Week 5: Don't Be Roux & Return of the Jedi
- Sep 28, 2017
- 4 min read
Day 1: The week finally came! We were able to get to run loose in the kitchen and cook what Chef had assigned us. But before we were able to start cooking Chef wanted to share some stories and also techniques with the class. He first began to tell us why it is so important to know how thicken and thin a soup. It's fairly easy to thin out a soup- just add some type of liquid to the base. But it is quite difficult to thicken a soup- but there are some methods. Some that work are; a reduction method, adding vegetables, or even starch thickeners.
This lead into a tragic story of a young Chef Mark, about 20 years old, working his first job in a professional kitchen. Chef Mark was instructed by his chef to thicken some Lobster Bisque that was going to be served for their guests at the restaurant. Following his chef's directions he proceeded to add slurry (which is a kind of starch thickener) to the soup. Nothing happened. So, obviously he continued to add more slurry to the soup. And still, nothing happened. Panicked, Chef Mark ran over to his boss to tell him what wasn't working with the bisque. His chef followed him to his station, took one look at the soup and then turned the heat up. This caused the lobster bisque to turn into some nasty looking substance. Which not only looked unappetizing but would've cost the restaurant a LOT of money. Yet Chef Mark enjoyed a challenge and found a way to not only save the lobster bisque but make more of a profit!
Chef told us to make sure to follow directions and if mistakes happen (which they will), find a way to turn them into something better.
Here's a video clip on how to make slurry. Fairly simple. Just take some corn starch and pour water in it!
Chef then brought us over to the next counter top and told us it was time to try out some experiments in order to prepare for our Soup Savvy event! The two experiments were "The Roux Experiment" & "The Mirepoix Experiment" both essential to know for when we make our soups. I was apart of the "Roux Experiment" so I'm going to primarily reflect on that! The Roux Experiment was an experience in itself. We were given fairly simple instructions: gather flour and canola oil, whisk together, have our roux be heated up for 7 minutes, then after those 7 minutes continue to cook our roux for up to 15 minutes to see the progression of the dish. I thought this would have been a piece of cake. Turns out it wasn't and I should've listened more carefully when we were given the instructions. Despite our minor mistakes with the roux it still was an effective experiment and I was able to notice the differences Chef said we would in aroma, color and texture from my other classmates.
This was definitely my biggest AHA moment of the day. It's so important to listen when a boss, in this case Chef, is telling you what you need to do because that leads to your own personal success. It also helps keep those around who are going to do the job right versus those who keep the group behind. I'll make sure listening to instructions is my top priority.
Here are the finished roux experiments! Enjoyed seeing how everyone's dishes turned out.
Day 2: We learned all about how important stocks can be to turn a good dish into a great one. Chef mentioned how we could turn anything into a stock as long as we have a valid and meaningful reason why. Chef then told us about how back in the day some restaurants would prepare their stock with all the ingredients for over 12 hours. Which is a long time! When one is extracting all of the flavor out of the ingredients for the stock and then it seems that those ingredients have gone to waste. So there was a new method brought to the table (or should I say the kitchen table)? Which was to make an infusion with some of the ingredients and then add other ingredients for a lesser amount of time in order to get the most out of each ingredient.
Chef mentioned how versatile stock is i.e. it can be used in almost anything for almost any purpose. In our case we were making a vegetable stock which could be used in any dish seen fit. As Chef told us it was time to make our own stock he assigned us to either the Siths (which are the best) or the Jedis. Which basically mean't we were creating a darker vegetable stock versus lighter stock. With this assignment I listened carefully and knew exactly what to do to prepare an awesome looking "dark-side" worthy stock!
My biggest AHA moment of the day was when Chef told us that good chefs or great cooks will always have a map planned out for each dish. Which seriously reminded me of our Soup Savvy Event day! It's going to be so important to have a plan made for each part of the event and always a valid and meaningful reason why.
Here is Chef assigning us our sides in order to see the differences in stock versatility!
Here is everyone's mirepoix for the vegetable stock, a progress picture of our stock and the fancy finished product for everyone to taste test!
A Weekly Concept Integrated From Another Class Into This One...
This week was heavily focused on the "why" of preparing a dish and why it was important. It reminded me of ACC 255 which only makes sense if you're able to retrace each question to "why am I doing this?" which allows one to understand the answer. For example, I might be preparing a classified income statement which has multiple steps and may seem confusing at first glance. Yet, as I look over each account title to be placed in the statement I am able to remember where each title will go and the reason why. That mindset is equally as important in this class! If I am able to discover and remember the "why" for every dish or demonstration we do in class I'll be able to create a dish in different ways and remain confident while doing that.
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