You see, sometimes LCB Ottawa runs team-building events for corporate groups or people outside of the School, which means these people (who may be from the same company or organization, but who don't know each other) come into the LCB kitchens to learn to cook a special menu, just as a team-building/networking exercise. When LCB Ottawa conducts these events, student volunteers are needed to assist in the kitchen. And that's what I volunteered for.
Yesterday it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who were doing their team-building exercise. About two dozen of their senior executives from different parts of Canada were here, and they were asked to prepare all the dishes on a menu created by a consultant (they were given recipes to follow). My classmates and I had assembled all the necessary ingredients beforehand, and we were on hand to assist if they needed help with the cooking. But the participants, divided into teams, basically had to work out how they were to tackle the task of making a five-course fine-dining meal.
I was assigned to assist in the pastry kitchen, while a couple of my classmates were in the cuisine kitchen next door. By the way, here are some photos of the pastry kitchen (where I normally have my practicals):
That station at the end (where my classmate is standing) is my favourite station. If I am lucky (i.e. I get into the kitchen first when Chef opens the door at the start of a practical), I go for that station. It is nearest to all the ingredients we need (sugar, flour, butter, etc.), so that is why everyone likes that station.
This is the other side of the pastry kitchen. Marble kitchen bench with refrigerators and freezers underneath, and stoves/ovens across from the kitchen bench.
The stoves, ovens and pots we work with, along with racks on the side for baking trays.
We assembled ingredients and did the mise en place from 10am to 12noon, then we had a break for lunch. From 1pm to 3pm, the consultant briefed us on what needed to be done (the schedule, procedures and protocols), and then the event began at 3pm.
The photo below shows the simple but tasty lunch that Chef JM (the supervising chef for the event, and LCB Ottawa cuisine chef) made for us - it was French omelette with salad and crusty bread. It was so good!
Anyway, back to the event... As a former educator, I found it fascinating to observe the event participants working in the pastry kitchen. These senior police officers were very good at following instructions - they read the recipes and they followed the steps closely (more so than us students would have, I reckon). They started out working on small tasks as individuals, but by the end of two hours they were communicating and negotiating the tasks as teams (as you can see in the photo below).
The participants working in teams.
Below are some of the dishes the participants had to prepare in the afternoon (3pm-5:30pm). The participants prepared the food for the appetiser and dessert, the volunteers cooked the main course and plated all the dishes, then the restaurant servers took the dishes downstairs to the restaurant below the pastry and cuisine kitchens to serve to the participants at dinnertime (6:30pm), when all of the participants had changed into formal attire and gathered in Salle Cointreau.
Heart of palm cucumber soup, served chilled with sliced ham in a shot glass
Asian beef carpaccio on sushi rice, sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds and served on oriental porcelain spoons
Spicy shrimps sautéed in herb garlic butter, served with zesty ginger mayonnaise
Smoked salmon stack with mâche, avocado and mango, drizzled with a mustard herb vinaigrette and served with a bouquet of sprouts
Strawberries (dressed with Cointreau orange liqueur) and cognac chantilly cream sandwiched in kataifi discs, served with caramel sauce and fresh fruit (the orange fruit on top of the dessert is known as "physallis" or "cape gooseberry")
I didn't get a photo of the main course (lamb medallions, served with seared pâté, fruit-and-nut buckwheat pilaf and garlic butter glazed baby vegetables) because I was busy helping with the plating and it was quite hectic. The main course had to be served hot, so there was no time to waste. As soon as it was plated, it was served.
At the end of the evening (i.e. after service and after the clean-up), Chef JM and all the volunteers each had a glass of red wine in the pastry kitchen to debrief and unwind. Yes, I had a glass, even though I don't normally drink alcohol (I just used to prefer to cook with alcohol, rather than drink it).
In under six months, studying at LCB Ottawa has taught me to appreciate fine food (including the unusual ones, e.g. veal sweetbread) and food I didn't used to enjoy (e.g. lamb, pumpkin), to drink alcohol, and to make some pretty nice cakes and desserts by hand ... I think my friends and relatives back home would be amazed by the transformation. :D
