Ask Me If You Can – Chef Marcel’s Monthly Q&A
Chef, how to apply abroad? How do
you deal with a difficult boss? How can I get promoted?
Ask me and I will do my best to
help you find a solution.
Once a month I am going to answer your questions here in my blog.
If your question gets selected and
published then you will receive a FREE copy of my eBook “Slamming It Out”.
Drop me your question here now: slammingitout@gmail.com
Richie T. 23, from New York asked:
“Chef, what is the most important ingredient in the kitchen? Is there any item you cannot cook without?”
What a fantastic question and congratulations to your free
book copy Richie!
Indonesia
in December 2016. The Christmas season was in full swing. We were busy like
crazy. Full house every day and hundreds of people for breakfast. One day, during
breakfast service, one of my young cooks, his name was Asri, cut himself into
his forefinger. It was bad. We had to send him directly to the emergency room.
Shit,
what a mess I thought! Now Asri will be gone for the next three weeks or so.
But I needed him in the kitchen, he was one of my strongest guys.
A
few days later, I just finished a meeting with the General Manager, when I passed
through the restaurant. Since we had an open kitchen I could see the kitchen
line and my staff working there. Suddenly I could not believe my eyes. There
was Asri, my young cook, who cut his finger a few days ago. What the hell was
he doing here? I immediately went to the line, pulled him out of the kitchen
and asked him to come to my office.
“What are you doing here man, are you crazy?” I asked Asri. “You know that you are on sick leave my friend, don’t you?”, I continued.
“Yes Chef, I know that but I also know that you guys are so busy. I felt bored at home and thought it is better to come here and help you and the team.”, Asri replied.
I
did not know what to say! What a great attitude this guy displayed right in
front of me. What a great team spirit Asri showed. I was happy to have such a
person in my team. From that day on I knew I could count on Asri 110%!
No worries guys, I sent Asri back home, of course. I appreciated his initiative and attitude and told him that we will be fine (actually we weren’t, ha-ha)
I
advised him to take rest and come back again when his finger is ok.
But
let’s come back to Richie’s question now.
Yes
there is one item I can definitely not cook without, not even survive a single
day in any kitchen. Do you have any idea what this item could be?
Think
hard!
The item I cannot cook without, the single most important ingredient no chef on earth can work without is called TEAM-WORK!
Surprise?
Good!
We all love surprises.
The
kitchen is indeed an interesting work place, almost a paradoxical one. There
are so many egos gathered in one place, yet on the other side these egos need
to cooperate somehow. The head chef usually has the biggest ego. That’s
supposed to be that way, right? That’s what we have seen on TV, correct? That’s
what most of us have experienced over the course of many years, isn’t it?
Perhaps yes.
But
everyone one of these ego chefs, including me 
