Veeeerrrrry Interesting...

Despite a number of missed days due to sickness and doctors appointments, the whole class was on hand for our end-of-phase test for Hot Kitchen I on Thursday, and all passed with flying colors.  Also a little verbal color, mostly blue, as a result of some disagreement as to how closely the definitions given in class matched up with the correct answers on the test.  One question in particular that was answered incorrectly by the majority of the class seemed to stray from the quite specific instruction, and was called out by the students as being wrong, but we ran into the First Rule of Chef Klaus' Kitchen: 

Chef is NEVER wrong.  He isn't always right, but he's never wrong.

And he can apparently be pretty sneaky, too.  In the words of the inimitable Richard Hatch:

"I WAS BAMBOOZLED!"

Here we go.  I feel my face getting red just thinking about it.  Repeatedly over these three weeks we have discussed roux as a means of thickening sauces and soups, with gumbo given as an example of when to use dark roux.  Chef Klaus is a fan of Cajun cuisine, as am I, so it was easy to remember:  dark roux, gumbo.  Gumbo, dark roux.  Roux, roux, dark, dark, gumbo, gumbo, I got it.   No problem.
On the day of the test Chef tells us that he is going to prepare one of his favorites for us while we are taking our test, New Orleans style Jambalaya.  I love Cajun.  MMMMM...MMM!!!  The great smells of anduille sausage, onion, Cayenne, and garlic waft through the kitchen.  My tummy is smiling 'cause I'm almost done with the test, we'll make some French onion soup, and it'll be time to eat.  I get to the question about dark roux that we've repeated for weeks, and I know the answer is gumbo, so I write:

Jambalaya.

Yes, Mom, I'm that gullible and/or dumb.  Now I may be off in my read of Chef Klaus' expression when I brought my dumbass-ness up at the end of the day, but I swear he had an "I got another one" glint in his eye.  I wonder just how long he has been offering up jambalaya on test day. 

One of the most common expressions that we hear from Chef Klaus is an Arte Johnson/Laugh-In style "Verrry interesting".   Last week he used this phrase to point out a potential problem that eventually became an actual cooking mistake and let us know that when we hear "Verrrry interesting", we should find out what might be the problem.  This week he uttered those cautionary words as he looked over my shoulder at what I was cutting.  I froze in mid-slice and asked what was wrong.  He said "Nothing, sometimes it's just fun to say that and see what happens."   Har, har, very funny...it is to laugh.

Classmate of the Week is Enju. 
From Korea and an Air Force wife, Enju is a fun and enthusiastic student and seemingly an eating machine.  She is always asking the instructors for the chance to handle new equipment and perform routine tasks for practice.  Her command of English is pretty good, with only the occasional correction or explanation for unfamiliar words and phrases.  She seems to always be eating something, to the extent of sneaking cuts, bites, and even the peels of the items we are preparing.  She is great about sharing, especially the tasty Korean pears that she brings to class.  She cemented a place on my good side with her first words to Chef Klaus - "Do you have a Korean girlfriend?"  Her husband seems a nice guy and her dog, a big malamute, is beautiful and got to eat the bones left from our first pot of beef stock.  Unless Enju got to them first.

I found our time with Chef Klaus very informative, well-managed, and professional.  I learned a lot and look forward to returning to his teaching in a few months for our second rotation.  As with Chef Otto, I like his sense of humor and enthusiasm for world affairs.  It's nice to spend a few minutes each day talking about things other than cooking.  I feel fortunate that I've always had a pretty high tolerance for accepting the Boss with his quirks.

Some things I learned this week:

The Third Man  is a pretty good old movie.

Green, yellow, orange, and red bell peppers are all the same plant.

Translated from Italian, Sauce Puttanesca is the "Whore's sauce".  Coincidence that it has anchovy?

Despite Wendy's objections, I WILL make butternut squash soup this week at home.

Hickam housing yard inspectors are inconsistent, stupid assholes.  A bit off-topic, but there it is.

Monday we move on to the Bake Shop I phase of our course and Chef Chad whom we are told has a much more academic teaching style.