Epicurean Encounters: Chopped!

This last block has been less formal in that we do not have assigned recipes. So far we have compared grass fed versus corn fed beef, anti-biotic free chicken versus mass produced chicken, and my favorite exercise thus far, a competition similar to Food Network's Chopped.

Chef divided us into teams of two with a mystery farm to table produce such as purple cauliflower and butternut squash. We have to come up with a tasty small plate either an appetizer or entree in an hour. I liked this exercise because it allowed us to be creative and work with our partners. I learned that I work well with most people, even ones I don't like. The most challenging partners are the ones with so many ideas that they loose focus. It's like working with Sybil. I prefer to make dishes that less complicated but well executed and delicious. One dish smelled like wet dog and tasted worse. I left school hungry on a couple days because the food was simply inedible. That has never happened before.

We also had a couple days of restaurant style quick fire drills. I have always prided myself on my ability to multi task and looked forward to this semi realistic challenge. I was quickly humbled. It was a train wreck. The person calling out orders was unclear and condescending. We only cooked for 35 minutes but it felt like an eternity in purgatory. I was on the sauté station and in charge of risotto, mushrooms, tuna, and lava beans. Someone else was on the grill and another making a mussel dish. We ended up with some doubled orders and delays in service. It was so demoralizing that only six of us came to class the next day.