Humber Graduate

"Cook Apprenticeship with Honours" says the diploma I received in the mail from the Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. There should also be a letter in there that tells me I finished at the top of my class. I chose not to go to graduation and stand there with all the twentysomethings who are so very proud of their achievement. It's not that I am not proud, but it's not my first degree so it's a case of "been there, done that".

For me, graduating from the apprenticeship program means I am eligible to write my Red Seal at the end of the year and become, as they say, a "papered chef". I'm finishing the practical part of my apprenticeship at a private golf course kitchen and after that it's onward and upward. Or so I hope. There is a very exciting prospect of working in Yorkville in one of Toronto's top restaurants with a Chef I admire greatly but that will not be until much later in the year so I'm trying not to get too excited. I'd love nothing more than to find a home there. I've worked in three kitchens already in just over two years and going back down to gardemanger each time (after previously working saute and grill) is a little more humbling than I can handle.

I have a few sections still to be signed in my apprentice book and a few hundred hours of work left till I reach the 6000 hours the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities requires for Red Seal eligibility. I've given myself a deadline for no later than Dec 31 2011. Wish me luck.

For now, I have three consecutive days off from work during which I plan to enjoy the sunshine and, of course, some food. Tomorrow, Jen and I visit Cafe du Lac for our first Summerlicious experience.

On Visiting Former Inmates

Yes, you heard right. I said former inmates. Although not exactly prison, it's an institution that sure feels like it to those who enter it each morning and suffer within its walls for eight hours or more each day. They [the call centre reps] have a phone system where not only do they have to log in each morning, they have to enter a code for every activity they do that doesn't involve answering calls. You have to pee? You enter a code to show you're not answering the phone because you're doing as nature intended. You have to enter notes in a file and don't wish to be interrupted by the phone? You enter a code. You go down to get a coffee, a coke or a snack out of the machine? You enter a code. You leave the building? C'mon folks, say it with me... you enter a code. If you forget to do this or you choose not to, your friendly manager pops his or her head over your cubicle and asks how come you've been unavailable for phone calls for the last five minutes?

I visited some old friends for lunch the other day and entered the place that had me chained to my desk by golden handcuffs for seven long years. At the end of their 45 minute lunch I joked with them that I'd better leave so they can return to their desk before their ankle bracelets start beeping. I am not far from the truth, at least where certain departments are concerned. If I needed confirmation that I'd made the right decision by leaving, I got that yesterday, and then some.

This has become a place where employees apply for internal job openings but even if they have played the game right and get the job they are still not free to go as the department can't afford to lose said employee. "Oh, it's temporary, we'll hold you for the maximum time that we can but you'll go in the end". A month and a half later, the employee learns that unfortunately the department still is in bad shape and ... well... nobody can leave. Indefinitely. So, the job that you applied for is gone and you'll be stuck here for eternity. Unless, of course, you are in a financial position to tell them to shove it and walk out of the job. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, mr. manager, I'm leaving anyway and you'll still have an empty chair to fill. But since few people can afford to do it, that stuff will continue to go on.

Thank you for staying. Now please return to your phone and be sure to log on and enter your code.

Win Some, Lose Some

In the span of about 24 hours we gained a Chef and also lost a Chef. If you think this is edge of your seat action you can settle down because it's not. It just seems that way.

Let me start off by saying Chef is not leaving. I don't think he had any intention to, he was just venting. As always. Tuesday was a little busy, there was only one server to handle front of house and one boy in the kitchen to help him and he came undone to the point that he contemplated leaving. Let's shelf that for good. To save us all the trouble of going back and forth on things Chef vents about I'll just try to shrug off a little more each day and focus on the important stuff.

We did have someone come in to hang out in our kitchen for a couple of hours and even have a cooking test and this man cooked so well that he was offered a position of Chef. Not head Chef but Chef. Maybe it would have alleviated some of the stress on our existing Chef, allowing him to take less shifts and give him someone to collaborate with. Tuesday night the man left saying to everyone "good night, see you tomorrow." Wednesday when I showed up at work I find out that he must have slept on it because he wasn't coming, wasn't taking the job. Gosh darn it, I could have had an entire week off at Christmas, Chef had already told me that if I wanted to I could stay up north the rest of the week as he could get the new guy to take my shift. I would have regretted it on payday Friday but the rush of a week off is as powerful as a bottle of spirits that you just polished off. The rush that comes from not thinking straight anymore, when every idea is a fabulous one until the next day, or week when you have to face the music!

As for me, I have to decide whether I like thinking with my head or with my ... liver. All this detoxing is leaving me with some splitting headaches, likely withdrawal from caffeine and a few other things I haven't ingested or puffed on for a week. I miss coffee. And since the liver's not talking to me today maybe I'll see if it'd like to have a chat with me this morning, over coffee.

Huh!

Last night I took Jen and her cousin for dinner at the restaurant. I seem to be spending all my money there lately (it's the third time I've gone in the last four days!), I might as well be working for them for free. At some point during the night I went to ask Chef how he's doing and thank him for our meal. He told me he won't be in today and I should keep the fridge as immaculate as he has left it for us. He also told me he will likely be leaving the restaurant. I nodded understandingly although I don't understand a thing. I asked him if he'll be in on Thursday so we can talk, I paid our bill and left.

Nothing was discussed as he was busy putting out food and I had my dinner companions to return to but after I got home I couldn't stop thinking about what he said. What could have possibly happened between Sunday when I last saw him and yesterday that he had such a change of heart? I knew he was working hard and at times he would make comments like "I'm too old for this", or "I can't do this anymore", but with him venting so much in the past I didn't think much of his complaints. It was like the boy who cried wolf... after a while it was just Chef venting and over-reacting again.

So if he is indeed leaving either something big must have happened in his personal life or there was a disagreement between him and the owners of the restaurant. Either that or he is not leaving at all and yesterday's comment was but another cry for attention. I'll have to wait till Thursday to find out. Today, it's me and the Sous-Chef. Ugh.

My Friend, My Liver

Previously on Not Just About Cooking: As the Chef had an appointment to go to he requested that I go in early and get some of the prep done. An unprecedented event and, needless to say, an occasion that require I put my best foot forward.

So I show up a little before 1:30 and open the bistro. I was able to uneventfully let myself in, disable the alarm, turn on the oven, the hoods and the panini grill. Fumbling with the switches I even found the light switch for the line but not the one for the back of the kitchen. Oh well, I'll just have to work in the dark, it would only be doing dishes back there and since it's just me, there wouldn't be many.

I finished everything on time, according to plan. I set pasta to boil and once the pasta was cooked and cooling I pulled chicken off the bone, did the chicken pot pie and the cauliflower gratin. My only interruption was from the supplier who came with my delivery. As the clock ticked 3:30 pm I tidied up after myself just in time to have the Sous-chef walk in, followed by Chef himself. I had the Sous portion the three kinds of pasta I had scattered on trays in the kitchen and we were ready for dinner service. Dinner service was busy and I was tired. As promised, Chef let me leave early but instead of the 8:30 pm I had envisioned I was allowed to leave at 10 pm. Still saved me from closing.

I have to address the fatigue now. I was unusually tired on Saturday, Sunday and most of today. I have concerns about my liver as it seems that all I want to do is sleep. I don't think it's weather related. No, SAD is not what I'm concerned about right now. I say this because fatigue is also accompanied by slight nausea. Since I have been drinking but not to excess I have to think it's from not eating properly. Skipping meals, eating fatty, rich foods, lots of pizza. When I say "lots of pizza" I don't mean large amounts per serving, but "lots" in that I have eaten more pizza in these past two-three weeks than I have in a year. Being busy in the kitchen I don't have time to eat and I often will wolf down a piece of pizza that got messed up in the oven. As I am not big on apples and pears and I don't like the taste of melons and berries in the winter, my fruit intake has reduced dramatically, as has my vegetable consumption. Combine that with an increase in my consumption of caffeine, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, sweets and spirits and I am asking for trouble.

If you're wondering what I've been up to the past couple of days, well, I've been sleeping. It just so happens I am off today and tomorrow which allows me to rest. I am also detoxing, somewhat and making an effort to drink more fluids, eliminate fat and fried foods as well as dairy. No eggs, no nuts (not that I eat many of those anyway), bland chicken soup and pretty much bland anything (sodium also a no-no). Boiled potato (sans butter or margarine). My lunch was tuna on an english muffin. Dinner will be pasta with some mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and arugula.

In a couple of days if I don't see results I guess I'll get myself to a doctor... you know, in case I am completely wrong about what's going on and have some parasite instead. Since I work in food preparation that is also a possibility, however remote.