I'm about to trial at a hospital kitchen as a helper, so food prep/some cleaning/etc...

I'm about to trial at a hospital kitchen as a helper, so food prep/some cleaning/etc, to earn some extra cash while I'm at uni.
I've never really cooked a day in my life, nothing serious at least. The most complicated stuff I've ever made is maybe fried rice or omelettes.

What are some tips you can give me so I don't make a complete fool of myself? It starts this Friday so I have a few days to prepare.
I'm looking up how to properly handle knives right now, are there any other huge pitfalls I should be aware of?

Just watch a fuckton of cooking guides online. I learnt how to cook almost solely from Chef John at FoodWishes.com

show up sober on time, do what you're told without any bitching

they don't expect ramsay from you, you'll learn those skills enough on your own on the job

>just don't be a socially retard

Learn how to properly chop things like an onion, carrot, celery, garlic. And how to properly peel a potato with a knife.

It seems like that's all you'll be doing. A mirepoix is the base to a lot of recipes. And surely you know how to wash dishes?

probably grunt work like peeling potatoes and chopping onions desu. I hope you like lifting stock pots

Don't be a cunt, look friendly and smile even while you are scrubbing dishes with snot and vomit on them, and ask if any instructions are unclear
Congratulations on your new job

A buddy of mine works in the scullery of a factory that produces instant food. He spends his 10h shifts lifting trays up onto his section of the counter and scrubbing them to remove the scraps of whatever burnt in disgusting food was being made in them while he wishes he was dead. The general discomfort of the workstations, the hard manual labor, the wetness, the heat, the long hours, his constantly rotating coworkers screaming at each other in arabic, spanish, russian, polish, whatever the fuck else, it sounds like utter hell and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

Pray to god the staff thinks you are good enough with a knife to cut veggies, otherwise your life can very quickly go down the shitter if you desperately need that job to live.

Ask questions, taste everything and write shit down. People in this industry forgive ignorance but not laziness.
Getting better at knife skills is excellent make soup you practice on mirepoix and get faster at peeling too which you will be doing alot of that monotonous stuff that leads to the final plate.

OP is working in a hospital kitchen, not a restaurant. The food is going to be low grade sludge.

Shut up and do what your "superiours" tell you and don't bring up the fact that you're getting a degree.

That and remember these are lifers, don't contradict them. They do this shit day in and day out and likely have an axe to grind. Hunker down do your job and get your degree and get the fuck out.

Some important things not mentioned yet are good hygiene practices and to keep whatever area you're working at clean and well organized. The last thing is to have good spatial awareness. You don't want to be some clumsy idiot, that ends up giving someone, or yourself, second or even third degree burns, by mindlessly stepping backwards, or walking into someone.

Is there anything hygiene wise to pay particular attention to other than just bringing a separate change of clothing (I'll probably bring a pair of chino pants, a white shirt, and sneakers I don't wear outside with me), always washing and disinfecting your hands before handling any kind of food, and regularly wiping down your workspace?
Do I need to wash and wipe down my knife inbetween different vegetables if I get to cut anything for example?

Cross contamination. Washing your hands before and after touching raw meat. Keeping different types of meat away from each other. Chopping chicken on a specific chopping board, and not the same one you chopped vegetables on for instance, or even another meat like beef. Not using the same knife either. And making sure you don't do things like touch a piece of chicken and then your knife with the same hand.

Another obvious thing is keeping and storing cooked food away from raw food.

>Do I need to wash and wipe down my knife inbetween different vegetables if I get to cut anything for example?
Not for hygiene reasons, no. But certain vegetables are pungent, and so can transfer flavour, such an onions, garlic or chilli. So obviously cleaning your knife in between is important, but again, not for food safety reasons and you don't have to be pedantic about it.

>sober
>on time
90% of the job right here. If mexicans can do it, so can you.

Why are you guys talking to this kid about knife skills cross-contamination and mis en place???

Its a hospital. OP will be working for aramark...opening #10 cans...maybe sheeting frozen pancakes. As long as OP is a middle-aged obese black woman he will fit in just fine.

It gets really hot in kitchens, be prepared to be asked for water, and no you don't wash glass in the same area as the plates, you may find plastic containers for drinks lying around which the staff use instead of of

It's a relatively expensive private clinic in Germany actually.

Lick knife clean after every use.

Call out hot pans/pots/trays and knives before you walk all over the kitchen with them.
I hated that shit.

Learn to sharpen your knive.
Do this about 5 times a day.

it's still just a hospital, user
people dont go there for the food

A-at least there won't be any middle-aged obese black women!

Also I don't know how much you know about the German health care system, but only the fucks with way more money than sense can afford to get private health care, so their clientele is mostly business owners and rich pensioner with more money than they really know what to do with. I'd assume they pay a bit more attention to food than any random government funded institution

>As long as OP is a middle-aged obese german woman he will fit in just fine.
Fixed.

>OP is working in a hospital kitchen, not a restaurant. The food is going to be low grade sludge.

This is funny. I work at a medium-sized community hospital. When I started there like 11 years ago, the manager of the cafeteria was a legit chef (like, culinary school, had managed restaurants in the past, etc). The food was pretty damn good. We're two manager on now, and the decline is just ridiculous. It's all Sysco frozen supply stuff, the only time the kitchen people use a knife is to cut the pre-made sandwiches they stack in the salad bar. I could even forgive them the Sysco shit if they varied it more...instead, there are about 8 entrees they rotate.

>As long as OP is a middle-aged obese black woman he will fit in just fine.

At our hospital, it's "obese middle-aged Indian or Portuguese woman."

at least there won't be any middle-aged obese black women!

yeah, God forbid you get some women who have been in a kitchen for 40 of their 45 years of life to show you how to do it right...

>do it right
Um...he said black.

BEHIND
BEHIND SHARP
BEHIND HOT

CORNER
CORNER SHARP
CORNER HOT

caps lock is cruise control for SAY IT LOUD SO PEOPLE CAN HEAR YOU when you're walking behind another person or around a blind corner.

when exiting a walk-in cooler, knock on the door a couple times like you were the po-lice so people on the other side can move out of the way when you swing the door open.

whn someone gives you instructions like 'hey i need you to julienne 8 pounds of carrot. you can use the japanese mandoline' you should reply to them so they know you know what they just asked you to do. '8 pounds carrot julienne with the mandoline, HEARD' would be an appropriate response.
if you don't know what something is, ASK someone. for example you probably don't know what a mandoline is, so you would ask 'hey, i don't know that a mandoline is. can you show me real quick and how to use it please?'

don't talk to the line cooks during service time. if you need to tell one of them something RELATED TO THE SERVICE you can tell the chef, or the expo. the chef is probably running the expo, so no sweat. expo will tell the first-cook or 'wheel' who will tell jimmy the cook your urgent, job-related message. this sacred game of telephone is THE ONLY WAY you will communicate during the service time. customer talks to server, server talks to expo, expo talks to wheel, wheel talks to line cook. if the chain breaks, the whole system fails. know your role in communication and communicate effectively.

if you need a drink, DO NOT EVER USE A GLASS IN THE KITCHEN. ask someone and they'll probably give you a plastic quart deli container to drink from. NO GLASS EVER.

>CORNER
What does this mean?

when you walk around a blind corner you should announce that you are doing so and if you're holding something that is hot or sharp.

Behind I can understand but fuck announcing you're walking around a corner, if they can't keep their eyes forward while walking they've got problems.

HEY, I'M WALKIN' HERE

You. You're the asshole that's going to cause accidents.

>BEHIND
>BEHIND SHARP
>BEHIND HOT

>CORNER
>CORNER SHARP
>CORNER HOT

People will think you're a fucking autist if you are the only one that does that shit.
Just ask questions and see what everyone else does, if the others announce their presence every time they turn a corner do the same, but I doubt that's going to happen. Just be conscious of your surroundings and always err on the more careful side

>Was told to say "HOT PAN" at old job
>would say "HOT MAN"
HOT MAN, COMING THROUGH

Don't worry about hurting yourself because you are already at the hospital.