The day the lights went out

Culinary Arts Level One Day 16. Poultry continued. Game birds. Duck and quail. Exam Three. Everyone arrived early on Monday. I am not sure why, but suspect that it was because we had an exam. Exam three of four, the fourth scheduled for Friday, and the final scheduled for next Wednesday. Once again I am well prepared, but nervous still. I partner with Suzanne in the front and center station. She was supposed to pair with Andrew, but Andrew hadn’t arrived yet. She probably should have waited for Andrew. I feel bad about what happened next.

Chef Phil handed out the exams. I moved through the exam more quickly this time, having learned that run-on sentences and piles of information don’t get you any more points than the points for getting the question right. You’re just revealing the extent of your nerdiness (remember, not good in culinary school). In fact, if you get a detail wrong, you may end up getting points deducted.  Not that this happened to me, but it could. So I moved through the exam and went back to setting up my mis-en-place. Ok, everything is OK. Right? Well..

Chef Phil called us up front. I moved around to the front of my station, to Suzanne’s station. I had my composition notebook and was taking notes as Chef Phil dressed the duck for Sauteed breast and braised leg of duckling with orange sauce. The legs had been removed and prepared. The first breast was removed from the breast bone and ribs. Chef was talking about the different cooking methods being used in preparing the legs and breasts- wet and dry. I started thinking, “Cooking methods? There are three. Ut oh. There was a three part question on the exam. Did I answer the wrong question by answering the three types of heat transfer? Oh God. Catherine, you are here to learn. Pay attention. Worry about that later.” Back to the breast. The second breast was being cut from the rib. “I might throw up, I thought, I haven’t thrown up since 7^th grade, so this is impossible.” I started feeling slightly off balance. I got very hot. I put my hand on Suzanne’s station to steady myself. And then the lights went out… from the outside in. I went down. I don’t know how I went down, why I went down, or how long I was down for… but I was out cold on the kitchen floor.

I woke and class had stopped. Everyone had turned, asking “Are you ok?” I sat a moment, assuring them I was ok, but was immediately concerned about myself and concerned that they were overly concerned. I don’t know why this happened, but I am a healthy person.  Julia, I think, gave me her water bottle. Normally I don’t share, but I didn’t think twice about this, remembering how hot I was in my last conscious moments and gulped the water down. I looked down and there was blood on my hand. I guess I caught Suzanne’s knife on the way down.

I was a bit rattled, so I sat. I got up a few moments later. Chef Wanda led me to the back of the kitchen where she gave me some orange juice and one of my classmates, Andrew, brought me a chair. I drank the juice and sat with Chef for a few moments before returning to the demonstration, sitting. When the demonstration was over I went back to my station and began working on the duck.

I honestly couldn’t remember what the Chef had demonstrated. My recipe cards were no help. My cutting julienne and brunoise was totally off. I seared the duck legs as Suzanne instructed and seared my fingers at the same time. I cut my hand twice more, with the tip of the knife – highly unusual. Finally I gave up. This was dangerous. I had to leave. Defeated and embarrassed, with big blue band aids on my hand, I went home before dinner time.

So there are no photos from Poultry. Though, I have one request for my Colleagues (a request from my day-job boss)....

If this should happen again, please, you must …

“Take photos” he says.

I thought he was going to tell me to tell you how to help me… Raise my legs above my head (okay, even more embarrassing)? But no, “take photos because, of course, if I am going to be a true journalist and write a true story, I need to tell the whole truth… and I need to show myself on the floor. Passed out.” Well, there you have it.