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Category : BasqueStage
Category : BasqueStage
Today and tomorrow are the last days to apply for the IV Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage. That still leaves you time to get your application in for consideration.
Maybe you’re still on the fence. Perhaps you aren’t sure what kind of person is BasqueStage material. One way to get the answer to that question is to visit our former and current stages’ blogs.
We’ve asked our current stages, Elisha Ben-haim and Ruth Selby to give us what they think are the top qualities that a future stage should have. Read on and then get in your application!
- Be hardworking.
- Be thick-skinned. “This is a very old school kitchen,” adds Elisha.
- Speak some Spanish. “Everything is in spanish, not having the language skills automatically puts you one step behind,” Elisha says. Ruth seconds that, saying “Things happen fast here, and they often happen in Spanish. You can get by with only English, but you’ll get so much more out of the experience if you come with a little Spanish in your back pocket. If you don’t speak a word, even just learning some basic vocab demonstrates that you’ve done your homework, and you want to contribute to the team.”
- Be willing to learn.
- Know what motivates you (hint: it should cooking). Elisha says, “If you are sure you want to be a cook you will push hard every day to make the most what’s going on no matter what.”
- Have a good attitude. “Both in the kitchen and out, you should want to get out, see and learn as much as you can while here,” adds Elisha.
- Pay attention to detail. Ruth breaks it down: “BasqueStages have to work in a 3 star kitchen where details matter; in Sammic marketing videos where minutiae matter; and in the blogosphere where details are what set you apart. It’s important to be focused and to care about the little things, like your uniform, your word choice, and your photographs.”
- Bring your knives-sharpened. “I’ve realized what a great knife culture we have in kitchens in the US. Some people here don’t even have their own knives. You do yourself a big favor if you come with quality knives, ready to rock,” Ruth adds.
- Have patience and be humble. “It can be frustrating, humbling and occasionally infuriating to work in any kitchen, and this kitchen is no different. I remind myself how much I’m learning every day, and how fortunate I am to be here,” says Ruth.
Category : BasqueStage
It’s March. That means it’s calçot season.
What’s a calçot, you ask? It’s perhaps Spain’s most famous onion, and it’s so revered in northeast Spain (Cataluña) that it has a whole season of parties that revolve around it. So of course we had to carry our Sammic scholars to experience it firsthand. We visited a family farm, the Brothers Blanch, and one of its owners explained us the abc’s of calçots.
Specifically, a calçot is an onion that has been taken out of the land, allowed to sprout (like they do when you leave them too long in the pantry), then returned to the ground. Farmers, like the one above, carefully pile dirt for weeks until the sprouts become full-size onions that look more like leeks, with long, white stems.
Then they are harvested, and it’s the moment of truth. The calcots are charred over a huge, open flame, then wrapped quickly in newspaper. This makes for easy transport and also serves to steam them to perfect tenderness. Why?
Because they will then be served by the plateful, adorned with large bowls of sauce. Romesco sauce just happens to be the eighth wonder of the world: a rich, bright sauce of nuts, red peppers, the dried ñora chile, tomato, olive oil, a splash of vinegar and some kind of stale bread product. The charred calcots are then slipped free of their skins and…devoured.
This peeling is a really, really messy business. Imagine flakes of charred vegetable flying everywhere…on clothes, on bibs, on the table. At least there’s plenty of wine in the porrón to go around.
And now for the money shot:
You could say that Elisha more or less got the hang of it.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.