While I was learning how out of my depth I was with the stand up comedy, I also landed an amazing gig as a demonstration chef for Beefeater BBQs. I mean what's not to love about preparing food and serving food to people who don't have to pay for it? On the contrary, we were using food to purchase people's goodwill, the hope that when it comes time to shop for a BBQ perhaps months or years in the future, they may still remember that crazy Asian chef who made us eat free food. Perhaps have a fond recollection of the brand with sufficient goodwill that they purchase the brand. It's also called "customer experiential marketing", but I like calling myself a brand ambassador (sounds better than promoter or spruiker).
Then my agent asked me if I was willing to apply for a permanent full time position for another prestige appliance brand. Beatriz and I had a calm and serious discussion about how this will impact our Salsa for Seniors dance classes, i.e. without me being there to co-teach with her. Strange how it still feels odd to say that I make a living out of my passion for Salsa dance.
However, cooking is also another of my passions, so we both agreed I should be able to pursue a chefing opportunity as they present. Both children are now in primary school so most of the day is available for gainful employment. I daydreamed about a return to a typical middle-class lifestyle. Go to work, go home, get paid, spend, repeat. But seriously, it would give us a measure of security we haven't had before, knowing there is that paycheck to expect. As the last 18 months have proven to us: business owners don't have paid sick leave. I also felt I was a good fit for the role because of my life experience as an IT professional prior to working in the kitchen. I came to the interview and kept both interviewers engaged for nearly an hour. I felt great coming home after the interview. I was moderately confident I got the job.
I didn't.
The team leader felt that I was still lacking in experience. Fair call. I was kind of hoping enthusiasm and engagement counted for more, but that's life. It took a little bit longer to emotionally detach from those daydreams I had of life as it could have been if I had got the job.
Feeling a little disappointed so now what can I do to pick up my mood? Well how about I take a shift in a new kitchen to help accumulate more hours of experience that I so desperately needed in greater abundance. I said yes to a 12 hour split shift with a 2 hour break in the middle.
The exec chef puts me to work searing about 150 mini burger patties to go into sliders for tonight's catering event. Two of us casual chefs finished this task and were then sent to a satellite kitchen to finish assembling the sliders: bun, mayo, patty, tomato, bbq sauce, bun. With a bamboo stick through it to keep the tiny burgers together. Next I was given a whole prosciutto to slice into fine wide ribbons. These would be later rolled up into rosettes and arranged on serving boards.
I saved the prosciutto offcuts and the left over buns and brought it up to the staff room to share over lunch. After the break, it was all hands on deck to set up the cocktail buffet and serve up the cocktail menu for 300 pax. And then it got busy. Traying, piping, deep frying. at some point I was tasked with blanching cooked pasta, abuut 5 kilos. If I drop all 5 kilos in, the giant pot would drop off the boil and will take ages to get back to boiling. Turns out that's how you do it.
At the end of the service, all the left over food was binned, As a professional chef, I understand that all that food has been out of temperature control for over 2 hours. Left over can not be resold to any customer. I watched as gastronome trays of good food are tipped into the wheelie bin. Trays of uneaten but artfully rolled prosciutto also went in the bin. It reminded me of holocaust film clips of bodies bulldozed into mass graves. It mad me sick, I couldn't sleep even though I was physically exhausted, Those sliders were my babies, from the moment I flipped each patty until we arranged 26 little sliders on a serving board for the waiters to serve. We binned so many of my babies, I was only able to sleep after I had a moment to weep for my discarded babies, If it were up to me I would have happily walked around Pitt Street with a full tray of sliders and offer them to strangers while wearing my uniform of the establishment. We could have traded that waste for goodwill.
