Skills to Pay the Bills

We were lucky enough to be able to tour the BOH operations at Rogers Arena (thanks Shaun!)  Executive Chef David Speight, head of kitchen operations for Aramark Entertainment at Rogers gave us the grand tour

We started in the front office and then went way up to the 500 level to check out the relatively new “Best Buy Club”. 

Swanky to say the least.  Chef Speight told us that no less than 8 chefs are on hand to handle the requests of 172 guests, who each pay $300 per game to go there.  There was an oyster station, a raw bar, several hot food stations and a fully stocked bar. 

From there we went down a level to the Centre Ice Grill where we saw the kitchen and bar that services regular attendees of Canucks games and offers a few select ticket holders some impressive ice views.

On level 200 we saw the very small kitchen that services all of the private suites, (including the Aquilini’s) on both level 200 & 500, I can’t imagine a more high volume place with more than 1640 guest to serve every night

Next we went to the Captains room, a high end buffet where guests pay a small membership fee.  They can reserve a table, eat dinner, leave all their belongings here, go watch the game, & come back and find a beverage waiting for them at the intermission.  Where do I sign up!

But the highlight of the day was getting to see the Canucks private room and dressing room.  We were told that each member of team gets a personalized menu based on their requirement for optimum physical power.  Apparently Mason Raymond needs a lot of calories to stay at weight! 

 Recently the chef has begun to source the majority of the team’s menu from local and sustainable sources.  He and his crew prepare the team meals and they eat together at this table.   One of his best memories was getting to prepare food for the Canadian Olympic team during the 2010 games.

Finally we saw the largest kitchen at ground level.  It prepares food for all the catering events, media, concessions and other functions.  They had some pretty fancy Rational ovens and one gigantic popcorn machine that was bigger than a king sized bed!

What a fantastic day… but I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad due to the fact that we got to see the locker room of our recently defeated Vancouver team, something that would not have happened if they were still in the playoffs.

Many thanks to Chef Speight for a memorable field trip!

Things are rapidly reaching the end for our ACE-it year in Culinary Arts.  But that doesn’t mean that we’re slowing down any at all!

On Wednesday we had Karsten Shellhas, a German trained Master Butcher came in to demonstrate the proper way to cut and de-bone an entire side of pork.  We were all a little excited about the prospect of seeing such a large animal right in our own NWSS kitchen, and we of course waiting to try some of the delicious meat.

After we had properly set up the kitchen for the bloody work of taking apart a side of pork, Karsten explained the 7 plus years that it took to become a professional butcher in Germany.

First he removed the ham or leg from the rest of the side being careful to cut around the pork tenderloin

After removing the Tenderloin, he made quick work of the other primal cuts by taking part the loin, belly and shoulder.  He cut out the blade bone from the shoulder and made “neck” steaks, which he explained are a very popular cut of meat in Europe.  later he broke the ham into the top round, bottom round, sirloin and knuckle sub primal cuts

His speed and skill were amazing to watch.  It was evident that he had done this many, many times before.  Karsten also taught us how to make a “porchetta” an Italian dish that consists of pork belly tied around a chimichuri rubbed tenderloin.  Can’t wait to try that one!

Afterwards I took all of our trim meat over to Queens Park Meat Market right here in New West to have it ground up.  This shop has been in continuous operation since 1918, pretty awesome!

Many thanks to all the help and direction we received from some great meat cutters!

gocookyourself:

Protein Cups - In Pictures

Sliced Ham / 3 Eggs / Cottage Cheese / Parmesan / Salt / Pepper (1)

STRETCH those limbs

HEAT oven to 180C

LINE muffin tin with sliced ham, 1 slice per hole (2)

DROP and do 20

CRACK eggs (between your pecs) into bowl (3)

ADD heaped spoon of cottage cheese

FLEX into nearest mirror

SEASON with salt and pepper

WHISK making sure you alternate arms half way through

POUR mixture into ham cups (4)

SPRINKLE grated parmesan on top of egg mix (5)

BAKE in oven for 15 minutes

GET your tickets for the gun show

FOLLOW us on Facebook

GO COOK YOURSELF

(via mexicue)

Go Cook Yourself: The Searlewich

gocookyourself:

Sliced Chorizo / Mozzarella / Bagel / Butter / Pepper

(Suggested by @MrTimSearle)

TURN grill onto full power

SLICE bagel in half and throw in toaster 2 minutes

PLACE frying pan on high heat

FRY chorizo slices for 30 seconds on each side and remove from pan

SLICE mozzarella

…

Mmmmm…. tongue

eataku:

While I’ve had plenty of better tongue in my life (I know, I know…), I wanted to post a pic of this dish we had at Takashi just because of its name. How could you open the menu and not order something simply called “The Tongue Experience”?!

It was a rainy day in Vancouver when Ndub ACEit made there way downtown for a foodie field trip.  We started with 14, and made our way on the Skytrain for what turned outto be an epic day full of food, fun and fantastic findings

Stop #1- Four Seasons

We were met by the Executive Pastry Chef who took us through the back of house (BOH) area of the hotel, after first showing us the the new restaurant “YEW”

We also had a chance to meet Executive Chef Ned Bell, a somewhat celebrity chef in Vancouver and former host of the show “Cook like a Chef”.  He is also owner of a restaurant in Kelowna called “Cabana”.

We also saw the dish area, an indoor herb garden and the new Chinese style kitchen.  Four Seasons was massive, great tour, great people

Check out this clip here of Chef Ned Bell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFYwDhnp06Y

On the way to the next place we toured through the lobby’s of Hotel Georgia and Hotel Vancouver to see how the wealthy tourists of Vancouver spend their time, very nice…

Stop #2 - Blue Water Cafe and Raw Bar

My favourite of the day,we met with one of Vancouver’s top chefs, Frank Pabst, who toured us around Blue Water Cafe.  He is by far the best chef I have ever had the opportunity to work with with.  He is calm and good natured, a natural teacher, and loves food.

We got to see the raw bar, the main kitchen, the prep kitchen, but best of all the private room for functions that contain $1000’s worth of wine

After this it was a quick sushi break for lunch at Ichiban on Thurlow just past Robson.  Good sushi and cheap.  A highlight was the “deep fried Cali-roll”

After lunch, we lost 2 students (boy did they miss out!) and we left to check out a few food trucks near the Art Gallery.  As soon as “Re-Up BBQ” found out we were from New West, the free samples started to flow.  Re-Up is opening their very first store location the April in NW at the River Market (the old Quay)

Micheal even showed us the floor plans for the new restaurant on his iPad

Stop #3 - Fairmont Waterfront Hotel

By this time we had lost 2 more students, but the chefs at the Waterfront were super welcoming and gave us the grand tour.  We met with the Sous Chef and later met Executive Chef Dana Houser.

We saw a few chefs getting ready for a banquet on Friday night, it was for around 180 guests

We met the pastry chef who was busy making decorations

Heron’s restaurant at the hotel.  I found it funny that all the chefs kept apologizing because it was messy!  A messy kitchen means you’re making money!!

On the way from the hotel we toured through Urban Fare, a gourmet grocery store.  Making food in deli, or prepared food setting is yet another way to get employment in the food industry. 

Impromptu Stop #4 - Bella Gelateria

Finally we ended up at Bella Gellateria.  Despite the fact that I had not planned to stop here, the owner James took the time out of his day to explain the complex process of making real authentic gelato.  In fact James went to gelato university and trained for several years in Italy.  His motto was “follow your passion” because you might never know where it could lead.

At the end of the day, even though I have been in the food industry for 20+ years, I was amazed at the passion of every food producer we interacted with.  In the end that’s why this is, an amazing industry, full of happy, committed and dedicated people who quite simply love food and love their craft.

Follow your passion ACE-it you never know where it might lead!

EATAKU: Fresh Uni at Home

eataku:

I got this pic via text from Mutsumi last week…

…which was followed by an excited call informing me our fishmonger had just gotten in live sea urchin from Maine! It’d been years since she’d prepared it fresh, and the first time she’d be doing it in NYC, so I figured I’d snap a few shots and…

Cooking In The City: Izakaya-style braised pork ribs

cookinginthecity:

Japanese Izakayas, like English pubs and Spanish tapas bars, are first and foremost a place to drink and talk with your friends - the food is there to accompany the drinks. And what delicious food. Yakitori (skewers), grilled fish, sashimi, karaage (deep fried chicken) - all served…

memustmakefood:

Buttermilk Braised Tandoori Spiced Chicken