Raymond Helkio 
Today we combine our series revolving around the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and our visit to Chef Pietro’s restaurant Monte’s in New York. You may remember his clam dish that was featured a few posts back. I got him to show me the dish again hands on his kitchen, and he shared a very […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS “Order” – you can start preparing the food, but don’t cook it. “Fire” – ok, cook the food and plate it. “All day” – how many orders+fires do we have of a particular dish. It was my fourth day at JoJo today. I was helping Matt prep for, and then, help execute the […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add calvados to your apple tart to make it “pop” Add grand marnier to your chocolate mousse to make it pop Add tequila to your lemon tart to make it….you guessed it…pop! We all made it…yahoo!!!!!!! Congrats to everyone!!!!!! Today was the dreaded final practical exam. We all arrived early but were locked […]
Tomorrow is the day that all of Level 4 has been leading up to. We start 30mins earlier (we all had to sign a sheet okaying this), walk in, pick a number out of a hat which will tell us what and when we’re going to be tested on. If we pick “A” Garde Manger (salads […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Remove the pin bones from your fillet before removing the skin. The skin will keep the fillet in shape while you slightly mangle it trying to remove the pin bones. When having to drink a shot of green chartreuse on a scavenger hunt, the yellow label will not do. The green one has […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When zesting a lemon, turn the lemon as you move down the zester. This insures you get just the outer zest (no bitter rind), and is much faster (courtesy of Erik). Peel your celery before making a julienne of it – this removes those tough-to-eat fibers leaving a delicious flavor. In making a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS To keep your Hollandaise hot, put it in a thermos (courtesy of Diana Colman) 3 times – this seems to be the magic number of times that ‘most’ of us need to really nail a dish, unless you’re A2. When pressing the final roll of fettuccine through the pasta roller, I have found it is […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When rolling your pasta dough through the final time to create the fettucine from a wide piece, trim the ends so you don’t end up with spikey and uneven fettucine. If you cut your bread before service, put a damp towel over it to keep it fresh. Never close the oven with your foot […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Cut a small slit in your papillote when pulling it out of the oven so it doesn’t deflate (more on this dish next week). Your pasta dough is properly kneaded when you stick your finger in it and it springs back 90% of the way. Use clarified butter to brown your croutons to […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Always shave before going to a “trail” (see note below). Rotate your profiterole pan in the oven half-way through the baking. You can really see the different hotspots in oven with a tray of profiteroles. Some definitely get baked before others, so it’s always a good idea to rotate anything you’re baking half-way […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add the powdered sugar to your cream only after it starts to gain some volume. This results in a better whip. When cutting the tops of your profiteroles, align the bread knife parallel to the bottom of profiterole. It’s natural to align the knife with the top that you’re cutting off, but may […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Powdered sugar through a cheese cloth gives a much finer “sprinkle” than through a sieve. Chives+chervil+Tarragon is a great combination of herbs for fish – beats the standard parsley by miles. (especially the tarragon). Gently tap the salmon skillets under plastic with the side of a butcher’s hammer to flatten them out so […]
TODAY TIDBITS A quick blanch (boil) before you fry your potatoes will: a) improve the golden colour because it gelatinizes the outer starch, b) will “infuse” salt into the potato enhancing flavour, and c) kill the enzymes that cause “purpling” while you air dry. Blanching is the first step in potato rissole The chef recommends […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS You don’t need a trussing needle to truss a chicken. By making a cut in the skin near the end of the legs (where you eventually manchonner), the string can grab the legs and keep the chicken together – you can also loop the chicken legs instead. If you’re serving sliced grilled meat, […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Magic infusing liquid: Yuzu juice + Elderberry Cordial. This combination of sweet and sour tastes incredible. To instant peel a hard boiled egg – roll it around hard on the counter till it’s all broken like a web and you can peel it off in once piece instantly. “Snap” your green beans AFTER […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Never try and put one over on the chef Yesterday, Chef Dominique told us all never to try and trick the chef. One student tried to say she had put sugar in her Crème Chantilly, but the Chef was pretty sure she didn’t. This brings up the topic of “Truth in Menus”. “TiM” is a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Present a skate with the round side facing the customer, like a smile. Also, it turns out skate fish is not kosher. When reducing sauces or soups, it’s a better idea to add salt only at the end. If you add salt near the beginning, it might taste fine but as it reduces the […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Skate is a unique tasting seafood (think fish meets scallop), but goes bad fast. They urinate through their skin (like sharks), so they start to smell like ammonia pretty quickly – served fresh, seared, they taste pretty amazing. To evenly brown croutons, soak them in clarified butter and then sauté and shake constantly […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS On a gas stove, if you want to heat something but only ever so slightly, you can just use the pilot light flame. When flambéing, take the pan off the stove, add the brandy, then put the pan back on the stove tilting the pan so the flame just catches the brandy. Badaboom! […]
Stopping at David Bowie’s apartment/vigil again this morning definitely set a different mood for the day for me, and either way there was definitely a different vibe in the kitchen today – “everything was under control”. We had all done our dishes yesterday and today was going to be different! For me I was in a “Zen” […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Serve a pork chop ‘bone on the left’, so the customer can cut into it from the right. When frying a pork chop, fry the presentation side first – the first sear gets the best color. When frying a fillet, also fry the presentation side down first – in the case of a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Use Ghee (browned clarified butter) in your Indian dishes rather than butter. It adds a whole new dimension of nuttiness and even sweetness. Apparently the best curry is in London. Curry Powder is a British invention to mimic the “Indian colony’s cuisine” whose key ingredients are turmeric, coriander, cumin, mustard, and chili. Curry […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add the butter to the boiled cream ‘off’ the heat in an alfredo, to avoid the butter breaking. A restaurant trick is to use Grana Padano ‘in’ the sauce, and then top the pasta with Parmigiano. ‘Parm’ is over twice the price of Padano. When rolling pasta, you should be able to see […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Hang the rinds of your cheese in your cream when reducing it for an Alfredo sauce – gives it additional flavor. Use “00” flour to make your pasta slightly stronger but silkier. Throw some Semolina flour in your pasta dough and the pasta will ‘grab’ the sauce slightly better. Today we finally got […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Fill an egg carton with hickory, set it on fire, and put it the oven with your chicken, to get an incredible smoky flavour. (Maybe not try this one at home). Thanks Joanne so much for having filled in yesterday. Great job. And doubly thank you for this morning’s pre-exam flash card quiz […]
Hi everyone, it’s Joanne here. Stewart was sick, so I volunteered to fill in for today. Like Stewart, I’ve changed careers, I used to be a theatre director in LA – now I’m taking the culinary program because I want to write my father’s Italian cookbook, and learn better technique. You can find out more […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The FDA recommends washing dishes at an uncomfortable 110 degrees to get rid of harmful bacteria. The hot water from the average ‘hot’ faucet is 110F. I can’t imagine being able to clean dishes in 100% hot water from the hot faucet. Ouch!!!! Never order a fish special on Monday – this is […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Ice is used a lot in the kitchen – when we’re readying meat, it is always held in containers over ice. When we poached the fish sausages, as soon as they had reached the correct internal temperature of 145F, we immediately put them in ice to stop the cooking and to get the food […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Italian Sausage is flavoured with fennel – take the meat out of the casing, fry it up with more crushed fennel, chile peppers, lemon, white wine and oregano. Tada – you have one of my favourite non-tomato pasta sauces. Spice Secret – Pimenton (which is a Spanish Paprika) – use both the hot […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When roasting butternut squash – consider adding honey, it really elevates the taste. You can use meat glue (Activa) to ‘glue’ lamb and scallops together and get an amalgamated surf ‘n turf. Don’t be afraid to use bread crumbs in ground meat and charcuterie – they act as a binder, but also ‘lighten’ […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS If you sliced meat a little too long in advance of serving, brush it with a little olive oil and it will regain that juicy look. (I actually used this trick on one of my practicals, using butter instead). Cut chives with the top-half of your knife – using the handle-end crushes them […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Charcuterie relies on getting the proper fat to meat ratio, generally 30% fat. That clear jelly like substance on many charcuterie preparation is aspic (basically gelatin and flavouring). It keeps out air and bacteria, keeping the cooked meat fresh. Charcuterie came about from a need to preserve meat through the winter, and from […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Lean meat is often encased in dough (eg. Paté en Croute, or Beef Wellington) to preserve the flavor and moisture. I fluked out and nailed my first beef wellington this summer at the cottage, and you could literally cut the meat with a fork it was so tender. Apparently, hundreds of cats get […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Make sure to apply potato salad dressing to WARM potatoes, they grab and absorb the dressing much better. Be careful in covering hot food with aluminum foil – this will react with any food that is acidic. Often catering companies put an intermittent layer of plastic between the food and the foil. Don’t throw out […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Buttermilk is a magic ingredient imho – use it in dredging fried chicken or smelts: buttermilk slightly tenderizes the protein, coats better, and adds a light acidic element. Use buttermilk (or sour cream) in puréed potatoes – it makes them pop. Add cheese rinds when boiling your polenta for added flavor – you […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS A secret to making tasty beef for enchiladas are Ancho chiles and Spanish paprika “La Chinata” Use Meyer Lemons to ‘amp up’ your citronette. Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. Don’t use cumin in Mexican food – lots of restaurants use it, but really it’s rarely used in Mexico. […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The later you add your eggs to fried rice, the ‘stickier’ it will be. The Maitre D’s most important role is to make sure customers don’t all order their food at the exact same time. Yuzu juice rocks!!!! I was nervous about today, because while Alton and I were only responsible for coleslaw, […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Bottled Lemon/Lime juice is cloudy because it has been pasteurized – this changes the flavor profile, to something much less desirable – yuck – use fresh lemon/lime juice. Eggs in Japan have a much shorter expiration date – because Japanese use a lot of raw eggs in their cooking, so they need to […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The best way to reheat potato puree is the microwave (I know, a sin for most cooks). In a fast-paced kitchen, no bowls unless you need to toss or whip. They waste too much space – use square boys. Tortilla chips are simply tortillas, cut into 6ths, and deep fried. Today was breasts, […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Order “the line”: 1) starch 2) veg 3) protein. By the time people get to the protein, they’ve filled their plates, and so don’t take too much expensive protein. Cafeteria-style restaurants always put the desserts first, so people take them, which they wouldn’t if they were the last item in the line. You […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS (Also see Jacques’ below) If you rip basil ‘along the grain’, then you can do it a long time before service, because it doesn’t tarnish. If you rip it against the grain, it will wilt quickly. Fry Rainbow Chard stems separately from the leaves – unless you want to overcook the leaves and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When the vanilla bean seeds are floating in mid-suspension – your crème anglaise is done (also when the foam has disappeared and the it passes the ‘nappant’ spoon test) To feed 200 people, you need about 1 gallon of dressing, 2 gallons of sauce, 10 lbs of polenta, 20 lbs of pasta, and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When uncorking the bottle, always try to face the label to the guest for the whole process. Salt, acid, fat, and protein in food all lower the acidic and tannin taste of wine. Sweetness increases the tannin taste as does spicy food, which also increases the alcohol taste. Olive oil also contains tannins […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Put a little brown sugar in your chicken deep-fry batter – wow, amazing! (courtesy of Rachel) Deeply brown your chicken bones and trimming and add them to your sauce before straining – this adds a massive dimension to the taste. Slice your chicken breast rather than serving whole – it looks better, and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Don’t put oil in your pasta boiling water – it really has no effect, and can prevent the sauce from sticking to the pasta. Taste your pasta boiling water – most people don’t taste the water, but the saltiness is important. Make sure to press all the air out of your ravioli’s before […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS It takes 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese – so no more whining about the price of cheese. A top from an opened can be used as a ‘diffuser’ by placing it between a pot and a flattop burner to prevent burning – particularly useful if you are simmering […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When sautéing mushrooms in butter, throw in a sprig of thyme and a clove of crushed garlic before the mushrooms. This adds one more element to the flavor. For an added punch, add finely diced shallots near the end of browning. Use your fish spatula to rest your fish after cooking – saves […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Consider putting a bit of ground flaxseed at the bottom of a fruit tart – this adds a unique sweetness as an added dimension When cutting a large object with a knife (e.g. squash, water melon), cover the back of the knife tip with a hand towel and push down. You get a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS A dab of butter is often added to a sauce prior to serving (monter au beurre) – however, if you brown the butter first and then add it, the sauce will taste “oh my goodness!” Never put your rolling pin in water, it will eventually warp In France, you start culinary school at […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Don’t egg-wash the sides of puff pastry, this will hinder the layers puffing out Put puff pastry in the fridge/freezer and then straight into the oven – the freezer helps seals the crust, and holds in the steam better, making for a bigger “puff”. Use a pastry brush to wipe the flour off […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Make a notch up your cake, so when you divide it in three, you can line up the notches after you’ve iced it. After filling your cake pan with batter, spin it on the counter, and the batter will fill out the pan. After you’ve buttered your cake pan, use some of the […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Use a melon baller to core apples, it creates a nice shape when you slice the apples. Always turn your dough so you’re only rolling front and backwards. Rolling sideways creates uneven thicknesses in your crust. Use your knuckle to push your dough into your pie plate, and then use a floured piece […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Butter your ramekin with upward strokes, this gives the soufflé ‘channels’ along which to rise. Preheat your oven 25 degrees above the called for amount. Opening the oven door reduces the temperature by at least this much, often more. Then lower to correct temperature. Whip cream over an ice bath for quicker better […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS (Courtesy of Chef Fischer) Vegetables loose 50% of their nutrients within 3 days of harvesting Squeeze lemon juice from a lemon through your fingers, so you catch the seeds. Oysters start out male, and then change to female after 3 years. We learnt about frozen desserts and meringues today. There are three types […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Use the egg yolk AND egg white if you want the custard to stand by itself i.e. crème caramel (the egg white’s albumen holds it in place). Otherwise, just use egg yolks. Add a little bit of sugar to your milk to prevent it from scalding. Vanilla extract taste pretty close to using […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS A ‘dozen’ eggs is a retail term. Restaurants use eggs delivered in 30 egg flats. They’ve never heard of ‘a dozen eggs’. Egg whites can foam to 8 times their volume. Spin an egg on the counter, if you stop it and release it and it starts spinning again its raw, if it […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Food costs are 20%-35% of the price a dish. 20% for a food stand, and 35% for a higher end restaurant. While high-end restaurants charge more, they tend to use more expensive ingredients (reduced sauces, alcohol, shaped items, etc…) When making sausages – generally use 75% meat, 25% fat. Stuffings are a great […]
TODAY’S GIBLETS Flambéing does actually do something – the 500F temperature creates different chemical reactions and lends a slight caramelized flavor as well as burning off the harsher tasting alcohol. It’s not always for show. When flambéing, take the pan off the burner, add the brandy, then put the pan back on the burner and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When buying a whole skinned rabbit in the older days, they included the head so you could tell that it wasn’t a cat. The regulations are better nowadays. Score (brief cut “like a paper cut”) your lamb shank before searing – this gives more surface area to brown and enhances flavor. Don’t puree (mash) […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Scrape the bone flakes off the side of your shortribs – these are there as a result of the bandsaw used to originally butcher them, and can be unpleasant to eat. Never lean over the dish you are serving, for hygienic reasons – which I found happens quite a bit because you want […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Sear against the grain of the meat, you get a better sear. When presenting meat with sauce, put sauce on the seared parts, but leave the cut parts un-sauced so you can see the doneness. No mise cups (small plastic cups) of sugar in the kitchen, they get mixed up with salt too […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Always bring a pen to exam day (nudge nudge Erik) Roses are now bred with no/reduced thorns, but these roses have very little scent. You have to use roses from the Middle East / Turkey to smell the real scent of a rose, and to properly infuse a rose taste into food. Seedless watermelons […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS LAMB is the meat from a one year old sheep or younger. MUTTON is the meat from a sheep over one year. Lamb neck is an inexpensive under-rated cut of meat, and can be made into a succulent stew. Cooking meat leaving the bone in gives you more flavour. Have a mise cup […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS One pork tenderloin yields 4 servings Lard is simply rendered pig fat Don’t use the expression “sweating like a pig”…pigs don’t sweat. Add a few drops of vinegar to your sugar/water syrop to prevent it from crystallizing. Cutlery is always stored and cleaned face down – no touching the parts that go into […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Pepper your steak after grilling, charred pepper become bitter tasting. When sharpening your knife on a stone, angle the blade so the back is a penny’s thickness off the stone. The ‘best’ stew if made from the shin, or the tail. These are very well worked muscles, so they have lots of collagen, […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The more a muscle is used, the darker it is (more myoglobin). Hence game meat (duck, geese, pheasant), which actually moves quite a bit has more darker meat than the less motile chicken/turkey. When serving quail, 1 for an appetizer, 3 for main course. Quadrillage (horizontal cross-scoring of the duck breast skin), creates […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Briefly fry your spices before using, it brings out their flavour significantly. Removing the wishbone when quartering a chicken makes it much easier to carve the breast. When plating sautéed chicken, don’t cover the nicely browned skin with sauce. Never boil meat, simmer it. Simmering water is at 195, boiling water is at […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Shuck your oyster with the round side down, this way when you finally get it open the juice stays in the “cup”. When soaking your mussels before cooking, throw in a spoonful of flour, they actually absorb/eat it and become much more plump. The ideal lobster weight is 2-3 pounds. Below one pound […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS ROUND fish yield 2 fillets, FLAT fish yield 4 fillets (smaller of course). FLAT fish are born with their eyes on both sides, but one of the eyes migrates over to the other side, so they end up on the same side. When ‘battering’ (i.e. flour-eggs-breadcrumbs), put your seasoning (salt, pepper, etc) on the […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The two broad fish categories are ROUND (muscly, fatty: = because they swim far in heavy currents: trout, salmon, tuna), and FLAT (lean, thin, both eyes on one side: because they live at the bottom where there is less current and don’t swim far: sole, flounder, halibut). Add salt to egg whites, and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add salt to fries immediately after frying – the heat melds the salt flavour. Also, potatoes suck up a lot salt, so put more than usual. When you want potato slices to stick together in a dish (e.g. in scalloped potatoes), don’t wash them after cutting, the starch will keep them together Rubbing […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Always dry your salad ingredients prior to tossing, or the dressing won’t grip and will run off the leaf onto the plate. The water will also dilute the carefully balanced vinaigrette. The word vinegar = sour wine (vin aigre). Most vinegar is made by fermenting wine. You should be able to eat a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS If your salmon has thick white lines in it, it is farmed (which almost all salmon is). Those white lines are Omega-6 fat, not the much-desired Omega-3 which are found in the wild salmon. Use pink salt in your paté or it turns a pale grey Bacteria need a certain water percentage to […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Use frozen bread slices to cut your croutons prior to sauteeing – you get a perfect shape. Use a wooden spoon to stir your soups, you can ‘feel’ the consistency much more accurately, you don’t scratch the pan, and the handle don’t get hot Add a pinch of sugar to your mayonnaise and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The average restaurant guest takes 10min to eat each course. The average restaurant guest gets antsy if they have to wait more than 7 minutes between courses Woody Allen used to play clarinet at Elaine’s, where they introduced the strawberry Sabayon. Elaine’s wasn’t a great restaurant, but was very popular because of Woody. […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When skimming stock, swirl from the middle and then skim the edges, you end up removing very little stock and lots of gunk Use a square of spongy drawer liner to hold your cutting board in place A “demi” glace is a stock reduced by half, a “glace” is a stock reduced by […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS No salt in the stocks, the cooks will put that in as needed later Sauté pans have slanted edges so that any steam quickly is out of there, sautoirs have straight edges so that the steam will curl back in If you have a gas burner, buy pots with not only a thick […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS If possible, put an odd number of a vegetable on a plate: it looks more symmetrical but creates a tension Add salt to fried potatoes at the end or the salt starts to interact with the starch Mussels ‘moules’ can be a big money maker, a 15 pound bag will serve 15 people […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add salt to a vinaigrette BEFORE the oil, as oil can prevent the salt from dissolving Sweat onions for a while BEFORE adding salt, the salt will dry them out too fast Serve a free canapé, you’ll sell an extra drink (where all the profit is) Endives and white asparagus are made by […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The pasteurizing of milk can actually make it MORE vulnerable, because often the natural bacteria give it defence. Many cheeses in Europe are un-pasteurized and taste better, they’re not allowed in North America however. Cooking will kill parasites, and bacteria, but not their toxins, not all viruses, not all spores. If you’re going […]
It was initiation day at the ICC International Culinary Center. We signed all our forms, got our chef’s outfits and Level 1 course book. We were given various presentations on kitchen rules (e.g. no jewelry, no nail polish, no unkempt facial hair etc…), on attendance (have to have a 90% attendance to pass), on graduating […]