Corazon

Aye, it's been rough on my feet, but day three in the Martin Berasategui kitchen has come to an end, and oh, what an awesome three days it has been.

I've been pretty fortunate thus far (perhaps we are special?) in that I've been able to work with the food from day one. It started with a bunch of prep tasks; dice this, slice that, stir here, etc., and I've now been nominated to prepare the duck heart for the egg dish, the "corazon". (I really need to install some Spanish fonts on my computer so that I can properly accent the "o"). This involves a quick sear on a butterflied (cut to lay out flat) heart, then slicing very thinly on a bias and seasoning appropriately. When it's time to plate up, a cloud of cooks descends upon the plating table, and each delicately arranges their component onto the dish, for plating my job is to place tiny pea sprouts on top of the egg, easy enough but important, nonetheless.

My co-workers are entertaining, I'm even on a team with two other Americans! Today, one of the Spanish guys asked us to teach him dirty words in English, so we steadfastly assured him that calling someone "teddy bear" or "fluffy" were indeed grave insults.

Of course, we can't take pictures during service as it would be too disruptive, so instead I shall introduce you to "mi libro"...

The book. Every cook's secret weapon, for it contains recipes and diagrams pertaining to your duties.

For example, sketches of the layout and set-up of the station, workflow, and important names to remember. I also include Spanish terms to remember, notes, and ideas that pop into my head throughout the day. Whilst waiting for action, we can compare these books with other cooks', exchange recipes and cool techniques. It's an excellent tool.

The birth of a recipe. Above is a quick sketch of ingredient ideas and plating diagrams for a dish I'm creating to test some of Sammic's amazing equipment. As ideas pop into my head, things will be scratched out and re-written, or re-drawn. It's like smooshing your brain onto a piece of paper, except with less gooey grey matter to contend with. Can you tell I'm a bit sleepy?

There's a lot of interesting dishes and components on the carne station, my current favorite is the exquisitely juicy pigeon breast. The plating for it is pretty stunning as well. Last night, I spent my little free time at home practicing a very pretty saucing technique one of the chefs uses on this dish, it's much harder than it looks, but I think I'm making quick progress. I took a picture to show him my practice (I'm silly like that) and he seemed pleasantly surprised, or perhaps that's just my perception of the look on his face.

Alas, now it is time for sleep, and more epic dreams of battling zombies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. I seem to have similar dreams every night, maybe I shouldn't have had a "Walking Dead" viewing marathon before departing Las Vegas...

Adios, y buenas noches a todo mis amigos!