Barley a week into CCA:LCB I decided to take a chance with another one of my classmates and attend the Napa Film Festival. The Iron Toques of CCA:LCB was invited to help chefs setup. Me being a genius I said to myself, "hey, why not!?". Let me tell you why not!! Jk. It was a great experience that I don't regret doing. Mind you I was nervous as hell to mess up!! I was speechless! All I could think about was not getting in Chef Michael Collins way. I was mute unless Chef asked me a question. I replied as briefly and politely as possible with and always ended with "Yes Chef!". Chef Collins looked at me and smirked. He knew I was fresh in the program... if my completely horrified look didn't give him the clue, my shaky, slow knife did the trick! I tried to cut as slowly and precise as possible! I helped prep the chilled albacore tuna salad as well as plate his braised pork with candied cumquats. Chef Collins was a champ I have-to-say! A Chef dedicated to his work who had to cook out of his car with gas burners. He wasn't playing any games-he came to show his stuff!! And that he did!
My favorite part of the night, other than my back aching after plating over 200 taste trios was eating the product!! The trio included curried scallops, braised pork with candied cumquats, and a chilled seared sesame albacore tuna on a crab salad. My favorite was the braised pork with candied cumquats! The pork was so rich and decedent, sweet and tender! The candied cumquats added sweet and sour to the savory sweetness of the pork- it just put you over edge! After describing the trio hundreds of times, alas I could finally eat the wonderful food. I don't know if eat was the right word to use. I devoured my leftovers like a complete fatty! Each bite was warmer and richer then the first. I knew I was destined for a food comma but it was well deserved!!
One thing I learned from my experience was that Chefs like Chef Michael Collins are rare. He was down-to-earth and very helpful! He wants to see others succeed and hey, I even got a card from him and a possible externship opportunity!
Success never tasted so good!! Mmmmm
No comments:
Post a Comment