Saturday, January 02, 2010

More quotes from culinary school

(Note: These comments were heard or overheard during my first 12 weeks of culinary school.)

Unabridged version
"What's the world's shortest book? British cooking."
-- Chef Tony Marano (left), commenting on various national cuisines.

I ate his homework
"Michael, where's that pork chop?"
-- Student Rob Park (right) asking me what happened to a plated grilled pork chop that was left on the cooking station we shared. It was his, and he was planning to take it home to his wife. I ate it.


Follow your nose
"I said, 'It smells like something's burning.' The student said, 'Oh, there's nothing burning.' Three minutes later, he opened the oven and ... there was a horrified silence."
-- Chef Dan Fluharty, telling how the sense of smell is important in the kitchen.

Blue bin, green bin, black bin
"In the Bay Area, we tend to take our garbage seriously."
-- Chef Tony Marano, instructing us to separate throwaway trash from recyclables from compostables.

Unabridged version
"Half a bay leaf or a whole bay leaf? Make the right choice, because otherwise the dish will be ruined, and then the whole thing unravels."
-- Student John Briggs, facetiously weighing the consequences of how much bay leaf to put in a marsala mushroom sauce.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the laughs! What did Rob do when you 'fessed to eating his pork chop? And does a bay leaf really make that much difference?!

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  2. Thanks for the comment.
    Rob said, "Oh, I was taking that to my wife." I quickly found my pork chop that I had cooked and offered it to him. He took it.

    No, a half or whole bay leaf doesn't make much difference. That was the point, I think, with my wise (ass) classmate's response to another student's question.

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  3. I can picture you handing him a pork chop, by the "handle," and him taking it home, by the "handle," and plopping it onto a plate. But I doubt I have the right picture...

    And this is a good thing...

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