Lessons

While working at a carving station during one of our big events, I had an interesting conversation with an intern -coworker. By then he had been assigned to the pantry station as part of his internship rotation and expressed to me how excited he was to finally be out of banquets prepping and was glad to be in station as a cook. He said he "hated banquet cooking".

As now a more senior member of the kitchen, I could not let the comment go without a little exchange of idea, so I asked him what about banquet prep did he not like? He remarked, "I don't like the idea of mass producing food. I like the rush of being on the line more." I took this comment to mean that he probably does not like the idea of standing in one spot for hours peeling 25 pounds of potatoes all day (can't get a rush out of that can you?), nor does counting by the hundreds and measuring by the gallons appeal to him.

So my next comment to him was "Think about it". Think about what you are being taught while peeling 25 pounds of potatoes. If you peel too much, you've wasted product. If you've peeled too little, you've screwed your chef the day of the banquet. If you weigh the potato before peeling it and don't account for the skin you remove, you'll come up short. If you do fall short, do you have a plan B?



Some well organized banquet items

I argue that some of the greatest lessons are learned as a prep cook, even more as a banquet prep cook. I argue that your common sense, accuracy, speed and efficiency are best sharpened while peeling that box of carrots you will later use for soup, mirapoix, and garnish. Food utilization (waste nothing), flexibility (head counts go up and down as sure as the sun rises and sets), discipline (stand there and finish peeling those potatoes and do it efficiently) are even more qualities a new cook might not deem important now, but later on realize most needed of a good cook.

As I think back, even in my first years as a cook, successful and profitable kitchen's I've worked for had banquets and catering attached to them. Therefore, I resolved early on that there had to be a skill and an art to mass producing quality food so that your establishment profits from your "smarts". After all some of the top chefs either studied catering or have attached their names to catering/banquet services (Ramsay went to catering school, Tom Douglas caters, and yes my friends, the master himself, Ferran Adria, does too! check out el bulli catering )

As a response to my food utilization and profitability argument, my intern friend further said, "I really don't care about the money , I just want to cook." So I finally replied, "Well, then, I'm glad you are having a lot of fun line cooking."

A well presented banquet table gets the raves, like this dessert station


On the buffet: Season's best peaches and heirloom tomato salad

I figured, a culinary career has its stages. Finding enjoyment in cooking is an important stage, in fact it is and should be THE important reason to do it. It is what personally keeps me in the kitchen. Eyes will be opened and hard lessons will be learned eventually, but not just yet for my intern friend. For now, his love of food and cooking will do.

And so with that, we packed up our carving station and happily strolled back to the kitchen.