pumpkinstrokemarrow

Probably not relevant that there is rather a handsome Catholic church nearby, with a handsome brick tower and graced with frontal pillars of a vaguely ancient Egyptian design - rather along the lines of those at the entrance to the Abney Park Cemetery (see May 5, 2010).

Back home, did rather well with the 20p purchase from Surrey Libraries of 'Cutting It Fine', the ghost written memoir of a second division chef called Andrew Parkinson by a journalist. Second division in the sense that we could afford, at a pinch, to eat out of the sort of kitchens that he ran at the time that this book was published, maybe 10 years ago. Which we could not in the case of his more celebrated colleagues. And unlike television chefs whom I find obnoxious, this chap comes across as decent and dedicated in what is portrayed as a rough trade. Book rather scrappily written, with more expletives & such forth than is necessary, but interesting nonetheless.

He gives the impression that things are slowly getting better, but the story he tells is pretty rough. Very long hours, lots of heat, cramped working conditions, lots of pressure, lots of shouting and screaming. Lots of ragging, bullying and worse. Lots of odd bods and boddesses. Various occupational health hazards; varicose veins and cocaine to name but two. A rather military style of discipline and organisation, with the lower ranks being rather badly paid, certainly for the hours that they put in. A lucky few at the top of the heap hit the pay dirt. An unlucky few at the bottom wind up getting knifed with a cold knife or branded with a hot one; a problem which is hard to eliminate given the ingredients. Probably gets worse rather than better as you climb the slippery pole. According to the TLS, Bully the Bean, that well known culinary stunt man from Catalonia, used to treat his devoted and starry eyed junior staff like dirt. Ex army chap, got his name from the corned beef with beans and tomatoes he used to whack out to the squaddies.

The other side of the story is the dedication needed to turn out large quantities of decent food at a price which attracts the punters and turns a profit. Much easier to do decent food at home for a small number of people for a known time. And that a large part of what is needed in a restaurant is organisation and management skills. A head chef has to be able to wow & dominate his staff with his cooking skills, to be able to show flair in menu and meal construction, but all this would be nothing without the organisation and management skills needed to keep this complicated show on the road.

One can see why the business might consolidate into chains large and small. Doing this sort of thing on your own is hard, in much the same way, but with knobs on, as it is for a shop.

One other aperçu. While the more you pay, the more likely it is that the food you eat has been prepared on the premises, more and more of the work is being outsourced to factories where it can be done cheaper and better. Life in these factories not too good: you spend your working days on the same never ending repetitive task on what amounts to an assembly line. Overseers with whips and stop watches. Job satisfaction not too good at all.

Stop press: the chain saw gang are at it on Longmead Road today. Not quite as bad as their Common colleagues (see February 10th 2010); their instructions, in the main, appear to be to maim rather than kill. Indeed, someone less sensitised than the present writer might say prune rather than maim.