I don’t know if I ever told you I used to work in a gourmet restaurant. It was the best school I had in cooking, pairing and serving food. It was the first time in my life I tasted mozzarella (not at all what I expected), carpaccio, piccata, lobster, elk and so, so many other things. It was my self-discovery journey, almost an initiation ritual which channeled and reinforced my love of food and cooking. And I learned a thing or two along the way!
My boss, the chef and proud owner, was a Texas music teacher and avid jazz lover. His wife, who became one of my dearest friends, was a Polish university professor of English. They felt in love and opened a restaurant in the heart of Montana. I was 21 at that time, new to the US and looking to discover and learn as much as I could. I ended up in the restaurant by pure chance, for a dishwasher job. My boss didn’t want to hire me at first, because he didn’t like girls in the kitchen (more on that later)…especially a very skinny creature (oh boy, those were the days!) with a shaved head, blue painted nails and huge earrings (21, I told you). He thought there’s no way in hell I could manage. But I asked for a chance and I did manage: I put in place a system and became the best damn dishwasher! Once you’ve done dishes for 150 people one evening, you don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. I worked my way to different other jobs in the kitchen and outside it and I was soon to understand why my boss was weary of girls in the kitchen. More precisely when I tried to work behind the line, which is at the stoves. The heat, the constant sweating, the heavy lifting, the burns and the clock-work routine were just too much for me. The silly feminist I was then revolted, but the wiser 31 years old woman fully understands now. Guys, kitchen work is freaking tough! There are not a lot of women who can take the physical stuff, my hat’s off to those who can!
But along with stuffing my face with all the goodies I could get my hands on, I also observed the restaurant business. Fascinating stuff! I learned the very precious lesson of running my home kitchen like a professional one. Think about it: the main purpose of restaurants is to make money and serve good food, keeping lots people happy. Well, one approach to making money is, strangely enough, not wasting away money. Which I bet you can relate to when it comes to managing your own stuff at home. So, to summarize: not wasting money and making delicious food in a limited amount of time. Here’s what I learned; you can do this too, in your own kitchen.
Don’t throw away anything that can be reused. That half tomato? Cover it with plastic film and put it in the fridge; use it on a sandwich the next morning for breakfast. That leftover mashed potatoes? In a bawl in the fridge for potato poppers next dinner. Those remaining green stalks? Chopped and frozen for the next soup. You get the point. Nothing you paid for that is still usable and edible doesn’t go in the trash. OK, OK, let’s keep it at a healthy 90%, but aim your best.
Master Prepping. There’s day prep for the evening customers and there’s the weekly prep for making stocks, bullions, herb infused oils and lots of other things in advance. In a home-kitchen the daily prep translates into fixing your lunch box the evening before or putting some meat to marinate for dinner. The weekly prep translates into making a big pot of soup that will last you a few days or a casserole dish that gets better the more it sits in your fridge…for a few days, at least. The two-in-one rule applies: if you’re making a pasta dish, boil some more pasta, so you can add it in a cold salad the next evening, for example. Prep as much as you can in advance and you’ll have a smooth ride the next day.
Die Hard Multi-tasking. Restaurants’ kitchens are very busy places and everyone has a designated place and role. And in the best kitchens the roles can be swapped: if you have a few free minutes from your main task, you might run to the salad station and slice some extra onion. I have devised my own scrum process in my kitchen. I start by reading the recipe and assessing all steps. I preheat the oven, I marinate, I prep veggies and the dressing for the salad while frying or boiling something. I do the dishes in between. I always keep my work station cleanish and I have no issues flipping over my cutting boards in the heat of the moment. Multi-tasking is what’s gonna save you a lot of time. Learn how to do it properly.
Re-purposing. Sometimes you might be caught by surprise and miss one ingredient for the recipe you wanna make. Don’t worry, it happens in the restaurant kitchens, too. For being able to re-purpose without getting caught, you need to be a rather experienced cook and know your ingredients. You can swap sour cream with heavy yogurt, sometimes butter for oil, sometimes sugar syrup for honey…you get the point. Test and try, aim for the closest thing you have and always keep the final product in mind. Don’t forget to write down the swaps and make ad-notations to the recipe, with quantities and timing, otherwise you’ll surely forget.
Buy the best ingredients (you can afford). This is pretty straight forward: buy good produce! The secret of a delicious meal does not only reside with the skills of the cook, but also with the quality of the ingredients. Aim for fresh stuff, good meat, good cheese and never opt for prepackaged surrogates. Better to buy less, but good quality than a lot of crap. Rely on your everyday staples (that don’t cost that much) and invest more in good fancy stuff.
Bulk buying. In restaurants, most things are bought in bulk: that’s the faithful staples that don’t go bad in the pantry. Of course, they roll differently than you would at home, simply because they feed ~100 people an evening, but the bulk-buying concept is still valid. You can easily go for canned/ preserved stuff, pasta, oils & vinegars, but also fresh produce that you can freeze. For example, I bought and cleaned five kilos of plums when they were in season and froze them…which meant plum crumble whenever we wanted! The idea is to go for bulk to pinch a penny or two and to always have the stuff you run out of.
Keep the people happy. Now, there have been tons of books written about this topic, much more info than I could share here. However, there are some common sense rules we should always keep in mind:
No cold food– never ever serve hot food that has cooled off
Correct portions– give the right portion sizes: not too much, not too little
The greens– Always include some side veggies or a salad with the meal
The drinks– Choose wine and beer that go with the food. Water should always be on the table.
Preferences– If you serve steak, always ask the cooking point (medium rare is the standard)
Want more food hacks?
Episode 1 is about the beauty of the whole chicken (how to take it apart and make a few meals out of it).
Episode 2 is about all the crap that we buy from supermarkets, but we shouldn’t. Ingredients & price analysis with the home-made alternatives.
Episode 3 is about your true superfoods, your kitchen staples that you need to have around…all the time.
the pickled spruit. 