So I rotated into the P.M Grill Position

[skidpan]

dude i havent thought about the line in a while. granted i am only a kid, but my pops is a cmc, and has had the opportuinty to own/run a couple of resturants... I worked in his last resturant befor he got out of the industry.. I expoed on occasion for him, and got to step on the line if the poop was hittin the fan... i miss it!
I actually coming up to a major crossroad for my self.
Get into the business or cars.

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by skidpan »

dude i havent thought about the line in a while. granted i am only a kid, but my pops is a cmc, and has had the opportuinty to own/run a couple of resturants... I worked in his last resturant befor he got out of the industry.. I expoed on occasion for him, and got to step on the line if the poop was hittin the fan... i miss it! I actually coming up to a major crossroad for my self. Get into the business or cars.

your dad is a CMC you cant just drop a line like that and not drop details, I wanna hear a bit of his background. Thats Awesome bro!

[Avo_dub]

yeah me too.

[LovetheA2s]

To those who dont know the excellence and demands of a CMC:

Certified Master Chef (CMC)
Certified Master Pastry Chef (CMPC)

The consummate chef, possesses the highest degree of professional culinary knowledge and skill. These chefs teach and supervise their entire crew as well as provide leadership and serve as role models to the ACF apprentices.

THIS IS STRAIGHT FROM THE ACF (american Culinary fedaration) PAGE:

History of the Certified Master Chef (CMC) program
The CMC program was initiated in 1981. The driving force behind the program was Ferdinand Metz, CMC, AAC, who was chairman of the Master Chef Committee. Chef Metz was president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) 1980-2001 and ACF national president 1979-1983. He has held several other ACF offices.

The purpose of establishing ACF certification and, ultimately, the Master Chef program was to provide a wider range of certifications while requiring educational classes in addition to culinary skills and experience. The Certified Master Chef level is the highest and most demanding level of achievement of all the certification levels, granted only after the candidate has passed an intensive 10-day test of culinary skills and knowledge.

In October 1981, five ACF chefs were granted CMC: Byron Bardy, Milos Cihelka, Anton Flory, Dieter Kiessling, and Richard Schneider. As of February 2005 there were 59 Certified Master Chefs and 13 Certified Master Pastry Chefs.

In 1982 the program was presented to the World Association of Cooks Societies congress in Vienna, Austria, and granted official recognition by that body.

The Master Chef test is held annually-providing there is a minimum of six registered candidates-and judged by a panel of Certified Master Chefs and Certified Master Pastry Chefs. Presently, there are two approved test sites: The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and Greystone, the CIA's West Coast campus in Napa Valley, Calif.

Applicant Qualification Guidelines
Must be a CEC or CEPC in good standing. (CCC can be considered under certain circumstances.)
Possess the practiced skills to perform culinary art to the very highest standards.
Have a foundation of quality experience and education.
Be physically and mentally prepared to perform 10 long days under pressure.
Be aware of all expenses involved: application fee, tuition, travel, housing, meals, miscellaneous (approximately $4,000 - $6,000)
Step 1

The candidate should carefully review the information contained in the CMC Handbook. The Handbook provides a fairly detailed overview of the program and what it will take to prepare for the test. Make sure you qualify and are willing to prepare for the examination. Complete the Candidate's Application found in the front of the book and. Attach all documents and mail to the ACF education office together with a $100.00 non-refundable application fee. Applicants who have not included all necessary documentation will be notified by mail as to what additional information is needed.

Step 2

The ACF education department will review the application, and verify all documentation. If all is in good order, the applicant will be designated as an "Approved Candidate." Candidates may remain at this status indefinitely. This enables candidates to prepare according to their own needs and time frame. Once approved, the candidate will receive the Certified Master Chef Candidate Manual. The manual contains complete and detailed information needed to prepare for the ten day test.

Step 3

Candidates who are ready may request advancement from "Approved" to "Active Candidate" status. This request must be in writing and include a $200 non-refundable processing fee. Candidates may remain on "Active" status for only two(2) years or two(2) scheduled tests. Candidates who do not take the test within two years (or two scheduled tests) will be returned to "Approved" status. They will be required to pay an additional $200 to return to "Active Candidate" status.

Step 4

The last step is to register for a CMC test. Test dates are advertised in the National Culinary Review. Active candidates are notified by mail of pending test dates. ACF must have a minimum of six (6) active candidates enrolled for a test date in order to schedule a test. At present, ACF administers one test per year.

Tuition Payments, Refunds and Other Expenses
Tuition

Tuition for the Master Chef or Master Pastry Chef examination is $3,000 (subject to change). Candidates remit $100 with their initial application ($3,000 - $100 = $2900 balance).

When an Approved candidate elects to be placed on Active status they remit $200 ($2,900 - $200 = $2,700 balance).

Active candidates must attend one of the next two scheduled tests. Should an "active" candidate not attend either of the next two tests, they will revert to "approved" status and must pay an additional $200 to regain their "active" status.

When an active candidate is accepted for a test date, they must remit the balance of their tuition ($2,700) thirty days prior to the test date. Candidates who have not paid tuition in full by the scheduled test date may not take the test.

Refunds

Candidates accepted for a test date, but who can not attend, must submit a written withdrawal no later than one month prior to the testing date. Tuition will not be refunded as the candidate will be rescheduled for the next available test date.

Seventy-five percent of the paid tuition balance ($2,025) will be refunded to an Active candidate who has paid the full balance of their tuition, but must withdraw before the schedule test begins.

Fifty percent of the tuition balance ($1,350) will be refunded to a candidate who withdraws (voluntarily or for other reasons, see Test procedures) from the test within the first five days of the test schedule.

Candidates who must withdraw from the test after five days will not receive a refund of their tuition. They remain an "Active" candidate and may attend the next scheduled test.

Other Expenses

All other expenses associated with taking the test (travel, room and board, etc.) are the responsibility of the candidate. This includes any charges required by the host institution for make up tests.

[Danbodia]

Where do they go to take this test?

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by Danbodia »

Where do they go to take this test?

Its administered at only 2 places . Thats the CIA i Hyde park, NY. And the CIA in Napa Valley CA.

I went to JWU,. but it seems that CIA Owns all other culinary schools...... Its all good, Im getting that CIA teaching in the Kitchen that I am in now

[Danbodia]

I know, I was being facetious.

One of the constants I have picked up on in all the places I've been is, the school does not determine the individual.

Johnny Wales, NECI, Peter Kump's, Cordon Bleu and, yes, CIA are all good schools, but all are only what the student can make of them.

[LovetheA2s]

You $hithead . Its 1:30am and 2 can play at this game. Its only Because its late, Im half $hitty, celebrating my first mystery basket, that I will compete with you:

and Yeah, that Little Seal in the left corner shows that I graduated within the top 5 . Haha. Never tempt a almost drunk guy! He just might, go in the closet and dig out the diploma, take a pic, and post it on vortex

Its all in good fun!


Modified by LovetheA2s at 6:54 AM 5-27-2006

[Danbodia]

LOL
I see your little seal and raise you with my High Honors (1 of 2) on the right.
BUT...
I trump you with my Perfect Attendance on the left.

Yep, it was the devils water that brought forth my fancy paper too.

I just saw the mystery basket thread.
Your Chef just set one up for you?
On your time I'm guessing...
Sounds like a good time. Kinda cool to have that extracurricular opportunity.

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by Danbodia »

LOL I see your little seal and raise you with my High Honors (1 of 2) on the right. BUT... I trump you with my Perfect Attendance on the left. Yep, it was the devils water that brought forth my fancy paper too. I just saw the mystery basket thread. Your Chef just set one up for you? On your time I'm guessing... Sounds like a good time. Kinda cool to have that extracurricular opportunity.

I will match your perfect attendance for 2 years and raise you Alpha Beta Kappa Honor society as well as Silver key honor society (some JWU thing).

Yeah he set it up on my time. Told me to come in early to help out banquets, I got there and he said, yeah start getting ready, in 10 minutes you have a mystery basket. It is a blessing to have this kind of extracurricular opportunity. Im thakful to have a chef willing to push me, and an establishment to absorb my training costs.

[the_marcus]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

Ya'll still interested, or am I boring you yet?

It is very far from boring. Entertaining.

I read the whole thread and man, your job rocks. I'll leave the job to you though.

Random question, why do all exclusive and chique restaurants use French vocabulary in their menus? Personally I don't mind, I'm french.

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by the_marcus »

It is very far from boring. Entertaining. I read the whole thread and man, your job rocks. I'll leave the job to you though. Random question, why do all exclusive and chique restaurants use French vocabulary in their menus? Personally I don't mind, I'm french.

Its a cool marketing tool. I.E - Take a soup for instance. Lets say a classic consomme.

A classic consomme is a clear, flavorful broth soup containing of what ever ingredients you want to put in it. Simple eh?

You could easily market it on a menu as a

- Clear broth chicken soup with fine chopped vegetables

and have the american folks be like ummmmm, "well baby we are in a nice restraurant and this soup is $6.25 a bowl, do you want some nursing home food?"

OR

You could market it as Chicken Consomme a la Parisienne
- a classically prepared flavorful and clarified chicken broth with julienne zucchihi, squash, and carrots

A turkey sandwich with red pepper mayo and lettuce and side.........

OR

Sliced smoked breast of turkey, with a red pepper aioli, and fresh boston bibb lettuce, served with your choice of coleslaw, fries, or fresh fruit

I find the marketing of a menu fascinating. Its cool to take common items and over zealously foo-foo them up. You have to put out a quality product that you stand behind so you arent lying to the customer.

The industry follows (well most of the industry) a rule/guideline called the truth in the menu rule

This is just a rule that you wont lie to the customer about what you are serving them.

I took 3 years of french in highschool, and dont remember half of what I learned, But, i wish i should of taken spanish. Cause our spanish guys in the kitchen cant really get my drift sometimes

I know a few
- Mas platos grandes
- Mucho calliente
- Mas foyot
- ay ay ay, mucho cansalo
- grande cervaisa

[the_marcus]

That's a cool explanation. I knew somewhere in there was a bit of marketing.

Crazy how you can turn a bleh tittle into something absolutely delicious sounding.

[KillSwitch85]

Lloyd: What's the soup du jour?
Waiter: It's the soup of the day.
Lloyd: Mmm... that does sound good.

Just watched dumb and dumber and found this fitting

[Richard Hurts]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

few things on the grill are - Arctic Char

Who is your seafood purveyor?

I work for the company that imports the Arctic Charr from Iceland. I'm always curious which companies handle it.


Modified by Richard Hurts at 8:35 PM 5-28-2006

[LovetheA2s]

We go through MANY MANY purveryors. But, for fish we use Inland Seafood Company. and our fish is by Foley's. Comes in Tin containers and is always so beautiful.

[watanabe2k]

I love this thread.

I wish I was talented enough to cook in a resturant, but alas I don't have the skills and talent though I'm sure a lot of it is just plain old hard work. But I like to see what kind of things your are cooking and grilling and also see the inner workings of a top resturant!

I also enjoyed the battle of the diploma's!


Modified by watanabe2k at 10:07 AM 5-30-2006

[LovetheA2s]

Tonight went really well as opposed to last saturday. Saturday we did 105 people between 7:45 and 9:15. Holy CRAP, it went down kind of ugly. But, tonight went really well. We had 60 on the books and did about 70. It was a nice calm night and everything just fell into place. I was happy with everything. The chef did something that really blew my socks off. The dshes that I did for my mystery basket, he is running them for speacials this week. They sold alot tonight as well.
For the first course, we are doing the dover sole wrapped jumbo lumb crabmeat with steamed artichoke hearts and whole grain mustard beurre blanc. there was spinach added though

for the entree , we are doing my duckbreast entree with with the drunken cherries, duck jus, and rappini. He changed up the starch though.

It made my day, thats all I can really say tonight.

Oh yeah, I have arctic char, cobia, salmon, scallops, and cod on the grill menu today.

And Yes, It was mass consumption of adult beverages that caused the Diploma battle. Alcohol and this industry are a corrado and a vr6. they just go together

Modified by LovetheA2s at 6:15 AM 5-31-2006


Modified by LovetheA2s at 6:21 AM 5-31-2006

[LovetheA2s]

Update for tonight, saw a guy go to the ER . He was holding a bag of something upright with one hand. With the other hand and a paring knife, yes Paring knife, proceeded quickly to cut into and open the plastic bag. His finger ended up getting in the way and it cost him 6 stitches,. Im having a for him on that one. Yeah, well some dude left a 450 degree sheetpan in the dishpit with the corner in the walkway. I just happened to walk by briefly and rub up against it, now im with a 3 inch burn. It sucks a$$, Just another day in paradise

Our temp dishwasher got his paycheck today, worked about an hour and just walked out. 45 mins later when the dishes are piiling up and not coming back, we were like

I have made my mind up that i am going to try and start doing some ACF competitions, and getting some ranks. Get a good sturdy foundation built for my career.

On a non food related note, I went to the dealership today and had 2 codes cleared (airbag light, CEL) and remedied, o2 sensor, and airbag light signal too low. so im just spoiled to start up my car and not have it beep at me

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

I just happened to walk by briefly and rub up against it, now im with a 3 inch burn. It sucks a$$, Just another day in paradise

that blows, I recently got branded by a fry basket on my arm at work. Its perfectly symetrical and everybody always asks if its a tribal tattoo

How do those competitions work?

[LovetheA2s]

I found out today that the one in florida is a bit out of my league. I may need to start on a smaller scale. This is a national competition= with a 15,000 purse. 55 plates 4 courses, in 5 hours. They were playing with ideas tonight, I saw an olive oil poached salmon, a braised short rib agnolotti with beef jus in homemade basil and spinach pasta. those were just a few of what i saw. I did however get to make agnolottis for the first time tonight, and I tried perfecting my consomme recipe. we had a super slow night. only 26 on the books.

In a typical ACF competition. You are graded on utilization of product, utilization of time, knife skills, fabrication skills, portioning, utilization of classical cooking methods, sanitation, trash percentage, and a few more things, this is just to name a few.

[Richard Hurts]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

We go through MANY MANY purveryors. But, for fish we use Inland Seafood Company. and our fish is by Foley's. Comes in Tin containers and is always so beautiful.

If the charr is from Foley's, then it comes from me.

I'm guessing you're restaurant is in the Atlanta, North Florida or SC area???
Inland is a pain in the arse. Buckhead Beef is much better for buying quality fish from importers.

Modified by Richard Hurts at 8:49 AM 6-3-2006

[LovetheA2s]

you are right, the char is from foley's, and yes our restaurant is in Atlanta. Thats cool man. Thanks for the good product. Cept, about 4 of the filets in the tin still had the pin bones in them and i didnt have my tweezers or pliers today

[Richard Hurts]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

you are right, the char is from foley's, and yes our restaurant is in Atlanta. Thats cool man. Thanks for the good product. Cept, about 4 of the filets in the tin still had the pin bones in them and i didnt have my tweezers or pliers today

Problem should be solved soon...

Fillets are going through the pin bone machine in Iceland and the cuts are off 1/4". So the teeth are missing the pin bones. We re-calibrated the machine and it should be all set going forward. Charr pin bones are a pain in the ass to remove because they break easy and there's 26 of them.

This is what they should be like going forward

sorry to hijack your thread

[LovetheA2s]

Thanks a bunch bro. Hijack away man, Im happy that this thread is still going and people are showing interest. That charr is so beautiful. But very delicate when on the grill. We did it with a potato, mushroom, and bacon hash. (slightly creamed out), sauteed spinach, and a nice fish jus, We sold like 11 of them lastnight.

Lastnight we had 60 on the books, and ended up doing over 100. The grill got hit pretty good and i didnt go down. I was weeded but not stressfully weeded. Went through 3 bags of charcoal lastnight. and the grill was like hell,,,,,, soooo hot. Next tuesday the CMC is on the line doing expo. on top of that, it is wine dinner night, and its usually one of our busiest(sp) nights. Its gonna be an in interesting night.

[KillSwitch85]

any more updates

[LovetheA2s]

Absolutely, thought the interest in the thread had kinda fallen off. Everything this week went awesome. We had days of 30-60 reservations. I had the wine dinner/ inclusive entree coming off of my station a 5 ounce filet with bruleed sauce foyot (bearnaise with a demi glace in it) . They were quite popular. I had a 9 top order all of the wine dinner entrees!. I got burned pretty nasty twice this week. Once from the top of the grill grate and the second came from cleaning the salamander flattop, i slipped and my arm went down on the cook surface. I had to put weight on it to keep me from completely hitting the floor and it seared me pretty well. Our butcher/ employee meal guy ended up setting my salamander on fire this week. He did steaks marinated in an oyster sauce, honey, garlic, and oil marinade. Well the sugars from the meat burned to my salamander and caught the whole thing on fire. i wasnt around but the CMC "chef" went over and dumped 2 boxes of kosher salt on it to out it out. On the grill this week was red snapper, tile fish, grouper, pesto marinated swordfih, salmon. No arctic char this week. Next week we are getting monk fish.

On a cool note, i saw the coolest and I mean COOLEST hors d 'oeuvre idea. Take an ahi tuna loin and make a roll the size of a half dollar. Roll it in sesame seeds and sear it in a pan to get a nice crust set. Then cut them about 1/2 inch thick. Our garde manger chef got miniature eyedroppers from a pharmeceutical (sp) company. You take the eyedroppers (made fully of plastic) and fill them with a wasabi/soy mixture) stick them through the tuna coins. when the eater picks them up by one end of the dropper. they pull the meat off of the skewer persay and sueeze it to eject the soy mixture in their mouth to complete the experience. (please dont pervert this statement guys). This is by far one of the most amazing displays of culinary talent I have seen.

How many of you people (industry people) still use a grill brick? am i the only one?

[LovetheA2s]

I strike again:

Here are a few pics I felt like Posting. Of past times:

This is what I had framed, its a memory of our official CMC dinner including 6 master chefs, and an amazing menu. I was happy with the way it turned out:

Now, onto my plate collection:

an official plate from the culinary olympics of 1992 in Germany in which team USA attended:

So how many of you'll cats have connects to get an official 24 carat gold embossed plate from the whitehouse? In my case 2:

The old restaurant I used to work at, a gift from our Chef upon me leaving also with 24 carat gold trim (a 65 dollar plate):

And last but not least, a pic of my apt kitchen display of them, I work with wat I got. Im a proud culinarian!!!

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

How many of you people (industry people) still use a grill brick? am i the only one?

....as in the large gray brick to clean the grill down??

[LovetheA2s]

yessir, real lightweight and porus

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

yessir, real lightweight and porus

I like those but rarely us it, we have a whole box just gathering dust .....we use deep fryer cleaner or "boil out"

[LovetheA2s]

thats cool. I love the things for my flattop. I dont mess with the deep fryer cleaning duty amymore.

[watanabe2k]

Stupid Question Time:

About Demi Glace. I love this stuff, but I have heard its hell to make a good one, and even many top resturants buy theirs from certain companies. I am curious do you guys make your own Demi Glace?

Also can you recommend a cheaper Demi Glace for us amateur's in the kitchen who want to add a little something to our schniztel's and stews?

And man that plate collection is awesome, I would be scared as hell to have them hanging so high on my wall.

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by watanabe2k »

Stupid Question Time: About Demi Glace. I love this stuff, but I have heard its hell to make a good one, and even many top resturants buy theirs from certain companies. I am curious do you guys make your own Demi Glace? Also can you recommend a cheaper Demi Glace for us amateur's in the kitchen who want to add a little something to our schniztel's and stews? And man that plate collection is awesome, I would be scared as hell to have them hanging so high on my wall.

Great questioon about the Demi Glace:

and oh yeah, everything in our kitchen is made from scratch. Every night on the line we have beef demi, veal demi, lamb demi, duck demi, and fish demi.
We also make our own tomato sauces, pastas, stocks (beef, lamb, chicken, corn, vegetable)

as far as a demi glace goes it is real simple. There are a few different ways that people go about to make them. Dont let the time and effort scare you. The reason they take so long is that usually a large pot of about 15 gallons will yield about 2 to 1 gallon of nice demi glace. Most of the time is taken up by the reduction process.

For a home matter though, I made one one night for dinner. For a beef demi glace: I took 2 cans of beef broth from the store, with about 1 1/2 cups of mirepoix (2 parts onion, 1 part celery, 1 part carrot), thyme, peppercorns, bayleaves and tomato paste.

First I cut up the mirepoix and started cooking it down in the bottom of a sauce pot, added the aromatics (thyme peppercorn, and bayleaves), and let cook for about 3 more minutes. I them added some of the tomato paste (1/2 a small can) to just coat the mirepoix good.( this is called a pincage)(pronounced pin-sah-jah) I let that cook until the tomato paste gets slightly brown and good looking . I then poured both cans of the beef broth in and crank up the heat and bring to a soft boil, I let it boil while Im cooking the rest of the meal. Chilling, and having a nice glass of wine or 2..... Once it reduces atleast by half. I will cheat and thicken it with a bit of cornstarch slurry (cs and cold water). Or a roux (equal parts butter and flour) Most restaurants dont use roux because the butter will break(leave oil deposits) in the sauce when re-heated. You need to strain it before you add the slurry though. Thats the best way to make one for dinner service at home.

A true demi like i said above is reduced so much, that the natural gelatin from the bones used to make the stock will be the thickening agent and not a modified thickener (i.e roux, cornstarch) You can reduce them down so much you can end up with about 2 cups from many gallons of stock and when cooled will feel like a soft motor mount. thats how thick it gan get from the natural gelatin in the bones. But, if you reduce it tooooooooo far, it can become bitter. All you have to do is add it to some beef stock and mound it with butter. It will be a beautiful sauce. Hope this helps bro.

Oh yeah, if you want to buy some from the store. There is a brand called "Demi Glace Gold" that I have worked with brfore. Its good stuff but kinda expensive. Like 6 bucks for 1 ounce from places like Williams sanoma. But, if you want. Try it out. It isnt bad stuff. I just get the fun out of making stuff myself

And oh yeah, I am a proud owner of those plates. They make me really happy. I kinda worry about hanging them. But, i dont really have room for a plate cabinet in our apt. One day, one day......

[watanabe2k]

I think I will give a try to that "cheating" Demi Glace that you mentioned. That sounds like a good substitute. Thanks for the help!