Regarding Top Chef (and Other Cooking Competitions)

So Top Chef, Season 5 is over; weeks of grueling (and crazy) challenges all for this one episode. I actually really enjoy watching cooking competitions. I like seeing how people's creative minds work as they think on their feet. I like to watch and learn the different techniques. And, yes, I enjoy cheering for my favorites.

But there is something that I've noticed about the show, and it is not only in Top Chef, but in other cooking competitions as well. In culinary school, one of the first things that you learn is safety and sanitation when working in a kitchen. There have been some behaviors that I've noticed in these shows that go against these basics in common sense of cleanliness. It usually occurs when chefs taste their food. Example: a tasting spoon that has gone into a mouth and then is tapped onto the rim of the pot, tapping off extra drops of food into the pot. You might as well be spitting in the food that you are preparing.

Or perhaps the finger taste test. That is gross, too. With only 15 minutes to make a dish, do you think anyone will take the time to properly wash their hands? But I think the one of the most disgusting things that I've seen is a chef drinking out of a liquid measuring cup. Jessica, what's wrong with that? It gets sanitized. Maybe I get really picky at this point, but I believe that there are certain tools to do certain things and drinking out of a tool that is used to cook isn't right. Do you really want to measure milk in a cup that someone drank out of?

Being a real top chef isn't just about cooking good food; it is about work ethic, attitude, and consistency. A tip for anyone who want become a chef: work cleanly and be sanitary. If you don't have a conviction about cleanliness, than you are missing a block in your foundation to being good at what you do.

Crème brûlée, The Right Way

So, last Monday, Brian and I went to Straits in San Francisco with our friends Dave and Nancy. Dave really wanted to take his girlfriend to an Asian fusion restaurant since it's her favorite type of food.

We had a wonderful meal: lemongrass beef, calamari with kaffir lime aioli, vermicelli noodles with prawns, to name a few dishes. And we had to save room for dessert, that was Nancy's call. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything that interested me on the dessert menu. Perhaps, on another night I may have felt different.

But Nancy saw the crème brûlée and had to go for it. The first thing that I noticed about the dessert was the unevenly melted sugar on top, as I looked closer through the dim lighting, I noticed that they were granules of turbinado sugar.

A cardinal rule of crème brûlée had been broken: It is not a brûlée unless there is caramelized sugar on top, and that means all the sugar. Dave had attempted to tap at the sugar to break it and his spoon went right into the custard.

With that in mind, a few tips about making that nice caramelized sugar topping.

1) The only way to do it is with a blow torch; you can do it with a broiler, but I find that using the blow torch gives you more control.

2) What sugar do you use? It depends on what works best for you. I prefer turbinado sugar only because I feel comfortable working with it. (Make sure that the sugar is melted. Since the granules are larger than other sugars, it will take a little longer to to melt down,) Some people use granulated sugar which is fine, but you make have to sprinkle on an extra layer to get a nice think caramelized top. (I've read of one technique where you use strained golden brown sugar.)

3) Applying sugar. With the blow torch, quickly torch the top of the crème brûlée not enough to burn it, but just enough to get it "wet." (It is a reaction when heat is applied to chilled custards.) Then with a spoon coat sugar onto the custard. Use the back of the spoon to help make the layer of sugar even.

4) Make sure the surface is covered well with sugar or the custard will burn. But do not coat too generously, or you will spend too much time melting the sugar and it ruins the chilled custard.

5) For safety, keep anything flameable away from the crème brûléee. (This includes your free hand that might be tempted to hang onto the ramekin.)

6) Torch it, but keep the torch moving so that you melt the sugar evenly.

Valentine's Day

Sigh. Valentine's Day.

The only time of year that the cafe is open for dinner. Being right by the chocolate factory gave us a great excuse to host dinner since chocolate pairs so well with Valentine's Day.

I began my day, a bit bleary eyed, not quite awakened by my morning cup of coffee. But I was not the only one who felt that way. Edwin, the dishwasher, was already there. While one of the cooks, the barista, and I arrived at the same time at 8 am.

Because Valentine's Day landed on a Saturday this year, my boss decided to take advantage of the weekend and open both Friday and Saturday.With a 10-15 hour work day om Friday, we were preparing for another long day, except this one would be much busier.

Pastries and cookies were prepared and baked off for our brunch service. And after thinking through what the course of the day and the evening would be like, I decided to bake and cook off a few more items for our Valentine's Day menu: a few more servings of pain au chocolat bread pudding, two more quarts of coconut anglaise, and an extra chocolate decadence.

And brunch was busy, as our reservation sheet was packed with names. I took a short break for lunch and was expecting to get a chance to take another break before dinner service. But, for some reason, like with most big nights, time just slipped away. Before I knew it, brunch was over and I had to prepare some pastries for the next day, while setting myself up to plate desserts.

I had only three items on the dessert menu: the bread pudding came with stout anglaise, chocolate sauce, and cherry syrup; the decadence had brûléed banana slices, coconut anglaise with passionfruit coulis; and the chocolate pot de creme with cinnamom palmiers.All chocolate themed of course.

My evening consisted of the sounds of the live band, the radio in the kitchen, and my oven. And since we had no ticketing machine in the pastry kitchen, I relied on hand-written post it notes. Servers and bussers were running in and out of the kitchen, picking up plates and grabbing clean silverware. Near the end of the evening, I saw poor Edwin leaning against a reach in refrigerator, taking a breather.

But at the end of the night was family meal, a chance for us to grab some food, to taste the Cowgirl Creamery cheese plate or the filet mignon: A chance to recooperate after a very long day. But it was 11pm when I had finished wrapping up my products and cleaning my station. And I just wanted to go home and see my husband, who had been so thoughtful to buy me flowers from my favorite floral shop, The Meadow. So, I boxed up some portions and headed out, leaving the control chaos behind, and into the quiet night.

A Comment about Valentine's Day

It's that time of year. Heart shaped boxes of chocolates. Red heart shaped lollipops. Those fun packages of cartoon Valentines Day cards: Spongebob or Sesame Street?

From a pastry perspective, it is definately one of those holidays that you take advantage of. A part of the package of the card and the flowers is something sweet, perhaps even "chocolatey."

I like to decorate cut-out cookies, and Valentine's Day is the first holiday of the year that cut-out cookies are perfect for. I specifically make my heart cookies look like those message heart candies.

In one bakery that I worked at, decorating cakes and cookies were a big part of my responsibilities. It can be pain-stakingly detailed work, but as long as you are organized and work cleanly, it is actually quite enjoyable. Your cookies are lined up in front of you in the shapes of hearts, Easter eggs, four leaf clovers, or maybe even some high-heeled shoes. You have your containers of royal icing, each one a different color. And of course, your piping bags, each one ready to be fulfill its purpose. One thing to note is that the more colors you have, the more time it takes to finish your project. Sometimes it feels like it increases exponentially. Latex gloves are also good to have unless you want your hands to be stained with bright red or deep blue.

I do not usually cover the cookie completely with royal icing, though sometime I have to take advantage of the canvas I have before me. As much fun as it is to decorate, the cookie is still the highlight. Use European-style butter if you can for basic butter cookies and it makes such a huge difference in flavor. Also, no imitation vanilla please!

The (Extra) Bitter End

Today marks a sad day for Scharffen Berger Chocolate fans as it was publicly announced in the San Francisco Chronicle that the factory here in Berkeley will be closing.

I already knew this before today since I work right next to the factory and the restaurant exclusively uses Scharffen Berger Chocolate.

Chocolate is a luxury, and we are reminded of it during these difficult economic times. Another example is during World War II when chocolate was a rare sight in Europe. I was reading some of the comments on sfgate.com regarding the article and there is every opinion under the sun about this factory closing. (Note that there will still be Scharffen Berger Chocolate, but will be produced in a factory in Illinois. )

I keep thinking about all the accounts of artisan chocolate makers that I've read or listened to. It's not about the money. It's about creating something that you are proud to call your own. It's about doing something that you are passionate about. Anything made in its purest form doesn't always come cheap.

I am glad I had a chance to work here and learn so much more about chocolate. It took me a while, but I think I finally learned how to really taste it.

How I will miss the smell of chocolate as I walk in to work, the flocks of people passing by our cafe as they go for a tour, but most of all, I will miss the people: I will miss my brief chats with the folks in the retail store as I pop into buy a few bars. I will miss talking with the employees as they come by for coffee or a chocolate scone.

As for me, who knows what direction the cafe will go. Wherever it goes, I will continue what I am doing and continue doing it well.

Inauguration Day

I saw these on my trip to New York. I thought it would be appropriate to post it today. We are watching the inauguration now (recorded off of our DVR.) Both B and I had to work today, but I got to hear the ceremony the old fashion way: the radio.

Tomatoes Revived

So how does a tomato plant survive?

That's what happened to my hothouse tomato plant that I bought last April. It produced some very delicious tomatoes. Unfortunately, most of them were stolen by the Berkeley killer squirrels (as I call them.)

So when a furry culprit took my absolute last tomato? I gave up. (The worst part is that the stupid thing took a bite and left the rest of the tomato on my patio.)

I stopped watering it and let it go to the summer heat.

For months I left it sitting on the patio. I kept thinking about getting rid of the dried up plant. Then the first rains came in October and I did not want to handle a muddy potted plant. So I waited. When it stopped I finally went out to the patio, a new garbage bag in hand, ready to entomb my dead tomato plant.

I was shocked to see that from the dried and shriveled stems of this once lush plant, grew stalks of green. It was alive! I couldn't believe it and I got right back into taking care of it, though I've moved it to a sunnier part of the patio.

And today, on (suprisingly) warm January day, there are blossoms.