Eau de Mirepoix

I finally started school and....I LOVE IT! Granted it has only been 2 days but I loved the school before this and the classes are insane. I am having so much fun, it doesn't seem like school. Synopsis, here we go:


Day 1- My first class is Safety and Sanitation with Chef Rob in this weird room that is kind of tucked away downstairs, away from the other classrooms. So I had a little trouble finding it but thankfully Chef Rob was late so he didn't notice. You would think that Safety and Sanitation would be boring and that 3 hours would drag but it doesn't. Chef Rob is highly entertaining plus he likes to show is YouTube videos. The first video was about how all accidents in the kitchen are preventable. I believe that the State of California made these ads but I am not sure. Anyway, it shows this really pretty girl standing on the line in the kitchen and she says, 

"I am the sous chef here and with any luck by next year I will be head chef. I have this amazing finace and that I am supposed to marry this weekend, but that won't happen because I am about to be in a horrible accident. I really should have cleaned up that grease." 

So then she grabs this huge pot of boiling water, slips on the grease spill and falls spilling the boiling water all over her and its gross so I will spare the rest. I am only telling you this so you will see the humor it what happened in class next. 


Chef Rob continues to browse YouTube to find another accident video. He clicks on one that he thinks will be appropriate. It starts out with this man in a suit leaving a motel and he says,

"I am an investment banker and with any luck by next year I will be a senior investment banker. I have this amazing fiancee and she lets me crap on her face."

Pretty much everyone busts out laughing and Chef Rob scrambles to stop the video. Once he gets it to stop everyone is still laughing and Chef Rob is covering his eyes repeating that he is sorry but chuckling at the same time. I doubt that every class will be that exciting but still, it was humorous.

My next class is Skills, which means we are in the kitchen developing our skills. Anyway I head up to the kitchen and take a seat at a tall stainless steel table by myself. I am in my uniform looking around at everyone else making sure mine is on right. I tied my neckerchief like a bandana around my neck because I didn't know any better and I see another girl, Natalie showing others the correct way to tie it (like an actual tie). Finally Chef Greg comes in and he is setting papers down a little harshly and being a little scary. All of us are making eye contact with our soon-to-be friends and thinking "What are we in for?". Turns out Chef Greg is great! He really pushes us and he knows a lot. How he manages 5 groups of 3 beginners I have no clue. Anyway this other kid comes and sits next to me and another guy. We will call this one K. The first thing K says to me and other other guy, G, is that he has anger issues. Hmm, well I am super excited about you having access to knives! Then he tells G and I that he was in the military and was discharged for mental instability. Great... So K, G and I have to make mirepoix (meer-a-puah) which consists of 50% onion, 25% carrot and 25% celery and we each have to cut the proper amount for the stocks we will be making the next day. That was a disaster I had to do all the math (yeah, I did) and tell them what to do. CUT THE VEGETABLES GUYS! So after a short 5 hours (Im serious, time is your enemy in the kitchen and 5 hours has not been enough so far) we head home.

I made friends the next day in my Concepts and Theories class and a new group ended up trading another kid for me! So when we made our stocks it was good team work and not the disaster I had prepared for. G was jealous I had the idea first. Anyway thats a short synopsis of Day 2 because this post is already a mile long. Now for pictures...