Days 50 through 58 at The Culinary: Seafood ID and Fabrication

This long stretch of time encompassed the end of meat class, my Thanksgiving break, and the start of fish class.

On Monday the 22nd, I had my last meat class at the CIA. I took my final, which included an ID section of 25 cuts of meat, a written section, and a multiple choice section. Also, it was sausage day. This was our chef's favorite day to teach, because he loves sausage more than anything. We each made about five to ten pounds of sweet Italian sausage (the same recipe for everyone), and it was glorious. It was pretty fun making the sausages in general, except I was horrible at it. When I tied off my links, I kept getting breaks in the casings (probably my fault) and sausage meat kept spewing out of them. To say the least, I had a lot of waste. In the end, our chef took the demo sausage he'd made, and cooked it in the corner of the meat room while we did our cleanup. It was honestly the best sausage I've ever had. There was absolutely no debate in my mind about it either; I just knew it was that good instantly.

So meat class ended, and I arranged for a class picture with our chef. I also got my favorite picture so far, and it's of me when I carried out the enormous lamb carcass to chef's demo table for fabrication on day 5 of class.

So there's my meat class!


There was no room for relaxation after meat class. We had to study up for our first day of fish class with Chef Corky Clark. I described what kind of person Chef Clark is at the bottom of my last post, but I'll explain it briefly again. He is very old, always frustrated, screams a lot, passionate about fish and America, and is incredibly opinionated. He has been known to keep students for hours after class because he rambles, and has been known to make students cry. Whenever you ask someone about Chef Clark, and you ask if he's as bad as the stories, they always reply with, "No. He's worse."

We had a lot of prep work as far as day one homework goes, but not as much as we had for meat. I took intense notes on the half hour-long video that was assigned and on the book reading, and tried my best on the study questions and key terms.

I woke up at the same time on Tuesday for fish as I did for meat for the past week and a half, and we all got to the hallway where we were to wait for the previous fish class to finish cleaning up. Eventually, one of our TAs came out to meet us and gave us a quiz. It was on things we should have read about for class, such as where the small equipment is located. I got a four out of five.

This class was so damn intimidating. The first day went really well though. I love seafood, and if it weren't for Chef Clark's teaching style and reputation, I would've been nothing short of extremely excited. We started out class with demo, followed by butchering, and then lecture before we left. This was the opposite of the format of meat. It was also a little scary, since we were learning about the fish after we cut them up.

I pretty much stuck to the TAs for any questions I had, and generally avoided Chef Clark completely. I saw him get frustrated with a few people, but nothing major at all. He yelled a few times during demo, but not at anyone. Just things like, "Don't slam the fish on the table, because that's JUST STUPID!" This gave us a little example of what he'd look and sound like when he'd yell at us.

The first day went by relatively smooth, and I learned how to properly skin a fillet. I did about four salmon fillets, after taking out the pin bones, and they were all, for the most part, skinned really well. I was so excited, because now I know how to skin a fish whenever I want. That was pretty much all I did on the first day. We left class around 3:30, an hour and a half late, and it was overall pretty satisfying.

The next day, I was in charge, with a couple others, of filleting Wild Striped Bass. They were only drawn, which means that the only things removed were the guts. This was pretty scary to me, because bass are hard-boned fish, and they require the up-and-over cut method for filleting. This is a method I didn't exactly understand, or at least as well as I understand the straight-cut method for filleting salmon and trout. I went to the TAs for help quite a few times, but eventually I got it down. Once again, I became thrilled that I learned how to do another invaluable fish fabrication technique.

At one point, Chef Clark went over to me (our very first interaction), and he very quietly and kindly showed me where I should cut, since I appeared a little hesitant. I felt like I could possibly muster up the courage to ask him for help now. Later on I asked him if it was true that there are certain bass species which have toxins in the spikes in their dorsal fins which can be dangerous to humans. He thought my question was ridiculous and said, "There ain't no POISONS in them fish!" He didn't yell or anything, just laughed it off a little and walked to go do some stuff. I went back to my fish.

Soon after, a classmate and I made a grave mistake. Earlier on, Chef Clark told us about proper storage of fillets in the walk-in. We're supposed to never put fillets on or under ice, because ice can bruise them, and melted ice (water) can draw out flavor from the flesh. The fillets of Wild Striped Bass that we just fabricated were pretty covered in scales from the dirty table, and my classmate asked if we should give them a quick rinse-off. I wasn't thinking and said yes. We rinsed off the fillets for only a few seconds time, but that was way too long. Chef Clark saw it, and ripped me a new one.

I guess he only saw me do it, but that's not the point. Here was our dialogue:

Chef: "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?"
Me: "... I don't know chef" (I wasn't sure which thing I'd recently done he was referring to)
Chef: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!?"
Me "... I rinsed off the fillet?"
Chef: "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ALL ABOUT STORING THE FILLETS? YOU DON'T EVER RINSE THE FILLETS! I TOLD YOU THAT! GOD! YOU DON'T RINSE THE FILLETS!"
Me: "Sorry Chef"

I think I should point out that he has a southern accent, and he pronounces fillets, "fill-its."

This was the first time he'd screamed at someone from our class, and I was honored that it was me. Not really, but what am I supposed to say about it?

I understood his method of teaching better than ever right after he finished screaming at me. It's pretty simple. I'm never going to wash off fillets again, am I?

I finished the day, and then got ready to meet some of my best friends. They planned to come to campus, eat dinner, see the school, and then take me home for the break. They ended up getting a little lost, mostly my fault, and when we finally met up in the end, they surprised me with the whole group of my friends being present. It was great, and I took them to Farq.. I used my swipes for the day at Americas to get the ham-cured duck with chile sauce that I once got before, and two orders of the braised beef from Skills III. No one was around because they'd left for break, so Skills III was giving out free meals. Naturally, I took advantage of it. I "ate my meals in front of them ; )" and then we left to go home.

I had a very good Thanksgiving meal at home, and I cooked only a few things. I trussed the turkey with my awesome meat class skills, cooked the Brussels sprouts, broccoli rabe, and made a maple syrup sauce for the sweet potatoes. My mom did everything else, and I thought it was one of the better Thanksgivings that I've experienced. Here was my plate:

The next day, my friends had a sleepover, and it was a big reunion sleepover for us. We had a really great time, and the next day a few of us went to a local show of one of our local bands. We used to see this band a lot during high school, so this made the weekend extra sentimental. I also saw the new Harry Potter movie with a different friend, and in general the weekend was very memorable.

I went back to school on Sunday, and today I had my third fish class. I didn't get screamed at this time, but today was a little different. We mostly had to gut things. We gutted Wild Striped Bass, Branzini, Sea Bream, Red Perch, Rusty Dab, and Sardines. I think gutting is just awesome. I think everything in fish class is a lot of fun. Most people hate it and or are grossed out by the fish, but I love it, even though we have Chef Clark.

Now I will post the pictures of what I ate.

Fabada Stew with Chorizo, Sausage, Pork Belly, and Fava Beans (Cuisines of Med. - Spain)

Spain Tapas: Ham and Breadcrumb-Stuffed Squid in Squid Ink, Assorted Olives, Toasted Almonds, Sausage (Cuisines of Med. - Spain)

Spain Tapas: Fried Cheese Balls with Bacon, Chicken Canape (Cuisines of Med. - Spain)

Jerk Chicken with Pineapple and Jicama Salad, Black Beans, White Rice, and Yucca Crisps (Cuisines of Americas - Caribbean)

Crab and Coconut Callaloo (Cuisines of Med. - Caribbean)

Salad with Guava Curry Vinaigrette, Toasted Cashews, and Hearts of Palm (Cuisines of Americas - Caribbean)

Corned Beef and Swiss on Rye with Fries (Courtside)

Chicken Paprikash with Roasted Onions, Buttered Noodles, Mushrooms, and Roasted Tomatoes (K16)

Let's work backwards. The chicken paprikash wasn't as good as it was last time, and neither are as good as Grandma Szabo's recipe from back home. That's one my best friends' grandma. This is a Hungarian dish, and she's from Hungary. The corned beef sandwiches and fries are always the same. They taste very good. The Caribbean food was very interesting this time. The salad was definitely not as good as it was when I'd gotten the goat, but it was still good, and the soup has the same story. The jerk chicken was exceptionally good, and the yucca crisps were really interesting. They were made as flattened yucca patties, and then sliced plantains were arranged on the sides in a cool way. It tasted great, and everything else on the plate was good, too. The Spain day stew wasn't that great. The broth had no flavor, and there were so many damn beans. I ate the pork products, but even they were dulled from the broth. The tapas, however, were fantastic, each thing was as good as the next, and they were definitely the highlight of the meal.

Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more

Days 42 through 49 at The Culinary: Meat ID and Fabrication

Hello.

This was an abnormally long stretch of time in which I was unable to create posts. I'm sorry that I didn't post, but I wasn't just procrastinating or neglecting the blog. I was thoroughly busy with schoolwork.

On Monday the 15th, day 44,  I started my Meat Identification and Fabrication class. I had an extreme abundance of work due for the first day, and it took me all weekend to finish. I had to:


- Read a total of 171 pages from four different books
- Prepare, clean, and press my chef jacket, pants, neckerchief, toque, and apron
- Tie knots on a side towel as if it were a roast
- Study the Day 1 powerpoint
- Prepare to bring my complete knife kit, calculator, pens, and a notebook
- Print 5 blank copies of the Butcher's Yield Test
- Print the 56 page course guide
- Define the 17 Day 1 key terms
- Complete the 10 Day 1 study questions
- Watch the knot-tying video on the CIA web site
- Watch 30 minutes worth of videos in the CIA video library

This class was all about doing things well on your first try, since it was coincidentally also your last try. Here is the list of focuses for each day of class:


Day 1 - Beef
Day 2 - Beef
Day 3 - Veal
Day 4 - Pork
Day 5 - Lamb
Day 6 - Poultry
Day 7 - Sausage

When you think about it, the class is only seven days long. Therefore you can understand how much information they are required to shove down our throats every day. For the most part, they only have one animal a day, and there are so many methods, techniques, cuts, and so forth for each animal that we only have time for getting one shot at each procedure. For example, we can only French a lamb rack once, because we also need to bone an entire leg of lamb. Oh, by the way, the meat room is kept somewhere between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Class started promptly at 7:30 every morning, which meant that in order to be safe, you would get there at 7:15. My friends/ fellow classmates (9 of them total) would all eat breakfast in Farq. before going to class. I certainly didn't have to go with them, but I always did. In order to be at breakfast on time, my roommate would set his alarm for 6:00. It takes me about a half hour to get completely ready from bed to exiting the building, so this seemed pretty doable. I decided that I'd just get up with his alarm, and meet everyone for breakfast.

You see, I always feel sick in the morning if I get up really early. Not only am I never hungry until two to three hours after I wake up, but I always have a slight stomach ache feeling when I get up earlier than normal. So, I'd always get up, get ready, not eat breakfast, go to class, get hungry, get hungrier, become starving, and leave class past lunch time.

Class started at 7:30, like I said, and would last until around 12:30 to 2:30. The time we leave depends on how quick we are during class and how fast we do clean-up. The basic structure of class is as follows:


7:30                start lecture in room 432, on the 4th floor of Roth Hall
8:45                take a fifteen minute break
9:30                end lecture, and go down into the meat room
9:45-10:00     start meat fabrications
12:30-2:30     end class

Every day we'd have to complete the next day's study questions, key terms, watch the required videos, read the required readings, study the powerpoint, re-tie our side towel roasts, and wash our blood-covered clothes.

The first day, or pre-day one, was the hardest amount of homework. Not only did we have to learn about the next day's animal, but we had to learn about meat in general. Once we finished learning about meat, the homework load got a bit lighter, since all we had to learn about was the specific animal.

-- On the first day of beef, we deboned the solid shank side of beef, and we deboned the shoulder clod. The shoulder clod contains the top blade, which flat iron steaks are made from, the heart of the clod, and the "no-name" (actual name of the muscle). Then we cubed the no-name and heart of the clod, and tied up the top blade.

-- On the second day, we trimmed, and prepared beef tenderloins, and made cubes from the wing pieces and the side muscle. Then we trimmed and tied a boneless strip loin.

-- On the third day, we completely trimmed various cuts from the veal leg, and then we made cutlets from the top round.

-- On the fourth day, we deboned and tied a boneless pork loin, and deboned the Boston butt in order to tie it and create a roast.

-- On the fifth day, we deboned, trimmed, and tied a leg of lamb to make a roast. We also made cubes from our usable trim. Then we trimmed and Frenched a rack of lamb.

-- On the sixth day, we trussed, trimmed, and deboned three chickens. From the chickens, we created wings, boneless thighs, boneless drumsticks, and we supremed chicken breasts.

It is now Saturday, and yes, I had class today. Normal schools get off for around a week or more for Thanksgiving, but we're apparently lucky to have off at all, so we make up for it by having Saturday classes. Today was poultry, and it was the only day that went well for me.

Sure, I did some things well, but most things were decent or worse. It was my first time boning, trimming, tying, slicing, and doing anything like this, as it was for everyone, but I guess I just needed more practice before I could get to be at the level that most students in my class were at. On certain days, I went home from class pretty proud of what I'd done, (mostly just the beef days) and on other days I was more or less exhausted and miserable at my performance (pork day).

After a giant bag of fail that I call days 3-5 of meat class, I got to poultry day and things went really well for me. I suppose I found my niche.

Many exciting things happened during my 6 of 7 days in meat class. On day 3, when my chef deboned a veal leg, he found a tumor inside that was about the size of a large ravioli. It was covered in a fatty tissue, and it leaked out green fluid everywhere. He said he hadn't seen something like that in over ten years. This is coming from a guy who is in his 50's, and he has been working as a butcher since he was 14 years old. He used to own a meat store, but in the past decade he sold it. He currently teaches meat at the CIA, and runs an online meat market called Elia's Meat Market. The kitchen that he prepares his meats in is about fifteen minutes away from the school, across the bridge, and this is the link:

http://www.eliasmeatmarket.com/

This guy is incredible when it comes to butchering meat and sausage-making. He really knows his stuff, and we all had a great time in his class. Out of all of the things that I learned (so far) from meat class, I'd have to say I'm happiest that I know as many cuts of meat as I do now, that I know the anatomies of most animals, know how to properly portion cuts of meat, and most of all, that I can confidently debone a chicken.

Boning a chicken was a very intimidating task, which I wasn't sure I could do very well. It turns out that I did everything faster and better than most of my classmates, and it was an intense confidence booster.

Also, one next-to-impossible task is being able to identify all the cuts of meat just from looking at it's raw form. They look so damn alike. I have many pictures from the whole week, and some of them are from meat class. At the end, the pictures are of about half of the meat subprimals (sections of the carcass), and the point is to show you how hard it is to identify them.

Veal with Tumor (center of the muscle)

Whole skinned Goat

Inside the Meat Cooler

Lamb Carcasses Hanging

Self-Fabricated Chicken Supremes

There may be another one or two pictures from meat class that I will post later on that have been taken by my other classmates. The chicken picture is of four of my six Frenched chicken breasts. The terms "Frenched" and "Supreme" refer to any cut where the bone has been trimmed and is sticking out like a handle. I'm sorry if the goat picture is a little gross, and I'll admit it kind of resembles a horror movie, but think about how I am the one who actually has to cut up all this stuff.

Because of the cold conditions in the meat room, I have, since the second day, worn thermal underwear and three pairs of socks. I was so nice and toasty.

And now for the second part of this blog post. The meals. My eating schedule has been very strange. I haven't eaten any breakfast, despite being up at 6:00 every morning. Most lunches were just special K with red berries cereal in Farq. immediately after class, and lots of dinners were taken back to my room. Regardless, I'm going to show all of my pictures. Obviously, if I use the normal format, this post will be obnoxiously long, so I'll just show the pictures and use captions.

Ham with Haricot Verts, Sweet Potato Purée and Mustards (K16)

Cheesecake (It was a certain flavor which I couldn't place)

Pasta in Shallot Cream Sauce with Slab Bacon, Roasted Tomatoes, Peas, and Shredded Cheese (K16)

Braised Leg of Duck in Duck Jus with Polenta Cake and Sauteed Red Swiss Chard (K16)

Southwestern Burger with Guacamole, Pepperjack Cheese, Crabmeat, Sprouts, and Remoulade (K16) (Before I fixed it)

Southwestern Burger with Guacamole, Pepperjack Cheese, Crabmeat, Sprouts, and Remoulade (K16) (After I fixed it)

Southwestern Burger with Guacamole, Pepperjack Cheese, Crabmeat, Sprouts, and Remoulade (K16) (After I fixed it)

Steamed Salmon Filet on Puréed Celery Root with Glazed Carrots, and Mache in Watercress Sauce (K16)

Chocolate Eclairs and Sesame Bread in Farq.

The Chocolate Eclairs and Sesame Bread I brought home from Farq.

Beef Burger with Swiss Cheese, Fries, Pickle, and an Olive (K16)

Whipped Egg White and Chocolate Dessert

Poached Pear Tart

Spain Menu

Rabbit and Shrimp Ragu with Sauteed Spinach with Raisins and Pine Nuts, and Grilled Garlic Bread (Cuisines of Med.)

Chicken and Pepper Canape, Fried Cheese Ball with Bacon, Toasted and Spiced Almonds, Assorted Olives, Serrano Ham, Sweet Italian Dried Salami (Tapas from Cuisines of Med.)

Grilled and Marinated Shrimp (Tapas from Cuisines of Med.)

Skills III Menu

Sauteed Medallions of Beef with Sauce Chasseur, Cauliflower, Green Beans, and Pommes au Gratine (Skills III)

Chicken Noodle Soup (Skills III)

Banana Bread Pastry

Banana Bread Pastries

Diced Apple Pastry with Whipped Egg White Cream

Cuisines of Americas Menu

Pan Fried Quail with Red Beans, Rice, Andouille Sausage, and Spinach (Cuisines of Americas)

Now I will describe everything briefly. Let's work backwards. This was the first time I'd ever eaten quail, and it was delicious. The whole meal was really great. That apple pastry was really nice, and the apples inside were really tiny cubes, which was impressive. The banana bread pastry was so exciting and phenomenal that I had to get two. It had fried dough on the top, whipped cream, banana slices, and then the tart shell contained banana bread. Just wow.

The skills III meal was exceptional, too. The steak medallions were so tender, and absolutely everything on the plate tasted so good. The Spain tapas menu made me so happy. I loved it the last time I went to Med. for Spain day's tapas menu, but this one had completely different menu items. This was also the first time I ever had rabbit, and it was a great success. The tapas made me so happy, because I absolutely love pork products and olives. Plus, raisins are an incredible match with sauteed spinach and pine nuts, and I never thought it would be.

The pear tart has a funny story with it. I got it thinking it was apple, and I first thought, "Wow, this is a big slice of apple." Then as I tasted it, I thought, "Wow, this is a really tasty apple." So, now I'm a big fan of poached pears. The other dessert that was circular was incredibly interesting. It was light like a whipped cream, or maybe a little bit thicker, but it was definitely made with egg whites. It also had a little bit of a lemon flavor. I was sure it was cheesecake when I picked it up, but by a pleasant surprise, I was wrong.

The burger with swiss cheese was good, and that night there were two of my favorite things in Farq. That bread is intensely good, and those eclairs are a revelation, so I stocked up. The salmon looks really appetizing, and it definitely was made really well, but I couldn't eat much of it. It wasn't really the kind of flavors I could stuff my face with too much.

The southwestern burger was a mistake. I didn't realize it came with a remoulade (white sauce served with seafood), so when I got it, I had to do some cutting. I took it back to my room, took out my pairing knife, and carved out the center portion of the top bun. I felt like a genius, and it looked like there wasn't any sauce on the crabmeat, so I tried the burger, but I was wrong and it tasted bitter. I removed it again, and this time just scraped all of the guacamole and crabmeat off. In the end, it was just a beef burger, but it tasted good.

The braised duck leg and everything with it was delicious, and it was actually a special occasion. That was the exact first meal I'd gotten at the CIA outside of Banquet. It was just as good. The pasta in shallot cream sauce is something I've also already gotten, and it was just as good this time as the last. It had a perfect sauce, and the slab bacon, as usual, made it even more fantastic. The cheesecake was flavored with something that I couldn't really place, but looking back, it might've been butterscotch. As for the last meal, or first in this case, the ham was very nicely cooked. I obviously didn't have the mustard, but the sweet potatoes were my favorite part.

Well, there's about a week's worth of posts in one. It was an intense week, and I don't know if I can make another post until I go home for Thanksgiving. Monday is my last class of meat, and I make sausages and take my meat final. After that, I start fish kitchen with Chef Corky Clark. He is known far and wide as being the toughest teacher. He's like the chefs you see on some TV shows. He yells and yells and yells. From what I've heard, he's hilarious, curses abundantly, is bipolar in that he'll flip out on a dime, and he is extremely passionate about fish. He is known to have held students many hours past class just because he felt like talking about fish.

I will admit, I'm very, very scared about this class, mostly because I'm a very sensitive person. However, I always come off (because it's true) as a really serious student who cares about what's being taught and tries their best. I've noticed that this is true from many teachers. For example, in meat class I sat in front every day, took detailed notes, handed in every homework assignment, asked for help in class when I needed it, barely ever spoke in class otherwise, and asked the teacher a few times during brief off-times about his company and other personal meat questions. By doing all this, and this is just how I am (it's not an act), the teacher understands that if I have a question, I'm being sincere that I'd really like to know the answer, and that I deserve it because I don't fool around.

If it was just the case the Chef Clark only yells at people who fall asleep in class, fool around, or completely mess up on their fabrication, then I wouldn't be worried, but I know that he screams at people if he thinks their question is dumb. It seems like I'll need to word my questions carefully, and keep them to a minimum. I think that every small detail counts with this guy. Needless to say, I'll be shaving every day.

Besides my disposition as a good student in the classroom, if I had to think about it, I'd say that I definitely have one other advantage over most students (the ones he would normally scream at). I deeply enjoy fish. I so far haven't found a single fish, raw or cooked, flatfish or mollusk, that I don't like. Not only does this mean that I will love learning about them, and that I won't mind tasting them all or smelling like a fish cooler for a week, but also that I'll be able to appreciate what he's lecturing us about. I'll be genuinely interested. Hopefully he will see that, and respect me for it.

Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more