Week 2

20/09/2011 - 26/09/2011

This morning i started in the kitchen by preparing all the mise on place for the cold kitchen that
is doing things like

• cutting tomatoes 
• cutting up onions 
• cutting cucumber
• cutting lettuce 

this is the basic things we start with in the kitchen it get used with a sandwich that a guest order and 
it is for a side salad on the plate ..
after that you work either at the hot or cold kitchen where you will make either toasted sandwiches
or you will work in the hot kitchen there you make eggs and bacon etc . for breakfast and all other hot foods are made there..during the week the kitchen is not that busy but then we work with the other chefs and kearn more and learn how to make some thing new ..

21/09/2011
today we also started with the mise on place it is some thing that we do on a daily basis every day
after wards we started to prepare for the function that we were going to do at the KYK NET EKSPO
it is a cheese and wine function that we will be doing .we prepared most of the cheeses and also the
sauces for the bread sticks
today was very busy and i learned how to make bechanel sauce and also biltong fondue which
is a nice starter meal to serve at a party or function .also learned how to make a cheese sauce ..

22/09/2011
Today we cleaned the kitchen by taking the tables in the kitchen out and also the racks etc ..
we had to clean all the dirt and fat of the tables and under the tables . we did that by spraying oven grill
on  all of the equipment and waiting a few minutes before we started scrubbing it with a brush ,it was a difficult task and we got dirty as all the dirt got on us . after the equipment was cleaned we sprayed all of it with sanitizer and wiped it . and took it back into the kitchen ,it took quite a while but we managed .

23/09/2011
This morning we all started to prepare and get all of the equipment ready for the nights functions
as it will be a very busy day and a long day ! the function is at MBIZI and we are going there at 2 to start to set up and cover everything and decorate the place ! when the function started we were busy heating every thing up as they were talking for a long period of time ! when everyone came to dish up it was fun and we talked to the guest ant told them more about what we do and it was busy as there was about 350 people the night was very successful and everyone enjoyed it a lot ...it was a great experience to be at such a function and to see how it works !

24/09/2011
Today we are working at the show at Mbizi at the Sondela stand where we are promoting sondela and telling people more about what is happening here ..while at the stand we where baking pancakes and we also had a warthog on a spit that we give to people that comes past and wants to know more !! it wasn't that busy as we finished early and had the rest of the day of .

25/09/2011
today i am in the hot kitchen making breakfast and making scones and vetkoek etc..
it was quiet in the beginning of the day but later it was very busy as we almost ran out of some of our food but we made more and everything was fine it was nice to work under pressure as it learns you more on how to stay calm and to work quicker under pressure .

26/09/2011
today is welcoming and we are preparing before the time for it as this morning i already started to make pancakes for welcoming that will be at 1 .as we saw that it is better to start early than rather doing it late and getting stuck without pancakes while there are guest waiting .it was a long day

Cheffing

WEEK 1

During my first week at cheffing  i learned a lot of new things that i didn't knew before
things like the type of vegetable cuts you get also the cooking methods that we will use ,and
how to season food and what spices to  use to make food taste better etc.
the types of vegetables cut you get

1. Julienne - Thin matchstick size cuts 1-2 mm thick and 3 cm long 
2. Macedoine - thick diced veggies mm thick (cubes)
3. batonnet - matchstick size but thicker than the julienne for example chips 
4. brunoise - small fine vegetable cuts 3mm x 3mm 
5. chiffonade - finely sliced or chopped for example herbs 
6. Mirepois - rough cut vegetables example carrots ,onions ,cut into mostly squares often used in stock 

Some of the cooking methods

1. Blanching 
2. poaching - gentle cooking process done in water 
3. boiling - cooking of food in rapid boiling water 
4. steaming - cooking of food in hot moist air .also reduce cooking time 
5. frying - quick frying of food with oil ,medium to high heat 
6. roasting - cooking of large joints in dry heat (150 - 175 c )
7. grilling - fast cooking of small tender pieces with little or no oil (220 -250 )done by contact heat 
8. gratinating -food prepared au gratin has a high fat content and is browned on the surface eg : lasagne ,done under a salamander with dry air 
9. baking - cooking of food in dry heat moistened by its ingredients 
10. sauteing - quick frying of food in a pan with little oil 
11. stewing - moist cooking methods for tough meats ,cut into small pieces
12. braising - combination of roasting ans stewing in a brisiere on a stove or oven 
13. Glaceing - same application as braising but used for a white meat only ,done in fat then liquid,                Basting - contains acid  , Glacing - contains sugar 
14. Pot roasting - cooking of poultry in fat medium pot 

It was a really great week and i really learned a lot while working hard as the kitchen was busy !!
enjoying the work given and the things that i learn ...

During the first week we also had a conference that we had to prepare for which was busy
as we were running around all day making food helping each other and trying to learn more and more from the other chefs in the kitchen ,we also helped prepare the food that we could do .good experience in the kitchen ..

CHEFFING

new course - CHEF SKILLS  12/09/2011

today i started my chef course  which is exiting looking forward to it .and to all the things that i am going
to learn. today we are in the training kitchen .making pastry shells an lemon curd tartlets (lemon marang )
it was fun to learn this and is very easy to make .after that we went to the main kitchen to go and help prepare for the function that is happening the following day .

I also learned how the kitchen works and where everything is ,in case i need to find something  
also how the process works and what all the rules are .it was a very fun day and i learned a lot
looking forward to the following 2 weeks of the course.

Food and beverage service

Food and Beverage service WEEK 5 - 7

This 3 weeks was a very hard working 3 weeks of this course as we had 4 conferences that
we had to set up for which was interesting . in this 3 weeks while doing this we learned a lot on how to set up the tables how to prepare all the equipment that is needed an what we will use for it ..
we also learned all the pre-table setup rules .and we were assessed on the tables we did .
we had each had to do 2 tables and was assessed on it .we had to put over linen ,iron the linen and pin the linen in the correct way .we were also marked on how the table looked overall and on everything that wasn't in place .
while setting up for the conferences we have to get thngs ready for the morning like ;

1. all the cups and saucers
2. all the side plates 
3. spoons 
4. sugars ,coffee ,tea bags etc.
5. and all the snacks 

After Cleaning Procedures
this is the procedures we have to follow after the conferences is done and what we have  to do .
this is mainly things like cleaning and packing away all the used items  that is remaining or standing around including the dirty dishes .we have to mop the floors clean all glasses and do all the things for the following day before finishing work

Cheese and Wine Function

we had a cheese and wine function this week ( 31/08/2011 ) and it was very interesting to see how they promote wine at such a function and to see how different things is from a normal functions
and how things get set up on the tables etc..
this 3 weeks was the weeks where we really learned a lot and is things that we would remember on how to
do even though if i haven't done it in a long period of time .