I'm a teacher with a decent salary for my age (serious job security and benefits...

ok ok.

Fine. Get a bag of limes. The kind that "underripe"

Take your knife and and coffee cup. Rub your knife on the ceramic bottom of said coffee cup for a few, dip your hands in hot water with the knife.

Try and make lime wedges (six per half) as fast as you can.

Cut tip of finger. Make sure lime juice gets in there.

>finish the bag. chef needs them done.

Idk what it is about limes, but I agree -- it's the single citrus that I've cut myself on the most. Fucking cursed little green balls.

I have a whetstone plus a few other ceramic sharpeners. I take care of my knife even though it's just a 50$ Victorinox, and I do actually have knife skills.

Gonna jump on the "fucking WHY?" band wagon. It's kinda pointless. You'll be doing prep to start and since you're only a part timer you'll be slow to move up. If you're not looking for a career you're better off practicing your knife skills and studying recipes. There's a whole world of cookbooks and shows beyond Child and Pepin to learn from. Classical European, Asian fusion, New Scandinavian, etc. If you go work as a grunt at a restaurant you're only going to learn their dishes and you'll have less time at home to learn anything else.

Fair enough, but I just want to get my hands dirty in a professional kitchen. The why bit is also so I have a bit of extra money on the side to stock up my home kitchen and travel during the summer.

I hope you enjoy chopping vegetables.

Cont.

Here's the thing -

99% of people claim to be accomplished in the kitchen.

Make a resume. Just be honest with the timeline of "time in the kitchen" - sautee, braises, roasts, sous vides, etc. etc. List out some of the dishes you make on a regular basis.

What you're wanting to do - "if you're accomplished in the kitchen" - is apply to a sous chef position. The chef will interview and ask you to cook something.

If you fail - practice more in your free time (the time in the kitchen below this position is more involved with lower pay and time investment 35+ hours than you should be willing to take on)

if you pass - congratulations - you have to take on a 50+ hours a week job. Oh you have one? You'll have to quit to get farther in this field. This new job will also pay you well under your current salary with no health ins./benefits.

>you have the luxury to be a chef "now" - Take advantage of it.
Speaking from my background - I gave up a 60k job with a science background to go make 10 bucks an hour at a higher end restaurant in town.

Lobster, langosten, caviar, oysters, exotic fish, 100 day old steaks, fine cheese, wines, etc. etc. Sure I got plenty of exposure, learned all the stations, did it all. ..."all of the prep"

My cooking skills never increased. I already had everything needed before I went into the job. Doing prep vs. being a sous chef isn't really different. The only one with freedom in the kitchen is the chef. You just walk the line.

IMO kitchen work is best as all or nothing. It's unfulfilling as a part time job and the money's not that great.
You'd honestly make more money delivering pizza or making lattes on the weekends.

In a less interesting kitchen, it's like fast paced factory work in a really warm, slightly dangerous factory.

In a well managed kitchen with a good crew and a little bit of invention, it can still get hairy, but it won't be as soul crushing.

Most of what you'll be doing regardless is repetition and executing the basics, especially if you're being hired without kitchen experience.

Whatever anyone says. Reply with ''Yes please.''
Keep eyes in the back of your neck and pay attention to what other people are doing whilst also doing your job, during both service and prep.
Have a solid grip on allergens and ingredients in all components of a dish.
Think about effectiveness at all times, and you should be A-OK

Kitchens will break your spirit and kill all of your cooking related joys. Same shit every day, get it right and do it fast. Work your ass off for peanuts, come home exhausted and hating food. Live off diet of drinks and smokes.

I'd also finally like to add - this is literally like a martial art.

You can always improve your knife skills.

You can always improve your technique.

There's no finish line here, man. The restaurant kitchen is only grunt work for those without education. I'm not even joking.

The only thing it offers in discipline in the kitchen. Cleanliness and militant attitude are things you can't really get outside of it.
- IF it is a good kitchen

Save your money and upgrade your own kitchen to professional grade then start a small catering business for family and friends on the side of teaching. Works out great because you're free weekends and Summers and holidays

>New Scand
I LOVE Andreas Viestad! The episode where he's grabbing the live crawfish and getting clawed to fuck? His facial expressions, priceless. It went from "ha ha this is funny" to "ow, FUCK! FUCK! FUCK this!". Wish I could find that episode (for free). Great food writer.

me

OP, can disregard a lot of the negativity if you aren't applying at a random restaurant. I am assuming you chose somewhere where you think you actually WANT to cook. In ~20 restaurants I've worked, ONE had that chef who was a complete asshole.
>corporate says no phones in the kitchen
>chef thought he was above the law
>"I can't find my phone. Have you seen my phone, user?"
>"No, chef"
>"Find it"
Just a bunch of little arrogant shit like that. Fucker got fired 2 weeks later.
Also have worked with 2 executive chefs who were CIA grads and absolute garbage cooks. A degree may make you a "chef", but it doesn't make you a leader or a good cook. You've seen that war movie where the green lieutenant comes in and fucks shit up so that the sarge (who the soldiers actually listen to) has to go in and fix it. Same shit.
A lot of people here learned what they know about restaurant work from reading Kitchen Confidential. I hated that book because I don't like his writing style. Also he exaggerates. I don't think he was flat out lying, but it was just one persons experience. Kitchen stories I can tell from age 15-46 are more funny than horrific.
But that's just my personal experience.

I disagree.
During the summer, doing 350+ hours is common, THAT, will break you down but it doesn't last all year round.
During low-season, there's really nothing better than having 50 3 courses and delivering great food and having a relaxed service.
Do your prep quick, then get an hour to slack- Get a pet project.

OP, can you list the styles you enjoy the most?

Or 3 dishes you enjoy cooking?

What about something you're currently trying to perfect?

your bibimbap and eggs benedict look nice - what sort of feedback have you gotten?

There is so much variation in cooking ...so many "wrong ways" to do things - eh.

I seriously stand by the omelette model. Would you mind giving us an honest opinion on your ability to cook one?

This is actually a pretty amazing idea for something to do in a few years time. My kitchen is really not set up well for high volume, space becomes an issue when I'm cooking for more than 5 people. I'm planning to buy this apartment from my landlord eventually -- I'd do some major reno work on the kitchen then.

I still think that getting some time in a real kitchen would help me figure out wtf professional cooking is.

That's the nice freedom of already having a decent paid gig. I'm not a classroom teacher, I do specialty so I barely have to plan since I know my subject area well. I can take the time to find a place that isn't a dump and lets me learn what I want to.

I can cook the standard french omelette (I'm french-Canadian so I better fucking be able to), or country style with mushrooms and cheese, or whatever.

I love Indian cuisine and I'm currently obsessing over Sichuan and Korean.

If you have work ethic, you're smart, and you're willing to learn, you'll do fine. Everyone there started out with no experience. Just enjoy and listen.

eh. quebec has a lot of gastropubs. I've changed my mind.

Go for it, frenchy.

quebecois is perfect hunting ground for what you're describing. your assumedly fluent french gives you an edge for le cordon bleu as well...

try it out. if you like it, get an 80k loan and head to paris.

bon chance

Law takes more skill than cooking. Don't fool yourself jackass.

If they say a lack of experience isn't a problem, you're fine. It means you'll do easy and (probably) boring shit for some time while learning the ropes, and then get to the fun stuff.

Anyway, the difficult part of professional cooking isn't so much the cooking itself, but rather to be able to multi-task, handle stress, organize and be very consistent in what you do work.

How fucking retarded are you two? No honestly, how much of a brainlet do you have to be to not understand that user's comment?

And not doing too much blow.
Like you gotta find just the right amount of blow.

OP is not understanding. Plenty of people can cook. In a restaurant you have to cook quickly consistently and accurately all while under constant pressure. Its hot its loud its stressful its confusing and in the end there is little reward other than having survived one more night. And guess what - it doesnt change...ever. if you are lucky you will go home smelling of smoked salmon but its more likely you will reek of old fryer grease.

>inb4 the Parisians all laugh at OP because he speaks retard French

Dude there's more Arabic in Paris these days than French.

I hear more France-French in certain parts of Montréal than I hear Canadian-French, since they're all escaping Europe...

> (You)
>I'm not a classroom teacher,
That's cool. I come from a long line of teachers. Very big family and most are teachers. My mom retired to teaching special cunts. You're good.
I kinda feel a bit like Oma. I love to teach. I don't write recipes.

>That's the nice freedom of already having a decent paid gig.
Um, maybe I didn't speak correctly.
OH...
I fell for it, again.
FEED ME WORMS I desrve it.

Not to be a cunt, but at Oma's funeral (fairly recent) I kinda got called on the carpet for being like her.
>it's never good enough
>never wrote shit down because there were no writing utensils in the hut that mom was born in but she could have at least scratched recipes down in the dirt floors of the "house" they lived in.
People were so lazy in the 30's.

they'll start you on dishes or prep if you're lucky, if you aren't a nosepicker and get your job done they might start teaching you shit

You're better off making youtube video tutorials teaching what you're making and opening a patreon.

Not only will it pay better but you get to work on your own time working on improving your recipes and challenging yourself. You look like you can take photos and make pretty food, that's all it takes.