PART THIRTYSIX: STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY -- A TIME TO REMEMBER

A BIG DAY FOR US APPRENTICES

Back in the late 70s, the World was a different place. Christmas was also very different to what it is today. Christmas was different back then. It was not so commercialised and it was a true family get together, have nice food and celebrate Christmas, plus catching up with each other. I use to love it. We abolished presents and we bought something for Christmas dinner, like Christmas cookies, a cake, chocolates for everybody to share. I still remember it like it was yesterday.

In my apprenticeship as a Chef, I was part of the team, mainly all the other apprentices, to prepare a big buffet for 200 people. The guests was all the hotel staff, with spouses. That one time a year, the hotel would treat all the hotel employees to a staff Christmas party. 

So we all started nice and early on that morning, preparing and cooking for the buffet. All had to be ready at 6pm. One of the Chefs would help us and watch us during our preparation and cooking time. 

We had a 3 course buffet, different salads, sea foods, smoked fish, pates and terrines, sliced continental meats, 2 different soups, bread rolls and butter for your entrees, then the next section of the buffet was the hot food and all main course dishes like: different steaks, fish, meat sauce dishes, vegetables, rice, pasta with a choice of 3 different sauces, stews and curries, roast potatoes and seafood.

Once all the guests had enough to eat, we had to clear the buffet, and get the dessert buffet set up. A tea and coffee station, cakes, tartlets, different creams, fruit salad, sliced exotic fruits, pastries, ice cream, whipped cream, cookies and chocolates, and not to forget, the traditional cheese platter, about 5 different cheeses, with nuts, dried fruits and savoury crackers.

Al beverages where also provided including red and white wine, spirits, beers, soft drinks, fruit juices hence some of us got badly drunk.. 

32 NATIONS, ALL RELIGIONS AND EVERYBODY WAS THERE

We had staff from 32 different countries around the World. Everybody came, no matter what religion backgrounds they had. We celebrated Christmas with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu, Christians, Jewish and all other religions I did not mention. The Christmas party was also a great opportunity to get to know everyone and make new friends. I was fascinated about other cultures and religions and I made many great friends myself.

During the staff party, the General Manager had a speech thanking us for the great effort and support. After his speech, he called us apprentices, all by name to come to the front facing the audience. He then thanked us and praised us for the great job we did with the buffet. 

There are some moments missing in my mind about the staff parties. Been young and tough, i thought that I can drink a bottle of Gin by myself. So as you can imagine, I was so drunk, that when I got home, I carried my bicycle up to the first floor where we lived, and woke up next morning with half my clothing still on mixed in with my pyjamas. My bicycle was right next to me half in bed too. 

The next day we all had to go to the General Managers office. He gave us a present and a card and thanked us personally and wished us a happy new year. We apprentices had to work very hard, but it was appreciated and noted.

On that note I like to thank you all for reading and following my story and I like to take this opportunity to say a very happy Christmas, God bless and a very happy new year to you and your loved ones.

My next edition will come out around the 7th of January 2017. Remember to enjoy life and great foods.

GIVEN A RESPONSIBILITY - THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CAREER

GIVEN A DUTY TO PROOF OUR SELF'S

The first month of our apprenticeship was exciting, new, different to everything I never done before. In that first month I was given the opportunity to proof that cooking is going to be a trade that suits me. Vise versa, for the Hotel and the Executive Chef, that month was for them to get to know me and see if I fit in professionally and socially. Kind like a trail period. After that first month I was now officially a first year chef apprentice of the Hotel Holiday Inn, Zurich Airport.

The second month the initial training began. From that moment until 3 years later, I was going to be trained as a Chef. 

On of the first lessons would be a lesson I would use every day till the last day I work in a kitchen. In every trade, not just chefs, workers have duties, responsibilities and obligations. No matter which job, trade, qualification or skill, responsibilities and obligations are part of the package. Our own life has responsibilities, duties, obligations, no different to the work life.

My first duty as a new chef apprentice was to get the vegetable and fruit delivery signed off, checked for quality, weight and quantity matching the invoice. After that I had to bring the delivery into the kitchen and put everything away. The invoice I dropped off to the Executive Chefs office. Every day I was working in the production kitchen, my duty was to take care of the vegetable and fruit delivery every day.

I also got to see prices of the vegetables and fruits. The Executive Chef would walk up to me and ask me how much a 10 kilo gram brown onions was. On a different day he would ask me the price of the strawberries and how many where delivered this morning. These are all questions he could check on the invoice, but the whole idea was to make us getting use to numbers and to remember what was delivered that day. Also product knowledge, I had to learn every single food item in existence, especially in our hotel.

The next month I had to take over the fish and seafood delivery as well. We had a fish and seafood delivery every second day.

As time progressed, we where given different duties and responsibility's and harder challenges.

Every month, the stock take was part of a monthly check list of how much stock we hold. This is done to have a starting and finishing date on all stock (your meats, vegetables, fish, seafood, fruits, sweets, dry goods, oils and all cooked and precooked foods. Every satellite kitchen had to do a stock take as well. Every single food item is placed on scales and the weight is written down. Other food items are counted and the amounts written down. The stock take is a control mechanism to see where the food cost is and how much money we spend and how much money we take.

When the stock take took place, we apprentices where always involved. One of the chefs would have a reprinted list and he would then call out for example, potatoes. We would then get all the peeled potatoes and whole potatoes, including the one we cut up before and place them on the scale. Then we would reply with the weight of the potatoes, like 56 kilo grams. That same process would happen with every single food item in that kitchen. Everything counted to the last bunch of parsley.

I knew, that having duties and responsibilities is part of a successful teamwork. That will never change.

Next week you will read about our Staff Party before Christmas. Have a fantastic week and enjoy fine food.

PART THIRTYFOUR: THE ARTISTIC PART OF BEEN A CHEF: FOOD PRESENTATION

THE ARTISTIC TOUCH

Food presentation, the art of presenting food on a plate, platter, basket, bowl or anywhere you place food to be consumed. 

As a Chef, you know the art of presenting food. When I was an apprentice, I had to learn the art of presenting. 

EATING WITH YOUR EYES

PICTURES TALK A THOUSAND WORDS. In Trades school we learnt the theoretical part of food presentation. There are some guidelines for a good dish presentation on a plate. At work, we learnt the practical part.

THE PLATE has two parts. The rim of your plate has the purpose for you to hold, turn or carry the full plate. The inner circle area is where your food will be placed.

When we plated up a function (large number catering) menu, we had to either wear gloves to avoid finger prints on the rim of the plate or move the plates by holding them below the rim. No garnishes what so ever on the rim of a plate. The picture below has grounded peppercorns on the rim of the plate. Today, in 2016, this is accepted throughout the World. When I was an apprentice, that would be an absolute no no. 

THE TEMPERATURE  is also a very important. Cold dishes and desserts (except Ice Cream) are placed on a cold plate. Ice Cream would be placed on a frozen temperature plate. A hot dish is always served on a warm to hot plate or bowl, to keep the food warmer for longer.

The picture below was a typical function menu served while I was an apprentice 1978-81.

Nothing on the rim of the plate and the garnish was the vegetable sticks wrapped in bacon and fine cut chives.

When I did my apprenticeship, I learn to serve food to a guest well presented and clean plate rims. Even a bread roll was placed on a paper napkin on the bread plate with a butter portion. Everything had to look very nice, showing our guest that we care in what we do. 

The picture above is a Pork Schnitzel with Vegetables and Chips, garnished with a lemon wedge and a Chicory leaf. Personally, I would choose a bigger size plate as the food presentation on this plate looks overloaded. 

The picture above is one of my salad creations, a chicken and vegetable salad on a bed of tomatoes and garnished with sweet basil. Having a dish with lots of different colours will just about garnish itself. Also with this dish, the rim of the plate is clean. 

Over the years of me becoming a Chef, working in different Hotels and Restaurants, I would see and learn more styles of food presentation.

The look of a dish is the trade mark of a Chef, the taste of the dish comes second but just as important as the presentation. A guest eats with the eyes before the taste buts. First impressions always count.

Next week I share with you the duties we had as Chef Apprentices. You have a great week, enjoy life and fine foods. 

Chef Marc

PART THIRTYTREE: DOLLARS AND CENTS - IT IS ALL ABOUT NUMBERS

FOOD COSTS AND HOW TO GET A RETAIL PRICE

Why do we need a food cost?

Part of becoming a Chef is to learn how to deal with the money site of cooking. In Trades school we learnt the inns and outs of costing a dish to establishing a retail price for the menu. A basic good knowledge of mathematics was essential for us to have. We where not allowed to use pocket calculators or computers. Everything calculated using your brain, thought us to be able to quickly do a food cost calculation and a retail price. 

Back in my days we did not have computers, mobile phones, the Internet, and pocket calculators where very expensive. I remember when my Dad got his first pocket calculator, he paid $ 800 for it. Today you can get a pocket calculator for a few dollars. Once I was in my last year of apprenticeship, I had a pocket calculator and it still cost about $ 70 but I was not allowed to use it at work or school. Been able to calculate with my brains instead has tremendously benefited me throughout my career as a qualified chef.

So having a food cost it a very important step in calculating a retail price. The food cost in % to the retail price which is 100%. 

That 100% has to cover the cost of the dish, running cost of the restaurant like rent, electricity, water, gas, beverages, crockery, equipment and maintenance, wages, suppliers and taxes. At the end you want to have a net profit. (A net profit is money left over after everything is paid.)

How low or high should the food cost be?

First, a low food cost without jeopardising the quality of the dish is always the preferred outcome. In other words, the food cost should never be above 30% . That is also not always possible. I give you 2 examples.

Eye fillet steak grilled with vegetables, mash potatoes and a mushroom sauce. Cost: $19.60. Asking price for this dish is $ 36.50. Your food cost is over 50%! The asking price is the price other restaurants and hotels sell this dish, been higher may result the costomers not ordering that dish.

Egg omelet (3 eggs) with fine diced vegetables. Cost: $2.15 Retail price $11.90. Your food cost is just below 20%. 

This does not mean, that only dishes with low food costs should be on the menu. It means, that you can offer dishes with a higher food cost and have some other dishes with a very low food cost like: chips, salads, soups, side dishes like mash potatoes, mixed vegetables, sauces

The menu card should have an average food cost of not more than 28 to 30%. To get to that figure, add up all the cost prices of everything on the menu card and add up all the retail prices on the menu card for all food items only. Here is an example:

Total cost of all food items on the menu card is: $ 200

Total cost of all food retail prices on the menu card $ 685

1 % of the total retail price is $ 6.85

Divide $ 200 by 6.85 equals 29.2 % which is the overall food cost.

How we had to learn how to calculate the cost of a dish

Calculating the food cost includes every single ingredient for the dish. Seasonings, oil for cooking, stocks for cooking, everything. The food cost is calculated for a single serve dish. Here is a short example:

1 side serve of mash potatoes: Retail price $ 6.00

Costs per serve:

300 gm of large potatoes  $ 0.54  1 kg $ 1.80. 

200 ml of milk $ 0.22                    1 Lt $ 1.10

100 gm of butter $ 0.34               1 kg $ 3.40

Seasoning   $ 0.20

Garnish $ 0.10

Total cost of side serve mash is $ 1.40 which is 23.33%

I am aware that the calculations for cost and retail price may vary from country to country and restaurants to hotels. This examples I am using is what we had to learn. 

Not only cooking the food is important, knowing the cost to the retail price is the most important factor for a successful operation. When we chefs put up a specials menu changing from day to day, we need to make sure that we maintain a good to excellent food cost.

Next week I write about on how we got drilled on the presentation of a dish on a plate. Until then, you have a fantastic week, enjoy life and great food. Cheers

PART THIRTYTWO: "THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER!"

THE WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES IS AWAITING YOU

Become a Chef and you never go hungry

I still remember the conversations I had with Mum. I was about 15 +and we where talking about my future. I had to make a decision on my professional future. We spoke about the chefs trade. 

1) A Chef will always find work. People have to eat, in peace and war times. Economically speaking, been a chef is a secure trade to be in and you will never go hungry.. 

2) There has ALWAYS been a shortage of Chefs. In Switzerland and in Australia was and still is a shortage of chefs. Finding a new job as a chef is easy. Some bigger newspapers have job adverts for chefs. 

3) Been a chef, the sky is the limit and the World is your oyster. Many great opportunities can await you as a chef. 

A World of Opportunity

Ever wanted to see the World? As a Chef you can see and experience the World. You can go anywhere and find a job. Work in a exclusive Hotel somewhere in the World? Why not. I did it, it is amazing. I was never out of a job. But there is more...

You can work in a restaurant or hotel, you can work in a hospital, age care facility, work in a staff canteen of a huge factory or office building, cook in a function centre. Wait there is more...

You could work on a oil platform or gas platform out at see, you could work as a chef for international fright and people shipping liners and private luxurious ships, this way you really see the World. There is more...

You can work in a mining camp in West Australia, they need to eat. The mines sometimes look for chefs, anywhere in the World. There is even more...

Cook in the Army, for Presidents and Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens, Cook in Universities and schools, cook in exclusive clubs. You can be a chef in an International organisation, you could work in an Consulate General of any nation as a chef. You want more? Okay...

You can become a airliner chef and work at the catering department of the airport, a chef in the railways, chef in a road house,  some arts centres have restaurants looking for chefs, sports facilities, tourist attractions, resorts, or you could be a chef on an expedition, adventure tours, prospecting tours.

You can even go to the South Pole and be a chef there for the research teams. 

You can start your own small or large restaurant, take away shop or cafe shop. You could run a catering business working from home. 

You can also become a trades teacher for chefs. You could run your own cooking school. 

Why did I become a Chef?

I was interested in cooking since I have been 9 years old. I was just fascinated watching and helping that nice food mum and grand mum use to cook. Little did I know that I was going to become a chef.

I love food, full stop. I went to cooking school when I was 12 and I started to cook at home sometimes. I am always trying new foods. 

I was always dreaming to see the World. I could not sit still for long.

My sense for adventure. 

But one of my main reason was that I could put a smile on a persons face with a nice meal. It is truly a trade of love. You work big hours but at the end of the day you have the satisfaction that because of you your guests had a very nice meal. Cooking nice food is a declaration of love on a plate.

Next week I share with you how a retail price of a dish on a menu in a restaurant or hotel is created. When I was in the apprentice ship, we had to learn the money site of a dish. Over the years the system became easier and it seems to work. Have a fantastic week, love life and all what is you. Cheers 

PART THIRTY ONE: UNSPOKEN RULES IN THE KITCHEN

THE BLUE PRINT OF KITCHEN ETHICS & TRUST

Today I am going to share a very important part of kitchen life with you. You will see that those points I am going to share with you, apply to all aspects of working life, not just the kitchen. When you enter the working life, meaning a apprenticeship or job, it is good to know how to fit in so to speak. In my working career I stuck to the rules I learnt while in the boys scouts and the Army, and I did well with them. I like to pass them on to you, especially those of you entering the work force.

COMING TOGETHER IS A BEGINNING

KEEPING TOGETHER IS PROGRESS

WORKING TOGETHER IS SUCCESS

by Henry Ford

RULE 1: You must be willing to learn and take on board constructive criticism. You never stop     learning, as longest you live! Nobody knows it all. I am a Chef for over 30 years and I learn every day something new. I learn from apprentices as much as I learn from other chefs.

RULE 2: Become a TEAM PLAYER. In a kitchen, with not much room, working with other people under stress, getting all the meals cooked and served, you must apply teamwork. The moment you got nothing to do, you help someone in the team getting the job done. You earn the respect you deserve. Look out for each other and always work with each other. 

RULE 3: You must be flexible. In a kitchen you know your starting time but never your finishing time. It is not your 9 to 5 run of the mill job. Some days you may have to work longer, some other days you can go home earlier. It is give and take. 

RULE 4: Trust goes a long way. Do not "rat" on your team mates. So when the head chef ask you who stuffed up that meal, you simply say: I don't know, I did not see it. Remember, you are a team and you back your work mates. What happens in a kitchen, stays in the kitchen. 

RULE 5: Admit to your mistakes. There is no shame or law who states that you can not make a mistake. We are all humans after all. Where people work, mistakes are made. Admitting to the mistakes one makes and learn from it is your best option.  My mother use to say: "No Master has fallen out of the sky".

RULE 6: Be a good Communicator. Part of a good communicator is to listen. When you work in a kitchen during service hours, you need to communicate with the other chefs. You need to listen and answer quickly. When you cook a la carte for 250 people in 2 hours, everything has to work like clockwork. The team of chefs cook table by table orders where every guest has something different to eat. All meals are cooked to order. With communication and absolute team work is a must. The head chef calls out the meals, you say yes, and deliver your part of the meals. Concentrate, listen, answer, deliver. 

RULE 7: Keep your temper in control. That is a important one when you want to work in the kitchen. When you work in a kitchen, the pressure is on. Everything is about timing. You have days where you don't stop for 6 hours or more for a short break. So when all the chefs are under pressure, some words can fly. Because you work under pressure, your temper can easy flair up. You have to control that temperament trying to get the better of you. Take a deep breath, concentrate on your work and deal with the issue you have later after service hours. Talk about the issue you have, and be nice about it, with the person you have the issue with. Sort it out, shake hands and get on with it.

RULE 8: Personal hygiene: In the food industry, personal hygiene is a absolute must. That includes not wearing rings. Clean fingernails, short haircut or wear a hairnet during work, control your body odour as it is always hot in a kitchen, have one to two showers a day. For the men, a clean shave. Long beards are not allowed. 

RULE 9: Never run late to work. Where ever I go, work or private, I make sure that I time myself to be there 10 minutes before I have to be there.

RULE 10: RESPECT is important. It is even more important that you respect others, no matter what colour of his/her skin is. In the Chefs game, you will work with people from around the World. 

Next week I will talk about the World Wide Opportunities good Chefs have and how save the chefs trade is. Been a Chef can open the World to you. 
Have a fantastic week, love life and enjoy every moment life gives you. 

PART THIRTY: A REAL FINAL TEST REHEARSAL

THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY

Two years and six months into my apprenticeship. My most important day of my apprenticeship was approaching fast. A apprenticeship as a Chef goes for 3 years. There was a lot to learn in that short time. When you finish the chef apprenticeship, you know only the basics.  The final exams are though and they go for 2.5 days. The real learning begins after the apprenticeship.

How ever, this most important day was not the final test. The most important day was set 6 months prior to the final tests. This was the day we are going to find out what we learned and what we still need to learn or brush up on. We where 3 apprentices and we are going to be tested. Half a day, basic knife skills, working with meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. Setting up basic stocks, make a demi glaze or gravy from scratch. After we got 90 minutes of questioning, all aspects of cooking, safety, hygiene, calculating cost to retail price of a dish plus lots more. We had an hour break and in the afternoon we had to cook a 9 course menu given to us. Our parents and management of the Hotel and Testers where invited for Dinner we apprentices cooked.We had 4 hours, from scratch to the finished dish. Because our Test was conducted in the Function kitchen, we where given an extra 45 minutes to gather what we needed. Every whisk, seasoning and all the goods we needed to cook that 5 course menu. A classical soup, followed by a cold entree, main course, desserts, biscuits and ice chocolates with coffee.

You had to fulfill a number of tasks in basic preparation like boning, cutting meat, filleting fish, cut different classical vegetable and potatoes, make a bouillon, a stock for gravy, a fish fond or stock and chicken broth.

Part of the test was also your appearance. Uniform need and clean, apron, chefs hats, necktie, fingernails trimmed, hairnet or short hair, the male chefs shaved, the female chefs no perfume or excessive make up.

We were tested on all levels of the kitchen, from cold larder to pastry section. As a Chef you would be able to prepare entrees to desserts. A special dessert was used often for the final tests, called Charlotte royal. See photo below:

We where working as a team, us 3 apprentices when it came to the cooking in the afternoon. Our task was to cook for 12 people, parents and management.

The first course had to be served exactly at 6:30 pm and the last course at 9:00 pm. After we had to clean the kitchen and that was also a part of the test. Hygiene was a high priority to know as a chef.

From 8 am to 10 pm we run off our feet, a introduction to the real test 6 months later. Now we could find out where our weaknesses where and work on them for the next 6 months.

The highlight of the day was; When we finished we could get changed and sit together with our parents in the function room. The The Chef or Tester who took our exam, where also on the table. We could then listen first hand from the experts where we had to complement our learning to iron out the weaknesses in our cooking. This was a great help for us. First we knew what the test is going to be like and secondly we knew where we had to put more effort into the area we where lacking on skill.

By the way, the Charlotte Royal dessert was on our menu.

Next week I share with you certain unspoken rules of kitchen life. The same rules will always apply, no matter where you are or what you do. Don't miss that one.
Till then, enjoy life, eat well and lough a lot.

PART TWENTYNINE: THE EXECUTIVE CHEF'S RANDOM TESTS

KEEPING US ON THE BALL

Our executive chef was one of the best chefs in the country. He held the Masters degree in cooking of Switzerland. To give you an idea; the Masters degree goes for 2 years. You must hold a position as a executive sous chef or executive chef in a big and well known hotel. Only 5% of candidates will pass the final exams. Extreme hard and demanding 2 years of training and holding a full time job as well while one goes through the hard training. We could ask anything cooking related and our executive chef would have an answer without checking books first. He was a walking cooking encyclopedia to say the least. To have a trainer like him was sheer bliss for us apprentices. But he was very strict but fair. We found out that he would wonder into the main kitchen on not so busy days and surprise us with a random task. Like a mini test for him to see where we at with our training. He would keep us on the ball all the time. 

For example: The executive chef would call me or walk up to me and tell me to make a pot of fresh bouillon from scratch. He would then walk up to the next apprentice and ask him to take a chopping board and set it up on a work bench. Then he would tell that apprentice to prepare everything for a French Bouillabaisse soup. (A national French fish soup). He knew exactly on what level training we apprentices where and would not give us any tasks we did not know about. For us apprentices, the executive chef was like God. He knew everything and was everywhere. You could not fool him ever. 

We apprentices were learning very quickly, that he would get us to do test like tasks at any time of the week. No announcement, be ready for a challenge any time. Later, we realised what our executive chef wanted to teach and prepare us for.

Flexibility: to be able to do anything anytime and anywhere. No matter of time or place.

To be ready for anything: no such thing like surprises. In a kitchen anything can happen.

Be an all rounder: to be able to work anywhere in the kitchen at any time. 

Working exactly: have pride in the work and fulfil the tasks 100% all the time. No short cuts.

Mastering our skills: just like a sportsman/women; training and more training till perfection.

Ready for a challenge: there is no shortage of challenges. Making the impossible - possible. Wonders take a bit longer. 

Show passion and love: only a true chef has passion and love to the work he or her conducts.

Team player: as a chef one works always as a part of a team. 

I realised how to become a kitchen scout, ready for anything, anytime and never to be taken by surprise. Since that time, life in the kitchen became a lot easier. This would prove to be right throughout my career as a chef. 

Our executive chef tested us 2 to 3 times a month, out of the blue. We knew to be ready all the time for a new challenge. I am grateful till this day for his style of training. He made us what we are today. 

A big thank you to Mr. Norbert Fontana, Eigenössischer Küchenchef and the greatest Chef I had the pleasure to work with. I will never forget.

Next week I will talk about a in house Apprentice Chefs final test after 2 and a half years of training. Till then love life and everything with it. Cheers

PART TWENTYEIGHT: WORKING IN A LARGE BUTCHERY

ABATTOIR - NO WAY

In trade school we had to go into an abattoir. That was the shock of my life. We all walked into that abattoir somewhere in Zurich. It was a hot day and the smell was very bad. But then I had to witness how they got 2 cute goats, grabbed them, strapped them onto a wooden board and then cut the throats. The goats screamed and the blood was gashing out. I was in shock. I love animals and I am a real softy when it comes to that kind of stuff. Then we had to watch how the cows got stunned, then hanged on a hook and the cut split open. We could also hear the pics screaming in the background and by then I went outside and threw up. It was a bloody horror show. After that day I did not eat ANY meat for about 10 weeks. 

The head chef wants to send us to an abattoir to learn how to bone out meats

We where 3 apprentices in the same year of training. One day the Executive Chef calls us into his office. He informed us that we would go in turns for 3 weeks into an abattoir to learn how to bone large pieces of meats like cow shoulders and legs and the like. I just looked at him and replied that I will refuse to go to an abattoir not even for 10 minutes. He was not impressed and called me weak and I should harden up. Luckily the other two apprentices, one a girl, also joined me and refused also. The Executive Chef was not impressed to say the least. He made already arrangements with an abattoir to take us on one by one for boning training. I said bluntly into his face that if I wanted to become a slaughterer I would made a apprenticeship in an abattoir and not in a hotel kitchen. 

The Executive Chef send us all back to work and he would not talk to us for the rest of the day.

The next day I was working in one of the satellite kitchens. The executive chef supervised the service session for lunch. We did on a average between 100 to 150 lunches. After service, we apprentices had to go to the executive chef's office. He informed us that we would go to a large butchery to get some training on boning meat. We would go for a 4 week training one by one on how to bone out different parts of the animal carcass. Our small rebellion paid off.

Blood thirsty butchers build like giants

The day arrived for me to go and get my training in boning with a large butchery firm in Zurich. Time to start working was 5am. I met the boss and he assigned me with one of the butchers to get started on some serious boning training. We walked into a large walk in cool room where all the carcasses where hanging of hooks. The butcher grabs the first one and throws the whole carcass over his shoulder. Mind you the weight of one of those carcasses would easily be between 70 to 90 kilogrammes. The butcher was build like a gladiator and he was tall. He threw the carcass on a working bench. took a large boning knife and in seconds, he cut the carcass into smaller size pieces. He then placed a shoulder in front of me, showed me how to bone a shoulder step by step. After he finished to bone the whole shoulder he told me that I am going to bone shoulders for the next 2 days. So my boning training began. First it took me nearly one hour to bone a shoulder but with every new shoulder, I became faster and better at it. 

About 7 in the morning, one butcher called me over and there where 2 other butchers waiting with him. They then got a glass with fresh blood and offered me to drink it. I refused of course, I thought they are playing a prank on me. How wrong I was when I watched the butchers drink a glass of blood each in front of me. My eyes nearly popped out, I could not believe what I saw. They did this blood drinking ritual every day, believe it or not. They told me that drinking blood was good, giving power and good for the muscles. I must say, they where all build like a brick shit house. Big scary individuals to say the least. I thought to myself that those blokes where a bit strange. Now I know, drinking animal blood or any blood can be dangerous and cause serious brain damage. 

Breakfast break was about 7.30 in the morning. We all went to the staff canteen and breakfast was boiled sausages, bread, butter and coffee. I did not mind that, I was hungry by the time breakfast was served. 

During my time in that large butchery I learnt to bone whole carcasses. It was hard work but paid off. Sometimes we had to bone lamb legs whole, meaning not to damage the outside of the leg while boning out the centre bone. I had to bone countless chickens, turkeys and quails. The quails where the hardest to bone out. The small size and the tenderness of the meat was a challenge. We had to bone them whole so that the meat was left at the end in one piece. Delicate work and the knife skills put to the test. 

I enjoyed the time at the butchers, the working time was 8 and a half hours every day and early knock off times and every weekend off. I appreciated the training and I had a huge advantage knowing that skill. A lot of apprentices I went to trade school with, had no idea about boning. It was a requirement at the final exams and we will be tested on our boning skills.

Next week I talk about how our executive chef would give us random tasks to see how well we could fulfil those challenges. Until then, enjoy life and fine foods.

PART TWENTYSEVEN: RAW MEAT, SHARP KNIVES AND CONCENTRATION

WATCH YOUR FINGERS

I started to work in the meat section and I was excited about it. This was a new part of my training as a chef apprentice. First I had to learn all the different meats like Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb, Chicken, Quail, Turkey. Next we had to learn all the different cuts like sirloin, filet, shoulder, leg, belly and all the other cuts. Then we had to learn how to work with liver, kidneys, tongue, beef tripe, hocks, neck, back. 

Learning how to use a proper butchers knife from meat knife to boning knife. How to sharpen the knives and how to use them without cutting my fingers off. 

Concentration was paramount, watching my fingers while using a very sharp knife cutting meat. 

In the beginning, I would get easy jobs like cutting meat strips for stirfry or dicing meats for stews.

Then I had to learn how to bone a chicken. Boning simply means removing the bones from the meat without damaging the meat. Working a boning knife alongside the bones and seperate them as closest to the bone from the meat. Boning a chicken is not hard to learn. What really matters is how to handle a razor sharp boning knife. Where to have your hand and how to hold the chicken while you work the boning knife with the other hand.

 Once I was able to bone a chicken well, I had to go to bigger peaces of meat. Because we did not bone a lot of meat while I was working on the meat section, I was going to work with proper butchers later in the year. 

Portion control, vacum packing and date the meats

I was now about 3 weeks in the meat section. We had a big vacum machine where every piece or should I say every cut of meat like porterhouse steaks, t-bone steaks, eye filet mignons, eye filet steaks, and some of the diced meats where vacum packed. The weight had to be correct with a 5 gm error margin and not more or less. Once the meat was vacum packed, we had to stick the date of packaging on the outside of the vacum packed meat. We called that portion control. It had to match the quantity calculated in the food cost for that dish.

Once all the meat was cut, vacum packed and a date sticker applied on to the bag, the meat went immediately into the cool room. The temperature in that walk in cool room was between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius. 

The chefs from the sattelite kitchens would then pick up some of the portioned meats, checking the dates to make sure that older goes first before the fresh stuff.

The chef in charge of the meat section would keep track which cuts run out and order more for next day to be portioned, packed and dated.

Now I was getting into the portion cut of meats. Every veal schnitzel cut would weight 160 grams. I had to learn to cut schitzels each 160 grams. That was not easy but after a while I got it. Every schnizel I cut wrong could be cut into srips for pan fried dishes with veal. Slowly but surely I would move to other cuts like porterhouse, filet steaks, ribeye steaks, t-bone steaks. 

I worked for about 6 weeks on the meat section with about 3 cuts to my fingers, luckely only little cuts. Later in my apprenticeship I would get the odd day here and there on the meat section. 

Next week I share with you my experience working with blood thirsty butchers for 4 weeks. Till then remember to love life and eat some nice food. 

PART TWENTYSIX: NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN THE HOT SECTION OF THE MAIN KITCHEN

THE MAKE OR BREAK SECTION

Working in the Hot section of a main kitchen can be very demanding. I had to get use to it that everyting we do had to be done fast and good. Working under pressure and the heat was one part of the challenge as an apprentice, working fast and not stuffing up was the other part. I use to call the Hot section the "Make or Break section". 

Working for about a month in the Hot section, the Chef in charge made me responsible for the food going out to the staff canteen. We had to feed about 120 staff for each shift. All the food for the staff canteen came from the Hot section of the Main kitchen. My job was to prepare two hot dishes and side dishes and bring the food to the canteen. I needed also a soup. We had every day a new soup for the restaurant and we made enough for the staff canteen as well. The same applied for dinner.

The job list goes on and on and on...

In a big Hotel Production kitchen all the base work get's done for all the sattelite kitchens, function kitchen and staff canteen. Every section has a list of basic preparation work according to the menues.
The hot section would have the bulk of the preparation work.
Apart from soups and sauces, the hot section is also responsible for some of the meat and fish dishes, especially for functions and the staff canteen. Cooking for large numbers of guests, a regime of sertain jobs are assigned to the hot section. For example:

Meats like steaks, filet steaks are pre- sealed, meaning using a large fry pan, the steaks are sealed on both sides. The the steaks are placed on oven trays and chilled immediately. Before the main course gets served, the Chefs in the function kitchen take the pre-sealed steaks out of the chiller or walk in cool room and place them into a pre-heated oven to finish them off.
The same goes for fish filet steaks like tuna or sword fish.

A similar method of preparation goes for side dishes like vegetables and some potato side dishes.

The vegetables are blanched off, in other words; vegetables are placed into boiling water and depending on the vegetable, cooked for a short time. We are talking 2 to 3 minutes. The vegetables are then removed out of the hot water and placed into ice water. Using ice water prevents the vegetable to cook further and the colors are preserved. Especially green vegetables can go gray if not cooled fast in ice water. Once the vegetables are cooled down, they get removed out of the water to prevent them soaking up water. Again, before the main course gets served, the function chefs reheat the vegetables in the steamer and finish them in the pan with butter or served steamed.

Stews, curries and other sauce meat dishes are generally prepared in the hot section as well. Those dishes are served for some functions and also for the staff canteen.

Pasta and rice was also cooked in the hot section. A white long grain rice was cooked in boiling water and then strained and cooled down. The chefs from the sattelite kitchens would then portion the rice. The same with pasta like spaghetti, penne and other shaped pasta was cooked and portioned by the chefs from the sattelite kitchens.

Myself as one of the apprentices was spending a lot of time cutting vegetables and learning everything in the hot section. Everything we learned to cook we had to keep a recipe. It was a requirement to have a hand written recipe folder. At trade school we received a folder with sheets formatted for recipes. We had to use those sheets to write the recipes and put them into the folder. The executive chef would check our folders and we had to present them at trade school every six months. I ended up with a collection of over 800 recipes. Those recipe folders where presented at the final tests before we became qualified junior chefs. The reason I say junior chefs is for the reason that a chef was qualified after 10 years in the trade in Switzerland and not before. That was back in the 1970-80's.

Next week we visit the meat section of the main kitchen. Enjoy your week, love life and enjoy great food. 

PART TWENTYFIVE: IT IS HOT AND STEAM EVERY WHERE, THE HOT SECTION

STOCKS, SOUPS AND SAUCES

I was well into my apprenticeship, in my second year. I really liked working in the hot section of the main kitchen. The chef in charge was a fantastic chef, great sense of humor and a hard worker. I knew that I had to work just as hard to get his respect. I knew that I will learn to cook all the stocks, soups and sauces, a important part of cooking.
In the beginning, I had to learn again the basics. In the morning, we started with the function sheets, then put together a job list of items to cook and prepare. Part of that preparation list was all the stocks, sauces and soups for the satellite kitchens. Here is a list for some of the basic sauces and stocks. Using in house recipes, we had to make sure that the end result was always the same.

Fish stock, a base stock for fish soups, seafood soups and also to make a fish veluté, a base sauce for fish sauces served with grilled or poached fish. Fumé de poison: a fumé de poison is a fish stock with a stronger fish flavor. Instead of placing the raw fish bones in cold water and with diced vegetables for a slow cook, you sauté the fishbones before adding cold water and the vegetables and slow cook until you have a clear stock. Also used as a base for seafood chowder or a creamy or clear fish soup.

Lobster bisque: a red lobster sauce made from lobster shells or can be used for lobster soup.

Beef bouillon: made from beef bones, beef marrow bones, large diced vegetables, onion halves blackened, bayleaves, cloves, salt, peppercorns. All ingredients are placed in a large stockpot, filled with cold water and slowly bring to the light simmering point. The simmering time will take several hours, the longer the more flavor. We would simmer the lot for about 8 to 12 hours. Once finished, we would strain the stock using a cloth and a chinoise (Chinese hat shaped strainer). Bouillon can be served as a clear soup with fine diced vegetables or with small vermicelli noodles.
Beef bouillon in the making, see photo.

Consommé: using a mix of beef mince mixed with egg whites and ice cubes, A stockpot filled with cold buillon, we mix in the beef mince mix with a whisk. Then we heat the bouillon very slowly but not bringing the bouillon to the boil, just before simmering point. The mince mix will slowly work itself to the top until it forms a cake like surface. This process will take again at least 3 hours. After you strain the consommé very carefully through a cloth and strainer without disturbing the mix on top of the bouillon to much. Consommé is a clear strong beef soup served with bone marrow or other like consomme with julienne of vegetable, see photo

.

Cream sauce: This sauce we made was 95% made from full cream with a fat content of 35%. We would make 50 liters of cream sauce using 50 liters of cream, seasoning like salt, pepper and nutmeg and thicken the heated cream with a roux. A roux is a mix of melted butter and white flour made to a thick paste. Roux is used as a thickening ingredient for soups and sauces. The trouble with this sauce is that you have to stir it all the time. I once burned 50 liters of cream sauce and I got yelled at by the Executive Chef. The cost of that sauce was SFR 460.00 or about USD 490.00. It was my fault becauce I left the sauce and did not stir it all the time.
This sauce was used for cream sauces like mushroom sauce, white wine sauce and some dishes cooked in the satellite kitchens.

Demi glaze: made from beef and veal bones roaste in a large commercial frypan or oven with roasted onions, carrots, celeriac, garlic, parsnips, with tomato paste and flour until thick roasted paste, add water and redwine, bayleaves, cloves and peppercorns and cook for about5 to 6 hours. Keep topping up the liquid until finished. The lot gets strained and you end up with a thick brown base sauce. This base sauce is used for making all kinds of different brown sauces and stews, goulash and steak sauces.

Meat glaze: we used raw meat scraps from our butchery, mainly beef scraps, roast them with diced vegetables like the Demi glaze and add red wine and Demi glaze and reduce it down about 50%. Strain the sauce and you end up with a very thick meat glaze. Used  mainly for different sauces or as a meat glaze over a nice steak.

Napoletana Sauce: Again a basic sauce made from tomatoes we used to make different tomato based sauces and as a topping for pizza's. The importance of a good Napoletana sauce is that the sauce is not watery. To test that, we took a flat plate, placed a small amount of sauce into the middle of the plate and waited to see if any water runs of the edges of the sauce onto the plate. If there was no water along the edges of the sauce, the Napoletana sauce was ready. The secret was to cook the sauce for at least 3 to 5 hours.

Curry Sauce: The curry sauce we cooked was a Indian type fruit curry sauce, very tasty. Not spicy with a slight sweet taste, that curry sauce was used a lot in the sattelite kitchens for Riz Casimir a classic Swiss curry dish with rice and chicken and also other dishes. We made that sauce where you fry off onions, garlic, carrots, celery, leek, pineapple, bananas and mango chutney and then added the indian curry powder, coconut flakes and vegetable stock. Cooked for a couple of hours and then blended until very fine and strained.

Next week I talk about what else goes on on the Hot Section of the Hotel Main kitchen. Until then, keep well, enjoy life and great foods.

PART TWENTYFOUR: LEARNING TO WORK IN A RESTAURANT

From BIG to small

I did my apprenticeship in a big International Hotel called Holiday Inn. I learned the ins and outs of a large hotel operation but had no idea what it is like to work in a restaurant. In order to prepare us for the future in the Chefs trade, the Executive Chef organised for us apprentices to go and work for a month or two in a restaurant. Good for us to learn how different it is to work in a restaurant. In our second year of apprenticeship each one of us had to go for about 2 months to a restaurant near Zürich called "Al Dente". That restaurant was part of the TMC ZÜRICH (Textil und Mode Centrum)(Textile and fashion center). One of Europes largest trading center for textiles and fashion, had a restaurant attached to the center. All the fashion designers, textile business people and all the pretty girls showing off all the new designed dresses. Real eye candy for us boys, I can assure you. Here is a photo of the TMC in Zürich.

I started in the restaurant which had a small kitchen brigade. The kitchen was a lot smaller and everything was made in that small kitchen. It was a lot different to work in that restaurant and the pace was very fast. The TMC had a lot of textile and fashion events and was visited by a lot of people from near and far. 

The foods served was of very high quality due to the clientele and it was also expensive. The restaurant was open all day until about 10 pm. Personally, I did not really like working in a small kitchen crowded with chefs but I had no other option. On top of that, our head chef of that restaurant was a real smart arse and treated us apprentices not really well. It was a character forming exercise. I felt a few times to smack him but I had to keep my temper in control. After all I was a apprentice, meaning to shut up, keep smiling and say YES CHEF. 

Here is a picture of the restaurant with outdoor seating.

I remember a incident where that head chef was pushing his luck to the maximum with me. 

We where very busy and we had a couple of functions coming up. I just got word, that my dear auntie passed away and we would go to her funeral. I went to the head chef and ask him for permission to go to her funeral. He's reply was: They can bury her without you been there. We are to busy and you can not go. I lost my shit, took of the apron and left the kitchen. I went home, told my mum and she got very angry. She called that head chef and complained to him. I went to see my Executive Chef at the Holiday Inn and reported to him what happened. 

At the end, I could not go to the funeral, but the head chef had to go to management and after applogize to me in front of every one. Since that day, I did not wanted to work there any longer, but I stayed for a couple more weeks. Luckely I was back at the hotel afterwards and I did not had go go back. I was not interested to work in restaurants anyway, I was quite happy to work only in hotels.  

Here is one more photo of the restaurant from close up.

Valuable lesson learned

Always keep your temper. Get even, take the right action. If you know that you have a point, especially if it comes to a family matter with your boss, go to management. As a chef, one has to develop a thick skin. Like in every other trade, you will get to meet some arseholes with no people or management skills. Look at the situation, keep cool, and act accordingly. A character forming exercise.

Next week I talk about the hot section of the main kitchen and my experience working with a fantastic chef. Have a great week, love life and enjoy great food.

PART TWENTYTWO: FOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY - FOR YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMERS

The lurking dangers of food contamination

When I started my apprenticeship, I already had a very small idea about the importance of food savety in a Commercial kitchen. There is no difference between a commercial kitchen and a domestic kitchen when it comes to your food safety.

So what is food health and safety? It is a set of rules how to keep, treat and store foods in a kitchen. Designed to keep the customer save when he or her consumes your food. When a restaurant or hotel including every food outlet serves food to the public, they have to follow the licensing laws of how to work with food and how to serve food. Food poisoning can be very nasty and in some cases deadly. 

The same licensing laws exist for bakeries, butchers, dairy farms and outlets, super markets, delicatessa outlets and the like. All those different industries have their own licensing laws on food health and safety.

One of the first rules we had to learn as chefs apprentices

When I started my apprenticeship back in 1978, we had to go for one day a week to trades school. We had also internal courses or in house courses by the company who was running the Hotel. The hotel I made my apprenticeship was Holiday Inn and Mövenpick. Mövenpick was and still is a Swiss company who specialises in a sertain hospitality concept which is a very high standard. They also use a franchising method running hotels and resorts around the World. You may know them also as Icecream makers, with amazing icecreams sold everywhere in the World. So for us apprentices, Mövenpick had internal cooking classes. Chefs Apprentices in Switzerland also finished the chefs apprenticeship as the best in the nation, due to the fact, that Mövenpick trained us independently from the Trade school. 

Before we where allowed to handle food, we had to go through a training on the licensing laws of food health and safety. That makes sense as one has to know how to handle food before we work with food in a commercial environment. 

The second day of my apprenticeship was a training day. We where 3 first year apprentices, starting on the same day. One that second day, us 3 apprentices had to go through a training session with our Sous Chef on food health and safety. The training took place in the hotel. In the morning, we had to go through the theoretical part and i the afternoon, we where going through the kitchens and we had to assess if the foods where handled properly, if the refrigerators where clean, the temperatures right and the food stored inside the refrigerators where kept the way it should be. Also personal hygene like washing your hand regular, wearing the right clothing, using latex gloves for handling sertain foods, wearing a chefs hat, to avoid hair in the food, the girls would have to wear a hair net as well, how to use the chopping boards and how to clean them, how to keep the surfaces clean and how to keep a kitchen clean, refrigerator temperatures and how to store food and the list goes on.  

Back in 1978, we still used wooden chopping boards. Today in 2016 this is no no. The rules have changed dramatically since 1978. 

A food poisioning case can have grave consequences for a hotel or restaurant. Most countries Worldwide have a deparment of health. Does departments have inspectors, visiting restaurants, hotels and food outlets to check, if the food health and safety is been enfoced and kept up to date. Untfortunately a lot of restaurants, food outlets and hotels do not implement and practise food health and safety, resulting a customer ends up in hospital with a food poisoning. That can result in closure of the business and a financial loss including having to pay for the medical treatment of the customer. The health department does check restaurants and hotels including all sorts of food outlets. But it is impossible for the health department to check them all. A health inspector can also order the closure of a premise deemed unsafe to operate and causing a danger to the general public. 

Today in 2016, in my country of residence which is Australia, food health and safety is paramount and you need to hold a certificate that you had the proper traing in food handling. You can not work as a chef in charge without a food handlers certificate.

The health inspector is here!! Just dropped in for a visit!

I had my first experience with a food health inspector when I was in my chefs apprenticeship. It was a day like any other, working in the main kitchen, when the health food inspector just walked into the kitchen. One of the chefs greeted him and he explained to the chef, that he was here to do a food safety audit in the kitchen. 

There are three reasons why a healt inspector is going to walk into a premise by surprise.

1) Customers of a restaurant or hotel ring up the health department complaining about a visit to a restaurant or hotel and feeling ill afterwards.

2) A normal random check on a restaurant or hotel that has just opened the doors to the public or a routine check.

3) A big event is about going to take place like: Olympics, sports events or a big event where there is a lot of people attending. All restaurants and hotels in the immediate area may be checked by the health department prior to the event.

I knew when the health inspector walked in on us out of the blue, that our kitchen was fine. The inspector went through the kitchen, checked the refrigerators, some of the kitchen appliances, pots and pans, some cooking utensils, the dry store area, the chemical storage area and the work benches surfaces. It was just a routine check and the inspector was satisfied how the kitchen was kept and run.

If you like to know more about food health and safety, check out YouTube and type in " Kitchen Nightmares by Gordon Ramsay ". You will see a lot of great examples of restaurants who did not stick to a food and health safety plan and the business was on the brink of financial disaster.

If you are a Chef or thinking of becoming a Chef, get in touch with your health department and see if they run classes in save food handling. A certificate in that field is handy to have as a chef and it will get you in the door easier for a job you applied to.

WARNING: If you are working in a kitchen and they do not follow a food health and safety plan, I strongly advise you to either bring up the subject to your superior and if ignored, quit your job. That is a sign, that they do not care about their customers! In the hospitality industry, bad news go around like a wild fire and you don't want your name in it! 

Next week I talk about the classes we apprentices enjoyed while we where doing our Chef's training with the Company Mövenpick. Take care, love fife and enjoy fine foods.

PART TWENTYONE: PERSONAL SACRIFICE OF AN INTERNATIONAL CHEF

IN LOVE WITH YOUR JOB

Love what you do and you never work a day in your life

Making a choice what you want to do in life can be a though one. Making a choice to become a Chef can only work for you when you love cooking and food. Passion is the word, be passionate about your work. I came to the realization, that if you are not passionate about cooking and food, you have no hope to become a top chef. I am sure that this applies to any trade. 

One of the biggest mistakes some people do is to choose a occupation that pays well. Yes, money makes the World go around but it will not give you job satisfaction. 

The secret is; if you love your job, any personal sacrifice will be easy for you to handle. 

Personal and social sacrifices

When I started with my apprenticeship, I was a member of a large march music band with 124 members, I was also active in the boys scouts and I had many friends. When I began my apprenticeship, I spoke to the Executive chef about my activities. He told me to stay with my activities for now. I was lucky first, as my working hours allowed me to continue with my music and having some weekends off, to be able to keep going with the boys scouts. 

However, that all changed. About 6 months into my apprenticeship, were I was able to do more tasks in the kitchen, I had to work more nights and weekends. My choice was to quit with the music because some members starting to complain that I only appear once and so often, We had muisic training on a Friday night, when every good hotel was busy with functions and all the restaurants. I had to work and could not attend the music training. I was not to happy about it, but becoming a good chef was more important for me. Eventually, I had to quit the boys scouts as a leader and member. I only got one weekend off per month and that was not enough to continue with the boys scouts. Also seeing my friends became a less frequent activity. Most of my friends started also a apprenticeship with working hours from Monday to Friday, evenings off. So over time, I lost some friends too.

I had to realize, that we all have to make personal sacrifices in order to get ahead in our professional life. But I learned to master the art of sacrifice into a opportunity to do something different. Something that will work well with the lifestyle of a chef. 

It is important to have a hobby or two. Keep your mind active with different subjects, not just cooking. I made a decision to take up a hobby where I can enjoy without interuption from my work. A hobby I can enjoy that is not limited to a time or place. I still enjoy those hoobies until this day. Here they are:

1) Fishing

2) Stamp collecting

3) Coin collecting

4) Reading fantastic books

Later in my chef's career in Australia, I took up one more hobby. Gold prospecting. I was lucky enough, to get a job in Australia's largest rural city, in the center of the Victorian gold fields.

Many chef's I met in my time, did not apply this method. They started to drink, using drugs and boredom got the better of them. Be careful, don't fall into this trap!!

Been a chef, we spend a lot of time in our job. Long days, split shifts, working when others are out having fun, working on public holidays including Christmas, working nights. It is important to find social activities outside your work. One way to do that is to have friends from the Hospitality industry. Also people from other trades with similar working hours can become friends. 

Falling in love and stay in love

Now I like to touch the subject about relationships with a few words. I am not a relationship expert but I made my experience about relationships been a chef. Sadly, most chefs I met over the time are divorced. I am not married either, but more by choice. 

With the work stress and work times, we need a partner who has a broad understanding about the industry. For a chef, finding a suitable partner is most of the time only possible, when this partner is also from the hospitality industry or a similar industry. I know chef's who are in a happy relationship with a partner from the same industry. 

(I only talk about my own observations and not to be taken as fact.)

Some last advice from personal experiences

First: Love your job, but never fall in love with the company because you never know when the company stops loving you.

Second: Doing what you like is freedom, like what you do is happiness.

Third: Don't pick a job with great vacation time, pick one that doesn't need escaping from.

Forth: Some last words of a famous Japanese Sushi Chef: "You must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work...You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of Success.

Next week I will talk about a vital part of handling food and food safety at work and home. Have a great week and enjoy life and fantastic food. Cheers