My Culinary School Debut: First Day Challenges, French Onion Soup, and Essential Kitchen Skills

The shrill alarm pierced the pre-dawn quiet at 5:10 am this morning. Despite a fitful night – I confess, I woke up every hour from 2 am onwards, terrified I’d overslept! – I practically launched myself out of bed. Slipping into sweatpants, I began the struggle of assembling a portable breakfast. The mere thought of eating at such an ungodly hour was utterly unappealing, a stark reminder that this shift in my daily schedule would undoubtedly be my biggest hurdle.

By 5:45 am, I was out the door, my knife kit, book bag, crisp new uniform, and purse weighing heavily on my shoulders. I arrived at school by 6:15 am, ready to face whatever the culinary world had in store. My first order of business was to head straight to the locker room and don my chef’s uniform – only the second time I’d ever put it on. Thankfully, the intricate art of tying a neckerchief was demonstrated later in class, sparing me an early morning struggle.

The Dawn of a Culinary Journey: Early Starts and New Routines

Lecture officially kicks off at 7:00 am each morning, but as we quickly learned yesterday, arriving significantly earlier is absolutely crucial for success in a professional kitchen environment. It’s not just about factoring in the time to change into your uniform; we also have a substantial list of responsibilities in the kitchen that must be completed before class begins. In Phase I of my program, our mornings start with a detailed demonstration of the day’s menu, followed by any additional theoretical lectures. Eventually, around 9:00 am, we transition into the kitchen to put our newfound knowledge into practice.

These pre-lecture duties are surprisingly extensive. Each morning, the lecture room must be meticulously stocked with all the necessary ingredients for the day’s menu. Certain staples like butter, salt, and pepper are always required, regardless of the dishes being prepared. Simultaneously, the kitchen working tables need to be set up with clean cutting boards and a variety of work bowls, preparing them for the intense practical session ahead. And, of course, no morning is complete without brewing a fresh pot of coffee – not just for our lecture, but for the rest of the school’s students and staff as well!

Trust me, while I might sound like I’ve got this whole routine down, I definitely do not. Throughout the day, my classmates and I frequently exchanged bewildered glances, often fumbling our way through tasks. We’d eventually figure things out after a good deal of trial and error, and, perhaps most importantly, by peppering our chef instructors with lots of questions. This collaborative confusion and persistent questioning are all part of the steep learning curve.

Mastering the Classics: French Onion Soup (La Soupe à l’Oignon)

Today’s primary agenda was the iconic French Onion Soup (LA SOUPE À L’OIGNON). This classic dish, I learned, is seemingly the starting point for almost any culinary program worldwide, a foundational exercise in developing essential kitchen skills. Funnily enough, despite my passion for cooking, I had never made French onion soup in my life, so this was a truly new experience for me. While the recipe appears straightforward in theory, its successful execution undeniably demands a great deal of patience and a perpetually watchful eye.

During our morning lecture, Chef Brian masterfully demoed the soup, meticulously explaining each technique involved. We delved into the nuances of dry-heat cooking (a broad category that encompasses methods such as sautéing, grilling, broiling, and frying), the crucial process of deglazing, and the art of caramelizing onions to perfection. While the chef thoroughly covered the menu in detail, explaining all ingredients and components, the actual quantities for the recipe were presented somewhat vaguely. This intentional ambiguity, we were told, is designed to compel us to become proficient in executing the techniques and to rely on our taste and flavor intuition, rather than merely attempting to recreate an exact recipe by rote. It forces us to truly understand the ‘why’ behind each step.

One particularly memorable and practical takeaway from the demonstration was this simple but invaluable rule: one onion yields one serving of French onion soup! This ratio is incredibly convenient, especially when planning meals. For our assignment, each student was responsible for preparing a two-to-three serving size of soup. This generous portion not only fed our chef instructors and the school administration but also ourselves and the pastry students during lunch. In a delightful culinary exchange, the pastry students would then bring us their delicious creations in return. A dangerous but delicious relationship, indeed!

Tools of the Trade: A Deep Dive into Kitchen Equipment

Following the soup demonstration, Chef Brian provided an extensive and incredibly informative explanation of the various types of kitchen equipment and pots. We learned about the subtle yet critical differences between a sauté pan, a standard soup pot, and a sautoir pot (a straight-sided shallow pan, which, due to its design, allows for multiple techniques like simmering and sautéing—essentially a versatile hybrid of the two). We also engaged in a detailed discussion about the pros and cons of different metal types commonly used in professional cookware, such as aluminum, anodized aluminum, and stainless steel.

These materials, we discovered, vary significantly in terms of their heat conductivity and their reactivity with certain types of foods. For instance, aluminum pots are known to impart a metallic taste to cream or acid-based sauces, whereas stainless steel is non-reactive and therefore a safer choice for such preparations. All the while, I was furiously scribbling notes in my notebook, desperately attempting to absorb every piece of information! It was an incredibly interesting and highly informative session. I’m confident that we will be revisiting and exploring all of these fundamental concepts in much greater depth over the coming weeks, solidifying our understanding of these essential tools.

Hands-On in the Hot Kitchen: French Onion Soup & Crudités

After the demo and lecture concluded, the moment arrived: we finally headed into the kitchen. I think we were all a mixture of nervous anticipation and genuine excitement. We were assigned to work tables, paired with a fellow student, and given instructions to grab our soup ingredients and get to work. The atmosphere was palpable, a blend of focused energy and the underlying buzz of new beginnings.

In addition to preparing our French Onion Soup, we were also tasked with serving LES CRUDITES. This traditional French appetizer, consisting of beautifully sliced raw vegetables served with a dipping vinaigrette, sounds deceptively simple. While we were provided with the vinaigrette for today (we’ll learn how to make it tomorrow), this exercise was primarily designed to rigorously practice and refine our fundamental knife skills. We received precise instructions and hands-on teaching on how to execute perfect batonnets—precise 1/4” x 1/4” x 2-inch cuts. Everything needed to be prepared and ready for service by 11:00 am, which meant we were simultaneously juggling both tasks, including the crucial detail of remembering to put the soup bowls into the oven to pre-heat.

It’s abundantly clear that as our dishes grow increasingly complex and our list of tasks expands, the kitchen environment will become far more chaotic and stressful! I’m actively trying not to look too far ahead, though, to avoid getting overwhelmed. After all, it’s still only the first day, and we aren’t expected to know or execute everything perfectly from the get-go. This is a journey of continuous learning and improvement.

Realities of the Kitchen: Imperfections and Accidental Cuts

Thankfully, both of my dishes, the French Onion Soup and the Crudités, turned out well today – though I’ve definitely earmarked this weekend for dedicated practice on my knife skills and consistency! I believe the biggest adjustment I’ll need to make is learning how to properly season my food with salt in a professional setting. However, I definitely started to get the hang of it by the end of the session. My chef, it seems, emphatically likes his food well-seasoned.

Precisely at 11:00 am, everything was plated and ready for lunch service. I am permitted to carry a small point-and-shoot camera in class, which allowed me to capture a few snapshots of our efforts. I genuinely miss my DSLR and the beauty of natural light, but I hope these images still convey the essence of our morning’s work!

Of course, no first day in a professional kitchen would be complete without a mishap – and I managed to cut myself twice today! It was undeniably embarrassing, not least because I was the first in the class to do so (though certainly not the last). I had to be attended to by the chef and wear the infamous blue “finger condom” as they call it. Ironically, neither of my cuts occurred while I was actively chopping anything. Both incidents happened while I was carefully removing knives from my kit and simply drying one of them. It sounds clumsy, but trust me – these professional knives are incredibly sharp and demand absolute respect!

Definitely not my finest moment, but I suppose it was an inevitable rite of passage in a culinary school setting.

Beyond the Stovetop: Post-Lunch Cleanup and Butchery Basics

After a demanding cooking session in the kitchen and a well-deserved lunch (which was probably one of the healthiest meals we’ll enjoy throughout the entire program!), our responsibilities shifted. We were tasked with thoroughly cleaning up the kitchen and performing a myriad of other duties to ensure the entire workspace was immaculate and in perfect order for the next day. I’ll be sure to provide a more detailed explanation of this extensive cleanup process at some point soon!

The rest of the afternoon introduced us to a new, more intensive skill: butchery. For the first time, we broke out our specialized bone knives and began the arduous task of trimming fat from a staggering four boxes worth of chicken backs! Our group, it turns out, is essentially responsible for producing the stock that will be used by the entire school. This means that preparing chicken stock will become a regular, integral part of our routine. In fact, Chef Brian informed us that we would be making stock about four times a week. That’s an immense amount of trimming and preparation!

Looking Ahead: The Road to Culinary Mastery

As if today wasn’t early enough, tomorrow morning, we are expected to arrive even earlier than 6:15 am. Our mission? To get the chicken stock bubbling and simmering long before the morning lecture even begins. I suppose that means bedtime is steadily approaching, and a good night’s rest is paramount for the culinary adventures that lie ahead.

Please feel free to let me know in the comments if there’s anything specific you’d like me to discuss regarding my culinary school experience. I truly hope you are enjoying these posts and following along on this journey. Thank you so much for all of your incredible support this week as I embark on this exciting new chapter!