je n’ai jamais eu quand j’étais consultant. Je me rappelle quand j’ai lu “Kitchen Confidential” (de Anthony Bourdain, cuisto américain avec un papa Français) l’écrivain parlait avec fièrté de la capacité de l’équipe en cuisine de sortir 200+ couverts le soir (si je me souviens bien). Il parlait bcp de l’énergie en cuisine – souvent la musique était un symbol de l’identité et de l’énergie de l’équipe / du chef. En tout cas, je découvre cette passion pour le moment quand il faut courir tout en restant calme et lucide.

Ca m’intéresserait de savoir comment c’est “l’heure de pointe” dans un resto étoilé…..moins de couverts, je suppose, plus de précision dans l’assiette, plus de rigueur peut-être….des gestes bcp plus techniques…..peut-être. En tout cas, avec La Fontaine et Le Zephyr, je vois pas mal de technicité, d’imagination et de qualité (d’équipe et de produit), et tout cela avec des chefs qui sont très humain.

Ma femme et ma famille continue à m’encourager et me montrer qu’ils sont avec moi 110%…..sans cela cette évolution ne serait pas possible. Je leur remercie pour cela.

Un petit souci pour mon financement par le FONGECIF – j’ai eu une lettre avec un nouveau contrat disant que mon niveau de financement a été ajusté…..on me propose 50% de ce que l’on me proposait il y a 2 mois. Cela me poserait un vrai problème. A voir lundi avec le FONGECIF.

Une dernière remarque concernant mes “posts” dans mon blog. En lisant les blogs d’autres passionnés de la cuisine, je me rends compte que “le coeur de métier” est la publication des recettes. C’est logique puisque, au final, la cuisine et la création et la découverte de recettes est au coeur de ce que nous aimons faire. Par contre, comme vous l’avez déjà constaté peut-être, je ne parle pas vraiment de recettes. Pour l’instant cela ne me passionne pas…..ce qui m’intéresse en ce moment c’est, d’un côté, le partage de ce que je vis, et de l’autre côté, ma découverte du métier, des produits….de la culture cuisine. A terme je vais naturellement passer vers les recettes, je suppose…..on verra bien.

Bonne nuit et à très bientôt.

So, I’m at the end of my 2 week period at La Fontaine Gaillon and wow, what a rollercoaster of emotion !

I’ve been buzzing with excitement, exhausted, aching hands (my right hand is still tingling, quite literally), slightly demoralised, and now quitely confident and content.

In my last post I talked about the need to find my place in the team. Well, this coincided with the departure on 1 weeks’ sick leave of one of the young lads with whom I work. The next day (Wednesday) when we were 1 person less in our little team of 4 who work on all starters / entrées. So, all of a sudden, I had a role in the team – not much of a role, but my own things to do during the service….génial ! So what exactly did I have to do….?

* put on the toast for the warm artichoke and fois gras salad (4 slices), or for the salmon carpaccio (2 slices)
* cook and dress the plate for the langoustine spring rolls / nems aux langoutines
* put the langoustine raviolli in the boiling water (and sometimes take it out and put it in a bowl)
* prepare, cook (plunge them in the deep fat fryer) and dress the plate for the calamaris / petites fritures
* pipe the mayonnaise, sometimes tartare sauce or another sauce into small serving dishes for either soup, merlan / whiting
* constantly clean-up after ourselves (like everyone else)

So, as you can see, it ain’t really Escoffier or Gordon Ramsay….but it’s MY job for the 2 hour rush, and believe me, if the toast isn’t ready when there are over 100 people to serve during the midday service….well, you’re dead !!! I wasn’t great yesterday, but today I felt “on the ball” from the word “go” at 08hrs this morning.

So all in all, what is the usual day for me ?

1) my working day (10 hours, 8-18hrs, en continue rather than en coupure which means 7h30-14h30 and then 17h30-midnight-ish) goes very, very quickly and is split into 5 phases
Part 1 : 08hrs – 11hrs we are all preparing the fish which arrives between 7-9am (merlan, rouget, langoustine, moules, couquilles st. jacques, cabillaud, merlu, thon, bar – bearing in mind that only the experienced chefs can prepare the st jacques, cabillaud, thon and particularly the bar which is expensive and thus inexperienced hands which tend to leave too much flesh on bones and don’t cut the flesh cleanly are only allowed merlan and rouget), the side dishes (veg peeled, sliced, cut into disks and cooked in steam oven) are prepared, mayo and guacamole is made, bread cut, langoustines shelled, raviolli and spring rolls put together, cooked new potatoes peeled, onions chopped finely, estragon and parsley chopped into ribbons, deliveries stored in the cold storage, baguettes rubbed with garlic and cut into small slices and grilled (for the soup), artichokes are peeled and reduced to the heart of the artichoke, and so on and so on……
Part 2 : 11hrs – 11h30 time for all the team – from dishwasher to chef to waiter staff – to sit down and eat “lunch”, prepared by Guillaume. This is the only pause during the day, and even though it officially lasts 30 minutes, for almost everyone it lasts around 20 minutes.
Part 3 : 11h30 – 12h30 is the time where the energy picks up, the team starts to move quicker, final preparations are completed, the waiter staff meet with the senior chefs to discuss the menu for the day…..we’re ready
Part 4 : 12h30 – 14h30 is what it’s all for…..or atleast, all of the prep in the morning. Usually during this time 100+ people will be served starter / main course, the 2 different teams (cold and hot – or those preparing the starters and those preparing the main meals) run whilst at the same time controling the culinary production. Frankly, it’s exhilirating….as long as you know what you’re doing !! The Chef calls out the orders which arrive, the different members of each team click into action. We are lucky to have a lovely kitchen in which to work, stainless steel / inox everywhere and thus easy to clean, lots of small fridges for storage (in draws or cupboards), everyone knows what they are there to do and which dishes concern them…..we run quite literally sometimes, but when it comes to the plate, it’s calm personnified. The last few days I’ve had a role to play in this controlled mayhem, and it’s been great – I’ve not been perfect, far from it…but I know that I can do this job. I need to do it for a prolonged period of time and it will come. I look at the chefs working the gas rings and hot plates and I want to be there……the creation….., well, between 12H30 and 14h30 it’s not the time for creation, it’s time to act with efficiency (ideally, though of course, occasionnally, toast gets tipped into pans accidently, starters get dropped on the floor – and not put back in the plate, I hasten to add !)
Part 5 : 14h30 – 18h is time for those who are not working during the evening (ie. me and someone else, usually Cédric and Tran, though sometimes Akio or Manu) to do the prep for the evening session. During this period there is a 3 minute pause (really, not as long as 5 minutes) for a coffee, the rhythm is “cooler” (though not today since we had loads to do) and thus it’s the time to get to know the people who are left in the kitchen during the afternoon.

I leave whilst the rest of the team are sitting down to eat their dinner (18h – 18h30).

It’s a good kitchen where good habits are learnt…I’ve got, however, a lot to learn on the morphology / phyisionnomy of the different fish that we buy in.

I’ve got to have a good day tomorrow at Le Zephyr to cap what’s been a good, though testing, week.

This blog has been up and running and accessible for 13 days, and in that time I have had 60 different visitors from 9 different countries (France, Switzerland, Sweden being the top sources, with sporadic interest coming from the USA, Canada, NZ, Portugal, UK, Belgium). I think that a number of you have not spent much time reading my diary entries (fair enough – I was quite frankly gobsmacked / surprised when my mate Rob suggested that my journal might be worth putting on the web as a blog), but there seems to be about 30% of you who follow my entries quite regularly.

So, I’m pretty curious to know who you are…..not necessarily your whole intimate history, but simply why you are interested in this blog. I’d be very interested to have your thoughts on what I’m doing – 38 yr old English computer consultant changes direction to get trained up as a chef and then set up his own restaurant.

Anyway, truth be known, I’m feeling a bit low on morale today…..a few doubts have been allowed to creep into my head. So, I would be very keen to have some words of encouragement…..:-)

Briefly, today I had a short chat with the chef – he appreciates my energy, he says that I should be careful to not try to move forward too quickly (thus annoying people if I try to do stuff that I can’t and this then making them less willing to help when I am more able to do what I would like to do), that they don’t really need me and thus the main difficulty that I’ll have is trying to find my place, he is perfectly willing to let me work at different roles during my time in his kitchen (for example, each Wednesday I could do patissery, each morning I could help the poissonnier prepare the Whiting / Merlan, and so on). The fact that they don’t need me depressd me a wee bit, even though I know that this is a reality and despite that I will still be able to get a lot of good experience. I just want some responibility (for even the smallest task) – I guess because I’m totally used to being autonomous in my consultant role. At the same time I know that this is unreasonable to expect. I think that by the end of my second period of training in the restaurant (end of Dec 2007 – til the end of Jan 2008) I will have a better idea of where I am.

I need to find my place in the team.

I think that I am at a moment where I should start to master the basics and have some real cuisine knowledge – Saturday’s session at Le Zephyr was somewhat difficult for me….not too much work – quite the opposite and for me it was an opportunity missed to get a bit of experience at working the hot plates. The problem was that quite simply I don’t remember what goes in the plate for different dishes…..I am still asking regularly what plate to use, etc. Not good enough and I really must get this sorted out. For me to be able to develop my culinary craft (i.e. able to be creative in the professional kitchen) I must first of all master the basics of how to organise myself in the kitchen and to organise / order / plan my production (i.e. know how to “construct” the various dishes that are on the menu and to make sure that ).

Some things that I aim to achieve in the next few weeks….

* learn thoroughly the basic sauces (for example, I was sure that I knew how to prepare the sauce béarnaise : well, yes I knew the different ingredients and approx. the different stages….but I didn’t understand or “feel” the sauce….I don’t know if you know what I mean, but I do and that’s what counts – it’s an emulsion which is a sauce created, essentially, out of the fusion of a water-based product and a fat-based productI need to prepare these sauces regularly so that it becomes part of me. Then I can start to imagine new sauces….;-)

* cuts of meat : I am starting with beef (33 cuts), moving on to lamb (12 cuts) and then veal (16 cuts).

* fish : learn the basics on the fish which are on the menu at La Fontaine – Bar / Sea Bass, Merlan / Whiting, Merlu-Colin / Hake (which becomes Morue in France when it is salted), Rouget / Snapper, Sole.

* learn “by heart” how the starters and puddings (Le Zephyr only, since I don’t have to be able to do sweets at La Fontaine) are presented at Le Zephyr and La Fontaine.

All of that said, a quick rundown of what I have done during the last 2 sessions at work (at Le Zephyr Saturday and La Fontaine today)….

* filleted a whole salmon (3,5KG), took off the skin, preparation of a tartare
* deboned chicken leg
* finished the béarnaise sauce (starting from the reduction which was done earlier in the day) – liaison avec l’émulsion d’oeuf, ajout de l’eau, monter jusqu’à une sauce firme, ajout du beurre clarifié d’un seul coup et bien intégré
* prepared from start to finish my own recipie for Rice Pudding (see recipie 2), even though we didn’t sell a single one all night !!
* prepared (clean out and fillet whilst keeping the 2 fillets joined together by the skin) 30 or so Red Mullets / Rougets
* listened to the orders coming in even though we were busier today than at any point last week – 80 covers.

Anyway, better leave it at that since I’ve got a brief meeting with the chef tomorrow morning at 7h40.

Cheers, Dom

Alors, on est tous à la fin de la première semaine de nos stages respectifs – en ce qui me concerne, tout va bien pour l’instant…..et j’ai même pu profiter d’un jour férié (jeudi) qui était glorieux…je n’ai jamais profité autant d’un jour férié quand j’étais chez Capgemini….là, jeudi, mes mains étaient fatiguées et j’avais besoin d’une pause….oouff !!!!

La Fontaine Gaillon : bonne équipe (10 – chef, 2 seconds, 2 poissonniers, 3 garde mangers, 2 patissiers) et moi avec un autre apprenti patisserie), que des mecs, bcp d’années d’expérience, bcp de bon poisson dans l’assiette. Je rencontrerai le chef pour la première fois (en cuisine, en tout cas) et donc l’occasion de faire un point et de parler de ce que je veux faire….travailler le poisson, passer un peu de temps avec les crustacés dans l’autre resto (L’écaille), et passer qqs semaines avec les patissiers. Je dirai qu’il faut aussi (évidemment) travailler les légumes (tourner les navets, etc) et autres choses de base.

Le Zephyr : très bonne équipe, style plus décontracté mais plein d’idées sur le côté créatif, très ouvert (le chef m’a demandé de proposer un dessert pour ce w/end et il est intéressé par mon idée d’entrée aussi…..mais peu importe, lui, sa femme et son second m’ont écouté et ne m’ont pas traité pour un petit stagière qui n’en sait rien…et donc, ça donne envie de s’exprimer, et donc d’apprendre). Un semedi très chargé mais très intéressant.

Pourquoi “cereal blogger” ? Ce soir nous sommes sortis (ma femme et moi) avec une amie (une ancienne de ma formation) et son homme, Peter – nous sommes allés à un restaurant “Chez Léon” (métro Villiers) dont le co-propriétaire (Vincent) est un ancien de ma formation (d’il y a 2 ans). C’était une très bonne soirée – malheureusement nos pastillas n’étaient pas terrible, mais le poisson (bar ?) était bon et je sais que Vincent va réussir – il a tout ce qu’il faut pour le faire.

Nous avons parlé de plusieurs choses – surtout MOI au début…je n’arrive pas à m’arrêter de parler de moi, mon projet, mes idées…l’enthousiasme est parfois un peu trop pour les autres, peut-être…..enfin bon. Il y avait aussi le projet culinaire / restaurant de mon amie, et les projets de Peter, …….et le fait que je mange toujours des céréales avant d’aller au lit le soir (je viens de finir mes “Cornflakes” avec du lait pasteurisé !!!). Ouais, bizarre…il me faudrait une séance psy pour comprendre pourquoi. En tout cas, j’apprécis énormément les échanges avec mon amie qui est un peu plus avancée que moi sur son chemin d’apprentissage de cuisine. Les échanges avec Peter m’ont fait revenir sur le monde de l’informatique que je cherche à quitter…..c’était un peu curieux parce que je me sentais intéressé par les points qu’il évoquait (sur ses projets informatiques), mais en même temps, je me disais “mais Dom, pourquoi poses-tu toutes ces questions parce que tu ne veux plus faire partie de ce monde-là !?”….une très bonne soirée, et ça va être intéressant pour eux de voir comment nous sommes (ma femme et moi) à la fin de janvier 2008 – moins d’argent, plus de véçu du métier et des horaires longues !!

…et j’ai acheté un livre de Hervé This – une introduction à la Gastronomoie Moléculaire “Casseroles et Eprouvettes”. On verra bien – déjà si j’arrive à comprendre et retenir ce qu’il a à raconter.

Bon voila mes réflections pour aujourd’hui – une très, très bonne semaine avec une belle soirée avec 2 bonnes âmes. J’espère que la semaine prochaine sera aussi porteuse de bonheur !

So finally the moment arrives where I’m silently cutting vegetables (in this case, it was my 6th case of camus artichokes…that’s the big, bulbous ones rather than the small poivrades) in the kitchen and I’m quietly thinking to myself that I’d much rather be working with the 20 fresh whiting (merlan) that the guy next to me is preparing !! I knew that I’d quickly have to face up to the frustration of being the most junior, inexperienced person in the kitchen, and there it is after only 3 days.

I’m really pleased, as it happens, with today.

People didn’t quite know what to do with me – there was an extra guy in the team who returned from sick leave (for which the kitchen staff are not paid – welcome to the “real world” outside of the protected office jobs), and basically I was surplus to requirements. However, I was determined to always be busy – find things to do, and never stop….which I pretty much managed to do for the 10 hours from 8am ’til 6pm.

I made 10 litres of mayonnaise, took out the meat from umpteen crab (“tourteau” – the most common crab this side of the Atlantic) legs, chopped up the first 3 of 6 crates of Artichokes, peeled a pile of potatoes (with the dishwashers), peeled esparagus tips / cooked new potatoes, cut discs of celeriac & potato, “turned” (cut a vegetable in regular elipitical shapes) white radish, cut up chervil root (I didn’t even know that this existed – very good, actually…a bit like parsnip in texture and flavour, but with an edge of roasted chesnut), peeled a pile of carrots, prepared 30 fois gras ravioli, and helpedget together some starters during the “rush”.

But most of all, I was able to chat to the fish cook and what’s called the “garde manger” (the guy who looks after all cold starters and, officially, receives and deals with all deliveries) – 2 guys who have 13 and 10 years of experience respectively (and they are both under 30 yrs old !!!). The fish cook in particular gave me a fair bit of advice, but at the same time I was able to explain what I am about, what I want to do in the restaurant trade and where I come from / how I got here.

On returning this evening, I got stuck into my recipie books to find something for Rice Pudding / Riz au Lait…..Jamie Oliver to the rescue, and a few hours later I was taking photos of my efforts….great fun, but at the end, when there’s no one there to taste the offerings….well, food is all about sharing and giving pleasure, and so without the kids and my wife (they’re all up visiting Grandma / Mamilie in Lille) it’s all a bit hollow. Still, I’ve learnt quite a few things along the way. For the fruits of my labours have a look on the page “Idées…” within this blog.

Anyway, as I type, my hands are reminding me that they have been working damned hard these last 5 days or so (since last Saturday)….they are knackered, as the rest of my body is. My right hand is particularly knackered – 3 days of artichokes having taken its toll, I think. I have a huge blister at the base of my right index finger and in general the palm of my hand is tingling….it needs a rest, and I’ve never been so happy to see a Bank Holiday arrive (All Saints Day – Toussaint).

Good night, and here’s to a beautiful lie in tomorrow morning…la grasse matinée !!