Getting Married??

I’m a Chef, I specialise in banqueting and have done for many years, weddings mainly, doing  150 per year plus, that’s a bespoke menu, canapes, buffet, and anything else you can think of. But that particular job cannot be done without other people, sales, admin, back of house staff, front of house staff, and co-ordinators.

There are many things that go into planning a wedding, most of which are beyond even my comprehension, and I’m damned clever, the co-ordination is one of them, how these people deal with Brides is beyond me, the state of neurotica that these women go through, every detail, every change (and these happen on a daily basis just dealing with the food!!!). Bridezilla, I’m sure you’ve heard the term, well, it’s apt, I can tell you that just from dealing with co-ordinators.

Anyway, to those of you who are looking to join in holy matrimony, I have the ideal person in mind, her name is Kate Seber, founder of Seber weddings and Events, based in the UK, but available worldwide for consultaion, seberweddingsandevents.com is the address, @seberevents for twitter, and there will be a wrodpress blog happening shortly. I had the pleasure of working with Kate for a number of years, and from a chef’s point of view I found her to be an extremely dedicated and talented individual, very professional and thorough, making my life a hell of a lot easier, so for all those demoness brides out there who are panicing, in need of assistance or just a quick chat, look her up, and see what she has to say.

Swiss Chocolate Cake

I worked in Switzerland over the winter season of 1995/96 in the ski resort of Verbier. The hotel was only small, 25-30 sleepers, and a team of 9 of us ran the place. We produced breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner 6 nights a week.

One of the afternoon tea recipes I took with me was for a chocolate cake, nothing special about that, but by god it was good, I still use it to this day. It’s simple, rich and very, very light.

This makes one 10″ tin, multiply as needed.

• 9 oz dark Chocolate (Personal preference is Carma)
• 6 oz Butter
• 1 oz Flour
• 7 oz Caster Sugar
• 6 Eggs, separated

 

1. Melt Chocolate and Butter together
2. Mix 4 oz of the Sugar with the yolks, whisk till light and pale in colour
3. Combine the Chocolate/Butter mixture with the Sugar/Yolk mix
4. Add the Flour, mix well
5. Whip the Whites till soft peak, whisk in the remaining Sugar till stiff peaks form
6. Fold the whites into the Chocolate mix

Bake at 165 degrees for 30-35 minutes, a skewer inserted needs to come out moist, but not wet.

  Ready to bake.

  The top will rise quite a bit, do not panic. As the cake cools the crust will fall and crack. This is what’s supposed to happen. It’s a perfect presentation piece for it. I would cut it into 12, then dust with icing sugar and serve with clotted cream.

  Not the best photo in the world, but as you can see, the combination of light and dark really set it off.

Definitely worth a go, let me know how it turns out.

 

 

 

My talent, or lack of maybe?

I paint, well I used to, I suffer from no time these days, but I’d like to think I have a good eye, I’m creative and artistic, I work with food so I like things to be aesthetically pleasing. So I thought I’d share with you, comments appreciated, remember, feedback is important.

 

 

 

 

Notre Dame, no Hunchback though……

not a huge post, i was looking through some photos and I thought i’d share a few.

September of 2011, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Paris with my fiance, actually it was her Birthday present to me on my 40th.

Our hotel looked out over the vista that was Paris, the Eiffel tower one side of the balcony, and the gothic masterpiece that is notre Dame out the other.

Gorgeous city, not the cleanest in the world, people camping out in phone boxes for shelter, beggars a plenty, but the buildings are fantastic, if you like that sort of thing, I do, so I took photos. i’ll say it now, I’m a big fan of monochrome, thats black and white to the lamens.

 I really liked this one, it was the only piece of graffiti I saw, a little bit of urban artwork.

Notre Dame is a wonderful visage, you look at it and can almost hear the bells. A massive structure, full of years and history. I love the shape and the structure.

 

This is the portal of The last Judgement, the central doorway. The dammned being led away to the right while the redeemed are on the left.Pretty cool.

 It’s so big inside, you feel so insignificant. a very humbling experience, my fiance was close to tears.

I love the gargoyles, there to keep the evil out, after all they are built on the house of god, but really, they are there to let the rain out. That’s it. Glorified gutters, so the masonary isn’t damaged.

 

 

It’s a truly wonderful building, almost frightening in its prescence.

Feedback? User friendly or………..?

“Nice Restaurant, crap food!”

That’s feedback, utterly useless, but feedback nonetheless. How do you deal with that comment?

There’s not alot you can do with it, it’s damn right non specific in every way possible.

“The Restaurant was lovely, great atmosphere, lovely decor, what let the evening down was the food took ages to arrive and there were only 20 covers, the soup was tepid, steak overcooked, all in all, not a good experience.”

Now that feedback is a lot more specific, it gives you areas to work on. The service needs looking at, more staff perhaps? or better trained? More chefs on duty? It sounds like food is left on the pass and not taken out when it should be, therefore, a lack of communication between restaurant and kitchen? You also need to train someone to cook a steak properly, and help with timings.

Personally, I’m a big fan of feedback, both positive and negative, more so the latter, you can’t better yourself when people say only good things about you, negative feedback will help you learn and progress, show the where you are going wrong, provided it is constructive. There are websites around that deal with reviews of hotels and restaurants, and as a chef, the last thing you want is to read someone reviewing your food in a negative way, but it does happen, even with Michelin starred chefs, fine dining isn’t every ones cup of tea, but we will go to experience it, even though it costs a hell of a lot of money. I read an article in Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine, about a two star Michelin chef who answered back to negative feedback on such a website. Part of his response follows:

“The main reason I do comment on reviews that are negative is to give some balance to the review as most nasty reviews are done by hidden guests that do not make themselves known.
I however do not, this is my business and I do take all criticism very seriously, but am finding harder to do so from mysterious, scared guests who won’t even share there experience with us at the restaurant but decide to hide behind a mask and type away until their heart’s content.”

Now,I have read a lot of the negative reviews on that website about that restaurant, some are constructive, even though they are negative, whereas some are very nonspecific, as I said before, how are you going to improve if you don’t have an area to improve on? There are also reviews on the staff, including the attitudes of the Chef patron, and his wife, his responses were, typically, defensive and obviously supportive of his wife and staff, therefore who do you believe? The client? who may have had a bad day or has a genuine gripe, or the Chef, who, as we all know can be slightly combustible and protective of his establishment. Me? personally? If it was genuine and constructive feedback about a bad meal that I’d cooked? I’d be annoyed, yes, at myself more than anything, bad reviews can kill businesses, but, I’d learn from it, it may take a while before I’d stop wanting to kill him though. I’d also respond in a positive way, I’d apologise for the bad experience that person had, and maybe try to explain why, how etc, if that were possible.But, also, we are chefs and we know our trade, and you can spot a mile off, people that are just taking you for a ride and wanting to get a reduced bill, a bottle of wine or a freebie just for complaining, and those types of people I will not bow down to, and I will apologise to anyone who that offends but this is our trade, and we know it, I’ve seen it happen, many times, and with the stupidist complaints, yet they have received money back and to me that is galling. It’s the dishonesty about it. If I have a bad service, I won’t tip, simple as that, but I’d never make something up just to get a few quid back.

So for me, give me feedback any day, I will take it on board and learn from it, just make it constructive please.

I never wanted to be a Chef………

I was 22, pretty late in the game for a chef, 6 years later than a lot that I know.

I’d planned to go into Hotel management, that was the idea, I began my working life in a pub, at 16, illegal, yes I know, but that was some time ago now. Earning minimum wage, but £50 a weekend was huge when you were that young.

At the age of 18 I started working in hotels, behind the bar, waiting tables, a self taught silver server, rare nowadays. The bar work always stayed with me, I was bloody good. 4 deep at the bar, you knew your regulars, could serve 2 or 3 at once, and on with the right people behind the bar you were on for a good night.

I never wanted to be a chef though, seeing them in the kitchens when I was serving, too much like hard work, the only bonus was they finished early. Hot sweaty kitchens, shouting, disorganization, no thank you. That’s where the management came into it.

I was at this particular chain of hotels for over two years, in that time i was involved with many an event, bot in and out of the hotel, a lot of outside jobs were thrown my way because  I was organized and dedicated, I was working so many hours, I was taking home more than some of the managers. But management was where I wanted to be so after talking to a few people my decision was made, I contacted the colleges in the local area for syllabuses to see what I could do, I payed my own way, so I wasn’t relying on anyone. Kitchen first, get that out of the way.

I enrolled into Darlington college of Technology, in the north of England, I was 21.I was doing a day release, so 5 days at work, one of my days off I spent at college, practical in the morning and theory in the afternoon. I missed the City and Guilds 7061 by a year, so I started on the new fangled National Vocational Qualification or NVQ, supposedly it taught you how to progress int he industry, but if the industry called for you to make a pint and a half of bechamel a week, then I was well on course. We only catered to the college restaurant, so it was a couple of portions of this and a few of that, no big deal, two memories stick with me of my time there, the first was gutting trout with my head out of the window, I’d had a huge amount to drink the night before and was suffering, the second was making steamed sponges in cylindrical moulds, I’d made 4 of them, and half hour into cooking, someone came and got me from the other kitchen, the chef in charge of the pastry kitchen asked if I’d made these to which I nodded, he then showed me the oven………… well i could see the outside of the glass fronted door, but nothing inside.

“Bit too much baking powder chef?”

“Umm, Oui chef”

“I’m sure you’re going to clean it aren’t you?”

“Oui chef”

It covered the door, every last inch of it, alien-like, just a touch too much powder I think.

I passed college with flying colours, one week into my second year. I was the first.

I wanted a job in a kitchen!!

It just so happened that on the 23rd of December I was let go from that hotel, I didn’t tell my step parents of course, so spent Christmas morning in my little flat waiting for the right time to go to their house and say what a busy day I’d had at work. The first week in January, I picked up the Yellow Pages, looked at Restaurants, started at A and began dialing. I got to H before someone gave me a trial shift, I burnt everything i cooked, he told me I start next week. And the rest, as they say is history.

I started in Pastry and six months later I was running sauce section alone, 30 covers a night, 50-60 on a Friday and Saturday, 100 for Sunday lunch, all the while completing my NVQ, and what a buzz it was, I was writing my own menus for T.D.H, serving weddings, and I’d been there less than a year. After Christmas, I moved to Larder, same deal, my own menus and in July was moved back to sauce.

I worked abroad for 3 years after that place, such a good move for me, I worked for a London based company who leased hotels in the Mediterranean and the Alps, I did 6 month contracts, when i left my first job I told the chef I was going for one season only and I’d be back. He was cool with that, I’d been promoted to Demi Chef de Partie, and there was maybe a further promotion on the cards on my return.

Five weeks into it, I rang him and said I was staying out here for longer, I ended up working 3 years, in Corsica, Greece, Sardinia, Switzerland, and Val D’Isere twice. When I came back, between seasons I asked him for work, he said no, I could understand that. That man sadly, passed away a few years ago, so I’d like to thank him, personally for starting me out on this road. Thuya Winn, I tank you for helping to shape me into what I am today.

Coming back to the U.K I got a job in banqueting, I’d found my forte, 150 plus weddings a year, a fantastic group of people to work with and work for, I was loving my job. I was being given the chance to develop both as a person and a chef, and after the ultimate promotion to head, things got even better, I’d mellowed somewhat, and brought my own philosophy into my work, we had good times, and bad too, but they were fun. That job finished for me in January of last year, I temped for a few months before starting in hotels again. I  have regrets, many of them, If i started over again, would I change anything? Not much to be honest with you, but one or two things i would. I’ve often thought and been asked, what would i want to do if I weren’t a chef, my answer has always been the same, i don’t know because i don’t know anything else, if I worked in other industries, my mindset would be different, but as it stands, I’m a chef, and will be. Would I want to go back and change my route to move into hotel management? I really don’t know, I’ve seen some poor managers in my time, could I do better? I’d like to think i could, but my whole being would have changed, so again, it’s an impossible thing to answer.

But,  after all I’ve been through, good and bad, do I regret becoming a Chef? Not on your life!!

kitchen Pranks, help or hindrance, part two.

So, I blogged the other night of me, many years ago, being dunked in a sink of iced water, then having a Pig Bin thrown over my head. This happened on my last day of work after a two year stint in the kitchen. It was done by fellow chefs, who respected me as a friend, a chef and a colleague.

Again, I retain my Devils Advocate status on this blog.

Why did they do it?

What makes it acceptable for a group of people to subject a fellow member of staff to that? Surely its bullying? both psychological and physical? Violent conduct? Physical abuse? Gross Misconduct? In truth, it’s all of these, so why did they risk possible discipline and even termination of their employment?

To them, it wasn’t about that, To them it was about sending a fellow chef on his way in style, with a bit of fun thrown in. To them there was nothing wrong in what they did. It’s a kitchen thing. And to those reading this who have never worked in that sort of environment or had any dealings with anyone who has, it is difficult to understand and not be appalled by what goes on, and I understand the feelings that you may have or thoughts running through your head when you read this, although, being in this type of environment 24/7, some of your thoughts and reactions may escape me. I’ve been seeing this for nearly twenty years, and over that time i have changed, mellowed, grown up, become responsible, and calmed down. But, and I refer to the title, these sorts of goings on, happen in kitchens, around the globe. And begs the question, yet again, does it help or hinder?

A kitchen, can be a stressful environment, there are many types, from your MacDonald’s to your Michelin kitchens. Of course there will be different types of stress levels and staff deal with them int he way they choose. But how do you cope with that stress? Banging your head against a wall, just won’t do. It hurts, and you look silly. Some say laughter is the best medicine, but if your’e all out on a Saturday night service, annoyed because checks keep coming on, staff are making mistakes, the restaurant manager’s gone AWOL, then you don’t really want to start grinning at people, it’s not going to make you feel any better. But get over that service, and that’s a hard one done with for at least another day. You can clear down, relax a little, do your orders, mise-en-place lists for the next day, whatever you have to do.

Can some light hearted banter alleviate the anger? Of course it can, a few smutty jokes, some gentle ribbing of fellow staff members, that sort of thing, keeps the spirits up yet harms no one. But when you come to Kitchen pranks, that’s when some people think different.

The following are things I have seen, been part of, heard about, read about or been told about.

Hiding in someone’s locker and jumping out screaming when they open it.

Submerging a chef’s knives in a bucket of water and putting it in the freezer overnight.

Pulling a chair away from someone as they go to sit down.

Putting them in an oven and shutting the door.

Covering your face with Chocolate mousse and giving a waitress a kiss.

Holding them down and dropping food on their face.

Soaking them with the steamer hose.

Doing service wearing a pair of knickers outside of your trousers.

Gaffer taping them to various machinery.

Filling their shoes with Chocolate Mousse.

Filling a pair of chefs trousers with clothing, fitting some shoes to the end and putting them under a shelf  in a very full fridge, waiting for someone to come in and then wiggle the  leg making sounds lie your’e trapped and waiting for the scream………Okay, I’ll admit to that one, and she screamed really loud.

The list truly does go on. But in my experience, it NEVER got in the way of work, in any way, shape or form, it NEVER interrupted the progression of the job. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. If we were that busy, we got on with it.

Now reading back over that list, those who have worked in kitchens will nod with understanding, thinking, you should have tried this one, or, I never tried that. Those who have no experience of kitchens may be abhorred or  have even stopped reading, but it just goes down to understanding that environment. If you don’t then you probably will never understand it. It isn’t an office job, we aren’t florists, or telephone engineers, we are CHEFS.

Do the clients see what goes on? Not on your life!!

Do they ever hear about it? If they read this then yes.

As I said before,from my experience, in no way does it affect the  job, so it won’t affect the guests experience of eating.

Does it bring the brigade together in a sense of togetherness in  times of stress and turmoil?  Yes it does, because you are going through the same shit together.

Take these two photos………………..

This was a very busy day for us, we had possibly, four or five functions on the bounce, were working 12 hour plus days, with little breaks, tension was high, people were tired, but we found ten minutes to take a breather, and Ensign Chekov’s new car was born. Now some may think, WTF, but to those who were there that day, that ten minutes was the difference in retaining our sanity and going completely mad, it WAS one of those days. I can’t remember where the toy came from, but he stayed in the kitchen for over a year, when you pressed a button on his back he spoke, there wasn’t a week that went by without someone pressing him. But chefs understand this.

In my own view, do pranks help or hinder? As long as they are controlled,  and the people involved understand, then it helps. There are lines you don’t cross, people can get upset, or hurt, accidentally of course, but it could happen, and thats’s when you have to take a good look at yourself and what you are doing.

But I still talk about things I’ve seen or heard about, years later. One of my favourites, and this happened before I started work at my first job. The sous chef was teaching a commis, and that particular day he was cooking lobster in large roasting trays on the stove top. “Youv’e got to keep them moving, if they turn orange, they’re fucked! do that and they’ll be trouble” (he didn’t actually say the last part, but you get the drift).”Keep shaking the trays, DO NOT LET THEM CHANGE COLOUR”

Anyway, anyone who knows about these things, knows that when raw lobster gets hot, it changes colour, the commis, didn’t. So five minutes later a terrified commis is shaking the beJesus out of the roasting tray, screaming “Chefffffffffff!!!!! It’s turning orange and it won’t stop!!” I think it’s funny, and so do fellow chefs, because they’ve also taken their own fair share of these jokes.

We’ve all been sent to the stores for a long stand, the souffle pump, some chicken lips, a left handed palette knife etc etc, it happens in kitchens, usually to commis, but we have all been there and had it done to us. I’ve been put in sinks four times in my life, only one of them was for leaving. Did I get offended? No. Did I think it’s wrong? No, because I understood where they were coming from when they did it.

Would I stop all these pranks from happening in a kitchen I was running? To an extent yes, but for reasons I may make clear at a later date, and they are valid.

It’s up to each individual Chef to govern his kitchen how he sees fit, some may tolerate it, some may get involved, some may not let anything happen like that at all, and fair play to those who choose their own way of doing things.

Camaraderie, that’s what it is to me, I understand it, I know why it’s done, I’m mature enough………..to know the rights and wrongs, and I see the help it brings.

It took three days before I stopped smelling  peppers after my first time, and smelling them still brings back those memories.