I have just spent the last four weekends “working” in a kitchen in one of Hobart’s best restaurants. They let me come and do some work experience in their kitchen and to get a taste of what it is like.
I really enjoyed getting to prepare and plate up for a wedding and learning the beginning to end of the effort that goes into a dish. I think I only made a few mistakes, like not straining the lime zest out of the sorbet and getting my salads ready too early. I have learnt heaps and I am hoping to go back again and spend some more time in the kitchen learning. I can’t have done too bad as they are happy to have me back.
I’d like to spend a bit more time understanding “the pass” and the mystery that is the docket printer. Once it starts printing, the whole kitchen stops and waits for the call. As soon as Chef has finished calling, the kitchen explodes in a new flurry of activity and is a well oiled machine (unless I get involved and make something too early or not at all or something that wasn’t even called). I don’t know how they all remember what has been called out as there are multiple tables at different stages. My head spins.
Some of my dishes at home look like goop on a plate and I’d dearly love to know how to make them look less “home job” and more presentable. I made lamb parcels the other night with sweet potato mash and broccoletti (purple broccollini). I leaned the broccoletti up against the mash and DB commented “oooh, we’ve got gourmet tonight”. I guess that stacking veges vertically is classed as gourmet? It is amazing how much the presentation makes, to how a dish is received.
The DB did think I had lost it last night when he saw me putting a muesli bar into the blender. In the restaurant I made a crumble for one of the desserts (from scratch in case you were wondering) and I thought I’d try a cheats version at home by blitzing an orange and hazlenut bar, to use as a crumble for my chocolate mousse. It tasted quite good, but yet again, my plateing let me down. I had thought to put the crumble on the bottom and then do a lovely quinelle or roché of mousse on the top. Yep, goop on a plate! I should have just left the mousse in the dishes that I set it in and sprinkled the crumb on the top.
Today was a day off and we have no kids. We were talking last night about having poached eggs on toast in front of a movie. So how the hell did I come home from the supermarket with far more groceries than I went in for originally, and we are now having Daal, Roti, Saag Paneer and Goan Fish Curry. I can’t help myself!
So having said all that, I find myself thinking about food constantly and what I am going to cook next and how I can make a meal a bit more interesting or exciting. I was reminded of a quote I saw somewhere and I think it really sums me up. I live to eat, not eat to live….. or more like, I live to cook and then eat it!
