It was obvious that I was going to have to encounter small beasts pertaining to the animal kingdom at a certain moment of the training. And I do not mean this contemptuously, nor do I plan on becoming a vegetarian or a vegan in the near future. So, either alive or dead, it was evident our paths would cross before the burners. It’s just a matter of the circle of life, I think.
And it was sooner rather than later, since it was just in the second demo class when Chef Vaca with great ability cut out the filets of a Lemon Sole and made me practice during the weekend. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it when it was up to me. Now, two and a half months after, I know it wasn’t as hard as it seemed.
The following class, Chef Poupard presented me with a chicken, WITH THE HEAD STILL ATTACHED TO IT, and which I had to gut… even the lungs. I have to say that even today, I have to practice how to truss poultry.
However, when I did cry out loud just like a 5-year old kid who just found a bug in her bedroom was when in Lesson 7 practical I had to fry small crabs and make them into a bisque. The dish came out delicious, but the process was a bit more painful. I still don’t know who suffered more, for they died when I fried them in olive oil, or for I who had to wash them while still alive, fry them, and smash them with a small mallet. I still make faces when I think about preparing this at home once more.
Clearly it’s not the same when one goes to the market and buys 4 fish fillets, or to a restaurant during summer vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and asks for “live” lobster, or receiving live crustaceans in a package where they are half asleep and prepare a salad to accompany crushed avocado who someone had the courage to call guacamole. But let’s talk about that in another entry. I am still not over having such a close encounter with the crab pincers or the fact or the alleged guacamole beat with a whisk. Hahahaha!