Catering
Lesson, or Indentured-Servitude?
Two
Hundred phyllo cups to go, please, a gallon of mayo ...
We've got some differences of opinion among the students
on catering for hire. I liked the idea, because:
- We got two complete days [if you look at our class schedule -- at
least as much as I've entered
thus far, you'll see that two days is a relative luxury] of experience
preparing food en masse -- for a crowd of about 300 people
at nearby Science
World for their upcoming "James Bond" event
- Students got some experience delivering catered meals
- Chef Christophe could equip our kitchen with many more/varied foodstuffs
than would be possible without funding via a catering event; his labor
costs are approximately zero because the students are providing free
labor, the the vast quantities of food have a "home" after
we process them.
I enjoyed the first prep day; it was exciting and fostered
a sense of teamwork (you've got 50 or so tasks to accomplish, each group
is working on a half dozen of them -- yet the group at large is working
together toward a common goal) -- and Chef Christophe (who operates local
catering firm LeZeste)
is getting exposure for the school -- as well as the students.
Some feel, however, that its inappropriate to "volunteer"
the school to support an event that funds the Faculty's side-business.
I can see how one could feel this way -- but it strikes me as a "win
win" scenario -- students get experience that the school couldn't
(or wouldn't) otherwise provide -- and Chef gets the review from the event.
Works for me.
On the other hand, I would not want to make a habit of
it; this particular event was scheduled into the curriculum already.
My Station-Partner (Lee) and I prepared:
- A half-dozen cucumbers, cut into narrow strips for rolled sushi
- Two hundred phyllo cups (yeah, cups created out
of small sheets of phyllo, assembled in muffin tins). This required
3 pounds of phyllo dough, and a bit over a pound of melted butter
- Four liters (about a gallon) of mayonnaise which when put together
with...
-
- About 2 cups of chives emincee
and
- Two cups of fine-chopped red onion
- About red bliss potatoes, quartered -- enough to fill a stockpot
2 1/2' high and about the same, round
- A bunch of horseradish
...resulted in a respectable amount of respectable
potato salad.