There's always something to learn at work which really makes me look forward to every single day in the kitchen.
I get to lead Garde Mange at Aqua these days which is something not a lot of interns get to do. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to run my own station. Today though, my co-worker Mike is running it. He assigned me to run the Salad and Shell stations which means I have to do the Salad and Shell prep and do the fry work too which didn't use to be my favorite thing to do until lately.
There's not a lot to prep for Salads these days unlike when I first started when we had to prep for at least 2 or 3 salad specials. Now we only run 1 salad dish and one special tomato salad since tomatoes are currently in season.
Fry work keeps me by the deep fryer and the oven. I have to fry Basil Leaves, Leek Chiffonade (which we have to blanch first), carrot tops, eggplant chips and canolis. In the oven we need to crisp up lavosh which really only takes 3 minutes, cutting them into thin strips is the time consuming parts. They're served with Aqua's very popular Tartars
Canolis are really tricky but I finally got it down. It's made with asian spring roll wrapper (the one filipinos use for lumpia). We cut them into small squares (about 1 3/4 inch squares) roll them onto plastic wrapped wooden spoon and dip them in the fryer. During service they are filled with sturgeon mousse and served with a tasting of caviar. Yum!
A lot of interns or newbies struggle with it. But I learned a few TRICKS:
1 - Keep the wrappers moist by covering them with a damp paper towel, this keeps the corners from curling or cracking. They come out nice and sharp
2 - Fryer has to be at about 325 instead of 350 or 375. This keeps them from browning too much
3 - I only fry them till they are set then I pull them out of the mold (which really is just a spoon handle). They carry over and continue to brown even when they're out of the fryer.
These tricks allowed me to make the perfect canolis. I used to hate this task but I love it now =) I don't mind doing fry at all. Besides, working by the fryer allows me to watch everyone else doing their stuff on the line.
Service went my smoothly. We got a couple of projects for the next day done too. I came up with my own inventory of the stuff we don't make everyday. It's a little dorky to have my own organized list but it helps me remember what to count. I need to do an inventory everyday but sometimes I miss a few items so the list helps me remember what to keep track of. This way, I don't find out at the last minute that I'm running service without my staples.
I'm off tomorrow. I'm not scheduled for either Aqua or Chez Panisse. Maybe I'll make my own lonely planet tour of San Francisco. I haven't had a chance to do anything since I've been working 7 days a week.
Finally, a day off! I'm excited!
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LAHVOSH, LAVOSH
Lahvosh is an Middle Eastern yeast-raised, thin, crisp bread, also known as Armenian cracker bread. Lahvosh range in size from 6 to 14 inches in diameter, and are used as other crackers, and also to make Aram Sandwiches.
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