‘Tis the season to be jolly! But in the life of a professional chef, this is the season of gingerbread houses, stollen, Christmas puddings and Roast turkeys, which to sum up is a lot of work!
Christmas for chefs begins a year in advance with the tradition of soaking fruits for the following year. Brainstorming sessions begin in August so that we can make this season a special one for our guests and patrons.
Once the menus and offers are finalized for respective outlets, meetings begin with suppliers as to approximate quantities required and when. Reservations are open and offers communicated to our guests.
I love cooking during Christmas, the smells of festive spices like cinnamon and star anise in the kitchen. The scent of perfumed citrus from zesting of orange and lemon. Baked fruit cakes and the production of Christmas pudding and the yearly molding of stollen promises to be a good Christmas.
The week leading up to Christmas is when are Turkeys arrive. They are prepped and roasted based on demand and is served with giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, jus and of course all the trimmings. Turkeys get into the oven during the wee hours of the morning and is just special.
The one thing that amazes me each and every year is the way the whole professional family shows up for work, spends the week prepping and most of the holidays in general together and makes it a day to remember for a number of families. It was one of the most deterring factors of choosing this profession. But, it seems that it is just a different lifestyle altogether.
Things I make time for..
-Family
-Home cooked Christmas dinner
-Roast turkey
-Christmas pudding
-Kuswar (traditional Mangalorean Christmas sweets)
-Experimenting with a couple of new dishes/desserts
-Secret Santa’s(as many as I can get myself into)
-Making a trip to church
So here’s wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas from my families both at work and at home!🎄🎅🏻
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