On The Starter Section

Today was not an easy day. But then again, did I take on a culinary internship in a foreign country to take the easy way out? No. My visitors left at 10:30a.m., just as I went in to work, so of course that made me sad. I was looking forward to a full day of work to keep busy and keep my mind off things, but of course it was Monday and Mondays tend to be slow.

I set up the pastry section, as usual, but I was a bit annoyed. Having been off for a few days, someone else had been covering pastry and not only did I no longer know exactly what the inventory was, the place had not been restocked the night before and the ice cream freezer I had so carefully defrosted was frosty and dirty again. But once pastry was set up, I was promoted to the starter section on the hot line. I have done quite a few dishes here before, helping out when it gets busy, but today I was put there myself, as the one covering all the orders. There was another cook in to cover pastry orders, although she tried to get me to help her out or tell me how to do things even though she had plenty of time to do these things herself and it was her responsibility. I am wondering if she was a bit jealous. 

A dish I learned today - Kitchen Salad

Being on the starter line wasn’t a whole lot different, but you always have to be on your toes because the starter line gets the most orders coming in of all. You have to be able to keep several different orders straight at once, and complete orders with numerous items all to go out at the same time. The starter side has both hot and cold items, all of which need to be prepared last minute. It also requires coordination with the main course line – because mains need to go out at the same time so I can’t always begin to cook items right away. I also need to cover side dishes – so if a burger order comes in, I need to know when the burger is two minutes away from being done so I can cook the side dish of gaufrette potatoes. This sounds like enough tasks to juggle, but then you need to constantly be replenishing your stock – especially after five sandwich orders – you will need more bread. Replenishing stock also requires completing prep jobs during the slower times, such as battering fish for fish and chips, making onion rings, or filleting smoked salmon. 

The starter side may seem fairly straight-forward with mostly sandwiches and fried items, but there are over fifty individual ingredients to account for, and I must know where they are, where to get more, how to prep them, and how to cook them. I also need to keep all the different plates straight. My life would be a great deal easier if we used the same dishes for every menu item. I am quite glad I got started on this station on a Monday – a slow day where I would have time to get accustomed to the station before tackling a very busy day. I know I am a bit slow at plating, but with practice I will improve. There was not too much pressure on me today because the regular starter cook was there, showing me any dishes I was unsure of, and helping me out when a lot of orders came in. If I ever felt overwhelmed, or needed something in a pinch, I only had to call on him. And I was not too pressed to make prep, because it wasn’t too busy and the other cook was taking care of that while I stayed on the line. His boss, he called me. Anything I say goes. I was even put in charge of making sure we had enough back-up of everything and cleaning up the station at the end. 

Overall, the day may not have begun the greatest, but I got promoted and kept busy and had a new challenge on my hands. We even had time for some playful kitchen banter.