Knives, Day 2 Addendum

I was browsing through my journal this morning and came upon an entry from June that I thought added to Day 2’s knife story. So here it is.

Knives. Weapons anywhere else; a lifeline in the kitchen. A commodity. A status symbol. You have a good knife and don’t need a house knife?  Then you already have moved up in importance. No one touches your knives without permission. Knives are bought and sold among the ranks, switching owners. [almost as quickly as people switch lovers] Cut yourself on a new knife, suddenly you are married to your blade.

I have never seen something quite like the importance of a good knife in the kitchen. Why, just two weeks ago Coffeeman came to William Turner and I and showed us this beautiful knife, that he proceded to say, “I brought that one in (a Kuma) so just in case you all needed a knife on the board, you could grab it. But if I see any of you near this knife, you are dead.” Or something to that affect.  Turns out, his knife is a Wusthof. Yeah, you don’t mess with a $200+ knife.

A facebook friend posted for me today…..  “The poet with sharp, pretty weapons…”

Why yes, yes I am. I forgot to mention I carry two pocket knives with me at work as well. One of these three.

Two of them are spring assist, which means I don’t have to put too much pressure on the opening latch and it swings out. You know that bug-eyed look Will Turner does on Pirates of the Caribbean?  Yeah, well our William Turner does the exact same thing. He looks so like Turner it’s scary.

And not long ago, when I had the blue handled knife, Coffeeman asked where the pretty knife was.  The rainbow filligree knife that says Femme Fatale and has roses engraved in the steel… Yeah. Sleeping Beauty could have used that knife…

Kate

Plating – Day 3

“You need some of that,” says Lucifer.  “No, don’t just run it across all of them, do one at a time.  And why do we do this?”

“Uh…” comes the reply from Tom Cat.

“Because it looks prettier that way,” I reply as I hunt through a fridge.

“Exactly!” Lucifer replies.

It’s all in presentation.  Plating. Sending out something that looks so elegant that your eyes feast on it first. I kind of have a knack for it. Even Lucifer, in all his inability to give compliments except on rare occasions, knew I knew how to plate.

I love plating. I love sending out a dish that is elegant, edges free of smudges, the garnish just so. I have been inclined to want to slap people’s hands, server’s hands, Chef’s hands, when they go to take a plate before I finish garnishing. I might be a bit insane, but what is the point of sending out a half finished plating?

I stop people and servers all the time. A pizza must go out with the right garnish. Granted, I am stopping them because I have forgotten something, but still, it must go out right. The best thing to plate, for me, are the desserts. It’s not a coincidence considering I am the pastry chef. I want plates to be pretty, and now, since Coffeeman has come into my life, I have had the opportunity to see things plated so beautifully.

Lemon Tart with a berry coulis design….. Dot, dot, dot..

The dots, swirls, spirals, squiggles. Currently, due to my hectic schedule, I don’t get to plate as much as I like, and I’m not fond of our restaurants name being squiggled onto plates instead of designs… I don’t find it elegant.  These are elegant to me.

Roasted Peach with champagne strawberries…. ooh la la

I hope that over time I get to still plate desserts. I love all the aspects of my job, but when you have a server go “ooh, that is the prettiest I’ve seen” or plates come back with designs scraped off with the dessert, I know I’ve done my job. Not to brag ,though I’m going to, but the servers love how I plate….

Kate