Trying out

The stagè is an important part of joining a kitchen. Getting to see how the restaurant operates, how service flows, skill of the cooks, chefs and standards applied are important. It is also important to go show that you can handle yourself, that standing around isn't what you're about, that you want to learn and can take direction and work with others. Myself, I can't get this from one night, I want to go in for three days, spend 10 hours each day with everyone, and get the feeling of the kitchen while giving everyone a chance to get to know me. Then there's the trial meal. Planning and making the meal for owners and chefs, sourcing the product and cooking says a lot about the cook. Not only if the person can cook (which is kind of important) but the thought process behind the meal. The flow of the meal, is it consistent and follows a continuous arc? Do the components fit together and make sense? Where was the product sourced? It all says something about a cook and where he/she stands in their career. In the past two weeks I have done one lunch and one dinner. Both have taught me about myself and my skill level. I had fun and was successful with both meals. I can't stress enough the importance of doing this as often as possible, especially when looking for a job. Just going into an unfamiliar kitchen and hanging out for a night or two, getting to know people and learn new techniques, asking questions and finding out why a chef does something like flour a piece of meat to be seared can all expand knowledge and that can only be good. This doesn't mean that all experiences will be good, but even from the bad (or even more so) we learn. Another aspect of the learning process (for me anyway) is cooking at home. I bake bread, make pasta, make stock and cook at least two meals a week. I take the skills I’ve learned professionally and find a way to apply it to home cooking, further developing my skill and my palate. The scale of home cooking is smaller by far, sometimes making it harder to coax the full flavor or texture out of a technique but I develop techniques suitable only for the home kitchen and a way of thinking about flavors and processes. It is the though process that's important. The thought process most easily translates between the two different cooking environments. Trying something at home to see how it works then taking that idea and translating it into the professional kitchen can be hard but rewarding, and trying in reverse can be even more so. The most important thing is to learn and find ways that make cooking not only a physical act but a cerebral and emotional one as well. Only when you understand why a technique is used can you fully exploit it. This understanding and learning is what this profession is about and what drives me forward, this is why I cook.