tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214613952024-03-13T03:55:23.822-07:00The Hungry Cupboarda nerd and her cookin'.Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-2288085931507741862015-01-14T16:42:00.004-08:002015-01-14T16:59:50.636-08:00Things no one told me about being a chef, part one
There are a bunch of things that I've discovered about being a chef that no one told me about being a chef before I actually became a chef. Here's one of them:
You are basically making it up as you go.
When I first started conceptualizing the menu for the wine bar, a month or so before we opened, I struggled a lot with not second-guessing myself (something of which I'm still guilty). At the Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-32190644622500550372014-01-12T02:10:00.000-08:002014-01-15T01:06:29.441-08:00Honest advice to a budding cook/ chef with no experience whatsoever
This is a slightly altered version of a real email that I wrote to a young man who found my blog and is considering culinary school, but had no real experience cooking. He wrote me that he was intrigued by cooking, and I thought it pertinent to share this advice with a wider audience. I get the "should I go to culinary school?" question all the time, and I think it really depends on your Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-1575658288150594932013-06-23T03:58:00.002-07:002013-06-24T10:39:24.370-07:00It's a whole thing, you guys. It's a whole thing.
It's 3AM, I'm on the ass-end of four 15-hour days in a row, and I can't say in all honesty I ever imagined I would be where I am today.
Marinated olives in some yummy shit
Last night was the opening night of the little awesome wine bar that my boss conceived of mere months ago with the help of our wine shop manager. My official title there is chef, which I still can't say without blushing. Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-9248433967529500152013-02-13T00:46:00.001-08:002013-02-13T11:51:01.295-08:00Staging Like A Pro
I've been itching to write lately, and I found the following post in my drafts folder while sifting around in my blog archives. I'm warming up to write about what's been going on in my present life (Kitchen managing! Events cheffing! Wedding planning!), but I figured this would be a nice and easy return to blogging. I must have written this in 2009 while I was still in my first kitchen, and I'm Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-18917423213160372862012-04-23T00:55:00.000-07:002012-04-23T12:08:34.386-07:00Choosing SunshineA few nights ago, I was standing behind the bar of the restaurant where I work, polishing glasses and chatting up the bar patrons. A couple of men about my age sauntered in, pulled up at the bar, and each ordered a whiskey neat with an Old German back. I knew they were cooks, mostly from the drink order, partially from the weary looks on their faces, but also because I've seen them on the line Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-70806837365439671832012-04-18T21:00:00.000-07:002012-04-18T21:01:33.164-07:00In fluxI've been feeling the itch to write lately. It's been five months since my last meager update, and so much has transpired since then that I almost don't know where to begin.
These past few months have me running around like a headless chicken (albeit a hardworking one), writing and executing menus for events for an amazing commissary kitchen and event space, working front-of-house in an awesome Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-71802537915647446492011-11-13T13:09:00.000-08:002011-11-13T19:18:53.001-08:00Since I stopped line cookingI've gained ten pounds. Not being on my feet 12 hours a day + eating two or three rounded meals a day will do that. I've joined a gym to try and counterbalance this effect.I've stopped having bad cooking dreams with unending ticket machines and order-fire everything.The hair on my left arm has grown back.I've worn heels more than once in two months.I spent an amazing month with family and friendsIngridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-1449313335613394352011-07-22T01:10:00.000-07:002011-09-12T17:00:43.453-07:00Beyond Line CookingTruth be told, I never seriously considered becoming a line cook when I entered culinary school. I thought that I might be a caterer, or an event planner, or maybe a food writer. Then fate stepped in and off I went down the rabbit hole. Three years later, here I am, having landed my first lead line cook position under an esteemed Thomas-Keller-trained chef, for the re-opening of a classic Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-13881378040844675922011-03-23T01:19:00.000-07:002011-03-23T01:38:38.315-07:00To You, Restaurant WorkerIt's well into 2011, and I can't help but notice that I let the yearly summary for 2010 fall by the wayside. It seems cheap to try now (o hai late March! Nice to see you!), so instead please let me take a minute here to give thanks.This goes out to you, fellow line cooks, for keeping my spirits up day after day. We're in it together, and when one of us goes down, we all go down. We're a silly Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-89674917751860332472010-12-07T02:27:00.000-08:002010-12-07T02:44:53.255-08:00On not having The FearHell of quenelles: Caramelized onion and crimini mushroom duxelle, to go on cream cheese tart puffs. These, plus tomato-bacon jam on black pepper cheddar crackers, were the apps for Thanksgiving Overkill 2010, to be written about at a later date. Instead I'm writing about something that all line cooks know well...The restaurant I work in is fortunate enough to be busy basically every night. Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-52521287817600117152010-10-15T02:18:00.001-07:002010-10-15T04:23:10.953-07:00Getting closerThe new dorade set: eggplant caponata and coriander tomato sauce. The fish in this photo was only the second one that I did with this set, which is why the saucing looks kinda wack. Still love this plate though.One of the big goals I've had since I started at my current restaurant is to work all the line stations. When I was hired last summer, I started on pantry and soon after moved over to the Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-5595967932893576892010-09-02T15:09:00.000-07:002010-09-02T18:39:51.067-07:00The view from the kitchenSummer in a hotel panEngraved Gray Kunz spoons and Togiharu slicer--gifts from my rad boyfriend for my recent 30th birthdayMy mise en placeHerbs ready to go in the spring lamb setSquid soakingBaby octo stewingThat's a big-ass steakMy cross-hatch is pretty good these daysKitchen short-hand labelingThe ubiquitous wedding gallette a la Jay-barWork snacksMore work snacksBalls after 11A busy Sunday Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-78489496575701282232010-07-16T15:42:00.000-07:002010-07-16T17:40:13.790-07:00Gastro-RecoveryOne week later (and five pounds lighter), including three days of missed work, I can happily report that the gastroenteritis is almost entirely curbed. I'd say I'm at about 97% right now, the 3% being my body getting used to eating real meals again, and feeling a little tired still from rapid weight loss and lack of fuel. I inherited my mom's quick metabolism, and I didn't exactly have five Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-66793638413622022782010-07-11T10:49:00.000-07:002010-07-11T12:39:02.155-07:00Gastroenteritis can suck it!I woke up yesterday morning feeling more exhausted than normal and with a dull stomachache that I automatically attributed to the previous night of gluttony with friends (sweetbreads, veal pate, chicken liver mousse and endless desserts, i.e. probably about five sticks of butter in total, not to mention a couple of cocktails). I was surprised, as I certainly didn't have enough drinks to be Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-66557666460057403412010-06-01T03:07:00.000-07:002010-06-01T03:25:25.309-07:00I'm still alive.My hopes of blogging more frequently seem to not be coming through as much as I'd like. Suffice it to say that in addition to my jam-packed work week (two and a half jobs and the resulting exhaustion), there have been some pretty dramatic changes in my life as of late, all for the positive. I've been thinking a lot about the future, and these changes have really affected my outlook on a lot of Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-37985681109899737232010-04-29T13:10:00.000-07:002010-04-29T22:04:28.193-07:00Some thoughts from a line cook on IACP, Michael Ruhlman and the simplicity of cookingThis year's annual (IACP) conference, held in our lovely city of Portland, came to a close last weekend. I was pretty stoked to hear that some of the biggest names in food were experiencing some of what we have to offer, as I'm proud to be living in a city and working in a restaurant that does good work. But as the days went on, as photos of (and wild gossip about) the foodie glitterati got Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-70113215807228819212010-04-22T00:47:00.000-07:002010-04-22T05:08:26.807-07:00Why do we do this to ourselves?Why do we, as culinary professionals, as line cooks especially, do this to ourselves?I think about this a lot, especially on those days when I'm nursing my shift drink at 1:30AM, sticky with dried sweat, grill smoke and fryer grease and thinking about how hard we got rocked, how much my back hurts, and how poorly I'm gonna sleep before I have to peel myself out of bed and do it all over again. Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-87470039613819316152010-04-08T14:34:00.000-07:002010-04-08T15:00:09.581-07:00Finding balanceToday I feel grateful for the balance in the universe. Lest you think I'm going down a Burning Man path, allow me to explain. Tuesday night was one of those nights where I looked at the clock at about 5:30, right before the happy hour burger pile-up began, and before I knew it my rail was full. Suddenly the place is packed, there's a giant pool of people at the door waiting for dinner tables, theIngridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-81538229239757827662010-03-29T01:52:00.000-07:002010-03-29T02:37:41.811-07:00Pushing through, with apologies in advance for ramblingHas it really been a month and a half since I last wrote? I feel pretty sad about that. Dear neglected blog and whoever is out there reading this, you deserve better. I notice that besides the times I feel inspired to write positively, I always turn to writing in times of frustration or unhappiness. So it's no coincidence I'm here since today could qualify as the worst day I've had in a long timeIngridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-11519003089219926102010-02-10T01:36:00.000-08:002010-02-10T03:30:53.705-08:00Burger RedemptionMy relationship with burger cookery got off to a rocky start.One day last spring at my old job, right before happy hour started, my sous chef decided on a whim to move the very popular burger pickup to my station. Though I was cooking steak, lamb, pork and poultry at that point, I'd never temped a burger in my life and, frankly, I had no desire to. Burgers were cooked to order in saute pans, so Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-49549604311643858652010-01-23T13:07:00.000-08:002010-01-24T04:16:40.579-08:00Finely AgedI got a call from my mom this morning voicing some concern over my mention of her 60th birthday in my previous post. She was worried I was stating it in more of a "Wow, my mom is old!" manner than what I really meant: I think it's simply amazing and awesome that she's lived 60 years of life and she's still so young at heart. My mom is one of the wisest, strongest and most humble people I know, Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-51571112003633255392010-01-03T01:11:00.000-08:002010-01-03T04:02:36.077-08:00A New YearOh, my poor neglected blog. Thanks to a nudge from my coworkers, here I am at last. For whatever reason in the last few months I've suffered from a self-imposed, increased pressure to write quality material that people can relate to. Mix that with general blog laziness, being sick four times in five weeks, and a lovely Christmas trip to North Carolina where I did nothing but watch movies and eat Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-158180998064473572009-11-10T01:04:00.000-08:002013-02-12T23:19:43.456-08:00Know Thyself
I had a thought the other day while getting ready for work, ruminating about the stage who trailed my station the night before and the new back-line guy who didn't know what mise en place was and who I've kind of taken under my wing:
I think I might have gotten to the point where I might actually know something about being a cook.
Which is also to say I don't know that much at all.
Lemme Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-56981705209409156572009-10-15T02:09:00.000-07:002009-10-15T12:31:55.498-07:00Resurrecting Five ThingsI'm about two months into my new job and things are really good. I've even trained someone else on the station already, as my previous station partner moved onward and upward. I've been having a bit of difficulty shaping my work experience of late into words, so instead I thought I'd resurrect the Five Things I Learned This Week theme. To be fair, some of these have been culled from longer than aIngridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461395.post-32301617155376339182009-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:002009-09-13T02:39:45.426-07:00Starting freshMy current workplace was amazing enough to give me time off right after I started working there to sit my ass on a beach in North Carolina for a week with my lovely family. Besides doing a lot of lounging, napping and catching up, we cooked every meal and ate and drank like spoiled kings thanks in part to the fact that my aunt owns two restaurants and my cousins are the front of house managers Ingridhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193267754021315308noreply@blogger.com0