End of Day 1, half of Day 2

So, I love my new stage. I know it’s only day 2, but it’s totally different and I needed a change to help me change my outlook. I went in today at 12:00 p.m. and left at 4:00 p.m. for the afternoon siesta. I go back at 8:00 p.m. and will probably finish at 1:00 a.m.

That schedule is very much in line with the Spanish way of eating. Lunch -“comida” as they say here – is usually 1-4, and dinner – “cena” – is anywhere from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. The long break is perfect, as I can come back to my very noisy apartment and put my feet up, blog, read, whatever (I should be studying Spanish and Catalan but it’s hard for me to get motivated to do so).

I learned how to make the egg dish from start to finish today. Then, I watched Chef Frederic decide to whip up a new dessert from a lot of fresh apricots he had. He soaked the apricots in ice water, then peeled them (they peel all of their fruit here, it’s really weird. No one eats the skin of an apple. Pesticide fears? I have no idea). While he was soaking the apricots, he poured some flour, some leavening agent (don’t know if it was soda or powder as I was plating desserts for customers), some mineral water, brown sugar and honey in a bowl and whisked it altogether until some bubbles started to form. He put some olive oil in a pan and heated it to “hot”. Then, he coated the peeled and sliced fresh apricots in the brown sugar “tempura” batter and dropped the apricot slices in the hot olive oil. He browned them on both sides, put them on paper towels to drain off the excess oil, sprinkled them with sea salt flakes, and then topped them with a small sphere of bourbon-vanilla bean ice cream.

Then, he handed me one. Divine! You could taste the brown sugar, yet the apricot was still present. The bourbon-vanilla ice cream was the perfect compliment to the hot apricot with just a hint of needed salt to balance the sugar in the ice cream and batter.

Yep, I’m working on gaining my 5 kilos in 2 days, not 30. And, I wasn’t even hungry. For lunch, he made a chanterelle mushroom and zucchini side dish, next to seared mediterranean “white fish”, and an avocado-tomato-corn salad with spicy olive oil. Seriously? This is family meal? I’m in – every day! No more eating at home before I go to work.

Lunch service was pretty slow, but I got to memorize some more dishes and the actual different style of plates they are plated on, as there are several to choose from (like 10 different ones). I’m excited for it get busy next week. I think and hope by then I’ll be fast enough to keep up.

Okay, time for a quick siesta since the construction died down. My goal is to get up at 7:15 a.m. when the hammering and drilling begins and work out so I can eat more 🙂