I've finally moved on to what is definitely the easiest station of the kitchen – canapé. When one sits down for a five-course meal at the French Culinary's restaurant, L'Ecole, you are immediately presented with a small bite meant to excite your palate and make you hungry – the canapé. If you'll remember from Level 3, we got our first introduction to the canapé when we were given a box of ingredients, "Chopped"-style, and told to make a one-bite delicacy from the available items. A canapé can be absolutely anything – a miniature tart, a soup shooter, a piece of crispy bread topped with vegetables…anything. It's fun to let your creativity run wild, and this time we have the entire expansive store room from which to choose our ingredients.
One of my teammates works at the swanky Park Avenue Autumn restaurant, where she spends mornings cooking hundreds of cranberry waffles for hungry socialites. She had the idea that, since she's already an expert, we could use the cranberry waffle as our base. We "borrowed" the duck loins from Saucier, and sautéed them, then tossed them with a juniper berry/sage/duck syrup (that I made…what what). We painstakingly cut the individual squares out of the waffle (which was actually not sweet, just slightly savory), curled in a sliver of duck loin, then topped it all off with another dribble of syrup and a pinch of bitter micro greens. It was lovely, and everyone was coming by to sample our little delicacy. The flavors mixed perfectly – tart cranberry with sweet duck and bitter greens. It was like a quick explosion of yumminess in your mouth, like a gourmet version of chicken n' waffles (yes…I live close to Harlem). I don't know if any of the patrons actually liked our canapé, but let's face it…I'm not really concerned with that.
There's a lot of free time in my new station, considering we're only making miniature bites of food that's already done by the time the orders start coming in. All you have to do is put the little babies on a plate and send it up to the waiters. Unfortunately, chef knows we're a group of hard workers, so he asked us to complete some basic tasks for Saucier and Poissonier, who were struggling to keep their heads above water through the night. "Sure," we agreed ignorantly. We spent the whole night meticulously making their potato terrine, breaking down bunches of kale and cabbage, slicing/dicing shallots and peeling pearl onions. The worst part was when both stations finished, cleaned then packed up…yet we were still working on their prep for Friday. I guess not everyone has a strong work ethic. Then again, I come from a career where I was chastised for taking any longer than was needed to run to the elevator, zoom downstairs, push my way through the nearest corner deli to order a sandwich, eat it on the way back up in the elevator and be back at my desk, working harder than ever to make up for the awful five minute break that my irresponsible and hungry (how dare I) self was cocky enough to take.
It's amazing the changes I've endured over the past year, both professionally and personally. My life in my old career was miserable, as described above, and I constantly felt bad for wanting to go home at night and took on more projects than I could handle simply because I couldn't say no. After quitting, though, I was thrown into the deep pit of unemployment. I wore the same sweatpants every day, rarely washed my hair and developed a shameful addiction to "The View" that I'm still trying to shake. I was then hired into a temporary position with the government, where I was looked down upon for completing projects too quickly and learned that, in order to receive a good review from your superior you had to take the work that was doled out to you and stretch it out as long as possible, all the while making yourself look busy and valuable. I've loosened up the ropes that held me in my "I have no right to ask for vacation time" limbo, yet unfortunately replaced them with "eh, I'll take my hour lunch today because I deserve it" outlook. With my new job, I'm hoping to form myself into something of a happy middle, working actively and efficiently yet still making time to take care of myself. As I told myself the day I quit my old job, when I was wishing I had never set foot inside that bland, stale, sinkhole midtown office or met those supervisors who used sucking the very soul out of my body to further their own self importance, every experience is an opportunity to learn something about yourself. Without that experience, I wouldn't have been miserable at my job, researching creative recipes all day and dreaming about the beautiful ingredients at Trader Joe's, only to realize that all I wanted to do was cook. I also wouldn't have met a former colleague who used to work at The French Culinary Institute, unknowingly fueling my desire to someday make it through the halls of that culinary Mecca. Had I gotten the job that, just a few weeks ago, I was obsessing over and practically having business cards printed, I wouldn't find myself in a happy place with my current opportunity. We might not always understand the daily struggles, but I guess it's the journey that counts. At least someone up there has a plan…
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