Curry Recipes Online
Beginners Guide => Trainee Chefs / Beginners Questions => Topic started by: matcurry on August 10, 2013, 11:29 PM
-
Ive been harassing my local Indian for about a year now to work for them for free as long as they teach me to cook and they have said yes im so excited
-
Nice one.
-
Thats how i started - peeling onions in a corner
best, Rich
-
Good job.
-
Good on yer mat
-
Ive been harassing my local Indian for about a year now to work for them for free as long as they teach me to cook and they have said yes im so excited
Congratulations. I've been doing the same at my local restaurant and it looks like they're going to give me a go. I saw a local lad in there washing dishes the other night too. There have been many raids by the Border's Agency in this area over the past few months including this restaurant. I'm wondering if they're getting short of staff. And I know that Chinese restaurants have been complaining of not being able to get work visas for Chinese chefs recently.
When one starts working in a kitchen, what does one do? Chop vegetables? How do you then progress to start cooking meals? I've always wondered how an Indian/Chinese chef learns all those dishes on a menu.....?
-
Nice one! You'll love it. Let us know how you get on. I still do deliveries and occasional leafleting for one of my local TAs. That's another way to get your foot in the door. Great bunch of lads at my TA.
Rob :)
-
When one starts working in a kitchen, what does one do? Chop vegetables? How do you then progress to start cooking meals? I've always wondered how an Indian/Chinese chef learns all those dishes on a menu.....?
From what I gather if it's a typical BIR kitchen it may be a while before you start cooking meals (except those for yourself). Ideally, you will start out as a kitchen porter. This will involve cleaning (lots of cleaning), prep (e.g. chopping veg, peeling garlic, etc.), helping (and learning from) the Tandoori chef. After 2 years you may get a job as a Tandoori Chef. A Tandoori Chef will train for a minimum of 6 years before he is considered time-served. He will have learned a lot from the Chef and will be a dab hand at making boiled/pilau rice, and pretty much everything cooked in a wok-type pan, as well as all the naans, tikka, etc. Occasionally he will make a curry, usually at busy times, monitored closely by the Chef. The next stage is Chef, or rather Assistant Chef. A minimum of 10 full-time experience before he will be referred to as a Chef (cook). Highly skilled and passionate about food. Good all-rounder. Team player and leadership skills. Preferably a good singer as well. Master Chef. A chef will never refer himself as a Master Chef. The honour is bestowed to him by his peers. 20 years plus experience.
This is of course an ideal. Such chefs are becoming rare these days, and in great demand. This is one reason why many TAs/restaurants are completely crap. They just can't get the right staff.
Rob :)
-
Excellent work, I look forward to hearing about the experience
Stew
-
A Tandoori Chef will train for a minimum of 6 years before he is considered time-served.
I suspect you're right and how crazy is that? A semi-competent person could be fully trained within 1 week.
-
A Tandoori Chef will train for a minimum of 6 years before he is considered time-served.
I suspect you're right and how crazy is that? A semi-competent person could be fully trained within 1 week.
There's more to it than slapping naan breads and dropping skewers into a tandoor oven George. Amongst other things, the Tandoor Chef will have to learn butchery skills. Try making tandoori lamb chops, from a half (or whole) sheep, with no wastage. The lad on the tandoor at my local TA is still having trouble spiral-wrapping a sheek kebab with fine pastry, for the special sheek kebab/naga roll. It's well tricky! A fully trained tandoori chef may be able to find work in the large asian banqueting halls, used for weddings and business events. You won't get into one of these places after a week. This is the territory of the Master Chefs.
Rob :)
-
Can I teach you how to paint my ceilings and walls matcurry but you must first mow my lawn and clean the windows . Good luck on your cookery course I hope you enjoy it
-
some irony in walleye's post, but it is an unfortunate price to pay.
Godspeed you in your curry journey, Matcurry.
-
When I ask counter staff some questions about ingredients etc (regardless of the establishment) they tell me that it takes a couple of years to learn how to cook the curries. I still don't believe that. It can't be THAT complicated.