32
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MAY | JUNE 2014
the
Chef
issue
T
imes have changed for culinary schools. Back when I applied to the
Greater Cincinnati Culinary Arts Academy, the first thing they asked in
the interview was, “Show us your hands.” I did, and they saw all my calluses
and scars and burns in all the right places. They required two years of restaurant
work, and that’s what they were looking for on my hands. Nowadays, culinary
schools —which can be really expensive — take kids straight out of high school.
I love the popularity that all the food-inspired television shows have brought to
the industry, but I’m afraid it can give kids unrealistic expectations. They think
they’ll graduate and be Emeril in six months, and they’re disillusioned when
they’re not. The schools don’t always prepare students for the intensity and
the seriously hard work, the dues paying, that a busy kitchen demands. Emeril
would tell you the same thing.
That said, I LOVED Culinary School! I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I was in
a really small class, only 10 of us, so it was very hands-on; we got to do it all.
There were two full-time chef instructors who ran the school, which was one
of a handful affiliated with the Culinary Institue of America (CIA) at the time.
All the major classes, garde manger, pastry, management/facilities, etc., were
taught by visiting CIA instructors. Classes started at 7:30am, and I don’t think
I missed a single one.
The first week, we didn’t even set foot in the kitchen. It was an intensive
Sanitation class, and, man, was it scary: microorganisms, bacteria, fungi — all
the bad things that can happen to food. We were all afraid to eat in a restaurant
for a while. Once we were allowed in the kitchen, we were taught the basics:
knife skills, stocks, sauces, yields and proper measurement, and basic cooking
methods, like grilling, sautéeing, and braising. As in so many fields, a good
cook must master these building blocks before moving on to the creative side,
which all cooks aspire to in the end. For one thing, it helps prevent waste: you
can’t just be throwing away your mistakes, you have to know how to fix them.
Another really valuable lesson they taught us was service, and how the dining
room should run. They’d open up the dining room and assign each of us a
different role. You might be poissonier, and you might be dishwasher. And
we’d cycle through all the different jobs to learn how to be efficient, and how to
control the flow of the dining room.
The final and key step of culinary school is the externship. That professional
experience is so important. Remember, I’m from Cincinnati so I wanted to
engulf myself in a culinary mecca. So I went to New Orleans for the first time
in my life, and only went home to finish up and graduate, before coming right
back. My first step in a Louisiana kitchen was at Ralph Brennan’s Mr. B’s and I
have only wanted to work with such an astute restaurateur since then, and that
has been going on for the past 22 years.
Today, culinary students are so passionate about their work, and their curiosity
and desire is so fresh — it’s great to have that energy in the kitchen. We choose
across the gourmet externs from some of the biggest culinary schools in the
country to the smallest community colleges. Just like going to Harvard Law
School doesn’t make you the best lawyer, going to the “best” culinary school
won’t necessarily make you the most extraordinary cook. The reality is, it’s up
to the student to make the most of a culinary education. My best advice is to
make sure you’ve logged plenty of hours in a professional kitchen and make
sure that’s the life you want, before you go. And if you do go for it, have a ball.
Meet the Chef —
haley bitterMann
restAUrAnt:
Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group,
Corporate Executive Chef
IworKeD
at a small family owned restaurant while I was
going to the University of Cincinnati. When I first was hired
there I was working in the front of the house starting as a
busser, then a server and bartender. At one point they asked
me to help out in the kitchen.When I started working in the
kitchen I immediately fell in love with cooking and being in
a kitchen with all the chefs, cooks and dishwashers. I felt at
home. That is when I decided to go to culinary school.
MY Best ADVICe
is don’t over complicate your food.
Fresh, seasonal and simplicity in preparation get you the
best results. Also season, season, season. I love kosher salt
and fresh ground pepper.
I Don’t eAt oUt A lot
because, honestly, it’s like
coming home from work, getting changed, and going back
to work. But certain places feel “off duty.” I frequent Phò Tâù
Bay. I love Sylvain, a great gastropub in the French Quarter
patronized mostly by locals, whose chef was our opening
sous chef at Ralph’s on the Park; Salvo’s, a seafood joint
down on Belle Chasse Highway; and Bouligny, the Uptown
tavern that John Harris opened next door to Lilette.
wHAt It’s lIKe to
Go to CUlInArY sCHool
by
Chef Haley Bittermann, Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group
