Category Archives: Culinary School

So, my first class of the year is o-v-e-r! I’ve got mad meat cutting skillz, yo. Ok, so the Skills of Meat Cutting was more about learning about where different cuts of meat come from than cutting actual meat (although we did a little bit of that.) This class has the reputation of being really difficult. The first day of class, I got there early and stood in the hall waiting to get into the classroom when a day student walked in.

She had this class with this instructor before and didn’t pass. And she looked scared! She told me how the chef yelled and how tough he was and how hard the class was. Now, these were all things I’d heard from other students, but of course, it just made me nervous. And it made me really want to get an A!

I did work pretty hard and I got my A (“one of the few A’s,” as the chef told me.) Better yet, when I go to the store now, I actually understand the labels on the meat and know what to buy! It’s pretty cool and really more important than the A anyway.

One of the practical exams entailed looking at pictures (like the one above) and identifying the cut of meat. To study, I made up a whole bunch of flash cards with pictures of meat on them. I looked really funny studying them at the gym! But it worked and I was able to remember all of the meat. The picture here is a full loin of beef, in case you’re interested.

Other cool things about the class: we made sausage (and got to take some home!), we learned how to cut a whole chicken into parts (which I’ve done before but this method was easier), we frenched lamb chops (you know those froofy lamb chops where the bone is all white and clean — it was really, actually a pain in the ass), and broke down a whole loin of pork. However, hanging out in a meat locker for hours is not the most comfortable thing in the world.

Now, I have a month off due to all sorts of travel (I’m only in this state one weekend this month!) Then it’s back to the grindstone to finish up this degree!

Woof. I’m actually halfway through the meatcutting class already! I guess that’s what only four sessions per class will do. The verdict? I really like it!

I was NERVOUS about this class. The rumor mill was full of stories how this chef was tough as nails. I shook in my boots … for nothing! I love this guy. He’s strict, but not overly so. Since I’m pretty much a play-by-the-rules sort of person, it suits me. BUT, he’s a GREAT lecturer. He makes points dramatically and repeatedly. He leads you down a path where you answer one of his questions wrong to further make his point. He sings. He tells stories. It’s A LOT of information, but he makes sure you listen.

It’s really cool learning about meat. How many times have I wanted to buy beef at the supermarket only to get frustrated because I’m not really sure what to buy and how to cook it? I went to the store the other day and snuck a look at the beef section, and suddenly all of the terms were CRYSTAL clear.

We spend about half the class in the meat room. It’s basically a huge meat locker with butcher block tables. It’s about 40 degrees in there. It’s so cold that when we try to pick up your knives, the handles are so cold they shock our hands. That part, not so fun. But, on the other hand, where else am I going to have the opportunity to butcher a whole pork loin? We each got one whole pork loin and took out the tenderloin and took out the ribs to fabricate one giant pork roast. Pretty cool stuff.

Also, file under, “Once a Nerd, Always a Nerd,” we had four quizzes on Sunday and I got a 100% on EVERY quiz. And I was totally that awful kid who finished every quiz first. Yeah, I’m competitive.

You’d think I’d be over those, but less than one week until I start class again and I’m having nightmares. Last night, I dreamt that I showed up to school without the right uniform. This is particularly alarming because my last chef literally made people leave class and gave them 15 minutes to find the “right socks” (white tube socks).

I mean, really, why should I be freaking out? It’s probably because I tend to be super flaky and forget things. And in this case, I could forget something and get stuck getting SENT HOME over a missing apron or something which would just suck because I drive 60 miles to school.

So, tonight, when I got home, I packed a bag with extra stuff: four aprons, a bunch of side towels, extra pants, extra socks, and all of the other things that go with the uniform. I’ll keep this bag in my trunk and I should never lack a thing. Hopefully this will ensure NO nightmares tonight.

But yes, I start school in three days (Saturday classes this year, too.) And I waited until this moment to do what I’ve wanted to do all summer. I’m putting together (typing) all of my notes from all of my classes so far and putting it all in a binder with recipes and projects so that I have my entire culinary education in one place for future reference. It’s going to take some time however, but at least I’m starting.

This year is going to be rough. I’ll have Saturday classes. This trimester, it’s just one, but I think in December I’ll need to take two to catch up. In the spring, I’ll need to do an internship at the Raddison in Providence — I called about this in August and apparently the internship = 2, 12 hour days over the weekend. Wha? Holy eff. Those 11 weeks are going to be really rough. I’m planning on a few days of strategically placed vacation days.

Ok, back to note transcribing.

I’m done with my classes for the year (you know, in academic years which begins again in September.) This marks the end of my freshmen course load. I’ll start again next year as a sophomore in more advanced classes.

Stocks, sauces, and soups finished up pretty well. For our practical exam, we had to make one sauce which was determined by chance on the day of the practical (i.e. we had to remember how to make all of the sauces because we didn’t know what we were going to get.) My prayers were answered when I got bechamel sauce rather than the dreaded hollandaise for my morning practical.

I’m used to making this sauce (in various forms) at home, so I was comfortable making a roux, tempering in hot milk, and bringing it to a boil to create a creamy, thick white sauce. I also had to make a derivative sauce from the bechamel — I chose sauce mornay (gryuere, parmesan, and heavy cream are added into the bechamel at the end.)

I was very comfortable making bechamel and as such I got a perfect score on this part of the practical which turned out to be a good thing.

In the afternoon, I had to make a soup. I was pretty sure we’d have to make a thick soup as the group making soup in the morning got a thin soup. I was really hoping for cream of carrot. Instead, we got cream of celery (what the heck? who eats cream of celery soup!?) I was a little thrown off on this one. I had no clue really what cream of celery soup should taste like — celery for sure, but I didn’t know what other spices to put in it.

I went ahead and made the soup making a veloute sauce (which is chicken stock thickened with roux and seasoned — chef said, “Should taste like the colonel’s gravy.”) I sweated celery and onions until they were soft. And then when the veloute was thick (although, I was dissappointed it wasn’t thick enough), I added the softened celery and onion mixture and whizzed it up with an immersion blender. I tempered in some heavy cream, and added white pepper.

Apparently the taste was flat. When I asked what would have helped, he suggested sugar! I would have never guessed to use sugar in a celery soup.

Then I did my knife cuts — the last and final part of the exam. I’m bad at knife cuts. I always make cuts too big. That’s where I lost most of my points. It’s really dumb because I have a ruler on the side of my knife, but some reason, I can’t translate the ruler to the actual cut.

I still made about an 89% on my practical which is by far a great grade (although, the nerd that I am really hates to see anything below a 90!)

After class, I went out for drinks at a local dive bar and had a great time with my classmates. Because I kind of started in the middle of the year last year and took a lot of classes out of order, I have a different mix of people in all of my classes. Sometimes, I get really bummed about this because after four weeks and I’m finally bonding with some people, I have to move on.

But, I realized last night that in a lot of ways I’m lucky. I’m getting to know a lot of the students in the weekend culinary program — and I’m meeting all sorts of people that I wouldn’t meet otherwise. It’s kind of fun.

For now, I’m off until September and am going to enjoy every Sunday that I can sleep in!

So, not exactly, but relatively, I’m pretty close to finished with the program. I basically have one more class this year — and 6 more classes (6 months) next year and then I need to figure out how the heck I’m going to do this internship thing.

The problem is that I’m not ready to actually leave my current job for a couple of years. I like the people I work with, I just got a new position here, and I’d like some major time to save some major money before taking a pay cut.

Yikes! If I do an internship/coop next Spring, that means I’ll have to work my 9-5 job AND figure out a way to work about 40 hours in a kitchen somewhere. How am I going to be able to juggle that??? And the thing is, I’d just not think about it for a while, but I know it’s going to come really fast. And I need a plan. *Gulp*

Reflecting on my first year-plus in culinary school, I realize that I’m so happy that I made the decision to sigh up. Sure, getting up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday can stink, but what I’ve gained is tremendous.

I was making a white sauce the other day and realized I didn’t even need to look at a recipe to get an idea of what I was doing — I just knew how to do it. I’m really learning the methods that make recipes unnecessary.

But, what I’m really enjoying is meeting people who I would never meet otherwise. People in my classes are fairly diverse and at different places in life, but we all have a common desire to cook.

Socially, being in school as an adult is both similar and different than my previous educational experiences. In some ways, I am still holding on to insecurities that I’ve had throughout life, i.e. I *suck* at making friends. However, knowing this, I’m able to push myself more to try and be more outgoing and social — and to knock those bad feelings about myself out of my mind as fast as possible.

I’m also *still* a school-nerd. I get my kicks off of getting A’s. As much as I say, “eh, I don’t really care about this quiz — the average of my quizzes is only 10% of my final grade,” I hate when I get less than a 90 and it makes my day when I know I’ve done the best in the class. I suppose I’ll always be competitive regardless what I’m doing. Playing poker and a practical exam are the same to me — I just like to win.