CORE online session 5 Traditional and professional cooking skills with modern technologies 3 - 2021
Hi. Hello. I have some questions I would like you to like you said earlier you had owned your own restaurant and be a teacher and as I am as a student a cooking student, when the thing is not going right when the thing is going wrong, when we were discussing about the preparing, to serving and everything going on i believe that you have some experience you know working with a student and the thing going wrong, how you control your temper? Sorry about that but how can you do that and...? Yeah with your with the emotional "oh I prepare this and it doesn't going right! Oh what should I do?!" and to me I have that problem. Any idea how can we survive with those in difficult situations I believe all of us in here meeting we will have that in the future. Please give us some advice. Nirjhor thank you for the question. My first advice is to do two steps behind to get some perspective. When you are working it could be when you feel a collapse or you feel that you are not
being able to cope with the situation before the service time you are preparing and you see that you will you won't be on time to prepare everything for the service time sometimes, Nirjhor, is good to stop for two minutes. Just stop for two minutes, stop doing anything and only tidy up the station, order the station and wash the station and is like the physical fact of ordering your station orders your mind. Just take two or five minutes for that and it's like you ordered your mind, you relax a bit okay and then you take another two minutes to set some preferences. Perhaps you won't be able to be on to get ready every everything on time but you set some preferences so that's that has to be done this or this, this is not so important so you have to set some preferences and start again okay that's the before service time. The other the other part is during the service time when the customers are at the dining room and you get collapsed, the service line is not going correctly and you feel lost the same the same, more or less the same procedure. When in your station in your kitchen you have a lot of orders, the papers okay, hung on the on the station a lot of tables, lot of customers waiting for their meal so it's good to stop a bit and first order the orders and one by one.
Which is the first one? This one, we are going to plate this one and then we are going to plate the other one so not try to prepare all of the tables at the same time. So is slower, you will go a bit slower but it's better for you to go by order so the tables that you are serving, try to one by one serve the best you can, okay. The best you can one by one not all of them at the same time. What happens during the same time, Nirjhor
is that when you feel worried and get collapsed because you are not being able to cope with the service because there are a lot of tables but the biggest mistake in my opinion is that we try to make everything at the same time, all of the tables and this is... in those situation in my opinion is not a good policy, it's better to slow down a bit and take tables one by one. We are going to serve first this table and then according the time they are waiting the coming time you start plating and serving table by table okay and if you get more relaxed and you get the control of the situation again and you feel confident, then you can start perhaps plating tables two by two okay not one by one but in those situations it's better to slow down a bit the pace of the of the service the rhythm of the service okay. I don't know whether I have answered properly your question Nirjhor. I mean I mean that yes yes you answer correct the point is I understood that we need to calm down but when some point when we're running with chef, a chef they have been have experience and we are not the person who have experience and then I feel that I have a pressure and how I can running with the chef at the same time to get in to the right... to to not to feel like a fear or not confident and that what I feel when I get into the real situation. Yeah okay in my experience
Nirjhor, there's another mistake that we commit in those situations then when we start shouting. *shouts* That I heard all the time but how we can avoid that when somebody is shouting at me I don't like to hear that but "oh we just need to suffer the chef's shouting at us" and then standing there and working you know close our ear and close our eye and doing the job what is trying to be done and it's not only the chef with the working because a waitress and the owner will be coming "Are you ready?" we're working on is how can you how can we try to be calm and mm with your temper, you know, how? This is the thing that I feel that myself, I'm not get used to that yet. Yeah it's okay it's about to get used to it but also it's about to slow down your temper a bit and not isolate but maintain separately it, the chef is shouting is true, the waiter is shouting, they are worried the the waiter is looking at the faces of the customers okay and is he's very stressed or she is very stressed the waiter or the waitress but is to order yourself and say "Okay I have to start with this with this with this" and by coming order of the of the customers serve one by one and try to do it correctly because this way Nirjor you will commit just one mistake that is the customers perhaps we have to wait a bit longer but you won't commit the second mistake is they have to wait longer and the meal is not correctly done and not correctly plated so there are those are two mistakes okay so it's it's important in those situations to get some perspective to put in order the papers and say one first table is this one, the second this one and go one by one. If you try to plate two or three or four tables at the same time, chaos. That's my advice. Yeah thank you very much. Okay so hello to the rest of you and thank you for your question earlier because this is very common situation in restaurants and the following part we are going to to check is the materials about use of local products okay. The use of local products
are in... you will find them this is the first floor of our kitchen and using... Yes! Using the F button you will go downstairs to the zero floor and here you have the material related to local products okay and we have this part it's interesting part, use of local products okay I was attending the class provided by O'Brien the Irish lecturer and he talked widely about sustainability, local products and the advantages of local products okay, meaning related to sustainability, to environmental stuff and economical stuff also, that the money gets... the money you spend in products it's in your area and helps to maintain economically your social net okay but I would like to... here we have some different materials. Okay and to apply or to use local products is not also environmentally sustainable, is not also economically viable it's also trendy and also I would like to appeal for cultural stuff as well, okay. I have been checking your your menus
and I liked a lot the use of local products and also the use of different cultural stuff for instance in Omnia this is a product that has taken a lot of my attention is Lamb's Quarters okay this edible plant that you are using in your menus okay and it's really interesting because I didn't know this ingredient and it's great that you use this kind of ingredients at the same time mixing with Asian techniques and asian products like gyozas okay so it's great, it gives to your menu for the pop-up event I mean to your menu gives a lot of a personality. Okay and just a question, what's the flavor of a Lamb's quarters, this edible plant? It tastes, it tastes like a spinach in my opinion. Uh-huh it's like a spinach? Yes. Uh-huh. Exactly the taste like that. I will try it and has any nutritional special value or...? Yes they're exactly the correct the nutrient like a spinach, yes. Perfect. Okay so when we speak about local products it's, in my opinion, it's great to introduce it in your menus pop-up event menus because it gives a lot of personality to your to your menu. Tartu for instance, I love the the draft of Tartu menu because of the
different products and one is the the sprat the the spratfish I didn't know it. I know different this kind of fishes we use mainly in our culture use anchovies and use a pilchards okay but sprats was like new for me and it's like it catches your attention and gives a lot of personality. "What's a sprat?" and I was investigating what sprat was and it's interesting is to use this kind of menus and not also local products but also local culture plates like a kama mousse dessert that you are using in Tartu in your menu draft okay. So for a Vamia for instance when you design your menu okay it's good and it's great to use this kind of local ingredients and also connect it to your own cultures okay because it's possible and it's enriching to mix different cooking cultures but using local products is like catches your attention okay. Connected to to this we prepare some materials about current trends in food, food service and food presentation related with sustainability. Okay so sustainability is nowadays trendy
I think it's... we all know that it's really really uh we pay a lot of attention with this stuff okay with sustainability, health and back to the origins, okay to our cooking cultures. Healthy and natural food is..it's trendy okay organic food, seasonal and nearby
products and also everything connected to flexitarianism. Question: what's flexitarianism? Anybody knows what flexitarianism is? Okay, flexitarianism is a kind of diet okay where you don't you don't give up eating any kind of ingredient you can eat or you eat vegetables, meat, fish okay any kind of ingredient or protein source okay but try to reduce as much as possible animal origin proteins okay, trying to avoid it as much as possible. Not only for animal care questions but also for sustainability, questions okay for environmental questions okay and also for diet questions okay is try to reduce and to use animal origin proteins less and of proteins of better quality okay. That's the the the concept of flexitarianism. A Mediterranean diet has been put as an typical example of flexitarianism okay, less protein but better, okay and if you can, nearby protein. And also about food, novel food nutritionally
high value ingredients and alternative proteins okay. Organic food. You can have or you have here different materials about organic food okay about how are produced the ingredients okay this is the the main concern, then we have a consumption of these products okay, seasonal nearby products, zero kilometer products okay which ensures that O'Brien said two weeks ago you get the ingredients at their best quality moment and most of times at their best price okay. We have here some videos, you have here some materials about gathering local ingredients and the concept of flexitarianism okay you have some information about what flexitarianism is. And nutritionally high valued ingredients okay some ingredients have become trendy because their nutritional properties called I don't know whether very very fortunately but called superfood okay. They don't replace good nutritional habits okay and novel food, you have to know that novel food are regulated by the European Union okay. What's novel food and what isn't noble food. And then we have also alternative proteins which are quite trendy nowadays okay the the search for alternative proteins to the meat or fish origin okay. So we have here a jackfruit,
insect proteins okay could be in powder, could be as a whole. Okay, we have different alternative proteins and about service trends we have different trends that have become have developed more because of the covid-19 which is delivery and take away okay in Spain at least all the delivery way and take away have developed a lot in in just one year okay. And high standing restaurants have joined this trend. And then we have the vending which has developed a lot, the vending way and also the grocerants. What's grocerants? Do you know any grocerants in your towns? Or in your cities? And have you seen any any restaurant like this in Helsinki or in Estonia, in Finland? Here the grocerant, this trend is becoming more and more popular in Spain okay because with especially with the covid-19 pandemic retail shops have earned a lot of money, have got a lot of power and they have started opening restaurants inside okay and offering meals inside the markets and the supermarkets okay those are grocerants, the mixture between market and restaurant, okay. And it's a trend that grows more and more popular okay. And about sustainability, Irish lecturer spoke a lot about that okay but most of restaurants go for zero-waste okay and also for different... not only economical and environmental sustainability but
for social sustainability okay. Later on we will speak more about food presentation okay but this is really really important. About food presentation two short questions to explain okay. The way you present your dishes could be a great source of marketing and plating current trends, simplicity and elegance could be a good option and try not to overcrowd the plate okay, later we will speak about food presentation aspects. And also different concepts of full service okay open kitchen restaurants okay. So again about the consumption of local products, bear in mind that it gives a lot of personality to your menu. When you develop your menus for the pop-up event, please try to use them because it enriches a lot your proposal okay. Then we will go to cooking techniques.
The following aspect cooking techniques.. Ah, sorry! Something that I have forgotten, I ordered to you in some tasks about about local produce and was to choose one local product and one local and seasonal product that you would like to promote okay so I have seen some things like that in Omnia and Tartu but in Vamia, George and the rest of the team, have you thought about any local product that you would like to to promote? Have you something in mind related to this? yeah I know like here in Vaasa I know like a place that like they produce local vegetables if I'm not mistaken like nearby here in Vaasa so and also some of the restaurants here they serve locally they purchase locally grown ingredients from here, restaurants. Is any ingredient or that has caught your attention that you say "I would like to cook this or to try with this in?" It's like they have also salmon and also pike perch, a white fish I'm sorry white fish so it's they are also a wholesaler here like they produce in some of the- ah they provide some of the restaurants here.
What kind of white fish? I'm not really sure what kind of white fish is that I just know that because before I work in a restaurant here and we purchase the fish from there directly from there and they said that all the... some, some of the restaurants here in Vaasa purchase from them. Okay so it's interesting in your in your menu for the pop-up event just to to be curious and to try different ingredients in local ingredients but it's with by curiosity to check them, to taste them, to manipulate them and to think that something that could be appealing okay because it's when use something different or I don't know it's like a it catches your interest okay so try and make proofs at home and try to cook them whether it's worth to include in your menus okay. yeah not only of course because of sustainability or because of economical stuff but also for culture. Okay, okay thank you that is good! And... Okay and the following part was about cooking techniques okay.
Different cooking techniques. We have here what kind of cooking techniques, the task was about cooking techniques, presentation and plating. Try a recipe using your local produce combine two techniques, traditional or modern one and would you mind to show us the result? Okay, picture or a video so I have seen the, I have watched the video of Omnia, it's really great, great! Okay and I have read the the draft of Tartu, very very interesting! Okay so please, when you choose your local product, make proofs okay and record them.
Picture, a video or your ideas so you can share them in your blogs, your Facebook group and we can add some feedback. Okay about cooking techniques! We have here a presentation and cooking techniques, all style and new cooking techniques and the most important part for me is the reason of the reason to be of those techniques. Okay so we have like two groups: the old style techniques, modern techniques. The old style techniques were originally was just to make food more digestible it was like this and digestible and safe. That's it, that was the the main purpose okay and for that purpose they used available resources in some places just a bit of wood and fire and that was the- there wasn't pots, pans, gas induction so that was the only available resource. And in other places where fresh food was not available that was just to preserve okay and to cover somehow possible bad smells or flavors okay.
Those are old style techniques okay, the purpose of them wasn't and so wasn't gastronomical but just was the purpose was to prepare the food to to eat them okay. The modern techniques have another purposes, another aims, another objectives. Could be enhanced flavors, modern techniques could be useful for regularity. To obtain regularity means obtain always the same result, okay, it's a like a mathematical rule okay, always the same result. To surprise, using new textures could be surprising okay could catch your attention, could be a bit of show.
And also of course in restaurants, in businesses for economical profit. Past cooking techniques, we have a different part of them we know most of them could be roasted in salt, could be boiled in seawater. Our ancient fishermen and fisherwoman used to get the water of the sea and boiled fish and seafood on the ship while they were fishing okay. Salted and smoked, very typical in Scandinavian countries okay to salt and to smoke fish, meat or whatever to a stew and to confit. Why was so popular to stew in all times? it was so popular because to a stew was like to put everything together in a pot, to cover it and to cook everything in their own juices okay it was like this, okay. Still it was very very basic cooking technique from cold put everything together and to stew it okay.
And also in some places to confit which means to cook in their own fat. Very typical in France with duck products, with pork products as well okay is just to put the meat with their own fat and to cook it okay in a pot and then you can preserve it canned. Okay, very old style cooking techniques. And we have here modern cooking techniques, different cooking techniques. Okay the first one has been or became very popular in Spain at least and in other countries okay, the molecular cooking and was to transform different ingredients okay using their chemical properties to get different surprising textures, flavors like sferifications, foams, jellies okay. Was like to offer the ingredients in a different way, in a surprising way okay. More related
with show cooking okay, it was like something when you offer or you plate in front of the customer a preparation with nitrogen okay with like a lot of spectacular a lot of show on that okay and it could be interesting and could be exciting for the customer. We have another technique called sous vide. I guess you know this, you have worked with this kind of techniques. Sous vide which means to cook under vacuum and sous vide has a lot of advantages which is mainly consistency. Always, you always get the same result okay, always. It reduces costs a lot and enhances flavors and textures okay. Do you use a sous vide technique in your schools, in your restaurants do you use sous vide technique? Yeah we practice few. Uh-huh with which kind of ingredients do you use? A steak and especially that pork.
Uh-huh for pork okay and they are long cooking processes in time I mean. Yeah it is, it is long process. Mm-hmm okay well, the main advantage of sous vide is that once you get the formula, the way to to cook properly something the result is always the same. You apply two aspects that are time and temperature and you always get the same result and the preservation time is really really really long because the pasteurization rate is also very long.
So a lot of restaurants and companies use this kind of technique because of these advantages. And those are mainly the techniques the difference between old style and new techniques we have here a video a video that mixes somehow both techniques okay, it's a recipe with pork is a Iberian pork piece okay is a specific part of the Iberian pork okay it's in the shoulder, this piece is in the shoulder of the pig okay First they have seared the piece then they have seal it under vacuum and they have cooked in a a hot marinade Okay this is the piece and then they are going to sear it in a charcoal grill. The Iberian pork meat is quite similar to red meat okay it's quite red okay it had very very tasty pork meat. Now they are preparing some pearls with agar agar, they have done it with agar agar and they put the pearls in cold sunflower oil okay this way the outside of the pearls gets solid okay and the inside is creamy. And once the surface is solid they get it out and now they plate the Iberian prey as you can see the meat is like veal or wheat beef meat it's very very red.
2021-04-23 06:23
