Since starting steemit only yesterday as a kind of spur of the moment decision, I am still in the process of gathering ideas and materials (Recipes) to share. For now I think it would be nice to talk about recent ventures. I feel it necessary to explain first that, as touched upon in my introductory article, where it is I work.
I work at a country club in Texas. It is a private club exclusive to the financial elite, with its staggering membership fee's and very long waiting list of prospective wealthy individuals eagerly waiting to become members. Joining the club is a sort of symbol of status. It's important to note that wealthy people enjoy to see, and be seen. The food that is prepped by the kitchen staff, which I am a part of, has a very high reputation for its flavor and quality. The executive chef I am privileged to work under is a culinary genius who's talent and skill set I aspire to match, his knowledge shines on the menu we have. The best part really about him is that he is an instructor at a nearby culinary school, so he has that teaching mentality. He is more than happy to share his knowledge with me, so I pick his brain often.
The country club has a gorgeous golf course on its property, and on this night very recently we were doing a lobster themed special dinner party. We had set up a (very) heavy aquarium for the live lobsters to be put on display. Behind the aquarium we had three large pots of boiling seasoned water. I was the lucky person tasked with dropping the lobsters into the boiling water when orders came in. I at least dropped the poor fella's in pairs. In a way I empathized with them. I imagine getting dropped into a pot of super hot boiling water sucks, so I dropped two in at a time, at least they didn't have to do it alone.
(Names and faces are omitted for privacy)
This was our menu for that night. It was pretty strait forward. The members booked ahead of time, so they knew they were in for some lobster. We had 120 covers in all, it was a very busy but fun night. As stated, I was tasked with boiling the lobsters. At 1.5lbs (Sorry Euro users I'm in America!), The time to cook is approximately 8 to 10 minutes, provided the water is at a fierce rolling boil when they are dropped in. From there they were passed off to the chef, who split the tails and cracked the claws, and then passed down the outdoor line where the rest of the dinner plate is assembled.
The highlight of the night for me is a member asking if the dessert was Gluten free. It was not. The pie crust was a gluten product. I will touch on the Gluten topic in a future topic, but for now, I have to mention that if a product has come in contact with gluten in any way, the whole product is not gluten friendly. Once informed that there is gluten in the pie crust, she asked desperately if the pie filling was at least gluten free. It was here that the chef looked at me with that expression people get when they can't tell if someone is being serious. Of course, we told her the actual filling does not have gluten in it but tried to warn her anyways the risks of eating gluten cross contaminated product, to which she replied "It's okay, I'm not that allergic to gluten."
I have bad news for you though, member. If you truly have celiac disease, that's entirely not how it works. But hey, it's your health.