Wednesday,
September 19, 2012
In
the morning we all met at Boston’s Island Creek Oyster Bar, which is attached
to the Hotel Commonwealth, to meet and listen to a lecture by their chef Jeremy
Sewall and the chef of the nearby restaurant Lineage. The topic: the principles
of meat cookery. It seemed like a funny place for the conversation given the
shellfish theme of the restaurant. In fact, one massive wall of the place was
formed entirely of oyster shells encased in chain link. It was a bit
overwhelming, but a wonderful architectural detail that really held the theme
of the place.
Chef
talked about the breakdown of cuts of meat from cows and discussed the grading
system and federal guidelines that monitor beef production and labeling. One
interesting tidbit he mentioned: The Upton Sinclair novel The Jungle was the
catalyst behind the formation of the USDA and government grading. The novel
depicted the deplorable conditions of slaughterhouses and became such an
intense social dialog that the government was spurred into action. It gives one
hope that such a social change is possible in other areas of the food system
that are unjust and poorly managed! Chef also said that a cow must be
slaughtered at 42 months or younger to be considered Prime. I didn’t realize
how young most cows are when they’re slaughtered—it’s not just veal.
In
the afternoon we reconvened in the BU kitchen to prepare a variety of meats and
accompaniments. Chef Sewall did things a bit differently and had each group of
two to four students make entirely different dishes. My group of three was
tasked with making pan seared pork chops with Madeira mushrooms. Chef was
extremely good at explaining the task at hand and demonstrating as we went
along. It felt very well orchestrated. He had us turn the pork chops into
double battered fried pork cutlets. We used panko bread crumbs, which added to
the thick texture and crunchiness. We ended up overcooking the pork a little,
but the coating was good and the Madeira mushroom sauce was delicious. I would
like to try the recipe, but substitute regular beef stock for the veal stock.
The
other groups made the following: roasted chicken, braised lamb shanks, steak
with pepper sauce, roasted carrots, horseradish mashed potatoes, and herb
roasted potatoes. I surprised myself by liking the mashed potatoes. I did not
expect to like the addition of horseradish to such a traditional dish. This
coming week we have meat cookery part two with chef again.
At
the end of the day, the chef from Lineage came by and gave us an in depth knife
sharpening demo. We’d already had a brief one by Chef Vyhnanek, but it was
still good to see another chef’s technique. I have to say, he looked rather
like he was doing the robot as he held his bottom half motionless and turned
his torso mechanically left and right over the sharpening stone. I need to find
a time to bring in my home chef knife to sharpen up. I’ve had it for at least
two years and have yet to sharpen it. Sad and ashamed…
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