And then there were five...

Week two of class found us facing a lot of information and losing four of our students.  It is not unsusual to lose close to half the class, but as our adminstrator said, it shouldn't happen in the first two weeks.  To be fair, most of the drops were prompted by understandable circumstances.  Conflict with work took one, while conflict with rehab took another.  We hope to get back a very nice woman (and professional chef) whose father unfortunately passed away this week.  These are good reasons for dropping, but I have to wonder if the woman that dropped from the course because of something Chef Otto said wasn't being a bit thin-skinned.  In a discussion about the food of various nations, he merely said that if he went to England he would only eat at McDonald's, since that was as good as the food gets there.  Well, she's British, is apparently in denial, and left the class the next day...God save the Queen (but don't save the Queen any of those nasty fish and chips).

So for the time being it's down to five and we've decided to look on the bright side and be thankful for the extra instructional time with the chefs.  Can't say if we will be that positive when it's time to clean up the kitchen every day. 

SO MUCH INFORMATION!  Not overwhelming, but with subjects ranging from kitchen equipment to herbs and spices and seemingly everything in between, I can see why the more advanced class is very happy to be in the kitchen rather than the classroom.  One more week and a test that I'm told only three students in the last class passed and we'll be in the kitchen for the first round, called Garde Manger.  And guess what?  Chef Otto is our instructor!   I like Chef Otto, even though he "blah, blah, blah"s more than anyone I've ever seen.  It's his version of  Seinfeld's "yadda, yadda".   An example would be "At the end of your shift, you pack up your knives, blah blah blah...and go home"  We kept track this week, and Tuesday was the top "blah" day, with 21.  All blahs aside, he gave us some killer creme de menthe chiffon today as a treat.

Next week we will each select a cheese and offer a report on how it is made, it's qualities, uses, blah blah blah and give a report on Wednesday while we each sample the cheeses and maybe even some wine that Chef Otto has recommended.  Sounds like a good day so I need to bone up on Monty Python's Cheese Shop sketch and decide on a cheese to report...I doubt Venezuelan Beaver Cheese will be accepted, so I welcome recommendations from anyone. 

Things I learned this week

The class ahead of ours have been all male from the start, and are terribly jealous of my being the only man left in my class.  It's the cross I have to bear.

Chef Otto's worst cut came from the knife of a Viet Cong soldier during one of his three years of duty in Vietnam.  He is now married to a Vietnamese woman, sees her twice a year, and is opening cooking schools in Vietnam and Thailand.  I told you I liked this guy.

I don't take notes well. 

I was the only one that knew what a "church key" was.

I store all my oils wrong...you probably do, too.

If you are English and someone says your food sucks, just agree.  The world already knows.

A virus on my computer meant a trip to the geek squad, so I had limited access this week.  I'll try to keep it interesting and informative, thanks for checking in.  Bangers and mash all around!