Chef de carotte, chef de big quantities (bucket cookery!)

And I love it ! As of 1st August, I am sort of busy in the kitchen of the Grand Hotel/Bridges restaurant in Amsterdam. It's been quite a week, to say the least. Let me give you a quick update what I've been doing:

1. peeling and chopping carottes; crate after crate...
2. vacuum packing duck, chicken and cook the stuff at low temperatures
3. help out serving the amuse-bouche (appetizer)
4. make mirepoix
5. chop up herbs
6. serve a bunch of Americans... (180 people)
7. peel more carrots
8. cut and deep fry lotus-root
9. make toast/croutons
10. fry lamb/duck on a one square meter frying plate
11. chop more herbs
12. get clean pans
13. finely chop loads of shallots
14. wash up
15. plate up for lunch (180 people)
16. cut and wash baby lettuce
17. peel peas
18. clean and de-skin mackerel
19. make yellow-fin tuna tartare
20. make a crudité (sticks of cucumber, daikon and carrot - mandolin....)
21. slice the scallops thinly
22. chop up more shallots
23. wash and slice a cate of spuds; steam
24. chop 20 bunches of spring onions
25. wash and blanch paksoy
26. fry rice (15 kg!?) with mixed vegetables and egg
27. make omelette (60 eggs - 15 minutes....)
28. vacuum pack fennel with stock, butter and seasoning; cook and cool off quickly
29. finish salmon in oven (150+ portions; serve!)
30. cut artichokes (already cleaned!!! )
31. get more clean pans
32. thinly slice more spring onions
33. discuss an amuse-bouche set-up for customers
34. wash up again
35. peel, slice, cut, dice, mirepoix more carrots (I'm chef de carotte by now!)
36. and probably a lot more that I already forgot....

Right now I have a few days off; Back to work this Sunday, then next week 'only' two days, and then it's going to be busy; 6 days in a row. Normally a shift is from 11.00-23.00, but sometimes chef changes that into a new schedule - 10.00 to 'unknown'.... nice. But it's great ! Every bit of it. I guess.... my back hurts, my arms, my legs, my feet and the rest of my body is 'tired'. As I said, I love it.

Sj