My profession is a cook

Му Profession is a Cook

I study at the Cooking Department of the Moscow College of Technologies and Design, so I will be a cooking and catering professional: a cook or a technologist.

Every school year we do practice work for 2—3 months. This year our group have done their practice at the Golden Palace restaurant. This is a large restaurant, which is open 24 hours a day since it is the restaurant by the casino with the same

name.

There are three departments within the main shop there — a cold shop, a hot shop and a pastrycook’s shop. Salads, snacks, sandwiches, cuts of cold meat and fish and desserts are made in the cold shop. Soups, hot meat and fish dishes and sauces are prepared in the hot shop. In the pastry-cook’s shop they make tarts, patties, fancy cakes, etc.

The kitchen staff begin their work at 7 o’clock. We, student cooks had to come to the restaurant at 10 o’clock. Each of us was told to go to one of the shops. There we got a programme for the working day. Usually we prepared sandwiches, fruit salads and canapés for breakfast. We cut bread, ham, sausage and vegetables to put on canapés. We also decorated them with herbs and little figures made of carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Breakfast was served from 8 till 12. At 11 o’clock we began to help the cooks by preparing dishes for lunch. Student cooks were usually trusted to cut vegetables and make sauces for desserts: strudels, ice cream, tarts and puddings. 

All day we had to carry out cooks’ instructions. The kitchen staff are very experienced there. The chef is a very skilled cook too. He has worked many years as a cook in this and other restaurants. The main part of his job is to plan the menu for the day and manage the staff in the kitchen.

At the end of the practice time, we had to take an examination. We had to prepare three courses: soup, a main course and dessert. I made Moscow borshch as soup, beef with sour cream and mushrooms as a main course and chocolate soufflé as dessert. Most of all I like to cook desserts. I made these in the shape of stars. Then I put three stars of different sizes and colours on the plate and added some kiwi sauce near them on the plate. It was very nice and tasty.

This practice certainly gave us much information, and more importantly, valuable experience in preparing new dishes. I realized happily that I had made the right choice of profession.

VOCABULARY

Give equivalents from the text:

Работники кухни, украшать зеленью, поручить приготовить соус для десерта, очень опытный повар, планировать меню, в форме звездочек, ценный опыт. Translate the word combinations in bold in the text.

Tell the story of your doing practice work at college. Use the following questions as a plan.

1.       What is your future profession?

2.       Have you done practice this year?

3.       Where have you done your practice?

4.       Where did you work?

5.       How many hours a day did you have to work?

6.       When did you begin your work?

7.       What dishes did you prepare?

8.       When did the kitchen staff begin their work?

9.       What kind of work did you do?

10.  Was the kitchen staff experienced there?

11.  Was the chef a skilled cook?

12.  What were the duties of the chef?

13.  Was he a good manager?

14.  Who organized your work?

15.  Did you have to take an examination at the end of the practice?

16.  What did you have to cook?

17.  Do you think you made the right choice of profession?

18.  Where would you like to work after graduating from college?

19.  Do you like your future profession? Why?

20.  How do you think to develop your career?