Line Cook Wanted.

I am lagging behind on my blog updates.  This post will be for week 9, but I am about to enter the 10th week of my stage.  I have been extremely busy/lazy/tired.  My visa still has not been approved because Ferrandi still needs to give me a letter in regards to my internship.  I am pretty upset with Ferrandi at the moment.  I sent one of their representatives an email about obtaining the letter, and they said they would get it to me ASAP.  I waited for a week and did not get a response, then one day I receive an email from the representative stating that she will be on holiday break until January 7.  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!  That is 1 week before my flight leaves for Paris.  I am afraid I might not even make my flight now, because I don't know how long it will take the consulate to approve my visa.  Way to drop the ball Ferrandi.

In other news, I am saddened by the fact that my days with my French tutor are coming to an end.  She is one of the best teachers I've ever had, if not the best!  Looking back, I guess that I have progressed very well in 4 months time, but I will still be slaughtered by the French.  I can't speak fast enough or with correct grammar, and I damn sure can't comprehend quick enough.  I hope the French are understanding when I ask them to repeat the same question 20 times!

The stage is going okay.  The prep work is still strenuous, but dinner service remains fun.  This past weekend I got to cook on the line.  YES! you read correctly, I GOT TO COOK ON THE LINE!!!!!! At first I was watching Mr. Pirate, but he told me to jump in.  I started off just heating up his Purées, then I moved onto searing some lamb, followed by plating his beef dish.  It was a pretty cool experience.  Chef yelled at me for not plating one of the plates to perfection.  It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  If anything, I learned a new way to have better hand control when plating.  At one point, the Pirate and I were moving in harmony, like fine clock work.  Mr. Pirate would turn around to plate and I would automatically grab his pan and continue his cooking, while multi-tasking and continuing to cook whatever was in my pan.  I felt like such a badass until I started bumping into him and ruining our machine-like flow.

I also got to work with Mr. Hasselhoff.  At first I helped him plate his pasta dish, but soon after he had me cooking it.  Then I was responsible for cooking and plating the dish by myself!  well, Hasselhoff did help me when I was falling behind.  Once again Chef was there to sternly educate me when I screwed up, but hey! I didn't get kicked off the line so that is always good.  I learn a lot from Hasselhoff.  When he was showing me how to cook the pasta dish he went into great detail about why it is cooked a certain way, signs to look out for if something might go wrong, and how to adjust it to remedy an impending disaster.  What a great mentor.

I wonder if I will get a chance to work with The Punisher this coming weekend.  I fear his fish station the most!