Audio By Carbonatix
Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.
A few days ago, I saw my chef talking to an older man with a funny-looking wicker basket. She called me over for what turned into an all-organic olive oil tasting. The guy had finishing oil as well, so that we could compare ours to his. After trying the oil we use, the man (who looked and talked a little like Jeffrey Steingarten) searched for a word to describe it, and eventually went with “cloying.”
When news happens, Westword is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If Westword matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
I had to bite my cheek to hold back laughter, because really, who calls olive oil cloying? But my laughter stopped short, because I suddenly realized that since diving into kitchen life, I’ve probably become less interested in food.
If I had participated in this tasting a year ago, I would have
been writing down everything he said and deciding which oil to get. But
now, I was much more concerned with getting the line set up.
Most people my age can’t fill a bookshelf with titles like Working the Plate, Bouchon and Fork it Over.
But since I’ve jumped fully into the restaurant scene, my collection
has grown by exactly zero volumes. The day before I began my journey to
sous chefdom, I got three books in the mail. Today, they still lie
untouched on my floor.
So now, as I learn
ordering and begin to manage a little more, I’m wondering if that sort
of “food is fun” passion will ever come back. I’ve heard it does. I
hope I heard right.
