Week 17 - Chef for a day

This week I have been Chef for a day. Well, more like Chef for an hour. Nevertheless I felt like being in an episode of Masterchef. I did not do too bad after all.

The first test my group had to face was a blind tasting of ingredients. I had to smell and recognize 30 ingredients between oils, spices, herbs and micro-herbs. Micro-herbs? Never heard of those (according to Wikipedia, micro herbs are smaller version of herbs used in fine dining “to enhance the beauty, taste and freshness of the dishes with their delicate textures and distinctive flavors”).Indeed the only ones I got right were parsley and green basil. The herbs section was the same disaster. With the oils I did a little better. I guessed right the truffle oil, extra virgin and olive oil, peanut oil, lemon oil (well…I recognized it as “fruity oil”, close enough, I got half a point for this one!). The part I really succeeded at was spices. I got them all right but one! Cumin, paprika, nutmeg, curry, star anise, cinnamon, clove, I recognized them all. My final score was 15 and a half out of 30. Not too bad for not being a Chef or much of a cook either.

   Once the blind tasting was over the group was split in four teams and we had to prepare canapés as shown by the Chefs. The canapés we had to prepare were confit duck pancakes, crab salad served in a mini cucumber-bowl and Carpaccio of beef on brioche with truffle dressing. There was nothing to win, but I got to wear the Chef’s hat and prepare food in a professional kitchen. I had incredible fun. I must say that the Chef’s career is a tough one, it is very stressful and it is a heavy job. There are lots of things one needs to be careful of and the kitchen environment is not one of the easiest ones to work in. I enjoyed very much being able to be on that side of the kitchen for once. And to feel like a professional Chef. Now I can keep making laughable mistakes in my kitchen while cooking for me and few (un)lucky friends.