Blog #2 - Learning the Fundamentals

Day one of my projects was an action-packed day! While most mentors may only take Hawken students as unpaid interns to do their office work and give them zero attention, David's dad, Chef Lyons, was something else. Rather than teaching us the basics and leaving us to cut away at vegetables for the entire day, he taught us the basics and definitely put in his heart and soul into teaching us how to properly cook and use knives! Before we even touched the cooking board, he told us wildly funny stories about how he left his corporate job for culinary school and old memories. Then, he taught us the fundamentals. Perfecting slicing techniques such as batonnete, julienne, and dicing is essential to our success as chefs. Tim and I first struggled a bit while Jacoby already seemed like a master at the craft, although we did get better as we practiced at home on the weekends. We used these slicing techniques on multiple vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and herbs. We also learned the importance of cleanliness and multitasking in the kitchen. Without a proper plan and all the ingredients prepped out in front of you, it would be disgustingly hard to create a beautiful and tasty dish. After practicing our knifework, we learned to make a delicious egg omelet with all the ingredients that we cut up. For lunch, we made beef riblets that tasted amazing. A few hours in the oven and out. As a side, we made balsamic bruschetta, something I also made my mom for Mother's Day brunch. Later, we learned Chef Lyon's method of making balsamic vinegarette. Instead of measuring out the ingredients, he taught us how to eyeball it and consistently make the most amazing dressing all the time without messing up. Plus, every day, we had extra food that we made which we brought back to our amazing families. Chef Lyons is a great mentor.