We had the most grueling schedule of our course yesterday: back-to-back practical and demo sessions followed by a short break, then another practical session late in the evening. I left the apartment before eight in the morning and didn't get back home until past 9:30 pm. It was both physically and mentally challenging, since you not only have to be on your feet in the kitchen for a long stretch of time but you have to stay mentally sharp and alert to execute all the steps to deliver the final results.
I'm not totally satisfied with the finishing on my gateaux, but I think it's more a matter of practice in order to master the techniques, something which is easily achievable. I am more perturbed by the way the final practical session went. We had the Mean Chef, unfortunately, and whilst he was in a relatively better mood than before, he was still his usual temperamental self. I started off on the wrong foot when I cut open a brand new package of ground hazelnuts since I didn't see the half-opened packages that some other students had grabbed and somehow kept out of sight. Désolé, that's all I can say. Afterall, we were being rushed in everything we did in the kitchen so if I didn't see any ingredients on the common work counters where those ingredients would usually be placed, it was a natural reaction on my part to open a new package. Everything went relatively smooth thereafter, until I made that big mistake. The big mistake of opening my mouth to ask Chef whether the consistency of my chocolate ganache was alright. You see, we had learnt a different method of preparing ganache by another Chef during the practical session in the morning, who instructed us to always prepare ganache in the way he had prescribed. Then during the afternoon demo session, Mean Chef showed another way of preparing the ganache and insisted on that method for our practical session. I welcome the learning process and being shown the various methods; at the same time, it's always a confusing thing to figure out what each Chef wants during the practicals as we are graded at the end of each session hence, ensuring that our execution method is in line with what the Chef-of-the-hour wants is critical. After preparing my ganache with a different technique, I was somewhat uncertain about its consistency, thought to err on the cautious side and decided to ask Chef before I plop the entire batch into the pastry bag. And boy, was that the biggest mistake ever. Instead of a simple yes - it's alright, or no, it's not quite ready answer, Mean Chef just raised his voice and started ranting "Didn't I show you during the demo? Weren't you paying attention? What did I say? If it's too cold, use the bain marie, or too hot, chill it!!?!"....
.tout en français. Utterly shocked at his reaction, I had to take a moment to regain my composure. I almost decided to throw my whisk at his face initially, but decided that unlike him, I should have better control of my emotions. I didn't quite understand why the outburst, especially since my friend asked him the same question 15 minutes before. So back to my work station, question still unanswered, I just decided to finish decorating the cake with my ganache as-is. At that point, I was totally fed up with his behavior and felt the lack of professionalism and control over his emotions was something that no one - be it paying or non-paying students - should ever need to tolerate. We're here to learn and have the right to ask basic, legitimate questions, no?
With one more week to go before the finals, I'm eager to simply put this all behind me and focus on the final stretch. I believe that favoritism and sudden outrages aren't rampant, the school still provides excellent quality education and maintains a fair grading system (I hope). However, it does get me thinking about the disparity between the workplace culture that of the culinary vs. corporate world. There's bound to be a difference, we all know and accept the fact but it's interesting to understand why. Thoughts?
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