Life in the Kitchen
Departing from the standard fare of Cooking with Angus episodes, this show features a day in the life of a student in GRCC's Culinary Arts program. Beginning at 8:15 in the morning, the show starts with a lecture before the hectic day is to begin.
The episode takes place in the classroom "lab" of the college's Heritage Restaurant (located in the Applied Technology Center) where the students receive training and practice in front of real customers.
Back in the kitchen, Betsy, a senior student, is subjected to an exam, where she's presented with a mystery dish that must be prepared by 11:00 am that morning. In this case, the dish is pheasant, and she'll be required to turn out six final dishes – the method for cooking that she'll be required to use is stewing. Betsey will prepare a blanquette and a liaison which will go into a tortilla shell.
Elsewhere, other students are preparing the soup of the day which is a mushroom morel soup which will join the roster of the other two standards; a curried lentil soup and a split pea soup. Still other students are preparing vegetables for dishes that will be on the menu for the day, a brunoise and a batonet.
Other students demonstrate the area of the kitchen where the menu's salads are prepared, in addition to other dishes such as the chicken wrap which require salad to be prepared and then combined into another meal.
Next, a student discusses a challenge he's been given – to find another way to present a shrimp satay appetizer, which is successful. Chef Angus explains the theory behind a successful salad dish.
Another student is followed around while he tests a sauce for presentation, after it has passed the demanding test of satisfying Chef Angus's palate. Another student describes his experience at GRCC after explaining the puff pastry he has just pulled out of the oven for a pot pie dish on the menu.
On to the grill as another student demonstrates and explains grilling pizza dough. Back over in another part of the kitchen, a student explains a sandwich that she's preparing using a variety of vegetables. She also discusses the rigor of GRCC's Culinary Arts program, and her plans for the future.
Returning to Betsy as she takes her exam, we learn that she has just finished the sauce that will go into her stew and that she is just about to do the final preparation combining the meat, sauce and vegetables.
Another student is preparing a pasta dish, and explains all of the components, as well as the structure of the class and how the students are rotated between various stations in the kitchen so that they can experience an overview of working in the kitchen.
Next it's on to the pass, where all dishes are finalized before heading out to the table. The student demonstrates the various garnishes and toppings that will accompany dishes and describes their preparation. The interview is interrupted as one of the aspects of learning in a working kitchen is illustrated; the kitchen is running low on pork and Chef Angus explains the importance of understanding the volume of traffic that is coming in and how to be flexible to accommodate changes such as this by forecasting how much will be sold and adjusting the "par stocks" accordingly.
The show concludes as the class is gathered to watch Betsy's dish being finalized by its presentation on the plate; a pheasant stew in a tortilla shell bowl, with sides of potatoes piped onto the plate with glazed carrots and spaghetti squash.
Student sautéeing mushrooms
Preparing pheasant by boning
Pheasant Stew