Movin' on...almost.

Three weeks and our first kitchen session has gone well and very quickly.  Under normal circumstances we would be moving into the Hot Kitchen I phase of our course, but this week brings with it the semi-annual Grand Buffet, so all class work and phase changes will be waiting for a week so that all the classes (there are 6 total, including the advanced baking students) may participate in this awesome event.  For five nights, Monday through Friday, a fancy buffet featuring scrumptious starters, a variety of marvelous main courses, and delectable desserts will be offered to certain selected customers from around the Honolulu area.  These special guests will generally hail from businesses and social organizations that have some sort of vested interest in the welfare of the Gros Bonnet Academy.  Can you say Culinary Kickback?

I'm going into next week with the attitude that this sort of practical kitchen work can only be beneficial to me, giving me an opportunity to experience a week of high-pressure, high-output professional cooking. 

I have to say that the above statement, while true, doesn't tell the whole story of my take on this event.  Chef Otto explained to us that these are important customers, ponying up around $40 apiece for the chance to down some fancy grub and rub elbows with fellow important people from around town.  I think that's great, or it would be, if it were happening at some nice restaurant downtown.  At a culinary school, where the majority of the labor will be provided by unpaid students (who, by the way, pay considerable money for the supplies and materials for the school) it sounds like a very profitable racket.  Quick math:

40 guests @ $40 =  $1600  X  5 nights =  $8,000 

Now assuming that the school pays around NOTHING to the students doing the work and roughly NOTHING for supplies and ingredients because the students have already paid for them as part of their course fees, I think it's fair to say that somebody is making a nice chunk of change somewhere along the line. 

OK, I just wanted to vent that...I'm over it now.

We were introduced to Chef Klaus, who will be our Hot Kitchen I instructor next week.  He seemed professional, self-assured, and ego-centric.  These are good and expected qualities in a chef and I look forward to his class after our week of indenture.  He says he will treat us as apprentices rather than students, and that he is the most politically incorrect person at the school.  This was a surprise, as the women in my class had already named Chef Otto as the least PC person they had ever met. 

Things I saw this week:

One of my classmates sawing through a mushroom. 

That same classmate describe bread dough as looking like "Old ajimah kundingi"(Korean slang for "old woman's butt")

Three pounds of fine-diced mushrooms...and boy, were my fingers tired.

Ants in the kitchen.  But not that many, and I'm told they don't eat much.

Our end of phase test, which was pretty easy.

Jeremiah Johnson, my favorite movie.

History's first chicken boned by Lane.  It was lovely.

Ich will ein Sklave für den Mann nächste Woche, haben eine gute