Wow, I can't believe it's been another week. It seemed like it was just yesterday I was sitting in this coffee shop posting my last entry. Well another week and a ton of stories. To start we have two new sous chefs on the ship. It is always a challenge to change to new management as everyone has their own ideas.
Oh plastic wrap. This is usually something that is available in all kitchens. Well when there is one roll for an entire kitchen of 60 people in 5 different rooms, it's not enough. Plastic wrap is like gold on board, and if you have a roll you guard it with your life.
I attended another lobster party, only this time it was more like the after party. I arrived too late and they already finished the lobster, but kindly invited me to continue the night with them in the crew mess. There is where I learned a lot more about these guys. So I was talking with one of the Garde Manger guys, Bruno, and he wanted to know my story. I told him and he was very interested and was talking about how he has worked his way up in the company from dishwasher and all of the Filipino guys that work for this company are in it for the long haul. He assured me that my next contract, should I choose to do another one, would be as a sous chef or higher. He insisted that I remember his name and I could help him out in the future. All of the guys keep reminding me of their names and that they are helping me now so I can potentially help them in the future. Some of them have invited me to their homes in the Philippines. Some of these guys are quite nice, but most do what they have to do in order to survive.
The other thing I learned about these guys is their strong connection with the movie 300. All night in the kitchen you here someone say, "SPARTANS!" and the rest of the guys do the chant from the movie. The reason is we are so few cooks against so many guests. It's amusing and fun to join in with them in the chants. In some cases we are a team, in others not so much. This is one of those uniting factors for all of the kitchens.
A word to my fellow CIA students and graduates, with my ServSafe certification expired I am required to take the test again as it is company policy. Unfortunately for me I have to sit through a class. I am sure it will be better than my first teacher, but a week long class of things I already know, to take a test I have already passed. What a bummer, but at least I get paid during the classes. You always have to look at the upside of the things.
I wanted to share a bit of culinary magic with some people. Yesterday I had reheated mashed potatoes and added a little too much cream, and when I say a little, I mean it turned into potato soup. I had no more potatoes, but needed mashed potatoes for service in 30 minutes. What do you do? Well, and keep this a secret, I used a cornstarch slurry to thicken them. Just added and brought to a boil and Presto! Tasty mashed potatoes that were actually not that bad and nobody could tell. I asked several people to try them. Oh the fun in the kitchen.
On the last day of every cruise we have a special buffet called Suite Lunch. Now on my first week everyone was talking about it and I though Sweet Lunch. People were all worried and I was like why, it's the pastry departments deal right? I was sorely mistaken. On this day the Pinnacle is responsible for setting up a huge hors d'oeuvre buffet for 150 people who stay in the suites, and a 50 person regular lunch in our dining room all while the chef of the Pinnacle is busy carving fruit and setting up the buffet. I like lunch usually because the kitchen is mine and I run the hot side all by myself and my assistant cook Joel, the new guy, runs the cold side. Anyways the Suite lunch is definitely not sweet.
I will try to post some sort of a calendar or schedule, and although unlikely if you are in one of the cities I'm in on the same day let me know.
Me in the Pinnacle Grill kitchen
The dining room
More of the kitchen
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