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The Journey of a Culinary Student |
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Post by Chef Gabbi Castellano | Date: 7/30/2010 3:28:22 PM |
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When the school year started, I expected that I would tackle my greatest challenge ever because I was faced with an unusual combination of students. A few were already professionals from different industries, changing their paths and looking for a way to pursue their dreams as chefs. Some were already in the food & beverage industry, trying to gain more knowledge and experience. A handful of teenagers, who didn’t know how and why they got into my classroom in the first place, were also present. Nevertheless, all of them had a common goal: to learn how to cook! Surprisingly, it was a big problem for me since most of them didn’t even know how to properly fry an egg! Teaching them proper knife skills was not that easy – I was trying to figure out why their julienned carrots looked more like grated coconut meat. Mentoring them on meat fabrication was not simple either; it is a task that demanded patience since a few could not even tell the difference between pork and beef. The session for butchering game, so far, was my favorite part. In one of our sessions, the kitchen was magically transformed into a circus. A group of girls were crying on one side, figuring out how to spare the rabbit from being our lunch while on the other side, a bunch of teenage boys were plotting just the opposite. To top it all, a quail was chasing down one of my students who was already hyperventilating due to his fear of feathered animals!
These were just some of the scenes during the first part of their program – and other similar scenarios can make any instructor lose his mind! However, after seeing the students concentrate (biting the already sore lip just to make a single tourné, peeling twenty pieces of tomatoes just to make a tomato rosé), the eagerness and drive was apparent in their eyes and it somehow gives me a glimmer of hope.
Five months had quickly passed and going on to my next module, I have anticipated enough stress to skyrocket my hypertension. I was lucky during that time since the students have already mastered the basics, thus minimizing the usual kitchen blunders like cutting their tiny fingers with a paring knife, putting a roast inside the oven only to remember after an hour that they have forgotten to turn it on, mistaking salt for sugar, and all those tiny mistakes that would make any head chef go on a rampage. I can still recall the time when I was about to teach them the advanced techniques, ranging from taste profiling, differentiating techniques and ingredients, all the way up to preparing for an actual function. To my amazement, most if not all, have greatly improved as compared to the first time I saw them. Not only were they skilled in working with their knives, but they have also mastered the talent of keeping their cool under pressure. As part of the module, we had an activity that was designed to push their limits further – and it did! After long hours of research, a few sleepless nights and rendering 18-hour work in a day, they pulled it off! They had presented a function that can be considered at par with the elite catering companies in Metro Manila.
As most chefs know, presence of mind and multi-tasking are very important proficiencies inside the kitchen. Being able to sauté bean sprouts while refreshing the sauce and searing the fillet all at the same time can be a very daunting task. I am proud to say that most of my students now can execute and do perform like professional chefs. For a teenager who does not know how to boil noodles 12 months ago but is now able to compete and WIN against culinary students across the country in one of the biggest competitions nationwide (bringing only his knowledge and prayers), well, pure luck isn’t enough for that! It required sheer determination, belief in one’s self, discipline and faith to succeed.
This is our story. This is what inspires me not to lose hope; what makes me proud to be an instructor; what drives each and every one of us; and what the journey of a culinary student is all about.
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The Journey of a Culinary Student