Blog Bites

Tag: recipes

  • How to get Into a Professional Kitchen

    First of all congrats on wanting to take the next step in your journey! I will tell you how I got into a professional kitchen and how you can aswell.

    Start by talking to someone in the field, maybe a friend or family member and ask them how it is, the stress, hours and passion you need, it’s important to know what to expect because it is a stressful especially in a busy place. You can also watch YouTube videos of people working in the kitchen, it’s not exactly how it is in real life but it can give you an idea.

    Cook at home, the most important thing is to know at least what foods and equipment is called, so that you have a basic understanding of the kitchen, cook some dishes, see what you did well and what to improve, It’s also good to say in your interview that you have some skill and experience from home. Get others to try your dishes for some feedback!

    Apply everywhere, if you want the best chance of getting in apply to lots of restaurants in your area, if this is also your first kitchen job, don’t be surprised if their gonna want you to be a dish washer at first, take that job and work your way up, start making deserts and help cook whenever possible to show you care, in my experience if they have someone to replace you then you won’t be a dishwasher for more than 2 months.

    So you got an interview, what now? Be yourself dress nicely in a shirt and tell them about any skills that might be relevant, like cooking at home or maybe you played sports and you have communication and teamwork skills. Read the job profile before hand and know what to expect about working there and they might ask you why you picked that specific restaurant. Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to answer questions, ill give you a real example I used personally so they asked me if I have managerial experience because that was the original place I applied for, I had an example from McDonald’s that I used, so the situation was that the managers left for a meeting, the task was that I was left to run front of house, the action was that I communicated with the kitchen to shift man power where needed and made sure food was coming out quick and up to standards, the result was I got appraisal from the managers and the customers were happy with the restaurant running smoothly, and that’s it, it landed me a kitchen job.

    I hope this post helped, stay tuned for the next one!

  • How I Cook Perfect Steaks at 16

    Truthfully, my first ever steak, and even sometimes now, don’t end up as intended, maybe its a lack of care, or the ingredients I have to work with, but here is an overview of how you can cook your first perfect steak.

    It all starts with the equipment, a char grill or barbeque is perfect, if you don’t have that or want to cook at home, a stainless steel pan will do the trick. I recommend starting simple, get a nice cut of steak like sirloin or filet mingon, then use butter or any oil on hand once the pan gets nice and hot, I usually use butter as the oil can get everywhere when it’s hot. Season the steak with salt, and pepper if you fancy and only then place it into the pan and add rosemary and whole garlic cloves for taste, sear each side for 4-5 minutes or until core temperature reaches around 60 degrees Celsius (medium), take it out of the pan on a paper towel to rest for a few minutes to let it keep cooking and settle all the flavours, then plate up and enjoy!

    You might be wondering why you would listen to some 16 year old, well, I have been working in kitchens for almost a year, and been an amateur cook for 3+ years, recently I have been taught great tips from my head chef about steaks, he has 35+ years of experience in kitchens and I want to share what he taught me with you.

    A great tip to know if your steak is cooked to the desired rareness without a thermometer or to double check is to touch the steak, then put your hand into a loose fist, and feel the spot between your thumb and index, that’s how medium rare should be, if you make the fist tighter and then feel the same spot, that’s how a medium to medium well steak should feel.

    If blood grosses you out I recommend to cook your steak to medium or medium well so it’s not over cooked and still get a good experience, if you don’t mind and want the best steak experience, I recommend cooking your steak to medium rare, as that’s when you can taste the most flavour and take advantage of the tenderness of the cut.

    P. S. The next blog post will talk about how you can start your professional career in a kitchen and should be out in the next few days!

  • Why I do what I do

    I have always loved food, and was never a picky eater even as a baby, and when my dad got into jobs within a kitchen, I would always cook with him at home, building my passion for cooking even more. We recreated recipes from his job as a breakfast chef at a well known hotel where he worked with the previous right hand man of Gordon Ramsay, So I got to learn some of his secrets.

    When I was older and able to cook all on my own, I would cook anything that came to mind, with or without recipes from the internet, they didn’t always come out like intended or even good at all, but at least I tried and learned what to do next time, below is a picture of salmon where I made my own sauce and didn’t follow any recipe at 15.

    I found a salmon in the freezer and a light bulb clicked, I was hungry, but decided to try make something fancy and presentable, I seared the salmon, cut some cucumber and lemons for colour, and created a amateur sauce with ketchup, mayo and garlic powder and finally topped it off with some pepper.

    It wasn’t my best work or Michelin star worthy and not even amazing ingredients, but at least I tried and learned more about salmon dishes and presentation, by the way, it was delicious!

    Making dishes like that and finally completing them gives me a sense of pride, and if it was for a customer, I would be happy to serve them that and hopefully at least give them a new happy memory to remember.

    It’s why I do what I do, to create memories, because of my passion and show that anyone of any age and from any background can make amazing dishes and learn about cooking.