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.
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.
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