12.15.07
The Definition of Frustrating
All of the sous chefs in a kitchen are in constant competition to prove themselves to the head chef. It’s like a bunch of children competing for their parents’ love, and in that way it is admittedly kinda dysfunctional. It almost seems that each one of us wants to appear to be the brightest, or have the best skills or ideas so we can be the main #2 guy in the kitchen. It’s not like such a position would really mean much of anything in the long run, but it is a way we can all compete I guess to make ourselves better at what we do.
 That’s what I’m talkin’ about baby! |
With the upcoming holiday party at our restaurant, chef had me bring in a whole pig so he could cook it for the crowd that’ll be on hand tomorrow night. He took the meat off the bones, holding the body of the pig all in one piece so he could stuff it with rice and olives and so forth. He then had Andrew (one of the other sous chefs) cook the stuffing, but Andrew over-cooked it. It was perfectly done rice, but with it being done all the way, it was useless as a stuffing. (The now fully-cooked rice would be over-cooked once the pig was done…)
So we needed ideas of what to do next. The conversation went as follows:
Me: Well, couldn’t you just cook the pig alone, and then when it is most of the way done you stuff…
Chef: No, I think I am just going to spit-roast it.
Andrew: Well, you could run that spit (narrow spit) through it and cook it on that over the wood fire.
Chef: but that spit would just spin inside the pig, it wouldn’t turn.
Me: You could use the rib basket spit we have upstairs. It is wide enough to spread the pig out, and it would roast evenly on all sides.
Chef: That’s a better idea, but how does it come though the mouth?
Me: There is a narrow end where the spit enters the rotisserie mechanism, just feed that through, and you’d be fine.
Chef: Yeah, but the final product would then collapse since it has no internal bones anymore…
Me: Well, I can’t help with that, but you could serve it “pig pickin’” style, where you cut the lower jaw in half after it roasts and then serve it butterflied.
Chef: Yeah, but I wanted to serve a “whole pig”, ya know? I think I’m just going to put the carcass back in and roast it like that so I can present it, and serve the rice on the side.
So at least I’d come up with a bunch of ideas, and I had enjoyed the back-and-forth of our idea exchange, even if he shot all of my ideas down. At least I had showed him that I could think of different ways to cook the pig, and provide him with possible solutions to his dilemma.
I then went over to expo the line for a little bit as business was picking up, and all of the sudden chef comes up behind me the exchange is as follows (I swear I’m not making this up):
Chef: Hey Matt, Wilkin (one of our servers) came up with the solution! We just cook the pig most of the way, and then we stuff it when it is almost done! Problem solved!
Me: (In disbelief) Umm chef.. that’s exactly what I sa…
Chef (turning to Wilkin): Great idea Wilkin! Thanks!
(Chef turns back to me noting I was about to say something.)
Me: (Shaking head) Fire pepperoni pizza and two burgers medium!
It’s a long, tough battle when you’re fighting to be taken seriously. Someday I’ll get there. Or maybe I just need my own place….
Stumble it!
Eize said,
December 16, 2007 at 11:27 pm
The man’s not listening to ya. *pats you on the back*
Here, we roast whole hogs over an open coal fire bigger than that piglet in the picture. And we use bamboo poles instead of those metal things you use in rotisseries. Thing is, once the pig is set on the table, there comes the mad dash to remove the skin. We love the crunchy (and the artery-clogging)!