Tag Archive | "chef"

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Sous Chef Exam

Posted on 23 August 2011 by Cathy

 

Taking the sous chef practical exam for the American Culinary Federation was one of the best things I have done in my life. I took the test along with several other accomplished chefs back in January and was the only one who passed. The exam is meant to hold those in the commercial kitchen to a certain level of competency. In order to move up eventually to Master Chef you must be proficient at each level in the art of food. Knowing what is expected makes me respect the chefs who want to not only gain a title but to excel at everything they do.

I was lucky in my food career to be able to participate on a culinary team. I believe all the experience with attempting perfection in order to compete helped me.  To julienne a carrot where it will be measured exactly 1/16″ x 1/16″ x 2″ straight cuts as fast as you can is difficult. I can still feel the chef walking the room eyes on me to make sure I didn’t break any sanitation issue. As you are cutting the carrot it wants to curl naturally which makes the cut not perfect. Anything not perfect costs points on the team.

After you are done with everything you get a critique of your work. Where the untrained eye sees only beauty the chef sees flaws and points them all out. This criticism is meant for you to think about how to get better. Many cannot handle the criticism so they go away. It is sad that a person cannot just take it as a non personal thing. I soaked up everything the chef offered and tried to correct my mistakes the next time. I practiced every day without fail. Remember the saying practice makes perfect? It really does!

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The Monster in My Closet

Posted on 03 April 2011 by Cathy

I know everyone would love to think that we are able to do the paranormal field full time. The truth is we all have day jobs. In my day job I am a chef, pastry chef and culinary arts instructor. I love my job! I also love the paranormal field. I have people tell me that I am brave to sit alone in the dark in a haunted location. I wonder why they don’t tell me I am brave to do that wedding cake for bridezilla. I sometimes wonder which requires more bravery. Just imagine the pressure of being able to ruin someones wedding. If the cake slides into the side of the van and disintegrates because you had to slam on the breaks the cake is ruined. How do you explain it?

If you don’t already know me you will find that cake it is the monster in the closet. Yes I am talking about cake the kind you eat at celebration parties. What cake does to me and many others is it calls out to you to partake of its goodness until it is gone. Then you have ravenous cravings in the wake of its absence. It calls out to me to mold me and create me until I have to have my decorating fix. Then I can relax until the next competition or wedding. I can hear it calling my name in my subconscious. I have great cake days and some bad ones too. Anyone who bakes and decorated knows what I am talking about. There have been times when I say I am done with cake then I turn around and immediately jump back full force into it. I dream of cake with all its colors and flavor possibilities. I have cake nightmares where I cannot do something the way I want to or where the cake implodes. I then wake up happy that it was not reality. Somewhere in the back of my head those cake nightmares stay even when I do not think about them. I love to teach cake to others who in turn find that cake becomes their monster too. It takes over your kitchen, the closets and garage. I cannot do anything without relating it back to cake somehow. Even ghost hunting makes me think of cake. I have wondered if the dearly departed would want to eat a piece if it were placed on the floor naturally with a meter next to it to monitor the activity.

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