Day 50 (and the weekend)
I can officially say that I sliced Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's bacon.
On Saturday and Sunday, I volunteered for the New York Culinary Experience and was able to assist some amazing chefs. The two-day event, hosted by my school and New York Magazine, featured big names like Todd English, Marcus Samuelsson, David Bouley, Alain Ducasse and Jacques Torres. Guests paid $1,600 for four hands-on sessions with the chefs.
I was able to assist Morimoto, who has the most unbelievable knife skills I've ever seen. He made an elaborate sushi platter on crushed ice, and his sous chef demoed takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (a savory Japanese pancake). I also helped out chef Missy Robbins (executive chef of A Voce at Columbus Circle who was named one of Food & Wine magazine's best new chef this year) and chef Anita Lo (owner of Annisa, appearing on "Top Chef Masters").
There was one more chef that I helped, but she will remain anonymous simply because I cannot bear to give her credit. She is a horrible person. I, as well as a number of the volunteers, have decided to never eat at her restaurant because she was so horrible. And if I volunteer again for the event, I will make sure to avoid assisting her like the plague.
Overall, it was an incredible experience. Most of the chefs were talented beyond words. I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of it.
Friday during class was our second mock midterm; I made the fish dish (a fillet of dorade poached in lobster stock) and the lemon tart. I was relatively happy with the outcome, considering I felt like hell. There's a bug going around our school, and I was sick all weekend. A day off would be nice.
Too bad Monday starts now.
