Saturday, October 10, 2009

Culinary school quotes of the week, Week 2


What's free about free range?
"We (chefs) sit in our haughty-taughty whites, saying we want free-range this, free-range that. But we're not willing to pay what free-range this and that costs."
-- Chef John Meidinger on how improved conditions for chickens would mean birds with less chance of carrying food-borne illnesses into restaurants, but at a price.

Cut out parsley seeds
"What do you mean get the seeds out of the parsley? Those are tomatoes."
 -- Culinary arts student John Briggs in the midst of the mad scramble to complete 10 precision knife cuts on pieces of produce in 30 minutes.

Measuring happiness
"Be mindful that there are 2 tablespoons in a fluid ounce, and you should live a happy life."
   -- Chef Tony Marano, zeroing in on a key measurement among a confusing array of numbers, for a group of math-challenged culinary students.

Why we have 2 hands
"You should learn to use your hand to measure (in the kitchen). Why? Because all the time you have your hand with you. You aren't going to carry a measuring stick into the kitchen."
   -- Chef Gilles Penot, visiting from Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa,Canada, discussing how to measure precision produce cuts.

Don't call Guinness Book
"What's your record? Seven? You won't break that today."
   St. Francis Hospital Physician's Assistant Krista DeWys as she sewed five stitches into my left thumb after I sliced it at the first knuckle with a paring knife when practicing my cutting skills.

1 comment:

  1. These quotes are keepers. If you ever write a book on your experience, you can sprinkle the quotes judiciously - like little minces of seed-free parsey (that was a good one) -- throughout the book.

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