Good Morning from Warren Grove, Prince Edward Island
For the last two weeks I have shared a bit of my cooking journey in Part One and Part Two and this is Part Three.
I don’t remember how I felt heading into a classic French kitchen to work. But it was a different world I was entering into.
Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.~ Carol Burnett
People in chefs’ jackets, baggy houndstooth check patterned pants, clogs, fast moving knives, stirring, chopping, and stoves with flames all combined into a boisterous circus of stimuli.
After the quick introductions were made, I was shown my work area and started right away with peeling and chopping vegetables.
When the opportunity arose, I mentioned to the chef I could only give two years of my life to Toronto. I wanted and needed to learn as much as I could and fast. My short-term goal was to stand beside him and cook meals under his direction. And once achieved I was heading back to Prince Edward Island to open my own restaurant.
“The great glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live with purpose.” Michel de Montaigne
Preparing vegetables into many classic cuts such brunoise, julienne, paysanne, batonnette, noisette, chateau was beneficial. Knife skills are something you cannot learn in a book.
"Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need the experience to gain wisdom." ~ Albert Einstein
After time passed, the chef promoted me to ‘Garde Manger’ looking after cold dishes. Endive salads, watercress soup, green salad, Salade Niçoise and steak tartar were a few items I learned to plate.
The restaurant operated a separate restaurant upstairs. A very small efficient kitchen designed for one cook to work in. There were over 100 seats for guests. One item on the menu only. Prime Rib, Baked Potato, Vegetables and a Dessert Trolley which servers took to the table. I had a few months preparing all the food and plating it for servers to take to the tables. It was a pressure cooker of a job.
Every experience in life enriches one's background and should teach valuable lessons. ~ Mary Barnett Gilson
This part of the journey was short-lived and thankfully invited back downstairs.
Now promoted to work on the line with sous chef, and the line chef. The sous chef was of Italian descent, the line chef Canadian and both were great to work with. I learned a lot working with them.
Classic French dishes such as Bouillabaisse, Truite Au Bleu, Coq au vin, Sole Almondine were served nightly. Many dishes were completed at the table with the Maitre d’ or Captains, displaying their food knowledge and finesse using their flambe skills.
Working in a kitchen is hard. It can be a stressful environment to work in.
For this Maritimer, it was like working in the united nations. I thought it was great. But time and time again, I would hear negative comments about one’s nationality.
I found it wearing me down.
"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."
~ Mahatma Gandhi
It is customary for staff to have a meal before service. It starts with the Chef cooking for the Maitre'd. The Sous Chef preparing something for the Captains. The Line Cook for the waiters and me for the dishwashers.
Two experiences changed me forever.
The Maitre’d, who always carried himself with an air of superiority walked into the kitchen to order his personal dinner from the Head Chef. They exchanged brief formal niceties out of respect for their positions within the profession. The Maitre’d ordered a sirloin steak medium rare with vegetables. The chef acknowledged the order and said it would take 10 minutes or so.
The cooking area was a bank of old propane stoves with the burners removed. There were large gaping holes in the stovetop. When you needed to cook you turned the dial and up through the holes came a roaring flame. You kept the flame under control by putting the frying pan over the hole. Cooking was fast.
There was an old floor-to-ceiling grill for cooking red meats on. The flame came from the bottom like a barbecue and from the top like a roaster. It was always on and ready. On the floor was a tall bucket for dumping grease. The swill bucket was not a pretty sight.
The Maitre’d left the cooking area. The chef took the steak from refrigerator. He dropped it on the floor, stepped on it, swished it around in the swill bucket and threw it onto the grill. He proceeded to burn it.
He prepared the plate, hit the bell calling the Maitre’d to come and get his dinner.
Gus floated in on his own air, and for a long moment, he looked at the plate. He looked at the chef, smiled and said, “thank you, chef,” turned around and calmly walked out.
I will never forget that exchange.
I was impressed with one person and not the other. I couldn’t understand how someone can dislike another human so much to do something like that.
My first night to cook for the pot washers was experience I will never forget.
The custom was to serve old food to staff who were further down the pecking order in the kitchen brigade. The dishwashers usually received food well past its prime covered in a gravy of some sort to mask it.
What will I cook for these men?
I couldn’t imagine cooking this way for the three 80-year-old Portuguese dishwashers. They worked very hard. They talked between themselves in Portuguese. They grabbed old cigars from the plates, wiped them off, light them and continue washing the pots and pans. They were characters.
It was 4 in the afternoon; so I cooked breakfast.
I pan-fried some potatoes with onions, eggs sunny side up, bacon, toast and jam. I rang the bell and the three men shuffled up to the counter.
I wasn’t sure how the plates would be received.
They looked at the plates for what seemed like forever. They turned and looked at each other in dead silence.
Then they looked at me with tears flowing down their cheeks.
It still gets me when remembering that moment. They were so grateful for a fresh meal.
“Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
From that night on, whenever I was cooking and had to call out for a pot or pan, they delivered right away.
They always smiled and gave me a big hello when I entered the kitchen.
I always made sure I cooked something fresh for them. They loved the Clubhouse sandwiches.
I finished the course at college near the top out of 66 taking the program. Yet, I had no desire to be a chef.
Now with more time on my hands, I could work more.
The chef found me a job at a restaurant owned by a Swiss chef whose specialty was milk-fed veal. He had a thriving lunch business.
Memories are two.
In his kitchen, you were not allowed to use utensils when cooking at the stove. To turn the veal in the hot pan you could only use your index and middle finger.
This chef was extreme.
If you did something wrong in his kitchen, he would punch you in the arm. I didn’t stay there very long. He was a bit intense.
Memories are not fixed or frozen but are transformed, disassembled, reassembled, and recategorized with every act of recollection. Oliver Sacks
Coming to the end of my journey, I achieved what I had set out to do.
I was standing beside the chef and cooking the dishes under his watch. To say I was a hyper-activated human while under the stress of preparing meals would be an understatement. I was like a ping pong ball filled with adrenaline.
His frustration with me one evening led to a teachable moment.
While he pointed at the floor barking, “stay there and don’t move,” he reached to his left and grabbed some sort of white powder in his hand.
He drew a line on either side of me with the powder and in a strong German accent firmly said, “stay between those lines!”
The big night came when the chef asked me to take his spot and cook meat on the fiery cavernous grill.
It was a busy night and orders kept coming in fast and furious.
While doing my best to keep up with cooking the butterflied filets and sirloin the grill kept flaring up. I mentioned this to the chef, and he barked, “baking soda,” I looked at him puzzled, he points to a container filled with baking soda, “put some on the flame,” he said. So I did.
It worked for a minute or so, and I kept flipping the fast cooking steaks. I kept putting more baking soda trying to put out the flame, but it wasn’t working. I said, “chef it’s not working.”
He kept telling me to put more and I did. I kept doing it until the flames started shooting out the front of the grill and the alarm system kicked setting off the fire retardant system in the kitchen and dining room.
White powder everywhere. Bedlam ensued.
For what seemed only like minutes, firemen came rushing into the kitchen with hoses and axes.
The cooks stayed and watched.
I watched a fireman analyzing the situation while looking for the source of the fire. He had a hunch and pulled out a drawer from the grill. He carried the ignited grease-filled drawer outside.
Then another fireman took an axe to the walls by the grill.
We were closed for a few weeks while the restaurant was cleaned and refreshed from top to bottom. The kitchen walls where firemen’s axes explored were repaired and freshly painted.
When I came back to work; I met my new chef, Klaus.
Till next week, take care and keep moving.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
With love from Prince Edward Island,
Bruce + Millie
ps. Your Morning Smile
Grandpa always said when one door closes, another one opens...
Great man, horrible cabinet maker.
Comments
Julie MacKenzie said:
Loved your story….so interesting. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to your blog every weekend. 👍😊👏
July 05, 2021
Carol McKnight said:
Well we certainly enjoyed this installment. Good for you for treating those old gentlemen with respect. Everyone deserves it.
June 30, 2021
Paulette Hooley said:
Hi Bruce,
So love reading your blog!
I loved reading about your culinary experiences in Toronto .
Thank you for sharing and giving your readers such pleasure 🥰
June 28, 2021
Susan B said:
Thank you Bruce for sharing.
I have so enjoyed reading about your journey in these recent blogs !!
George Brown College, downtown campus, that’s my neck of the woods.
Cherished memories, invaluable experience, for sure.
Have a great week.
Susan B
June 27, 2021
Joan Todd said:
Thank you Bruce so much for another wonderful Blog. It is so interesting to hear how you got going in the restaurant business and everything you went through. I just love the stories of the different people you have encountered over the years and how they effected your life. I find it interesting also of you thinking back on those times, knowing what you know now. I find you sometimes form a bit of a different opinion on a situation looking back instead of just being in that moment. Looking forward to next week’s blog. It always starts my weekend off on such a positive note! Thank you again for sharing!
June 27, 2021
Karen Donkers said:
Thank you for sharing your journey. Such an interesting story.
June 27, 2021
Kathryn J Zaengle said:
Bruce,
I have read your blogs with great interest. The accounts of your path to becoming a chef are quite moving and filled with the energy of a young person trying their best to achieve what they desire most. But I also feel while reading these they express the words and experiences of someone asking themselves what it is constitutes true success. Is it the recognition by others of the talents your possess and the associated rise in position? Is it the recognition by others to whom you offer the gifts of your talents? Is it the recognition within yourself that you have these talents to offer to others? Or perhaps, is it the combination of all of these or is it none of these? How do we truly define success for ourselves and for our own desires to learn and work to apply our innate talents to better ourselves and apply these talents to the betterment of others? I have not been able to answer these questions for myself much less for others. But I do know that I very well enjoy reading your blog and hope to have a cuppa with you in the future sometime.
June 27, 2021
June Erlandson said:
Your blog today reminded me of the way you treated my Uncle Roy one of the original “Kermugins”! I had to go behind him to add to his Loonie or Toonie tip”!
He would buy someone something they needed without letting them know their benefactor.
He paid for groceries, a driveway, medications & medical bills. He loved to buy plants and flowers for anyone he thought would enjoy them! He bought me an airline ticket to a family funeral …gave the check to someone else to pass along to me. He rounded it up! The last generosity I will mention was the way he supplemented a senior couple who were “just making it”. He sent them a “supplement to their income” without most people
Having a clue….including the couples children.
Hope you and yours are well!
June 26, 2021
Barb said:
Wish I could have been more like you when I was young. Ended up not following my heart and listened to what others thought I should do. Enjoy your blogs immensely.
June 26, 2021
Monica said:
Thank you again for taking the time to write to us! I don’t know how you do it but every Saturday morning you make me laugh and cry! Until next Saturday. .
June 26, 2021
Lila Younker said:
So enjoy reading all your blogs.
Please keep them coming.
June 26, 2021
Allison said:
Our wonderful PEI contractor had a similar training in his craft in Alberta. At some point he realized it was time to come home with his new skills and set up shop. He used what he had learned to start a successful Island business as well and never felt the desire to roam again!
Best news is the travel clarification for seasonal residents ( so far Canadian residents only who have been fully vaccinated) which means that once armed with our PEI Pass we can get down later in the summer with no isolation restrictions and kick the mice out of the house!
See you in August!
June 26, 2021
Sharon K said:
Yep don’t miss those days working in a small restaurant kitchen, over a hot grill, sweat running everywhere. Going home smelling like the food I cooked or ketchup. But definitely a teachable social milieu for a teenager.
As they say, you get more from people with honey, rather than vinegar.
June 26, 2021
Suzi said:
Oh dear Bruce, no wonder why I love you so much (Sorry Shirley)! I just read about the wonderful reaction of the dishwashers, at receiving the thoughtful meal., that you prepared. You are a walking treasure! But the first guy, oh my goodness, pay back is a real bi*ch. He will get his just rewards! Now back to chapter 3 of a wonderful upcoming book! Remember to sign my copy! Hugs from California! Suzi
June 26, 2021
Laura Shamas said:
I am so enjoying these adventures you are sharing. I was impressed when I met your years ago on a tour bus. Getting to hear about what shaped you in your life is very interesting. I love the respect you show through it all.
June 26, 2021
Anne Gillis said:
another smile brought to my face…. love your stories.
June 26, 2021
judy (Donovan Whitty) said:
So love reading your culinary history! Although it sounds like it must have been quite stressful you show how you learned “on the job” and no surprise you are a wonderful employer. Your style of writing is so accomplished and appreciated – keep up the wonderful work. So looking forward to Wednesday when I finally get to eat the first meal at IP for the summer but won’t be my last! very best, judy in Ch’town
June 26, 2021
Cathie Sabourin said:
As they say, ‘Fail forward to success’.
June 26, 2021
Elaine said:
Wow Bruce!! You surely earned your stripes!! Love hearing your stories…you have a great memory! Thanks so much for sharing…you inspire many😉
June 26, 2021
Elaine said:
Wow Bruce!! You surely earned your stripes!! Love hearing your stories…you have a great memory! Thanks so much for sharing…you inspire many😉
June 26, 2021
Janet Dickie said:
Oh how I enjoy these shareable ,teachable moments of your life (also the wonderful quotations in between ) ! Cant wait to read next weeks :)
June 26, 2021
Cynthia said:
What a trouper!! You had a dream and passions. You pursued and moved forward. Bless your heart Bruce.
God has truly gifted you. Blessed.One hundred fold.Family, guests, entertained strangers.
One person can make a huge difference in someone’s life. You will never know, by the kindness and care you have shown. Thank you for that gift.
Cynthia
June 26, 2021
Laurice Robinet said:
I love reading your blogs and have enjoyed your stories about your life as a student in Toronto. Your depiction of how some people treated those with different backgrounds and social standings in the microcosm of the kitchen resonates particularly in these days when Canada is reeling from the discoveries of how Indigenous families were treated. Humans have a lot to learn. Thank you.
June 26, 2021
Linda Shukri said:
WOW! Thank you for sharing your chef experiences! I have always wanted to be a chef – or at least go to school to learn – but my physical issues (standing on my feet for long periods of time) prevented me from thinking any more of that idea! I don’t think I could tolerate the stress – I’d be crying all the time!
Bill and I miss being on the island and eating at your place! Can’t believe it’s been 3 years since we moved to SC!
Thanks, Bruce, for your chef stories!
Our best to you,
Linda
June 26, 2021
Kathy said:
As a dishwasher, many years back, at the junior ranks mess hall at CFB Chatham, I thank you! I know the stress of a big kitchen all too well! Good read as always, Bruce!
June 26, 2021
judi karnis said:
love your blogs. they brighten my week. thank you.
June 26, 2021
Ashley said:
I am loving your history! These posts make my day. Thank you.
June 26, 2021
Janice said:
Love your stories recalling your kitchen experiences. I also worked in the restaurant business many years ago and agree with you, it is an intense environment. Looking forward to next week’s chapter. Have an enjoyable week.
June 26, 2021
Cathy Hammond said:
Absolutely love your stories the past couple weeks. Very enjoyable. Nothing like learning from experience….good or bad.
June 26, 2021
Norman Finlayson said:
What a wild ride you had learning the kitchen business!
June 26, 2021