Blog #14-Third Interview Preparation: What is the best way to teach a beginner to cook?

As with each blog, you should choose an interesting visual to entice people to read what you have written.

For this interview, you will prepare 10 open-ended questions that focus on your newly approved EQ (in fact, your first question can be your EQ).  Remember, all interviews must be done in person unless they are specifically approved by your house teacher.  Additionally, one person may be interviewed a maximum of two times.

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
For this interview, I plan to interview the Day Manager of Cantina Grill, Cathy Shammas (My older mentor's daughter). Not only has she run the restaurant for 3 years now, but she has lots of knowledge in all aspects of the kitchen and the recipes we make.

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 
The interview is scheduled for next wednesday, January 20th, at 3p.m.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
"What techniques, recipes and cook-styles do you think a beginner would have an easy time grasping and replicating?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
"When someone begins delving into the world of culinary arts, what kind of personality or characteristics does someone need to have to be a good or productive food-worker?

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 
"Being the day manager of a restaurant and seeing your employees work in the kitchen,what kind of techniques or ways of learning aren't compatible in the field of cooking (what doesn't work?)?
"What does it mean to cook to you, what is your definition of cooking?

The interview transcript  is due to turnitin.com with the 5-minute audio excerpt and entry to the blog on Friday, February 19th. In addition, you need to turn in the verification sheet to your house teacher.

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
Im completing my mentorship behind the grill at Cantina Grill Restaurant in Pomona. I've been here since the beginning of the year and plan to stay until the end of the year.

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?
My contact at Cantina Grill is Saab Shaman, the owner/proprietor of the restaurant. Though he does not comes often, he created the menu, the recipes and comes often to help work amongst his employees.

3.   How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
So, far, I have completed roughly 31 hours, not counting summer hours (as I have not completed any).

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.
This semester, I began my culinary adventure; learning to cup, chop, measure, fry, bake and to start making smaller dishes on my own. Though he wasn't always there, Saab was patient yet firm with his teaching and taught me many useful lessons in the kitchen. I plan to remain there mentoring under other more specialized employees for the rest of the year.

*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May.   The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50.  By the end of the year, you will have 60 hours counting that original 10

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Though this may not apply to everyone, I believe it is very important to work consistently towards your Senior project as to keep practicing key concepts and techniques (for culinary arts; such things as chopping, measuring,portioning,etc) as well as to keep vocabulary fresh in mind. It is especially useful to work even harder during the beak as this gives even more flexible times for one to find mentorship and plan for the first independent component. During Winter Break, I was able to meet with my mentor and his employees to work at Cantina Grill a couple days, earning another 5 hours towards my goal.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

From the last time I visited the Cantina for break, I began to see that cooking in general can be a painstakingly slow, difficult and yet rewarding process for any recipe. While making Chile Colorado (spiced red beef) with one of the cooks, dicing onions and marinating meat, I discovered just how much work and time goes into a single dish (nearly an hour to prepare what would be no more than ten or so meals). At first, I considered our efforts to make the dish too slow but as we got further into the preparation, I realized just how much our efforts and work were going to contribute to many customers' enjoyment.

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

For this next interview, I plan to interview my mentor Saab Shamans or his daughter, Kathy, the day manager and a secondary mentor of sorts. The reasons behind this decision is because I trust their knowledge of the business and profession to ask them questions to better my EQ. I've begun to form close companionship with the two and they seem to have strong opinions on what makes and breaks in the world of cooking and restaurants.