OH LAWD chapter 25

A French Chef
courtesy photobucket

After I got through talking to the girls about the car, I told them, “I need to head back to New Orleans, and get ready for the coming week. I won't be back for maybe a month because of some things I have to do.

They both were quiet, saying nothing so I went to my car and headed home.

I was glad we got by this so things could get healed and back to some state of normalcy.  

Something I didn't tell my folk was the owner of the restaurant wanted me to go to Paris for several months and work with some of the top chefs there.

I was excited about the trip but as the time came near, the war was getting closer to France and the owner changed his mind. He said he wanted me to go to New York for they had some chefs that were about as good as those in France.

He planned for me to stay there six months and learn some of the enhanced points of preparing the finest French cuisine. The arrangements were made and I prepared to leave.

I wrote Pa and told him what I was doing and wouldn't see them until I returned. I promised to write them regularly and let them know how I was doing.

I cleaned my car and covered it after disconnecting the battery.

The train ride seemed long and I did a lot of thinking without coming to any conclusion on anything except I was going to have a good time while I was there.

After arriving in New York the next two days was spent getting settled. The owner of the first restaurant where I was to intern, was both nice and helpful to me.

 
While in school, I had studied some French, and was exposed to many French phrases while working in New Orleans, but this was different for almost everything was spoken about in French.

The chefs were marvelous, and I was amazed at how precise and fast they were. The meals were far above in quality and taste than I had been preparing in New Orleans.

After three months I had learned more about preparing food than I had in all the time before, and here I thought I was a real good cook. The very idea of me thinking I was that good - - now embarrassed me.

After the first three months I went to work in a different restaurant. There they prepared some of the same dishes, but they were somewhat different.

It was then I saw the wisdom of having me work at different cafes. I learned in order to be a true French Cafe everything must exude French cuisine from the motif to the atmosphere, and especially the food; while the name sets the mood and expectations.

While some may not know the difference, your main cliental will expect authenticity. I spent most of my days off, learning about wines and how they complement each of the dishes.

When I finished my tenure in New York I felt like an expert while knowing I wasn't, because it is a lifetime quest to totally grasp the French cuisine.

I had kept in contact with Ma by letter, and told her to tell everyone who mattered what I was doing. Marly and Linda were in their second year of college and soon would have to decide where to enroll after they had finished junior college.

I came directly home from New York, for I knew if I went to New Orleans it would be weeks before I could get away, and I had been missing my family and all my friends in Gulfport.

Oh Lawd           

 

To be Continued