9-9-08 Seafood ID and Fab Day 1
Today I started the class, Seafood ID and Fabrication and waddya know, I had to get up at 4 am because the class started at 5 am! Sooo early! But in the long run, we get out at about 11:30 or 12, so then I have the rest of the day to do homework and laundry (because of course your whites smell like fish). So I was wicked prepared for class today because I read all of the handouts and pre-day one assignments, so I felt comfortable in the class. Because the fish room is refrigerated, I was told to wear a white long sleeve under my chef’s coat and I am sure happy I did! There were definitely people in my class that were freezing after just 20 minutes of class. We actually fabricated some fish today. We learned how to butterfly a trout and quarter fillet a flounder. I had wicked sharp knives because I brought them to a knife place this weekend (Warren’s) that sharpened CIA issued knives for free, so why not? My knives cut through the fish like butter, so it was helpful. I did not do that bad to be honest, but I know that I do want a different fillet knife...the ones that the CIA give us aren’t as flexible as I would want them to be. I really feel like I will get a lot out of this class.
9-11-08 Seafood ID and Fab Days 2 and 3
These past two days we have been fabricating more fish practicing the different techniques (Up and Over, Straight cut, and Flat cut). My favorite is probably the flat cut then the straight cut. I do not like the up and over because there are a lot of steps and its a bit confusing. I’m sure with practice I won’t mind it. I still have the daily ritual of throwing of my clothes at the end of the day into the washer and jumping in the shower. I do not want this fish smell fermenting on my body! Today I actually brought my camera to class so I could take pictures of the fish. We are allowed to have cameras, but no videotaping of the lessons because it is illegal. I really like my chef (Chef Viverito). He really knows a lot and makes class fun, mind you, he is a hard teacher, but it gives me a challenge. He really makes sure we understand everything before letting us off on our own, and he is more than willing to help us out if we don’t get it. Getting up at 4:15 am isn’t so bad anymore. I just go to bed early (9:30 pm ish). We get out of class still at 11:00 so it gives me plenty of time to shower and wash my clothes. Today the chef collected the homework, so I was very happy that I had done it last night. We never know when he will collect it.
9-17-08 Seafood ID and Fab
Today was my last day of Seafood ID and Fabrication. We had our final today. It consisted of three parts-identification, fabrication, and a written part. But to my surprise, I found out that the fabrication portion of the test had been happening since day one. He was grading us on our progress, which I think I’ve done pretty well. For the identification portion, I identified all 10 fish correctly, but I missed a few of the minor details about each fish. Chef gives partial credit, so I’m not worried. The written part was sooo easy. It was fill in the blank, but I studied wicked hard for the test. I typed up all my notes, took pics of the fish, and re-read my homework assignments. I was not the least bit worried. I do not know how I did and will not know for a few days, so I just gotta wait.
Heres the daily schedule of fish class:
5 am: the Teachers Assistant arrives (TA, named Carlos, wicked nice and cool)
-we uncover the fish to expose the head and tails, take out the fish needed for demos, tastings, and fabrication.
6 am: Chef Viverito arrives and he does the demo of the fish then we fabricate fish until 8
8 am: we go into lecture until about 11 am
8:30: we do a tasting of some fish. I really like the fish we tasted, but its waaaay to early to be eating fish at 8:30 in the morning.
11:00: DONE for the day.
11:15: In the shower, whites in the washer machine getting “de-fished”
No comments:
Post a Comment