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Many things (both good and less good) have happened in my life lately, so in November 2013 I decided to take a break from the "Corporate world" to sort out my life situation. One of many things that I decided to do was to learn more about cooking, because food has always been a passion of mine. From my native Vietnam to my home country Norway, my life journey has taken me to many beautiful countries such as Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Malaysia, where I truly got exposed to the food culture, which may reflect in my home-cooked dishes. With this site, I hope to inspire and encourage you to take a break (short, long, or very long - you decide) and do what you love doing but that you haven't set a date for. Just do it, make it happen :) Kort oppsummert: Norsk-Vietnameser i Paris pa jakt etter mening med livet...

Monday 3 March 2014

First month @Ferrandi

Wow, time flies. It's been already one month since I started @Ferrandi. What are the key learnings so far? How to summerize my experience in 5 words? I need to ponder a bit on this one.

Okay, this is how I would summerize my 1st month - the 5 Fs:
FATIGUE
FUN
FASTER
FRUSTRATING
FAT

FATIGUE
I knew it was going to be an intensive programme, so I was more or less prepared. However the fatigue was there, another type of fatigue than what I was used to in the business/consulting world. Could feel it in my back and feet after standing and moving all day long.
Solution: got extra good shoe sole in my kitchen shoes and no more back pain :)

FUN
I work together with people coming from all the 5 continents, so it's awesome. It's always fun to learn new skills. Our chef is very open for questions, so it makes our class interactive and entertaining.

FASTER
Our chef often warns us about the speed (or lack thereof), that we need to work much faster, more structured and organised. Out there in the real world, there is high expectation for fast learning, understanding and delivery as most chefs won't repeat or teach twice. Yeah, I can do it :)

FRUSTRATING
Culinary world is different from business world. Things work differently, so I just need to to adapt faster to this new environment. And of course it's frustrating when I am not mastering a task with the first attempt, but it only means that I would need to practice more. I need to get up to speed quickly if I am going to survive in the kitchen.

FAT
Cooking 5hrs every often means a lot of food and ingredients that we get to take home with us if we want to. Since I don't like to waste, I bring a lot of stuff home and then I end up eating more than I should and it all goes straight to my waist line :)
But there is an easy solution to this issue: exercise more :) No way I am giving up coffee and croissant for breakfast ...

The next couple of months will be tough, and I will just need to work harder and faster, learn as much as I can and enjoy as much as I can my time in the kitchen. Et voila.

Looking forward to learning more and to cooking beautiful food,

Maison Emil Paris :)

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