Sunday, December 26, 2010
One chinois, two chinoise?
The chinois is a type of conical strainer developed in France. It's name refers to it's shape which is likened to a Chinese hat. It's special purpose is for pushing soups to remove fibrous materials and controlled straining of stocks and sauces. What I find interesting and fun is that chinois has no plural.
The Spatula, many and varied.
The spatula is the perfect exemplar of a kitchen equipment type. There are many forms with various specialised functions baring differing names depending on place. The egg flip, fish slice, and marrise (proprietory) to name a few.
Wikipedia defines a spatula as "A spatula, also called an egg slice, a "turner," a flipper, or a yiwen or danny in Fiji, is a kitchen utensil with a long handle and a broad flat edge, used for lifting and turning fried foods". I think this definition is limited and does not cover the entire spread of spatula forms.
Just for fun http://www.spatulamadness.com/
I own at least three different types of spatula. The classic egg/burger flip, a crank handled spatula, an icing knife, and a rubber spatula.
Wikipedia defines a spatula as "A spatula, also called an egg slice, a "turner," a flipper, or a yiwen or danny in Fiji, is a kitchen utensil with a long handle and a broad flat edge, used for lifting and turning fried foods". I think this definition is limited and does not cover the entire spread of spatula forms.
Just for fun http://www.spatulamadness.com/
I own at least three different types of spatula. The classic egg/burger flip, a crank handled spatula, an icing knife, and a rubber spatula.
Why such a long name? Definitions.
When I dropped out of university I ended up washing dishes for a couple of years before I moved on to other less sleep disturbing jobs. I entered the dish-pigging game after studying anthropology, and especially enjoying material culture studies. Dish-pigging is a very thankless occupation, you are always on the bottom rung of a very busy career ladder. I was many a sous chef's whipping boy before I found a job at an Italian style bistro at it's height of national popularity. In this disciplined, clean, and relatively respectful environment I began to develop my ideas about how the form and function of kitchen equipment relate to each other in the context of food production and over time.
My love for material culture studies stems from my nearly 25 years of op-shopping. During that time I have found many old and collectible items which I have added to my collection. Many times I have passed by items whose shape and purpose are a mystery to me. This process of searching without a map has exercised the speculative/investigative part of my brain. The strongest sense that I can take from experiencing all these varied artifacts of kitchens and food production is that they are in many ways like animals or plants in a taxonomy. Each has an origin or evolution through use and function, and a shape or anatomy that is unique but similar to others.
My degree was awarded to me in 1999 when I attempted to return to uni (it complicated). I continued to work various jobs and had an irregular involvement in student films. I tried to return to uni to study community development but found it to be worse than the first time. I resigned myself to continuing as a youth worker while working on small documentaries that allowed me to explore ideas on an acheivable scale. When I burned out as a public servant I ended up washing dishes again in another well regarded bistro. Here I was able to integrate the idea of value adding into my understanding of kitchens and food production. In essence cooking items from scratch is value adding. The Italian style bistro is the perfect example of the small scale value adding kitchen. Down time/prep time is spent processing raw materials into preserved/storable form. The head chef and sous chef have to continually decide whether to buy in value added foods or buy in the raw materials and process on site.
According to Oxforddictionaries.com
Taxonomy
"a scheme of classification"
Kitchen
"a room or area where food is prepared and cooked"
Equipment
"the necessary items for a particular purpose"
My love for material culture studies stems from my nearly 25 years of op-shopping. During that time I have found many old and collectible items which I have added to my collection. Many times I have passed by items whose shape and purpose are a mystery to me. This process of searching without a map has exercised the speculative/investigative part of my brain. The strongest sense that I can take from experiencing all these varied artifacts of kitchens and food production is that they are in many ways like animals or plants in a taxonomy. Each has an origin or evolution through use and function, and a shape or anatomy that is unique but similar to others.
My degree was awarded to me in 1999 when I attempted to return to uni (it complicated). I continued to work various jobs and had an irregular involvement in student films. I tried to return to uni to study community development but found it to be worse than the first time. I resigned myself to continuing as a youth worker while working on small documentaries that allowed me to explore ideas on an acheivable scale. When I burned out as a public servant I ended up washing dishes again in another well regarded bistro. Here I was able to integrate the idea of value adding into my understanding of kitchens and food production. In essence cooking items from scratch is value adding. The Italian style bistro is the perfect example of the small scale value adding kitchen. Down time/prep time is spent processing raw materials into preserved/storable form. The head chef and sous chef have to continually decide whether to buy in value added foods or buy in the raw materials and process on site.
According to Oxforddictionaries.com
Taxonomy
"a scheme of classification"
Kitchen
"a room or area where food is prepared and cooked"
Equipment
"the necessary items for a particular purpose"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)