Five Things I Learned at Work this Week Vol. 5

I'm going to quickly upload a handful of weeks in a row because life got in my way and I wasn't posting here, but every night after work I jotted down one little thing I didn't know of, or didn't know about, before I started my shift that day. Some days I know what my thing will be the moment my mind is introduced to it; others I sit in bed at night, quietly, recounting facts about food, workings of complicated equipment, new behaviors, phrases, and everything else. Even if small things, I'm thrilled to have these little entries to look back on: things I can re-teach myself if I ever happen to forget learning in the first place.

Monday, May 12th: You’ll never know what’s going on in your cooks’ minds, until you know what’s going on in your cooks’ minds. That stuff may only ever come out if you offer them a ride home, and they say yes and throw their bike in your trunk.

Tuesday, May 13th: I learned my favorite—and our only—manager just put his 2 weeks in. He calls me Palmie, the way my family does.

Wednesday, May 14th: My chef makes a damn good Cuban sandwich.

Thursday, May 15th: If you have two fryers, one for shellfish and one non-shellfish, and you intend to use the same stockpot to filter both, you must do the non-shellfish fryer first to avoid cross contamination. When filtering a fryer, you empty all oil into a pot, clean out any excess food within the fryer, then pour the oil back in. Filtering the shellfish one first would contaminate the pot, and therefore any oil that goes in it.

Friday, May 16th: Sourdough starter becomes ‘retarded’—or dormant—below 40°. This is why starter dies if it’s kept in the fridge for too long, roughly two weeks. This is also why yeast must be kept in the fridge: to slow its growth. When kept at room temperature, yeast can become overactive.