Culinary ArtsThe Things We’ve Learned

Gaylene Greenwood&

Diane Cluff

Our experiences with Nationals.

Gaylene’s Guidelines

#1 TEAM WORK, TEAM WORK, TEAM WORK#2 PUSH THEM BEYOND THEIR LIMITS#3 BE HONEST AND UPFRONT – IF YOU DON’T

LIKE SOMETHING TELL THEM AND CORRECT EVEN THE LITTLEST THINGS. Constantly remind them that they need to wash their hands. Point out times when cross contamination can happen.

#4 PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE#5 Don’t Assume that they know how to do

things. If you don’t know either ask a professional.

#6 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Seasoning

Teach them to season ◦ White pepper is much

stronger than black pepper.

◦ Don’t season without tasting.

Prepare them for un-for-seen circumstances ◦ Varying amounts of

sodium in different stock.◦ What would you do if you

don’t get enough stock?◦ What to do if you get

premade Roux.

Cleanliness and Organization

How to set up Mise en place.

What to do with your equipment when you are done or are not using it.

Keep dirty equipment out of view, under prep tables if possible.

Keep meat preparation area’s away from other preparation area’s.

Proper Uniform

Shoes non-melting uppers and nonslip shoes.

Pants hemmed properly.

Jackets should be clean.

If it has a yellow oily stain, that happens, but it does not mean that it is not clean.

I have my students press their coats before so that they are not wrinkled.

Misc. info

Proper cooking temperatures.How to warm and cool plates for serving.Don’t keep checking food (releases heat). Patience is a virtue.Know how long things are going to take. Knowing recipes before hand there is no excuse for

not knowing your time plan in advance. This comes with practicing the recipes. At home and with the advisor.

Have them get a bag of carrots or two and practice knife cuts at home.

What if scinerios.Bring in professional’s.

Miscl. Info

If something goes wrong pretend you know what you are doing instead of drawing attention to the fact that something went wrong.

Make sure that they understand the score sheet and how they will be scored.

Teach them to have fun and put some love (passion) into their food.

Sample Menu’s will be posted on the national website by December 1st.