Zooming in on life in the kitchen can be compared to my favorite movie Ratatouille. While I was in culinary school, some of my Chefs even referred to the movie so we would assimilate to what we had not experience yet with a working kitchen and a fully operational line working with the front of the house staff and our own class to that of the Chef Gusteau's in the movie. For the most part, minus Remy the rat being a chef in a 5 star French Brigade style kitchen, the movie holds true and was a good lesson while taking Classical French Cuisine lab.
When we first see the kitchen from the roof-top as Remy and his imaginary Gusteau are peering in, he tells us the different positions as we get to scan the colorful and remarkable kitchen scenery. If you don't work in a restaurant's kitchen, did you know all of this went on back there? Most non-cooks / chefs, probably not, unless you know someone or have had the privilege to be shown it. Hot plates, hot ovens, hot flat-tops, hot utensils, hot stoves, greasy slippery floors, hot steam-kettles, sharp knives, fryers, grills, pantry, tons of assorted food, ect. There is A LOT going on in the kitchen at any given time whether the cooks and chefs are actually cooking or not. Always finding something to prep, something to cook, something to clean, it's an on going cycle.
A line in the movie that always pops up for me when I or someone else gets yelled at for timeliness (huge aspect of the kitchen) is this one between Colette and Linguini when she is teaching him the other aspects of the kitchen to be well rounded besides soups.
Colette: What are you doing?
Linguini: Uh . . . vegetables. I'm cooking the . . . vegetables?
Colette: No! You waste energy and time! You think cooking is a cute job, eh? Like Mommy in the kitchen? Well, Mommy never had to face the dinner rush while the orders come flooding in, and every dish is different and none are simple, and all different cooking time, but must arrive at the customer's table at exactly the same time, hot and perfect! Every second counts and you CANNOT be MOMMY!
YES, oh so very true. A line of tickets stubs shoved under the line holder as you race to plate in time while multitasking to do 5 tickets or more at once that all have the same dish so you can get those 5 done and away with to the customers to then start on something else all while your Chef is asking for tickets you either have done so they're in the "window" or you haven't even realized yet that you have them because the machine is still printing and tickets are falling on the floor. You're sweating and your brain is all confused trying to remember everything at once while you personally are just trying to get through the rush so you can breath. It's the fast pace, rush, excitement, and the love of food that gets cooks through it.
There are chefs out there like Chef Skinner and worse. Sometimes it may seem unbearable, but you just have to trudge through the shift to and get to the next day. Other times it's great. Like the feeling you saw flash over Remy's face when the waiter came banging through the door saying the customer's love it! (the veal stomach dish) and you are happy for that one moment of instant gratification because your plating looks beautiful, you got it out on time, and the waiter or manager comes down to tell you the customer enjoyed it. Like getting butterflies but good ones. That feeling of floating but stable on the ground as you try not to become a bubble head and have an ego boost, it just feels happy. It's even better if you can see the customer's face, like in that of an open kitchen - where the customers can see the kitchen. I worked in one of those, and though I was only the pantry girl, it was summer and well everyone loves cool refreshing salad on a hot day and just seeing a glimpse of a smile knowing they are actually enjoying their lunch break was simply nice to know.
For this feeling, it is why I do what I do. While on days I feel crappy because things didn't go right, I get an oil burn, or my plates aren't coming out on time, the desserts are falling apart or whatever the reason is, those days could be better. But when all else fails, at the end of the night when the numbers get tallied and we find out how many covers we did, the manager and / or Chef says: "Everybody did a good job tonight. The customer's enjoyed it. You did a good job getting the food out." That moment is pure joy. Keep cooking!
And watch Ratatouille if you haven't already, or just watch it again, as I do.
yup. i was reading through your blog and came across this... <3
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