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Yeah... as you can all see on the photo
above I finally managed to get some
nice-looking lemons. Horray!!! You have
no idea as to how much sweet-talking I
have to do with the (female!) fruit and
veg supplier just to secure them.
Remember last week, remember how bad
the lemons were? Well, this batch that
arrived today at work looks a lot
better. But looks can be deceiving.
Although these lemons are nice to stare
at they are not as flavorsome as the
ones that I got last week. But that's
fine because we use them mostly for
garnish anyway, and not for cooking or
baking. (ie lemon tarts) It's always
like that with most fruit and veg, the
ones that look really plum and bright in
color can sometimes be less tasty
compared to the uglier ones... kind'a
like some of the people that I know.
Hmm... :)
Most of the chefs that I worked with in
the past, and in the present as well,
are a bit slack when setting their
respective sections up. The correct
culinary term is mise en place
(pronounced Miz-Ahn-Plas), and it
basically means getting everything
organized before the actual cooking is
performed. And it's not just processing
(ie chopping, peeling or cutting) the
ingredients, but also setting up your
work station so you achieve maximum
output with minimum delay. A good
example is having a pot of boiling water
ready before lunch starts, rather than
putting it on the stove only after you
get your first order of blanched
vegetables. Or making sure you have
enough plates in front of you instead of
running to the dishwashing area 15
minutes into service time. And of course
the same principle applies in other
lines of work. Like that guy at the
convenience store down the road who
never seems to have enough change in the
morning. Geez!!!
Anyway, I always make sure I'm properly
set up regardless of how quiet we think
it's going to be. And it paid off
today... bigtime!!! There were no
bookings for lunch... but by 12:45pm the
bistro was just about full. Imagine if I
decided to cut corners and not have
everything ready... I'd be running like
a chicken and sweating like a pig!
Oink!!!
Speaking of "sweating like a pig"...
that is how I looked and felt like
yesterday. Ewww! Gross!!! I woke up at 2
in the afternoon, with a really bad
hangover and it was so hot! The ever
reliable air-conditioner in my room
chose the wrong day to break down!!!
Yesterday, the first day of the year was
also the hottest day in Sydney since
1935(?-not exactly sure of the date). It
was 45°c outside and 53°c in my room!!!
(I'm serious!) So today, given that it's
really overcast and only 25°c, no one
was complaining, least of all me!
Finally, I'm just about finished with
all the chocolates that I received for
Christmas. I'm going to the gym tomorrow
morning so I better start eating faster!
Hehehe! I got loads and loads of
chocolates from my friends, plus those
giveaway chocolates that I managed not
to give away. Hmm... does this mean I
have less friends this past Christmas as
compared to the year before? Hehehe!
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