After driving around a little bit because I couldn't find the wheelchair-friendly entrance, I finally found the right spot, and managed to get security to let me in. I immediately met Rachel McAlpine, one of the judges this year. Rachel has done a lot of good for Plain English over the years. It was good to finally meet her.

Me, holding the award for Best Plain English Website (Private Sector).
My apologies, the photo is a bit fuzzy.

The Ceremony

Kevin Milne was the Master of Ceremony. For those of you out of New Zealand, Kevin is a well known television presenter who has been behind the show Fair Go, a consumer affairs show that has been on air for decades. He kept the event rolling with his trademark humour.

There was a bit of confusion with the award envelopes - I think the certificates were mistakenly put in the wrong envelopes. But that seemed to be the only "oops" for the evening. Certainly not a major thing.

The Best Plain English Website Private Sector was the 3^rd award to be announced. Turns out Rachel McAlpine was a judge for the category. She announced The Wheeling Gourmet as a finalist, along with Kiwitax and Martelli McKegg Wells & Cormack. Stiff competition from the corporate sector! I was very happy to be the winner, particularly since English is my 4^th language. It wasn't that long ago that I confused writs for elbows, and wrote "cow-orker" without realising it ought to have been spelled "co-worker"!

Rachel made comments about each finalists.She said that "The Wheeling Gourmet website has a single purpose and all the content is clearly directed to that purpose. It is a delight to read whether you are a foodie or not. The site has clear, concise content, excellent page summaries and descriptive headings to aid navigation."

There were two breaks in the presentation with entertainment. The first was the commedian Te Radar talking to us about some significant "failures to communicate" over the years in New Zealand. The second group was The What Pack, a trio of musical improvisers. After all the awards were given out, Colleen Trolove played jazz with her jazz quartet.

Big congratulations to all finalists and other winners!

The Food

I couldn't talk about the awards event without a quick mention of food! This was a drinks & nibbles event, no set dinner. But there were plenty of nibbles - I doubt anyone went hungry. Being in a compact crowd in a wheelchair always presents a challenge - you can't really circulate, so you depend on the wait staff to bring variety. Alas! I didn't get to sample as much variety as I wished. Waiters walked around the crowded room with plates of oysters on the half shell, wee slices of roast beef with soy sauce, smoked salmon on toast, mini blinis with a creamy sauce, and many other items I either didn't identify or try.

What Is Plain English?

The Plain English Awards website defines Plain English:

 Plain English is a style of writing in which the language, structure, and presentation of a document all work together to help the reader. A document written in plain English is easy to read, understand, and act upon after just one reading. 

I try to write clearly and avoid long sentences. I do my best to break down content into "chunks" by using appropriate headers. I avoid using jargon. But Plain English doesn't mean "boring", "simple", or devoid of any richness and texture. I use the correct culinary term where appropriate. I provide a definition if there is a risk that someone might not know what that term means. I use the most appropriate level of language, without "dumbing down" the culinary aspects.

The Award Itself

Is a beautiful object. It is VERY heavy. I noticed almost everyone looked surprised when they held the award the first time. I see the award as 2 stylised half fern leaves, mounted on a round base. It is striking and unique.

Finally, Quashing a Rumour

A friend tweeted that I was being escorted out of Parliement building by security. This caused a lot of consternation. I would like to make it very clear that this was simply because they only way out of the building for a wheelchair user was through some restricted, and locked, areas of the building. I was not being "thrown out" for being a troublemaker! Funny tweet at the time, and true, but people misread that! I just had to set the record straight

Usualy this technique is used on tougher cuts of meat, although it is sometimes used on vegetables or even fish. It is usualy used for larger pieces of meat.

How To Braise

• Put your meat in a pot, with aromatic ingredients (such as carrot, celery, leek and bouquet garni), with a little bit of liquid.
• Cover.
• Cook in medium oven.

Early in the cooking process the meat and other ingredient's juices will concentrate inside the ingredient. Then they will release and provide a rich broth that can be used as a basis for a sauce.

Most often braising recipes call for browning the meat in the pan first. This is referred to as "braisé à brun" in French cooking (browned braised), because of the brown colour the colouring of the meat creates

Pot Roast?

Many people who cook "roasts" are in fact preparing pot roasts, which is a braising technique rather than a roasting technique. Knowing the difference is important because you would not use a more expensive, more tender cut of meat for a braised dish. You should keep those expensive cuts for proper roasts.

Origins Of The Word

The word comes from the word "braise", the French word for "embers". This cooking technique was typically used by people cooking straight in the heart, putting the pot straight in the embers, and often covering the lid with more embers, giving an "under/over" all around heat.

The problem is, I love fish. I could eat fish several times a week and be happy about it. The solution is an outfit of local commercial fishermen that deal directly with the customer. They go out fishing, then you (in this case our office), receives a fax of what is fresh that day. If you return the fax around noon, you get your fresh fish delivered by 4pm. It only happens once a week, but it is brilliant!

The spaghetti Bolognese (kinda) that replaced our fish dinner.

Except when you leave work and forget the fish in the staff refrigerator and can't get back in the building because somehow your access swipe card doesn't work anymore...

So there I was, planning and dreaming of fish all day, unable to cook the darn thing!

So I made spaghetti instead. Quick tomato and mince (ground for my American friends) beef. It wasn't fish. But it was good. This is very satisfying food for me. Served with a glass of red wine, and some ciabbata garlic bread, it was *just* fine.

And the fish, well, by now it has become too old to eat just panfried. I'll freeze it and probably end up making fish cakes in the Thai style.

What about you? Tell us your most recent or memorable forced change of menu! Go on, you know you want to :)

I used to drink a lot of them as a teenager. This was a new product then (yeah, that dates me!). I drank them because I liked the taste. I still drink them, occasionaly, because I still like the taste.

But I don't let myself be fooled. This is not a healthy drink. It is FULL of sugar.

A bottle of yogurt drink, with a tumbler of sugar beside it.

It pays to read the label. This label lists how much sugar is in the drink. In this case, there are 24 grams of sugar in a bottle. The photo above shows how much sugar is 24 g (30 ml, or 2 tablespoons). That is a lot of sugar, is it not?

To compare, in Classic Coca-Cola, you get 10.4 g of sugar per 100 ml of drink. This yogurt drink has 9.6 g of sugar per 100 ml. Almost as much sugar.

Sooo, reconsider: Healthy? or Unhealthy?

Here's my list:

1. Tampopo
2. Babette's Feast
3. Eat Drink Man Woman
4. Chocolat
5. Ratatouille

Tampopo

Tampopo is the story of a trucker helping a widow improve her wee restaurant. The restaurant is a noodle shop (ramen). This might seem a bit dubious as the premise of a hillarious comedy, but believe me, Tampopo is a must see if you're into food. There are so many funny scenes, it's hard to list them all.

I remember well the scene where a homeless guy breaks into a hotel kitchen to make an omelette for a kid. The security guy is somewhat inept and completely misses them. Funny, and mouth watering. This is a clip from Youtube (only dialogue at beginning, the homeless asking the child what he'd like to eat):

There's also the scene of a group of homeless people singing about fine wines and meals they manage to get from restaurant discarded stock. And the young assistant to several corporate heads who bucks the trend and discusses the French menu in a fine restaurant. And the good manners teacher showing young girls how to eat spaghetti properly. And the old lady squeezing the fruits and cheeses in the grocery store. And the old man teaching the young man how to "properly" eat ramen. And the old rich man choking on some seafood and being rescued with a vaccuum cleaner... Ahh, it never ends. Sooo funny.

I want ramen, just thinking of it! If you don't rent any other movie this year, find Tampopo and enjoy it. Preferably the Japanese version with subtitles - dubbed is not nearly as good.

Tampopo on IMBD.

Babette's Feast

This one is memorable for me because I had to recreate the menu when I was in cooking school. Had to research the dishes, come up with recipes, and prepare the thing.

• Potage à la Tortue - Turtle soup (no, didn't use turtle, made a fish soup instead)
• Blini Demidoff au Caviar - Buckwheat pancakes with caviar and a creme fraiche sauce
• Caille en Sarcophage, Sauce Perigourdine - Quails in puff pastry with a foie gras and truffle sauce, demi-glace based.
• La Salade - Salad, yeah... Easy peasy.
• Les Fromages - Cheeses, yumm.
• Savarin au Rhum - Rum soaked cakes, with glazed fruits

One of the great things about the movie is how the first part of the movie is all in blacks and dreary greys, until the cooking really begins. A real must see.

And come to think of it, I really ought to re-recreate the recipes and post them on this site :)

Babette's Feast on IMDB.

Eat Drink Man Woman

A widower, chef in a posh Taiwanese hotel raised his three daughters. Relationships and food intermingle. An Ang Lee movie before he made his big blockbusters in America. wasabhi said it well: "After the film I literally sprinted to Chinatown and ate as if there was no tomorrow!"

Eat Drink Man Woman on IMDB.

Chocolat

Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp. Sexy cast right there! It's amazing how something as "simple" as chocolate confectionery manage to bring out so many human stories in a small "backward" French village. In some ways, not completely dissimilar theme than in Babette's Feast.

Do NOT watch without having some chocolate in the house. If you do, you were warned and have only yourself to blame :D

Chocolat on IMDB.

Ratatouille

What can I say? I'm a big kid. I just love a good animated movie. And this one was awesome. And it was about food on top of it. How can you not fall in love with a rat cooking by hiding under a tall chef's hat and pulling on the guy's hair? :)

I particularly love the scene where the food critic is brought straight back to his childhood, a happier time for him obviously, with the ratatouille dish presented to him. I often think about making ratatouille and working on a similar presentation, just because it would be neat.

Incidentally, Ian Holm, the voice actor playing Skinner, was a chef and restaurant owner in Big Night.

Ratatouille on IMDB

Movies NOT in my Top 5

There are other foodie movies out there worth watching, and mentionning. The following ones are some I can think of, but they haven't *quite* made it to my list of memorable ones.

Julie &Julia

I simply haven't seen it yet. I'm quite certain I'll enjoy it, but I'm not convinced it'll displace any of the movies on my top 5 list.

Big Night

Some spectacular food scenes, and well acted but the whole movie was too much angst and drama for my taste.

Mostly Martha

This german movie is what the American made "No Reservation" was based on. The premise was amusing, and led to some good comedy. The food was also really appealing. But a bit too much "fluff" for me. As for the American remake - why do American obstinate themselves in remaking some good movies with American actors, not bringing anything new to the movie, shot seemingly scene for scene? Never mind, rethorical question... :D

Como Agua Para Chocolate

Known as "Like Water For Chocolate" in English. Gread food descriptions, but I didn't enjoy the narrative style of the movie.

Soylent Green

A mix between cop show and science fiction. Charlton Heston, not too bad. Bit horrifying "Soylent Green is people!" Good, but not one to watch over and over.

One to avoid

A movie to avoid - "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover". Disturbing is one adjective that fits the movie. Even more disturbing in many ways than "Soylent Green".

How about you?

Do you relate to my list? What movie have I not mentionned that you think should be in the top 5? Why?

Blog Post Contents

1. Who is doing it?
2. What are the advantages?
3. What is being said?
4. What do I think?
5. My conclusions

Who Is Doing It?

Today, looking for the article again, I found many other sites talking about such a thing:

• In late April, the Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship equipped its Qsine restaurant with iPad menus, following a partnership with Apple.
• Global Mundo Tapas eatery at the Rydges hotel in Sydney switches to iPad .
• Il Ristorante in Lille, France, conducts a pilot programme on using the iPad menu (article in French)

What Are The Advantages?

Some of the advantages mentionned in the different articles include:

• Display of photos of the dishes,
• Keeping track of stock (if a dish runs out, it will disappear from the menu),
• Prompts the guest for meat doneness, sauces, sides, etc,
• Wine and meal pairing suggestions,
• Customer ordering directly from the menu at the push of a button,
• Access to information about ingredients, their origin, producers, etc,
• Access to general knowledge about more complex aspects of the menus, such as wines,
• And more! :)

An Australian company that makes the iPad menu software, MenuPad, suggests more advantages for the restaurateurs:

• Higher profitability - You can "quickly and easily include surcharges for public holidays".
• No need for printing - Changes to the menu are done on the computer, no need to reprint menus.
• Easy to maintain - Using a computer interface the restaurant can make all changes with a few clicks.
• People could order more - They suggest that "armed with more knowledge about a dish", people may order more.

Menupad doesn't forget the advantages to the restaurant's guest:

• No waiting - Ordering directly from the menu, or calling a waiter.
• Convenience - They suggest that waiters can't be everywhere, but iPads can.
• Menu interaction - People can bring their dining experience to life by viewing more information, images, and reviews.
• Reviews - Guests can read reviews about a dish.

As an aside, the Menupad site has so many spelling mistakes, it's hard to trust them to write bug-free code! But that's another story entirely.

What Is Being Said?

Talking of Global Mundo, PadGadget says:

Patrons are able to browse through the list of menu items, view photographs and read tasting notes. Want a steak? Order one and you'll be asked how it should be cooked.  When you've completed your meal selections, submit your order to the kitchen with the touch of a button.

PadGadget also says:

Now I'd like to know, do they have an iPad kids menu complete with apps to entertain little ones while you dine?  That would truly be something!

[Nic's note:] Oh yes, I can see it from here - give the kids an iPad to play with... Has anyone mentionned cost savings? Doh!

Redmondpie suggests:

This idea might sound crazy but if you think about it for a minute, it is not only entertaining and interactive, but also environmental friendly as it saves trees from being killed to make paper.

[Nic's note:] I would venture to say that it takes a LOT of paper menus before you offset the carbon footprint of the production of a single iPad...

The Australian quotes Chris Lucas, owner of the Pearl:

The platform, he says, will enable diners to "drill down" for information, depending on their level of interest.

What Do I Think?

Frankly, I don't like it. I'm not against change, mind you. I think change is good. And I like some of the ideas. But... I don't like it.

I could think of some uses to put the computer to use, that would really be advantages, but I doubt anyone will incorporate that in their software:

• Ability to increase font size to help those of us with poor vision (all those aging baby-boomers with money, for instance),
• Ability to have screen-to-text software for blind patrons,
• Ability to translate the menu for non-native English patrons, such as tourists.

While I understand the convenience to the restaurant to be able to integrate the iPad menu ordering directly into their POS system, I don't like the idea of skipping the wait staff. Not everyone will do this. Global Mundo is letting people order through the iPad, the Pearl isn't. I can see the quality of wait-staff going down for those who will rely on the iPad for ordering. The restaurant won't need good wait staff anymore - they'll only need to hire "plate carriers". Sure, it reduces their cost (will that saving be passed on to the client, I doubt it). It just doesn't seem right to me.

I used to collect menus from restaurants I went to that I really enjoyed. Most restaurants were happy to give a menu as a souvenir. Some offered to sell one. Can you imagine how many peolpe would try to swipe the iPad menu?

The thing is, when I go to a restaurant, I go to enjoy a good meal, relax and have a good time with family and/or friends.

We are bombarded with information all day long - whether we're at the computer, watching tv, driving, reading magazines, etc. Information overload. The last thing I want is to get to the restaurant and have access to more and more information. Sure, it's up to the patron to decide if they'll dig for more. Yet I can easily imagine "disappearing" into the menu while my dining partners are making their choice (or have disappeared in the menu themselves). What should be a convivial experience suddenly becomes an isolating experience.

Does that mean I'm not interested in more information about a particular dish or ingredient? Of course not. But the time and delivery method is not right. Don't drown us with that at the beginning of a meal. If you want to provide it, put it on your website. Those really dedicated will get to it on their phone.

My Conclusions

• This is one of those ideas that has *some* merit, but that is unlikely to be implemented properly in most places.
• There is a high risk that the dining-out experience will become more isolating than convivial.
• The quality of service is likely to go down as restaurants rely more and more on the technology.
• Some real advantages are unlikely to be implemented, such as voice-menu or translations.
• I hope it is just a fad.

What do YOU think?

So, what about you? How do you feel about this? Do you think it's progress? Do you think it is a good idea? Do you think it is a bad idea? Why do you think so?

My first camembert, sliced in half. Doesn't it look lush?

There was a slight smell that dissipated quickly once I unwrapped the cheese. This is apparently not unusual. I let the cheese sit at room temperature for about half an hour before cutting into it. The rind was firm, but supple. The white mold controled. The inside creamy, and lush.

I was a bit concerned that the middle of the cheese was less done than the outer part, right under the rind, but that didn't prove to be a problem. Not at all. It wasn't that far behind.

I had some baguette, purchased for the purpose of tasting the new cheese. Cut that into slices. Then cut small wedges of the camembert. I had a taste. And... BLISS.

The rind was slightly nutty, with just a touch of bitterness. Not too much though, just right. The inside, buttery, delicate.

This will have to be done again! The long wait was well worth it.

You get as many different results from one recipe as there are people cooking the dish. Even if the recipe is quite simple and specific. I wanted to demonstrate that to my students once, so I prepared a simple recipe for meatballs. I then asked them to cook that recipe, following it to the letter, without variation. There were 14 students in the class. I was presented with meatballs that looked 14 different ways and tasted 14 different ways. And none of them looked or tasted exactly the way my sample dish did! There were differences in sizes, shapes, how cooked the meatballs were, how crispy on the outside, how big/small the onions were cut, and the list goes on.

One of my first chef used not to share the finishing touches on his "signature" dishes. He would trust only one or two people in the kitchen. I became one of the trusted cooks after the "clog incident". I was shown all the so-called secrets. But the secret ingredients were really not all that much that they deserved such secrecy. In many ways I think it has more to do with the mystique of something "secret" than the actual secret. Ok, so putting a bit of cinnamon in the tomato & vegetable soup gave the soup a certain je ne sais quoi. But it wasn't worth locking up the secret ingredient in a box!

An old safe to keep the secret recipe.
Photo by il nostro uomo in francia License Creative Commons 2.0 by-nc-nd

I believe in sharing my recipes. I am comfortable enough in the knowledge that nobody will ever cook my dishes the exact same way I do. But even if they did, I'd be happy, because it would mean my dishes are making people happy. I believe in sharing my knowledge. The more people know how to cook, the more likely they are to cook more. That's good. We ALL win if we cook more, if we demand fresher ingredients, and more varied ingredients.

It occured to me that my thinking about cooking and sharing culinary knowledge is very similar to the world of Free/Libre Open Source Software (or FOSS). For those who aren't geeks, FOSS basically allows users to use, study, change, and improve the code, the program by making the source code available. Everyone benefits from that, as the software can be customised to one company's needs (a bit like you can adapt a recipe to be gluten free). Another benefit comes when improvement to the software are put back into the main program (a bit like someone saying "try it with blood oranges instead of lemons").

And here I am, still puzzling over the secrecy. Who gains from it? No one. Not even the person who keeps the secret, as they are continually worried that someone will steal the secret!

What do YOU think about secret recipes/ingredients?

It wasn't totally impulsive - I have always loved my cheese and wanted to dabble in making some. And I'm so very glad I went. The programme said that we would learn how to make yogurt, mascarpone, quark, ricotta and brie. In the end, we did all those, and also had a demonstration of "5 minutes mozarella". Despite the busy schedule, it was a fairly relaxed day.

There were 16 people attending. I thought it might be a lot, but it worked out really well. We were in a gorgeous old farmhouse, with a great garden. The day was unexpectedly hot and sunny, so we started with introductions in the garden. Our instructor for the day was Mindi, who made a change in career to become a cheesemaker! That shows passion for the product, doesn't it? Our group included two mother/daughter teams, a farmer, a couple university staff. In other words, we all had wildly different backgrounds and interest. Also present were Neil, the über cheese expert and co-owner of the NZ Cheese School, and Sue, the other co-owner of the school, and owner of Over The Moon Dairy.

After the introductions, we spoke about hygiene. Really rather important to only put the good "beasties" you want in the cheese and not those accumulated on your hands, nose, bags, etc.

Finally, finally! We were ready to get going on brie/camembert. We sanitised our containers, and received the warmed up milk. Sprinkle a bit of culture, mix it up. Such a tiny bit! We used about 1/4 teaspoon for 8 liters of milk. Wow! Add the rennet, mix up again, and fill the bin with warm water. At this point, we have to wait for the magic of rennet to do its thing.

One of the most excellent aspect of this course is that it really *is* geared towards making cheese at home. We had a chilly bin, with a plastic container to fit inside it. The milk was in the plastic container, and that container inside the chilly bin. Great way to keep the temperature you want for the duration of the process. Most excellent!

While the brie was doing its thing, we spoke about yogurt. The taste of that is just like I remember it from my time in Greece - perfect. And so was the texture. Quark and mascarpone also demonstrated. Mindi used UHT milk for the first two, and UHT cream for the later. I must admit to have been a bit boggled at the thought of using UHT milk, but it worked and made it really simple. I'll be purchasing more UHT milk in the coming weeks than I ever have in my entire life!

Two of the students had attended the previous day's workshop and were at the stage of brining their feta! So they showed us that.

And it was time to have a bit of food. We were treated to a spread of Over The Moon cheeses. And I fell in love with their Galactic Gold, a washed rind, lovely, lovely cheese that doesn't taste anything like it smells! The Double Delight was also most excellent - triple cream brie made with goat milk and cow cream. There also was some tomme. Many other cheeses on offer, but those three are really what I got addicted to! For those of you in New Zealand, you can order these from the dairy.

The cheese spread we had for morning tea.

So after a bit of a talk and eating cheese, we looked at yogurt. I was interested to see that you have to drain it before eating it. Makes a big difference in texture, and I imagine taste as well. I didn't taste the yogurt before it was drained, but I certainly will when I do my own (as early as this weekend perhaps?).

And then, it was time to CUT THE CURD! Woohoo. I'm such a nerd! But it was exciting. Our milk had solidified and a bit of whey was floating on top. We started cutting with a simple spatula. Then, using the "highly specialised cheesemaking tool" that is a cake rack, we cut the curd horizontaly. Cutting the curd in cubes like that allows for more whey to seep out.

Cutting teh curd with a cake rack.

A wee bit later still, we had to "jiggle" the curd, which gave even more whey seepage. Good stuff. The instructor went from station to station, grabbing some whey off each of us. We were going to make ricotta! Heat up the whey, wave your hands around the right way, to a magic jig, shock the whey with white vinegar, and presto, your ricotta is ready to scoop out and drain!

Fresh ricotta, draining.

Our hosts then graciously offered lunch. Pizza, cold roast chicken, CHEESE (of course), yumm.

It was finally time to stick our hands in the whey! Warm, goey, but getting firmer! Yeah! And after still a bit more waiting, it was time to put the whey in the molds. We started with 8 liters of milk. Ended up with 4 cheeses!

While we were waiting to drain the curd in the molds, the instructor showed us some really rather naughty things we could do with the quark made earlier - such as roll it in a bite-sized ball and then roll the ball in chocolate chips, or coconut, or dried fruits, or even savoury things such as chili, or nuts!

We were getting closer to the end of the day. Time to turn the cheese, pack up the gear, and go home!

Turning the curd in the mold for the first time.

Now, I have to nurse my lump of curd until it matures into a (I hope) fine cheese!

Please note: I am not affiliated with the New Zealand Cheese School, nor have I been paid for advertising the course. I am just speaking from a very satisfied customer's point of view.

For those of you who don't know what a Baked Alaska is, it is a dessert consisting of ice cream, covered by a layer of cake, itself covered by a meringue, which is then baked until the meringue starts to brown. The ice cream inside is still cold when you serve it.

On that glorious Saturday summer night at the Water's Edge Bistro in Huntsville, ON (now long gone), we were serving about 150 covers sitting both indoors and on the patio, as well as a wedding party of about 250 guests in the upstairs area. While I was technically the sous-chef, the chef had buggered off to Ireland for his sister's wedding and had neglected to come back... I had 3 other people in the kitchen with me: a line cook, a pantry cook, and the dishwasher. This was probably my 20^th day in a row without a day off, working averages of 75 hours each week.

Everyting had been going smoothly. Busy, but no major hiccups, even serving the wedding party. As the evening was slowing down a bit, the manager comes in to the kitchen and looks at me, not saying anything. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What now?
Him: If I said "baked alaska", what would you say?
Me: No? Noooo!?! You're kidding, right?

Somehow, I knew he was about to tell me that we needed Baked Alaska for the wedding party. I don't know how I knew, but I did. He explained that the bride had mentionned baked alaska at the first planning meeting, MONTHS ago, and never mentionned it again. Obviously she'd thought it was agreed. Just as obviously, she hadn't read the contract fully when they signed. Still, what a bride wants, one must strive to provide.

The thinking gears got going in my mind. Usualy, making baked alaska is a matter of a few days. Including chilling the thing for 12-24 hours before you bake it. I had, at most, 30 minutes before having to deliver. I had a large glass container of egg whites in the fridge. I took the biggest metal bowl we had, put the egg whites and sugar in it, and started whisking the whole thing by hand on the stove while instructing other staff.

• I sent the dishwasher home to fetch his blow torch. Not talking about a small and cutesey torch that is available at the fancy cooking stores. This was a torch he used in construction!
• I sent a waiter to the ice cream kiosk we ran on weekends with several metal bowls. He was to fill the bowls tightly with scooped ice cream.
• I sent the pantry cook to the supermarket to purchase frozen cakes.

During that time, I was whisking a bit madly. I was standing on an upside down plastic milk crate, holding the metal bowl, and whisking. Splatters of egg whites going all over. I was told later I had a manic look in the eyes! I have no trouble believing that.

The waiter came back with the bowls of ice cream, at about the same time that the pantry cook came back with the frozen cakes. We turned the bowls upside down onto baking trays, and started patchworking the cake onto the ice cream. It did not look pretty at all. But it was quick!

After working the eggwhites for about 20 minutes on the stove, I had meringue. Scooped that into piping bag, and started decorating the cakes.

The dishwasher came back with his torch just as I was finishing to apply the meringue over the cake. Perfect timing.

I never baked these Baked Alaska. The meringue got its colour only through being torched. While I was on the second Baked Alaska, one of the wedding guests walked into the kitchen, thinking somehow it was the way to the bathroom!!! I think what she saw would have been a bit scary: There was I, bent over the Baked Alaska with a blow torch, muttering wildly, bits of meringue all over my face, out of breath, surrounded by my staff in no real better shape than I was.

We managed it. We delivered Baked Alaska to the wedding party, for 250 people, under half an hour. I washed my face, changed my hat, shirt and apron. Carried the nicest of the Baked Alaska to the head table and served to the bride and groom. She was SO happy. She never had a clue that she'd caused such drama in the kitchen. I kind of wish that reality tv wedding shows were such a fad then as it is now, and that the whole thing had been filmed!

I was still buzzing on adrenaline a couple hours later. The manager thanked me for saving his bacon. It is only the following day that it hit me what we had managed to do. Nearly 20 years later, I still smile at the memory.

If you are or have been a food service professional, do you have similar memories? What is the one "Mission Impossible" event in your carreer?