Culinary competency in caldo verde

Chef Dan Fluharty rewarded me full credit -- 20 points -- for my caldo verde in Monday' soups competency exam in Culinary Foundations II.

The exam called for making three soups in two hours. The caldo verde was my best; Chef Dan called it "very flavorful and seasoned just right." Thanks, Chef.

My clam chowder and consommé offerings also got high marks, and he judged the flavors to be good in both.

The flavor profile is the key: identifying the flavors, bringing them out and building their complexities from the bottom of the pot to the top.

In the case of caldo verde, one must reconcile the competing flavors in two strong ingredients -- spicy chorizo and bitter kale -- to make them complementary. The background ingredients of potatoes, sautéed onions, chicken stock and a little olive oil help do that.

(Photo shows my caldo verde in the pot.)

Man (and woman) as food-making machine

Soup production techniques began in earnest today in culinary school, and as it did, I was struck by the continuous push by the teacher chefs to get us to multi-task and do things in a hurry.

Not a complaint, necessarily. Merely a note that this is training not only in how to prepare foods well, but how to prepare them quickly and in repetitious steps that mean one plate of French onion soup is like the previous one, and the next one and so on.

Today we produced three soups -- French onion, consommé and caldo verde -- in about 75 minutes, including prep work, cooking and plating for presentation. Thursday's production will be the same, with shrimp bisque, cream of mushroom and clam chowder on the menu.

The chef instructors clearly are pushing to replicate the pace of restaurant work. Again, no complaint about it. Just a recognition of that reality.

(Photo shows my soup production for today: French onion in the foreground, consommé left background, caldo verde right background.)