Fat Man in a blue hat

You'll be pleased to hear that I survived the week in the kitchen at Woods Bar and Brasserie - more by luck than judgement though!

Woods' sits neatly between Harry Ramsdens, Cafe Rouge and an Indian restaurant in the newly developed area of Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay in  the old Pilotage Building.  The interior is modern and airy and the menus are priced to suit everyone ranging from a 2 course "credit crunch lunch" through to the more pricey a la carte menu. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I waited outside the door at 0900 on Monday morning.  I was met by Anthony, the Soux chef and Michael and Alex, the Chef de Parties - their combined age nearly came to 55!  After a brief tour and discussion on what I could do, I was kitted out with a pristine chefs jacket, an apron and told that the first job was to wash and clean behind the cookers and grills!  Not the spotless ovens and grills of the Ashburton Cookery School, but the working gas ovens and grills of a very busy commercial kitchen - worlds apart!  Having completed my allotted task with much gusto I was then tasked to prepare the salad that would be used as garnish and starters during the next few days.  I made two Muscovado and Hazelnut tarts, de beared a tray of mussels and prepared a creme anglaise  - all in a days work!  The other chefs got on with the business of serving the customers when the orders came in - fortunately it was a quiet Monday so a lot of prep. was done for the coming days - they appeared to want to have  some things ready at least 24 hours ahead.  Tuesday and Wednesday I was given different tasks which included making a cream and grainy mustard sauce to go with the cod, a coq au vin ready for Thursdays credit crunch lunch and the trimming of some Gressingham ducks - about 30 of the little blighters!

All the jobs were always carried out under the watchful eye of either Antony, Mike or Alex who were patient and very good at explaining how things worked and quantities for recipes.  I had elected to see an evening shift, from 5pm until 11pm so Thursday saw me having the day off but going into work in the late afternoon - not something I particularly liked - still another experience to be savoured!  I arrived to meet Wes, the Head chef, back in the kitchen after his days off.  Tonight, I was told there was no kitchen porter so nobody to wash up!  The sinks were piled high with pots and pans which had been left after the lunch time servings - well I'd better look keen, I thought, so I set about the mountain of dirty pots - the problem was that the pile never seemed to get any smaller!  One of the General managers came into the kitchen, Serge, surprisingly he's French.  He addressed me with a slight sneer on his face - "You have a black apron on!  Black aprons are for the floor staff!", He growled in a low Gallic voice.  "Sorry," I stuttered, "I didn't know, would you like it back?"  "Yes," Serge snapped,  "You should have a grey or green or blue apron on"  "Sorry", I repeated. "It's a little wet", I said with a slight smile on my face.  Serge was not impressed with mon petit quip!  As far as I was aware, that was my first and last  faux pas!  I did manage to get some preparation done that evening - a cafe de Paris butter (goes with steak) which left my wrists and arms aching having to mix the ingredients by hand for half an hour!  I also managed to serve a crab risotto and a salmon Rillete, assisting James on the starters!  I used to work with James' dad!  By 11pm I was bushed so once the kitchen was cleaned I headed for home to gird my loins ready for Friday, my last shift!
Friday dawned and my back and shoulders and arms ached from the exertions of the dish washing experience and the mixing of the butter!  Undeterred, I offered my services promptly at 0900 and spent my last morning making foccacia, two more hazelnut tarts, taking the breasts off pigeons and deep frying tomato skins and assisting with the service on the starters, this time a salmon rillette and split pea and cumin soup!  Once lunch was over, I thanked the chefs for letting me share their world and told them that I hoped that I hadn't got in the way or poisoned anyone! 
Going into a kitchen is like joining an exclusive club - you're not sure what goes on until you're part of it!  All the chefs were passionate about food, their talk was of food, what ingredients worked with certain things and off course other things that men talk about!  The hours are long for them, often putting in 16 hour days with split shifts.  I kept asking myself would I really want to do this for a living, given my age and stage in life?  Cooking at home and for friends is a very different proposition from cooking for profit and having the added pressure having to produce dishes precisely at a given time!  So unless there's a job out there that would allow me to work Monday to Friday from 10am until 3pm, with the exception of Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when I play golf, we may have to think again!
More food experiments next week!

Poppy and Harri after snaffling one of my pasties!