I've never been so ready for a new year...

Alright-- the first post of 2010. There may not be any flying cars, hover boards or anything else the Back to the Future movies promised me that the future would be like, but there's still culinary school. And a new month means a new block of classes.

Kitchen is all about proteins this month, from your chickens and beefs to the chickens of the sea (I mean seafood...I think?). Our chef is old school, he graduated in '74, and appears to have lived the *cough* 70's lifestyle. His catch phrase is, "Can you dig it?" and I'd say he's a 75% match of Christopher Walken in both his appearance and mannerisms.

He also talks to meat, sometimes a bit inappropriately. Don't believe me? Watch this. The first ten seconds proves my point. And that's just silly. That's not him calling a piece of pork a "dirty slut" when trying to hack the spine away from a rack of chops with a cleaver. That really happened, on day one of class. It is impossible to make this stuff up.

Anyway, the class is going to be intense. The atmosphere is more kitchen-like for sure, with groups responsible for more dishes on a daily basis. As a group we're probably completing four to five unique dishes a day on top of shared responsibilities of side dishes. The pace continues to amp up, and I've got no complaints there.

My other two classes this month include a class about pairing alcohol with food, and a cost control and purchasing class to further stuff some Math into our heads. The pairing class has the potential to be interesting (it is an interesting subject, no?), but the teacher has been a bit of a let down thus far. Cost Control is just Math with a purpose...if there is such a thing...as opposed to Math for the sake of Math. The class pertains more to using Math like we would in the industry, not just proving we know 2+2=4.

Other than that, I de-boned my first chicken today. That was a trip. It pretty much went down like it does in the YouTube clip above, just not as smoothly as it's no easy task for a first-timer. It's a practical requirement though so 20-odd days from now I will hopefully be able to fabricate the chicken with ease.

How's that for a New Year's resolution?