My first class beginning my culinary career was Foundations I, an injection of the obvious, was a class meant to teach us the foundations of French cuisine.
We studied Escoffier, stocks, mirepoix, dimensions of knife cuts, mother sauces, and different cooking techniques. The class was taught by a serious chef in both skills and demeanor who would flash his dry witty sense of humor.
He taught with the fervor of a symphony conductor. He lined us up ten minutes before class started everyday and inspected our uniforms for cleanliness and appearance, ensuring that we were clean shaven, nails trimmed, shoes shining. And if we weren't points were taken from our daily grade.
Some found it tedious, but I felt its importance. They were shaping us to become young professionals with the habits we were forming then to impact the kind of chefs we should become. All great chefs were detailed oriented....sometimes bording on insanity, or at least OCD.
How unforgettable it was when we were given our knife kits, I am sure that is a memory that will always stay with me. Having the knife kit in some ways validated me. I felt like a chef now and it help remove a layer of amateur insecurities I felt about myself.
I looked around at my classmates. For this moment all of us having various skills, experience, and backgrounds but were all given the same tools to succeed.
But how we mastered them would be what would eventually seperate us from each other.
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