After speaking to my family I received lots of feedback about my blog. Because I started it for myself I didn’t really think to explain anything. So here is a basic background story about what I am talking about here:
I am attending culinary school in Vancouver, BC. The school is small, privately owned and well connected and known in the industry. I have 25 peers in my class and we have three different chef instructors. The setup is obviously very hands on. We work in groups of four and within the group we have a team of two. Every group shares a six burner gas stove and oven, two small sinks and pots/pans and tools. We each get our own counter space to do our cutting and mise en place (everything in its place…or our set up of ingredients).
The curriculum is based on French cuisine, fine dining style. We cover the basics and eventually will get into menu development, food costing, and front of house. Everyday there are different concepts and recipes we have to complete. When we get to class the chef instructor does a demo and lesson on what we are supposed to do. And then we head to our stations. Often we are expected to arrive ahead of time and start a stock, our mise en place or various other tasks even before the day starts. We spend the day moving back and forth between the demo/classroom area and our stoves. Depending on the recipes, we get to eat what we made one to three times a day.
The reason I am here started about six years ago when I first worked in a kitchen at a whitewater canoe and kayak school. Eventually, after working in a few different kitchens (ranging from unprofessional to somewhat professional), cooking led me to farming. I spent the last growing season on an organic farm. Farming led me back to cooking, and eventually I won’t have to flip flop between the two. I plan to incorporate both into my life. Like I’ve hinted before-good food starts in the soil, ends up on our plates and then ideally returns to the soil.