CIA Boot Camp: Top Ten
10/3/2007
Here are my own Top Ten lessons from CIA Boot Camp week:
• The measuring cups are all gone. Now what? I just laid down that whisk, where did it go? And, Dang! That stove is HOT! I have an entirely new appreciation for ‘mise en place’
• An education at the CIA is three years spent in a commercial kitchen environment. At engineering school, you take a few labs to complement the academics. At Culinary school, you take a few academic courses to complement the labs.
• The Chefs have a philosophy of food that shows in their cooking and instruction. Biases in methodology, awareness of the environmental implications of food sourcing, regional interests, ethics of proteins, etc.
• Who would have guessed that precise temperature control is so important in all things?
• What was I thinking? I never even considered partially cooking food ahead of service in order to deliver an entire meal hot and on-time.
• I’m ashamed to use Swanson chicken broth. I won’t stop; but I’m ashamed.
• Mirepoix no longer seems like a foreign word. It rolls right off the tongue.
• It’s not the recipe, it’s the method that matters!
• Managing a restaurant has always appeared to be hard work. I think it is waaaay harder than any of us could imagine.
• Fire!
– Chris