culinary school flashback: phase 1 day 1
I’m back with another culinary school flashback post. If you missed the first one about my decision to go, you can read it here.
This next post talks about my first day of school. I may or may not have added a photo of me in my uniform and look a tad goofy, since it’s extremely oversized. But hey, this was before I kind of figured out how to wear our uniform hat, without looking crazy 😉.
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phase one of culinary school: first day
The first day of culinary school was incredible and it is still a bit surreal that I am actually in school. Although we did not head straight to the kitchen, the day was filled with excitement. Francois Dionot, founder of the school, started the day by talking to us about the school and anything having to do with the process of becoming a great cook. While sitting and listening to him, it became more and more evident that I made the right decision.
I have to say that I am a bit nervous. It will be a hard program, a year filled with long days, tons of information and techniques to learn. One of the reasons why I was initially attracted to the school is their teaching style – listen, watch, execute, record. What does that mean?
Listen: We start the day with lectures. Chef will show talk us through the day’s menu, the ingredients and show us how to prepare the dish.
Watch: Chef will demonstrate how to create the dishes. The classroom is set up with a countertop, that includes two stove tops with a large mirror hanging above it, for us to watch his every move.
Execute: We then head into the kitchen and create the menu ourselves. As I mentioned in the decision, during Phase 1 it is important that we learn techniques and knives skills on our own, meaning with the instructions of the Chef, not in team’s.
Record: Each night after school, we will head home and do about 2-3 hours of homework. As you may have noticed, I never mentioned anything about being given recipes during our lecture. That is because they won’t be handed out. We are given ingredients, techniques and a demo. It is our job to go home and record each recipe we learn at school. I am actually extremely excited about this part. Not only do I love to write, but we get to record the recipes in our own words – which makes it so much easier to follow them in the future.
At around 12, we took a lunch break, giving me a chance to chat with some of the other students. I love the variety of people who are in my start group – anything from a stay at home mom (who had a baby 2 months ago), to a consultant, a military guy and recent college grads.
After lunch Chef Brian (the Phase 1 Culinary Instructor) talked to us about how our days will play out, how we will get graded, and most importantly, how we will be successful at LAC. As for how we will be graded – in short, we will be graded on the recipes we write on a daily basis, practical and theoretical exams, our appearance (clean uniform, no make-up, hair pulled back, no jewelry expect a wedding band, short fingernails), and our attitude in the kitchen (pace, attitude, attendance, team work, etc.)
The final part of the day was receiving our equipment! It’s a bit surreal (yet thrilling) to put on a chef coat that has YOUR name on it! We also received checkered pants, hats, aprons, towels and neckerchief, books, and our knives!!! What do you think? Can I pull this look off?
ps: the whole outfit is about 3 sizes to big on me, but it’s comfy
I am off to bed, my alarm is set for 4:15am (phew!!). Tomorrow we head into the kitchen for the first time!
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Oh man … that uniform. It was HUGE but it really was so comfortable!! By the end of each day, we’d reek of cooked food and I was grateful to change out of it, haha. Even my hubby still talks about and remembers that distinct professional kitchen cooked food smell. He’d often greet me, before begging me to go shower.
Next week I’ll talk a little about what my day looks like at school and share details on our first cooking day in the kitchen.