Week(s) in review, #1

An annotated list of lessons learned, 9.8-9.25

Produce

Cover onions with plastic wrap after they've been prepped, even if the container they're in already has a cover. The walk-in will stink to high-heaven otherwise, and the butter will start to smell like onions. Eggs will also absorb that stench.

Need to practice small-dicing carrots and celery. Takes forever. Onions are easy, but become faster with their mirepoix friends.

Corn roasted in a wood-burning oven, tossed with only olive oil, chili flakes and salt, is magical. I wouldn't eat it in December, but it so goddamn amazing right now!

The way we see foods affects the way we taste it. Family meal at the shop included a salad with bits of golden beets that had been scooped out by a very small melon baller. It took a minute or so for me and another cook to figure out they were beets. Mini mind trick.

Don't be a hero -- wear gloves when handling chillies. 

Meat and fish

SKIP IF SQUEAMISH: When a lobster dies, its tail curls under, making it nearly impossible to get out all the meat. To keep the tail from doing this, stick a six-inch skewer up its... yup... butthole. They react in ways that are not surprising. "They are just fucking bugs," said my sous, "Just giant fucking bugs!" Don't know how cool am I with this, or just how necessary it is. Follow up with other sources. 

Pig brains are not fresh unless they pop out of the brain case immediately. I'm guessing the same goes for other animals... question mark.

Learning how to butcher just takes practice. Except for size and quality, the anatomy of one pig is just like another. Lymph nodes taste bad.

More lessons learned

Steam burns hurt like a bitch, and you never forget that.

Warm, marinated olives should be made at home for the best snack ever.

Learning something new, no matter how simple, takes at least twice the amount of time you think it does. Tea service at a wedding reinforced this idea for the billionth time. Now I just need to get myself to actually put this into practice more effectively.

Come out of shell and ask questions at restaurant. Otherwise misunderstandings happen.

I, as a non-list maker, must make lists with this job. Must make a habit of writing things down more often. Must. Otherwise misunderstandings happen.

Try compression ankle supports and socks. Foot goes numb if moved wrong, tend to turn ankles. Ankles hurt like a mother after a hectic catering shift. Stupid Danskos are too damn high for me. Run those down, then replace them with Crocs.

If you feel tired, or are hitting a wall, remind yourself you could have it way worse. You could be a lobster with a half-foot skewer up your ass.