DC 27's Culinary Journey

Hey guys..lazy-nya...takda post langsung...blog sendiri always got new post..
post here la sometimes..somemore this blog is dedicated for training purposes..so now 2nd training d ..post something soon ya...
let others know ur condition also..since we wont be able to meet often and all...
i doubt anyone checks this blog anymore though..sigh..
POST HERE SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


~LaMLaM~ (^-^)V

Arghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
DAMN IT..
Just today, I found out about something called contact dermatitis which is an inflammatory reaction when an external substance comes into direct contact with the skin..causing skin dryness, redness, itching, flaking, scaling, cracking, blistering and pain...
And..guess who got it...T__________T
sob sob...after the start of industrial training...(kitchen first)..my hands started to get dry..
I didnt bother much..cause it affected only 2 fingers..
Then on Thursday 8 of my fingers (all except for my pinkyx2)...were all dry and my skin started peeling like nobody's business..till its super dry..
It hurts like hell when it touches hot things..the first layer of the skin is gone..
Just today went to see doctor..because of flu..then together asked him about my skin..and he said it was...contact dermatitis..so i checked it out...
Its not fair..how come i get it..and others won't at all..no matter wat..T__T



Anyway..about the training at third floor...2 more days and i am of to be front of the house..after chinese new year break of 5 days..
It was hell of a hectic in this past few days..
with 3 days straight function..lucky its over..but..busy means business is good and..we get to learn more things..

ps:.....I HATE DETERGENT..!!!
LaMLaM

anyway...I wan to have a CNY gathering at my house..those interested pls contact me asap..and tell me the dates u guys are available..between 6-9..Feb...maybe 8 or 9 since most will balik kampung and all..

Today was pretty uneventful, starting the day out with doing the centre piece yee sang. During split shift I ended up staying back to help cos' seriously, I was too bored. I ended up eating a piece of every dim sum I made with one of the Commis. I didn't have to worry too much about dinner after that. XP

Except for a certain carelessness that left me with a knife cut through the nail of my forefinger into the flesh. Usually knives stop short of your nails, that's why we have them. Surprised? It actually protected my fingers from uncountable cuts that could've cut my fingers off. This time though, the knife is sharper and sliced cleanly into my nail. *Ouch*

Then the chef gave me a cute lil' plaster, bright yellow with pictures of animals wearing shirts playing around. Mader... I don't think it was on purpose... XP

Tonight due to something that has something to do with the head, we had cause for celebration (of sorts). Mind you, it wasn't a celebration for him. Haha... The point is that yee mee with Boston lobster is not something you get often, and the taste is not too shabby. You understand I can't be too explicit right?

So with a full stomach and a nice relaxing time chillin' in the cafeteria waiting for Han and Yi Lin, using the internet and drinking free coke, with an off day tomorrow, what more could I ask? Eat your hearts out DC!!

I'm in Eest now. Bye Prego. *sob sob*

Darren's there. Not sure how he is.

Anyway... Here's a brief runthrough on what I learned the time I was in Prego.

1. Sarcasm has to be taken with a pich of salt.
2. Wash face can be done anytime as long as you finish your work.
3. Make arenchini.
4. Real Italian pizza.
5. Just because they chef looks fierce doesn't mean he is.
6. Girls are generally treated better.
7. I know the difference between farina flour and semolina flour.
8. Garlic bread Italian style!
9. Tomato dip.
10. Baked oyster.
11. Shucking oyster hurt after doing a few hundred.
12. Eggplant timbale.
13. Beef carpaccio.
14. Cook risotto.
15. Gossiping is generally allowed. *smirks*
16. Don't tell on your colleagues to your big boss (especially the BIG one, not just the dept head) before confronting them. Be honest or they will ostracize you. (Not pretty, this one.)
17. I quote Jon. "Ask whenever whatever." Seriously. But not exactly when they're uber busy at the hotplate plating food for 25. That's called suicide people.

Did I mention I got left by the train because I was shy of a 10 sen coin and friggin' 7 Eleven didn't have change? OMG I was so pissed. I took a cab back, luckily before 12, and it cost me RM 25. Now broke, I pray it'll never happen again.

Thinking clearly now, why didn't I just buy a cheaper ticket? Setia Jaya doesn't even check. Idiot.

Remember how I use to complain about having to work through my split shift? Now I had a split shift yesterday and found it so mind-numbingly boring I i think I'll work through split and still go home at 10. Learn more this way.

Now there's a celebrity chef in Eest doing a showcase, Mark Best of Australia. So things are going slower for the kitchen. I'm resting on my laurels, my ass looking like pancakes. Did I mention I tired foie gras which is so overrated (unless you start saying it's an acquired taste). It's oily, creamy and bitter, very me-muakkan. And Eest is serving Yee Sang so I've strated leaning how to do it.

And since I'm an employee, I get a 50% percent discount on food purchased there. So Yi Lin, if you still want to continue the plan, tell me and I'll order us Yee Sang with Yellow Fin Tuna for less than RNM 50!!! XDD

Hey there readers, I shall explain the meaning about the title later, for now, let's read/write about what's been going on with my traning shall we? Well, i'm starting to finally get used to the workload here, just yesterday we had a full house and I was stationed at stewarding again because the steward was having his off day. And then came the full house, the restaurant was bloody packed, with guest finishing eating, leaving, and having another new batch come take their place. And guess what, I didn't die. I actually relished it, I don't know why, but I was excited. I didn't groan when loads of plates were coming, I accepted, started washing, and hummed a tune.(Seriously.)

But, of course, I needed some help in the end. Why? Cause it was bloody impossible to finishing washing and clearing up at 11:30 if help was not there. Try washing, putting plates in the dishwasher, closing the dishwasher, washing plates for the next tray, open the dishwasher, push the tray out, put in another tray, put the plates in the tray, wash plates summore until the tray is full, close the dishwasher, take the plates from the first tray, and put them in place around the kitchen, come back, open the dish washer, and cycle through from the start again. Too much bloody time, so why not, have another person carry the plates, while you wash? Easy. It finally ended when the kitchen closes(At 10:30, the kitchen is considered closed) But those were the plates only, we still had to clean up the kitchen(Washing lots of the kitchens utensils) But it was fun nevertheless.

Ah now for the brownie attack, the kitchen was empty, both the heads were out making calls for diliveries, and the rest were on break, while I was in there, already had my break, to fend for myself. I thought I could, guess I was wrong. An order came in for 1 brownie dessert. So I took the brownie out, put it in the microwave to reheat. I remembered one of them set the timer on 1:30 mins. So I set it to that and waited. As the beep sound appears, and one of the heads return. I told him about the brownie, and as he opened it...the brownie was sizzling, and smoke was coming out. It was supposed to be only for 30 seconds. But, instead of him fuming, and me getting depressed, we started laughing out loud. Come on, it was bloody stupid, but funny. The other crew started running in from the back, checking to see what had happened, the head told them and they also started laughing. They were scolding me in a good natured and friendly way, laughing, while telling me next time, be on the safe side and if your not sure, just set it to 30 seconds.

Moral of the story: Don't Assume you remember unless you remember it clearly. Mistakes happen mate, don't sweat about it. If the Chef scolds you hard for doing such a stupid thing, don't take it personally, it's just there for you to learn. Learn from your Mistakes of course as everyone says it.

I also had a Mexican Item Attack, lots of Mexican orders came flying in when I was stationed in the cold kitchen, it was hell.

Anyways, I gtg, write about something else some other time, chiowz.

Fudge it. I came to effing early... again. I'm regretting the fact that I could've woken up 1 hour later, and not feel like a drunken shit at the moment.

Anyway, back to last night's conversation with one of the Commis in Prego. He mentioned that once a long time ago (dunno how long), Chef Wan's son used to worked in Prego. Formerly he was an Executice Sous Chef in another restaurant, but when he moved to Prego, he was only a Commis I/II. It's easy to get promoted in a restaurant, but usually the title is wortless in a hotel because the standard is higher.

Anyway, guess how long he lasted?

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.....

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2 WEEKS!

Haha!! Westin has a high turnover of employees because of the workload. Many apply for jobs, and get but not many last through the first few weeks. Especially in Prego. There was a Commis who said he was a Malaysian but worked in Finland for a few year in the banquet kitchen. And guess what? Surprise surprise he quit after 3 days. Heck, he didn't even know what saffron is.

*gasp*

Many of them are CDP, Sous Chef, Banquet etc but once they enter Prego, it seems they always quit as soon as they could. Goes to show how much people can only take even if their names are full of titles.

No use, those titles.

I know what you mean Maynard. Cooking again really makes one do things 10 times better, It lights back the fire in ones-self. Basically, I didn't cook, I just made. I was relocated to the cold kitchen because of the short handed staff today(2 were having their off day and the head chef for this outlet was sent to another outlet to help) Even though "The Chef" was there, it was hard.

First off, it started with the lunch service, the usual boring service. It was packed, downstairs was full so they had to send people upstairs, orders were just flying in and the kitchen was like what it's supposed to be. Noisy, Hot, with lots of movement, and excitement. And me in Cold Kitchen assigned to make the Maxican Items. It was great. I was going and going, finally keeping up with the pace. Plate settings were up, orders were delivered, and I was finally happy and loving it like I used to in college(To tell you the truth, it really is shitty doing mise-sen-place, takes away your soul) And we had to prepare for the dinner b'day function, which means, overtime. But it was great still. Then came the dinner service, I felt so much pressure. Thank god for "The Chef" being there, if he wasn't, we were screwed. To break it into points, we had our experienced butcher in one of the hot sections, "The Chef" in the other, experienced Cold Kitchen Chef, an experienced multi tasker, and a noob trainee. And it went well, although it was really hectic. The multi tasker was in the hot section helping "The Chef" but the Cold Kitchen really needed help(Because of me I admit, It was my first time doing it) We were moving, I was moving alot faster now, "The Chef" was firing orders and taking command as he always has. It was fun and tiring. The Function went smoothly, except for the "Borito" turning into an "Echiladas" bit(My Fault, I didn't roll it properly, it wasn't supposed to be flat, didn't know that, Ooops) We were laughing about it after work.

What did I learn today?
1)Mexican Items settings
2)How hot it should be when you heat the item up for usage
3)How to enjoy a break
4)How great cooking is
5)How to Make Guacamole
6)How to Make Salsa
7)How to Cut Fast
8)How to ask questions whenever and wherever
9)How essential harmonization is in a kitchen

Ok, till next time then, chiowz.