Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and chef

Your fraternity has a chef? Are you kidding me?

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:31:17 -0800

Did your fraternity / sorority have a full-time chef? Is this as common as my wife thinks? Read on... http://fraternitykitchen.net/ is the blog of a University of Washington fraternity chef.

I was gobsmacked. The frat house employs a full-time chef? And while we're not talking about a cheap diploma mill, neither are we talking about the Ivy League.

Neither my wife, who attended a Big 10 school, nor myself, who attended a piss-ant California state college, were in the Greek system. But my wife was completely unsurprised when she learned this. Of course they would have one, she said. It makes a lot of sense. Would you want a bunch of 20-year-old guys in charge of your kitchen? Can you imagine what you would find growing in that fridge?

* Is this common?
* Do you have first-hand experience?
* Is this paid-for by ongoing fraternity/sorority dues? Or is this the kind of luxury that gets handled by donations from wealthy alumni?
* How in the hell would this kind of thing get started? I just can't imagine a bunch of average frat boys sitting around thinking, "We really need to focus on our studies, so we should take some of the beer money and get a chef, so we don't have to worry about this."

I love you, fresh egg

chalbe — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:34:01 -0800

What cooking secrets take your food to the almost-pro level? I love food; making it, reading about it, eating it. I already do a few basics, like shopping the NYC Union Square farmers' market, using fresh leafy herbs and garlic, squeezing lemon juice, cooking meat the right temperature, adding enough salt + pepper, grating Parmigiano-Reggiano, etc. Even so, my cooking still tastes a little flat and two-dimensional.

What practices or ingredients do you use to elevate your cooking? Spice mixes? Marinades? I prefer answers that skew towards the complex-but-tasty and avoid processed goods. Bonus points if you are a professional cook or culinary school student.

To get us started, here are some ideas I've been wanting to try:
- Making brown veal stock and remoullage, for braising and sauces
- Making yogurt from scratch milk + starter
- Making herbed butter and herb-infused oils

How to find a chef for a night in Amsterdam?

davidvan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:33:49 -0800

How can I find a chef/cook in Amsterdam to cook in our apartment one night? I'm renting an apartment in amsterdam in October, with a few friends, and was thinking about hiring a chef/cook to make dinner for all of us there one night. Any advice about finding someone who might be interested in doing this?

No particular preference in terms of cuisine (just yummy, local food). there will be about eight of us. Would expect to pay... not sure $200 or so plus cost of the food?

Ideas? Thanks...

Hands-on Cooking Classes in NYC

reticulatedspline — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:26:18 -0800

Where can I find hands-on and *cheap* cooking classes in New York? When I left my last job my coworkers, knowing that I'm a pretty avid amateur chef, chipped in to buy me a cooking class at the Astor Cooking Center. It was a hands-on pizza making class taught by professional pizza chef Mark Bello. He took us through every step of the process: prepping the yeast, mixing the dough, making the sauce, shaping the crust, topping it, baking it (and eating it). Each step he showed us exactly what to do, what could go wrong, how to fix it if it did, techniques for doing it even better, etc. Making good pizza from scratch in your home oven is pretty hard, as I know from previous experience. But by the end of the class I could reliably produce perfect thin crust pizza, something which my friends take advantage of repeatedly to this day.

I'd love to take more classes like this, but unfortunately Astor is pretty expensive. Classes start at around $150. Plus most of their classes center around wine tasting, something I've never really gotten into. Their only other class which would appeal to me is a pasta making workshop which is $175, and spots are generally sold out within a few days of it being posted anyway.

I've looked elsewhere for cooking classes, but haven't found anything that appeals to me. Many are much more expensive than I'm looking for (I wouldn't have ever taken the Astor one if it hadn't been a gift), not hands-on (i.e. you sit and listen to someone talk and demonstrate the recipe rather than actually doing it with them), or not something where you actually produce something.

I'm not interested in classes about knife skills, concepts of taste, the stations in a professional kitchen, basics of cooking, Q&A sessions with professional chefs, or classes about wine pairing or drink mixing.

My ideal class focuses on a particular dish or type of dish, and involves me spending a couple of hours working closely with a professional chef, learning everything there is to learn about how to perfectly prepare it, actually producing it in class alongside the chef with their guidance, and leaving with a newly perfected skill.

And I want to not pay more than, say, $100 per class, max.

Anyone have any suggestions for places I could find other classes like this in New York? Do they even exist?

What are good culinary reference books?

schroedinger — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:00:52 -0800

I just got a job as a chef's apprentice, and I'm trying to collect scholarly culinary resources I can use to help me with my studies. So far my instructors have recommended The Professional Chef textbook put out by the Culinary Institute of the America and The Food Lover's Companion. Are there any other websites or books that are essential for would-be culinary professionals trying to learn a little more of culinary science, history, and cuisine classique? I'm not looking so much for simple instructional cookbooks like The Joy of Cooking or How to Cook Everything. Nothing against them--I own them--but I need things that will give me deeper information about knife cuts, glaces, pastry work, French cooking, etc.

Is Chef School Cool?

bodywithoutorgans — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:31:52 -0800

I want to become a better cook, is chef school the nuclear option? As a child, my mother insisted that I do the eating and not the cooking. Despite her best intentions, I ended up quite clueless on how to cook. In college, I improved by cooking for myself and quite enjoyed it. I just graduated from college and I'd like to pick up a tangible skill on the side and attend chef school. The reason is because I've only been cooking for 2-3 years and would like to improve faster than the oh-just-keep-at-it-and-it-comes-with-age-and-experience rate. SO, collective mind:
1) Is cooking school going to improve my skill? I am not "gifted" at cooking nor do I cook all the time. Am I going to have the rude awakening that unless I enjoy cooking all the time or have some innate skill, I'm doomed?
2) Is it possible to do cooking school in the evenings while holding down a fulltime job?
3) Does anyone know the prices/good chef schools in Austin? I've looked at Texas Culinary Academy and the Cordon Bleu Program. I don't know anything about them or their prices.
4) Can anyone who has gone to chef school give advice to the casual cook who doesn't plan on being a chef at a restaurant the cost/benefit analysis of going to chef school?

Best message board for Cooking Questions?

TigerCrane — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:55:19 -0800

Best message board for an aspiring cook? I'm looking for a message board that's a good place to ask newbie questions about cooking.

These would be food science type questions. A few examples:

Why does Alton Brown always use kosher salt?

Should you salt before or after sauteing? Whats the difference?

Why does Julia Child use wax paper when poaching?

If you leave meat in a brine too long, what happens?

Any suggestions?

I want to slice and dice and julienne...but with what?

supramarginal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:02:49 -0800

How do I choose a great chef's knife? Feeling overwhelmed by all the choices. I'm an avid cook and I'd like to get a great chef's knife. I'm hoping to spend around $100 or less. I've been reading previous askmefi questions, reviews on various online shopping sites, and Cook's Illustrated. I can't reconcile all the information.

It seems to me that the top brands (Henckels, Global, Wusthof, etc.), are all well-constructed and work well given appropriate skills and maintenance. If it comes down to personal preference in terms of the curve, balance, and feel in the hand, how do I choose one? Will any stores let me come in and chop some stuff up? (I'm in Boston. I have small-ish hands, if that makes a difference.) Thanks!

What is being a baker or sous-chef like?

schroedinger — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:17:06 -0800

What has been your experience working as a baker, sous-chef, pastry chef, or on prep staff in a bakery or restaurant? What was the job like? The hours? What skills did you need to know before being hired, and what was OK for you to learn on the job? Did you have any significant professional training before beginning, or was it all self-taught? I have discovered a love of baking and cooking, and am considering going into the field for a couple of years. Is this feasible to do so without culinary school? I've been a life-long baker, though nothing more complicated than basic cakes and cookies. About six months ago, I began working in a cafe where in addition to line preparation (i.e. making sandwiches) I've been doing basic food and baking prep work as well. Nothing fancy, mostly baking cookies and making soup, but I've learned a lot about food and baking in general and it's awoken a passion within me that's lasted quite a bit longer than any of my other interests.

I'm not yet ready to give up my current career path and go to culinary school. I'd like to be able to dabble part-time or full-time in a bakery or restaurant while pursuing my current educational goals. But I don't know if this is even feasible, as I'm not sure of what qualifications I'll need to join a "real" bakery or restaurant in any position above dishwasher, nor what kind of hours, pay, or workload to expect. Can you help?

I want to assert mastery over my culinary domain

reenum — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:59:51 -0800

I want to make easy and tasty international recipes I've been going through a lot of the recipe and cooking related AskMes and I've noticed a dearth of threads about Asian or African recipes.

I enjoy American and Italian food, but I'd rather make Asian or African recipes. For some reason, eating spaghetti and meatballs evokes a feeling of contempt brought on by familiarity. There are a few threads about Indian, and I have bookmarked those. But, I have a thirst for more.

Problem is, I am a novice in the kitchen. I can bake and fry a few dishes, but beyond that, I'm lost. If you have any suggestions for books, sites or blogs I could visit to increase my cooking chops, it would be much appreciated.

Ideally, I'd like the recipes to be healthy, but that's not a firm requirement. I just want to make exotic food that someone besides myself might want to eat.

Just one cook is spoiling the broth.

oflinkey — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:01:29 -0800

How do you avoid chef's stomach? I make good things to eat and then I don't want to eat them. That is chef's stomach.

Having worked in food service for a good long time in in the past, I knew, and currently know, a couple of classically-trained chefs, cooks, hotelies and food science people. One thing they all seem to have in common is that they all love someone else's cooking. They prefer not to eat their own work--one of them called it chef's stomach.

A particular chef I knew expounded on the wonders of the Burger King Whopper: it has no foie gras, it has no macque choux, it is not seared or roasted or blanched. Someone else made it and it tastes good. He explained that he knows what he cooks is delicious--people pay a lot of money for it. But he is uninterested in consuming it himself.

I am nowhere near a chef, but just a good at-home cook. I make fancy things and very simple things, all with quality ingredients, and they come out pretty tasty. But I am, more often than not, totally unenthusiastic about eating them. Even if I make a lot and freeze it. Even if I make simple things. For instance, I have a nice, simple spinach soup in the fridge and I have eaten about half of it. But the instant matzoh ball soup won out over it three days in a row. And again, the other night I made tacos and Mr. Oflinkey loved them-- fresh everything. I had one and some tortilla chips, and I was done (to pre-empt the "have him cook" answers, Mr. Oflinkey has 2 jobs-- he has no time to cook).

I make myself eat a lot of the food so it does not go to waste, but I want to like it. So I ask the other chefs and home-cooks alike, what do you do to combat chef's stomach?

Help this impatient person learn how to cook from a book.

mintchip — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:50:25 -0800

Help this impatient person learn how to cook from a book. I don't know how to cook. I am extremely lazy in the kitchen and want to learn to make good, tasty meals that require a MINIMUM of preparation* and utilize as many shortcuts as possible (e.g. frozen veggies, pre-made stir fry sauces, etc.).

I love vegetables, chicken and fish but don't eat red meat. I prefer ethnic flavors such as thai, indian, asian etc. I'm thinking learning some stirfry techniques might be a good place to start, but I'm open to other ideas.

What are the best cookbooks for me to try? In addition to a lack of cooking technique, I also know very little about basics such as stocking my kitchen. Thanks!!

*Ideally 10 minutes or less.

Bork Bork Bork!

ikahime — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:25:44 -0800

Help me learn to cook like a pro. I've often wanted to learn some of the techniques that professional chefs use, such as speed chopping, presentation theory, how to cut different kinds of meat, etc. Can you point me to books, websites or blogs that will help me acquire a few of these skills?

Bad-ass gift for a chef in training

garbo — Sun, 28 May 2006 10:01:35 -0800

Aside from the standard knives, what would be a good gift for a student off to culinary school? My nephew is going to culinary school after he completes his required work time in a professional kitchen. His parents will get him a very good set of knives, so what would be next on the list after that? I'm thinking more tools than pots/pans at this point.

Poster seeks poster.

vernondalhart — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 16:38:36 -0800

I'm looking for a poster that used to hang in my grandmother's kitchen. It was a poster that listed a number of cooking terms: Julienne, blanch, pare, skewer, dice, etc. Each term was accompanied by a medieval looking depiction of what the term meant. The poster was very colorful, about average poster size, and I believe had about twenty or twenty-four different terms, each in their own square box.

Chop chop!

rorycberger — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:22:03 -0800

What is the best way to learn professional level kitchen knife skills? [more inside] Background: I'm a beginner-intermediate cook who likes to try difficult, complicated recipes to challenge myself. However, I often find myself slowed down/poorly performing due to knife skills and want to eliminate that as an excuse for not cooking as well as I could. When I can I do prep work in advance, but that usually adds an extra ~hour for work that (I think) could be done during the cooking process.

I'm basically looking for two things here: 1) recommendations for specific books, videos, classes etc. (or even just tips for finding good ones) 2) techniques/drills that I should practice on my own (i.e. julienning a bunch of carrots, or trying to slice potatoes as thinly as possible, etc.).

Also, a tangential question: I've got a decent farberware knife set that gets the job done, but have been thinking about buying at least a high-end chef's knife. Should I run out to the store now, or wait until I'm a bit more experienced so that I'll have a better idea of what I like?

Great Chef's Knife

zsazsa — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 21:37:29 -0800

I'm looking for a great chef's knife. I'm getting married soon so we're registering for gifts. My fiancee and I already have a decent set of knives, but I want a really fantastic chef's knife. While poking around on Alton Brown's site, I noticed his glowing ~~shill~~ endorsement for Kershaw Shun knives. Does anyone have any other opinions or recommendations?