Week 10: Brainstorming & Science Experiments
- Nov 3, 2017
- 5 min read
Day 1: When we arrived to class today, I was expecting a day full of demonstrations and heavy material being thrown our way. Rather, we were instructed to watch Chef give us a quick refresher on knife skills and then proceed to dice up some carrots and potatoes. Which later we learned were going to be used to make about 7 gallons of soup for Hope Cottage & Sunshine Rescue Mission – just in time for Thanksgiving season.
As we were dicing the vegetables at our table, Chef came around to each group to go over our requisition forms for our next event, Pasta Palooza. When it was our turn to be judged by Chef I unfortunately was not present due to helping clean out and organize our prop closet. But from what my group had to say once Chef finished talking with us what that it was time to scratch our old garnish and choose something that goes with our dish—fettuccine alfredo.
Embarrassingly, my group had originally chosen a roasted asparagus for our garnish. Which would not work for a couple of reasons. One, asparagus is a spring vegetable which I was not aware of and would not serve as a garnish but rather a side. Our reasoning for picking it was because it had health benefits tied to having a healthy pregnancy which ties into the history of our dish. But after some very prolonged brainstorming my group decided that a simple garnish such as parsley would suffice for this event. Parsley is an Italian herb most generally used as a garnish on dishes but also helps with nausea which ties into the history of the dish even better than asparagus!
This class period was slower than most but very beneficial for our group’s sake. We were able to settle on our theme, pick our job assignments, choose a new garnish and come up with our we would incorporate the different elements into this event. Considering it is the most difficult event we’ll face over this semester we’re preparing extra hard to ensure everything is perfect.
My AHA moment from today was just understanding how important it is to complete thorough research when putting a dish together. Chef mentioned how restaurant menus can’t just throw random things together to make something for their guests. Which is along the lines of what my group first came up with for our event. But by making sure to look up the benefits of certain garnishes we were able to make a connection between each element and discover reasons why.
Here's a video of Chef giving us our knife refresher for his demonstration of the day!
Here's some pictures of my group peeling the potato, dicing the carrot and the finished product!
Day 2: What a day! Today’s class period was filled with experimental cooking techniques, some science experiments and finalizing our end of the semester event. When we first arrived at class, Chef had us come to the front of the kitchen to see him demonstrate and discuss one of the most precise and profitable cooking technique in the industry—besides braising. The technique itself is called Sous Vide which seems complex just looking at it but is quite easy to do if one understood the method behind it.
Sous Vide itself was described by Chef as a water-version oven because water is much more precise than air which is what a standard oven uses. This method requires detailed planning and precision in order to achieve an excellent result. A couple of examples that Chef gave were mashed potatoes in the sous vide then manually smashed and piped out onto a plate for guests. Another being eggs-benedict that can easily be prepared for a Sunday brunch served for about 100 people—by placing the eggs directly in the sous vide—a numerous amount is prepared quickly and efficiently. Chef said it was incredibly easier to have control with this technique because a dish can be made perfectly and kept at that temperature for about 4 hours until for service.
Since this was Chef’s main demonstration for the day he allowed us to watch him prepare a sample dish for us to try once the class was finished for the day. He took some carrots and placed some butter and thyme on top of them. Once he finished explaining the technique he showed us how to vacuum seal the bag so it would be ready to place inside the sous vide. The carrots were held at 185 degrees for 45 minutes – which were the perfect conditions for a delicious dish.
As we waited for the carrots to be finished Chef told us it was time to conduct a science experiment concerning the acidity effect on vegetables. We were instructed to gather quarter-sized pieces of potato, cucumber, red pepper and red cabbage along with ½ cup of vinegar and 4 tbsp. of baking soda. Once we gathered everything needed for the experiment we needed to create a table to display the differences between the acidic effect (which had boiled vinegar and water in the pot) and the basic effect (which was the boiled water and baking soda). The overall difference between the vegetables was that the baking soda method caused the vegetables to be more vibrant in color but lose their overall sense of consistency. This experiment was fun to do and allowed us to realize the differences in cooking styles.
My biggest AHA moment from this class period was noticing how inventive some cooking techniques are and that the future hold some incredibly interesting and imaginative ideas in store for the average professional kitchen. Considering how profitiable and unique the sous vide method is just makes me excited to see what someone comes up with next.
Here are some pictures of the sous vide demonstration that Chef prepared for our class today, a popular book that teaches the method, a sous vide prepared steak and than our own science experiment for the day!
Here is Chef explaining to us about the sous vide method and the machine he uses in order to make dishes with- super interesting!
A Weekly Concept Integrated From Another Class Into This One...
In my HA 270 class this past week, we have been experimenting with a property management system learning and attempting to to make reservations, post charges and check guests out. While we do these activities in class our professor makes sure we are following the exact instructions and to ensure we're being precise while we do these activities. His style of teaching really encouraged me to incorporate those methods into this class. Considering that we were taught about precise cooking methods and being exact in HA 243 this week I thought it was a perfect integration to take my professors's methods and find a way to place them into Chef's.
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