Yippeee! I’m back at the meat station!!! Yesterday was my first day back to work at the 3-star restaurant I cook at after a long month off. I was nervous that I was going to placed in some dark dungeon peeling carrots or shelling mussels.
I can’t believe how smoothly it all went yesterday considering that we were closed for August and now have almost a completely new staff. This is terrible – but I enjoyed watching the look of fear on all the new apprentices faces as they nervously prepped food with shaky knives. I guess everyone has to go through the initiation process.
Dinner service was slow with most Parisians still on vacation, but in September with the onset of Le Chase (hunting season) we are going to be slammed and I can’t wait to see how the new crew reacts when the Chefs start yelling. Oh la la la la. That should be fun to watch – only if I’m not the one getting yelled at of course. Hey, it’s all part of the game.
I’ve definitely relaxed into the job. I change in the locker room (that is all male) and I don’t care anymore that there’s no female section. All French men think they’re fat – they aspire to that Calvin Klein look – they really do.
I love doing prep work now because the repetition of it is meditative and gives me time to zone out. Before, I was always trying to prep faster and faster for fear of not being good enough, but now I just cruz through it. And, I’m having fun with people around me without worrying so much about the male/female barrier. I say this now of course, but we’ve all just come back from vacation…
Yesterday I hacked up my pigeons – dirtly little suckers – and peeled their legs off. Then I chopped up their livers to make a stuffing, deboned the legs, and filled them with it. Afterward I cut off the breasts, pan seared them and put them aside for service. Aside from icky job of prepping them, I’ve come to the conclusion that they look and taste incredibly sexy once prepared. The color the texture the taste…jeez, maybe I have gone French!?!?
C’est tout pour la premier jour, j’écrirai plus demain.
Technorati Tags: 3-star restaurant, Chef, Cuisine, Food, French, restaurants
Yeah! SO much fun to read your story. Look at your ease with pigeons now! I think your turned a bit French, and I turned a bit American ahahah!
Poor little chicken! Quelle sadiste! maybe it’s because you’re a scorp.
c’est la chasse, ma chérie!
xxL
and so true about french men thinking they’re fat. my bf skips dinner if I don’t cook it for him. I tell him to cut down on the pains au chocolat at breakfast but he looks at me as if I told him to stop breathing!
But what had the pigeons done? they had forgottenthemselves on your head ? then I understand !! I mean, don’t tell me your restaurant serves real pigeons, you do serve pigeons from the pigeon factory, like others right ?
Well HOORAY for the meat station!
I say they’re very lucky to have you!!
And your French seems to have advanced as well. Funny, looking at that picture of the poor chicken, oops pigeon (and I’m no PETA member) but I made your funny “stinky” face that you post sometimes – it must be contageous. Hard to imagine searing a chicken breast as sexy – you’re definitely turning French on us.
What’s this about la chasse? is that like the le rentrée? Fill us in S.V.P.
I see that pigeon comes with a label so its not de -feathered by you. Can you imagine getting that job and all the feathers floating around the kitchen? LOL
Three cheers to you – back on the meat section!
Looking forward to reading your adventures.
As I was reading your post this morning a pigeon landed on the patio…. I looked at it and smiled and thought thoughts of stuffed pigeon leg….
No sooner had I had this thought but the pigeon turned, looked at me and made a VERY quick exit…
I think I have an idea where you’re getting all those pigeons from 😉
Nice site and interesting write-up. I wish I can cook. I may be planning a trip to Paris to try out the different restaurants there. I think that’ll be fun. 🙂