Right? Right? Yah? No? Right?

First things first.  Chef's name is Sigfried, and his handle in the kitchen is "Sigi", not "Ziggy".  Not that it matters much, but as he was introducing himself it occurred to me that I should make that correction here on the blog.  Bright-eyed and efficient, he is certainly not a cartoon character, although he could be. 

I have to say that either the advanced students were exaggerating Chef Sigi's stern nature or we happened to catch him on a good first week here in Hot Kitchen II.  He has been cheerful and pleasant, offering plenty of help while allowing us to get into our production recipes with a little independence.  If there is a downside to Chef Sigi's instruction it would be his fairly thick German accent that makes our class time and recipe explanations something of an adventure in translation.  As a result of students having trouble following his instruction, he has developed a series of post-statement affirmatives to insure that his meaning is understood. For example:

"Den vee vill hremove zee shicken from zee pan, Right?  Right? Ja?  Right? Ja? No? Ja?" etc...

We learned quickly that this is his way of not only allowing time for questions, but also time for him to mentally form his next statement so no response is really needed from us and we have forgone the standard reply of "Yes Chef!" to every Right and Ja.  It has, however, become a running gag to occasionally start a reply chain that goes something like:

Chef - "Den vee vill hremove zee shicken from zee pan, Right?
One student - "yes chef"
Chef - "Right?"
All students - "YES CHEF"
Chef - "Ja?"
All loudly - "YES CHEF!!!"

The first couple of times he looked at us quizzically, now it makes him chuckle.

In addition to our end-of-phase test, Hot Kitchen II will also include a practical exercise that will see us devise our own menu, order ingredients, cook and present entirely on our own.  We have this week to decide on a three-course menu with appetizer, main course (with veg and starch), and dessert that is beautifully presented, delicious, and prepared in a timely manner.  It shouldn't be too tough as long as we keep it simple and avoid over-reaching.  In giving us our instructions, Chef Sigi ran down a list of items that we cannot order:  lobster, caviar, filet mignon, scallops, basically anything that is expensive.  I've narrowed my list down to grilled cheese and nachos.  We'll see what the class thinks of that.

Language and accents can be pretty amusing.  Arriving one morning, Chef Sigi said to Enju, who is Korean, "Guten Morgan".  Still working with English as her second language (I may never get over her confusion with what a shit pan/sheet pan is for), the German form of Good Morning had to be explained, as well as Jawohl(yes sir), which Chef uses a lot.  Having been set straight, she now dutifully uses jawohl and Guten Morgan daily.  This week was also Enju's Birthday and we had a little Birthday cake for dessert Tuesday and a fun get-together on Friday night at a local karaoke bar where they sang a bit and a good time was had by all.  I've mentioned before and it bears repeating that having smart classmates that I like has been a big help in this course. 

I've been a little slow to work on my cooking at home, but have decided that I need to start doing more practicing, so Wendy can look forward to getting more of my creative work and a little less chicken and pizza over the next few months.  My Easter turkey and yeast rolls went over pretty well, and we enjoyed my toned-down version of rattatouille last week.  Suggestions for recipes are always welcome.

Things we did or didn't do this week:

We DID make a recipe out of a magazine that Chef Sigi wanted to try out.  It was terrific.

We DID NOT know that working on the Grande Buffet in March would help our grade, but my Garde Manger score was bumped a bit, which was a nice surprise.

We DID realize that Chef Sigi lacks only a small mustache under his nose and black hair to look an awful lot like an infamous leader in recent German history.

We DID NOT have to mop the floor even once, as the night class was tasked to do it.  HAHA!

Enju DID try a hundred times to get me to sing Hotel California with her husband at the karaoke bar.

I DID NOT.

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.  - Julia Child