Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: 976bar on August 22, 2012, 05:49 PM
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Hi Everyone,
Haven't been on here for a while as I have been very very busy at the Olympic Rowing Village based at Holloway University, Egham Surrey.
Cooking for the athletes themselves has been trying, and there is not much scope for individual flair, as all the recipes are printed out and must be adhered to according to the dieticians for proteins/carbs/calories etc, which was actually a bit boring to be honest.
However, when all the athletes went home, I was transferred down to the "Workforce" Kitchen, which means catering for all the Police/Admin Staff/Security Staff etc etc etc and what a difference this has turned out to be :)
Basically, they give you a meat menu, a vegetarian menu and veggie menus to cook for the workforce night and day as it's a 24 hour operation. Luckily I have managed to secure the early shift, which means getting up at 3.30am every morning and starting at 5am. We get breakfast on the go and serve at 6am, then we start preparing fro lunch.
Normally, what they print out and what ingredients come down from the warehouse are 2 totally different things, so we end up making something out of whatever we have got. But, there is usually a hell of a lot of meat and a very good range of spices, but, unfortunately no methi leaves!! :( lol
So they have been chucking like 30kg of either Chicken/Lamb etc to me and said, make something with that!!
So the first day, I made a Chicken Korma (no base sauce) just put something together from scratch and it went so quickly, the exec chef called down for another 20kg chicken and we had to make another batch so quickly to cover the lunchtime covers of 250 people. The vegetarian menu only used 1 tray and the other 5 ended up being thrown in the bin lol.
After this, they have allowed me to prepare a base sauce, and this past week have prepared bathfull's of curry which is going down a storm here :)
But alas, it's all coming to an end now. I have been asked to stay on for the Paralympics and as of Sunday will be back up in the main kitchen preparing the boring stuff once again.
But I have managed to catch a few pictures of the curries I have been able to make down in the workforce kitchens :)
I've got to say, this has been a once in a lifetime experience which I shall never forget :)
Just to give you an idea, these cookers are about 4 feet long x 2 feet wide x 2 feet deep......
Chicken Korma
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/feea668fb3e36fa7dde471e70c91256d.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#feea668fb3e36fa7dde471e70c91256d.jpg)
Base Sauce
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/17d0fec3ebf8c429a24b0698d7761f17.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#17d0fec3ebf8c429a24b0698d7761f17.jpg)
Lamb Marinating in yogurt, tomato and spices
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/d1182429fff36d1e857c767ae7253ec9.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#d1182429fff36d1e857c767ae7253ec9.jpg)
Vegetable Madras
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/a4844dc91077908e4b247db0f1c6eba7.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#a4844dc91077908e4b247db0f1c6eba7.jpg)
Lamb Rogan Josh
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/bbb23711e1497a2ab8958193bfb8cf55.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#bbb23711e1497a2ab8958193bfb8cf55.jpg)
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Great report, Bob, and jolly well done.
** Phil.
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Really great stuff Bob - what an experience! Quite an accomplishment. :)
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Bob, that's some claim to fame mate. A very well done. How did the industrial size base turn out then. Did it have the smell or taste any better for making gallons of it instead of a mere few litres ? ;D
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So Bob, the big question..... Did you put the same amount of spice mix in that big tub as for a single portion??! :P
(maybe I'm "stirring it"!!!)
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Well done Bob, you deserve a gold medal for that wonderful display and effort :)
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Well done Bob, you deserve a gold medal for that wonderful display and effort :)
Amen to that.
Simply fantastic Bob!
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Bob, that's some claim to fame mate. A very well done. How did the industrial size base turn out then. Did it have the smell or taste any better for making gallons of it instead of a mere few litres ? ;D
Hi Dave,
The base came out pretty good considering we only had tubs of garlic & ginger puree, but it certainly gave a lot of flavour to the final sauces given the large quantities we made. Not as good as the small batches I normally make but for a first attempt I was very pleased :)
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So Bob, the big question..... Did you put the same amount of spice mix in that big tub as for a single portion??! :P
(maybe I'm "stirring it"!!!)
Hi Chris,
When cooking with this type of quantity, it's difficult to know how much you are going to need. I therefore made a very large container of spice mix, put in what I thought would be enough and carried out the same method as I would for a single portion at home. Oil, G&G, spice mix, chilli etc, tomato paste, base sauce etc etc and built the curry up from there.
During the cooking process we obviously tasted and adjusted season and or spices to suit :)
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Thank you to everyone for the kind comments, and if it weren't for this forum, I would never had achieved this, so a big thank you to all of you :)
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Bloody hell Bob, you have been a busy bee.
Big congratulations on a job well done. 8)
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WOW
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nice job bob ;D
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What a great experience that must have been for you. 8)
putting all them calories in the opposition, no wonder we did so well ;D :P
well done!
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During the cooking process we obviously tasted and adjusted season and or spices to suit :)
How and when did you adjust the spices? Were there any professional chefs there who provided any new guidance on such matters? Indeed, did you have any prior experience of commercial cooking with such large quantities of any kind of cuisine yourself?
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What a great experience that must have been for you. 8)
putting all them calories in the opposition, no wonder we did so well ;D :P
well done!
These were made for the workforce not the athletes :)
Their menu's were very strict and no additions.
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During the cooking process we obviously tasted and adjusted season and or spices to suit :)
How and when did you adjust the spices? Were there any professional chefs there who provided any new guidance on such matters? Indeed, did you have any prior experience of commercial cooking with such large quantities of any kind of cuisine yourself?
Purely by taste George. If I didn't think it tasted like what I wanted to produce for the dish I was preparing, then I would adjust the seasoning.
There were no other chef's there that had any knowledge whatsoever about BIR cooking. If they made a curry, they just threw half a bag of curry powder and some chilli in.
They were all standing around and asking questions when I made the base sauce and curries and they have actually learned a lot lol.
I had never been inside a commercial kitchen before in my life, so I have learned a lot too :)
Obviously, these large batches of curry did lack to a degree the finer tastes that one would get from cooking a single portion, but apart from that, they went like hot cakes and we even had people coming back and giving us compliments, which the other chefs did not happen previously :)
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My admiration for your achievement grows with every message you post, Bob : with no prior experience it must have been a pretty intimidating venture to undertake, but you took it on and triumphed. You weren't SAS or SBS in a former existence, were you ?!
** Phil.
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I had never been inside a commercial kitchen before in my life, so I have learned a lot too :)
I'm highly impressed with your success on this job and it's so good of you to let us know how it went. I'm amazed though, with the greatest respect, that they took on anyone who lacked some previous experience cooking in a large kitchen, such as a school, factory or cruise liner. I wouldn't know where to start. It also strikes me hard labour, given the temperatures, deadlines and everything. Who are you actually employed by? Is it a catering contractor?
The customers must have thought there were Asian (BIR) chefs there, to produce restaurant type food like that!
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You must of got an immense sense of job satisfaction Bob and certainly something good to put on your CV. ;)
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My admiration for your achievement grows with every message you post, Bob : with no prior experience it must have been a pretty intimidating venture to undertake, but you took it on and triumphed. You weren't SAS or SBS in a former existence, were you ?!
** Phil.
Actually Phil, I was SAS for 17 years. Saturday and Sunday soldiers as we were known in the Territorial Army by the regulars lol
It was pretty intimidating at first not knowing one end of a commercial cooker from the other and with all the shouting that does go on in a commercial kitchen, but once you got over that initial shock, although very hard work was really enjoyable :)
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I had never been inside a commercial kitchen before in my life, so I have learned a lot too :)
I'm highly impressed with your success on this job and it's so good of you to let us know how it went. I'm amazed though, with the greatest respect, that they took on anyone who lacked some previous experience cooking in a large kitchen, such as a school, factory or cruise liner. I wouldn't know where to start. It also strikes me hard labour, given the temperatures, deadlines and everything. Who are you actually employed by? Is it a catering contractor?
The customers must have thought there were Asian (BIR) chefs there, to produce restaurant type food like that!
I was reading a free paper on the tube into London back in April and there was an Ad by Aramark, looking for chefs for the olympics and anyone with continental food experience, so I called them and told them that I had been cooking BIR food at home (or trying to) for the past 6 years and they asked me to send them my CV. I told them I didn't have one as I had never worked in a kitchen before, but they invited me along for a chat. I took along a couple of dishes which they warmed up and tasted and said, "we'd like you to join us". The rest is history really.
I've always been of the mindset, "Feel the fear and do it anyway", and do not mind stepping out of my comfort zone to try something different. I mean what was the worse that could have happened? They would have turned round to me and said, "Bob, your not up to scratch, don't come here anymore". So I took the plunge and glad I did :)
They have chef's there from all levels, even a boy of 17 who's only claim to fame in the cooking world was having worked in a fish and chip shop for 6 months peeling potatoes!! I think they were so short of chefs for these events, that they would have taken on my mother (who is now 79 bless her!!) lol.
Very hard work, was not used to standing up for 8 hours solid anymore and yes very hot, but you soon get into it.
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I had never been inside a commercial kitchen before in my life, so I have learned a lot too :)
I'm highly impressed with your success on this job and it's so good of you to let us know how it went. I'm amazed though, with the greatest respect, that they took on anyone who lacked some previous experience cooking in a large kitchen, such as a school, factory or cruise liner. I wouldn't know where to start. It also strikes me hard labour, given the temperatures, deadlines and everything. Who are you actually employed by? Is it a catering contractor?
The customers must have thought there were Asian (BIR) chefs there, to produce restaurant type food like that!
I've always been of the mindset, "Feel the fear and do it anyway", and do not mind stepping out of my comfort zone to try something different. I mean what was the worse that could have happened? They would have turned round to me and said, "Bob, your not up to scratch, don't come here anymore". So I took the plunge and glad I did :)
Well done Bob, I like your style.
I've done a few daft things too. Me and the wife ran 3 pubs back in UK before we emigrated, all 3 of them in pretty dodgy areas in Manchester where we knew nobody...add to that the fact that my missus is Oriental, we were right in the deep end, and had to put up with a fair bit of crap....but we got through it all, and experiences like this make you stronger. We made loads of lifelong mates too, and not too many enemies.
I applaud your ingenuity and having the balls to go through with it. 8)
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Well done Bob, I like your style.
I've done a few daft things too. Me and the wife ran 3 pubs back in UK before we emigrated, all 3 of them in pretty dodgy areas in Manchester where we knew nobody...add to that the fact that my missus is Oriental, we were right in the deep end, and had to put up with a fair bit of crap....but we got through it all, and experiences like this make you stronger. We made loads of lifelong mates too, and not too many enemies.
I applaud your ingenuity and having the balls to go through with it. 8)
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Seems like we are of a similar ilk Mick,
Well done to you too for taking that on, not many people would have.... :)
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Hi All,
Just another quick update. It's been just, as if not, more busy with the Paralympics, catering for every type of need, but the experience has been mind blowing :)
Now it's all over, it's quite de-moralising breaking everything down, packing everything up and cleaning the place down ready to hand back to the Royal Holloway University on the 9th. The past 6 odd weeks now seem to have flown by in an instant and a lot of the friends I have made have moved on..... and it all seemed to be a bit of a distant memory......until today.......
I was asked today, by the Head Chef at the University to stay on for a 6 week contract as Soux Chef at the university with a view to, "let's see how things go!!" :)
I cannot believe this opportunity has opened for me. I start next Tuesday :)
Happy Days again :)
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I was asked today, by the Head Chef at the University to stay on for a 6 week contract as Soux Chef at the university with a view to, "let's see how things go!!" :) I cannot believe this opportunity has opened for me. I start next Tuesday :)
Wonderful news : many many congratulations, Bob. Since I have to go over that way at least twice in the near future (the first, sadly, the day before you start), I would be really pleased to hear from you when you will be on duty and which dishes you will be preparing (if they tell you that in advance); I will then make a point of stopping in for lunch, just to taste a 976bar special !
** Phil.
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Terrific news Bob. They'll be in for a few curry treats then compared to the usual excuse for a curry ;D. Hope you still find time to join us on here though ;)
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I was asked today, by the Head Chef at the University to stay on for a 6 week contract as Soux Chef at the university with a view to, "let's see how things go!!" :) I cannot believe this opportunity has opened for me. I start next Tuesday :)
Wonderful news : many many congratulations, Bob. Since I have to go over that way at least twice in the near future (the first, sadly, the day before you start), I would be really pleased to hear from you when you will be on duty and which dishes you will be preparing (if they tell you that in advance); I will then make a point of stopping in for lunch, just to taste a 976bar special !
** Phil.
Hi Phil,
As soon as I know my shift pattern and which restaurant I'll be working in/menu's I'll let you know. It should either be Flounders? or the Upper Hub :)
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Terrific news Bob. They'll be in for a few curry treats then compared to the usual excuse for a curry ;D. Hope you still find time to join us on here though ;)
Hi Dave,
I am sure I will be cooking their recipes but if I get a chance I will try and slip in the odd curry or two :) Hopefully now, I will have a bit more time back on my hands to spend on here too :)
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As soon as I know my shift pattern and which restaurant I'll be working in/menu's I'll let you know. It should either be Flounders? or the Upper Hub :)
FOUNDER's, Sir, FOUNDER's, not FLOUNDERS ! Named in honour of our benevolent and philanthropic Founder, Thomas Holloway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Holloway) (and not named after a flat fish), self-made multi-millionaire whose income came from the development and sales of his patent medicines. He also founded the Sanatorium in Virginia Water, now sadly a residential block.
I look forward to hearing your timetable, and will make a point of coming over.
** Phil.
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Fantastic :D,
really pleased for you ;)
Will
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Fantastic :D,
really pleased for you ;)
Will
Thx Will :)
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Great news Bob.
Thoroughly deserved from where I'm standing. 8)
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Well done Bob
Making me very jealous :)
you wont need any luck
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Wow, I'm happy for you! All the best in your new job. Being hired as a sous-chef without any prior experience shows that you really must be good even under pressure. Well done!
Don't forget to teach US new stuff as youi learn it, though ;)
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Hi Bob
Congratulations!
Seems to me like you really deserved the offer - I really hope it works out for you.
Regards
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Bob,
That's fantastic news, what a wonderful opportunity for you.
Well done, truly, well done. :)
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Thank you to everyone for the kind comments, it has been very hard work especially at my age, and today I finished with the Paralympics and am really looking forward to starting next Tuesday.
Working at a place like this will open up a whole new world of cooking for me, not just Indian Cuisine, and will share whatever I learn here :)
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Bob,
Good luck and enjoy your new venture.
Some one had seen you working hard to help others
and is repaying the compliment :)
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Well done Bob ... richly deserved if you ask me ... I don't think we'd have won so many medals if it hadn't been for your tasty tucker .. could it be 976bar MBE in the new year ;) :)
Enjoy your new job and please keep us posted how you get on ...
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Well done Bob ... richly deserved if you ask me ... I don't think we'd have won so many medals if it hadn't been for your tasty tucker .. could it be 976bar MBE in the new year ;) :)
Enjoy your new job and please keep us posted how you get on ...
MBE?? (Me Burning Everything) Quite possibly could manage that ;D ;D
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Me Burning Everything ..... hahaha !! :)
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looks like your next move is"UP" to resturant level go for it what can you lose good luck
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As soon as I know my shift pattern and which restaurant I'll be working in/menu's I'll let you know. It should either be Flounders? or the Upper Hub :)
FOUNDER's, Sir, FOUNDER's, not FLOUNDERS ! Named in honour of our benevolent and philanthropic Founder, Thomas Holloway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Holloway) (and not named after a flat fish), self-made multi-millionaire whose income came from the development and sales of his patent medicines. He also founded the Sanatorium in Virginia Water, now sadly a residential block.
I look forward to hearing your timetable, and will make a point of coming over.
** Phil.
I knew it began with an F... lol
I am working in the "Founders" Kitchen this week, which has just been modernised and is pretty cool, have to prepare 2 curries today ready for dinner's this evening, so decided on a Lamb Bhuna and a Beef Madras.
Next week, I will be working at the Hub :) After that at present I have no idea, but expect it will be back down to the Founders Kitchens.
Please do pop over if you get a chance, it would be good to me you :)
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Congratulations on your new venture, Bob! You obviously impressed the right people with your chef skills and knowledge. Brilliant reward for your hard work and perseverance.
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Well done Bob.
I hope the job goes well and more importantly, that you also enjoy the experience.
Keep us posted.