Blessed are the Cheese Makers

For they shall be called the Children of Plod. Or something like that.

Way back when I was in university, recommendations that described you as “diligent,” or “hard-working” were polite code words for not being all that bright. I know that for a fact. I got to read one of the recs written about me. Can’t say it made me all that happy at the time.

I’m not so sure of that these days. There is no question that the atmosphere here in our soul food kitchen could often be described as “plodding along”: slow-cooked dishes that take a long time to prep and often require tedious, repetitive activities. I’m okay with that.

In fact, I’m more than okay with that. A friend of mine shared a video with me recently of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and kitchen associates cooking up a slew of amazing dishes. The style is sexy, fast-paced, quick cuts here and there, techno music in the background. Inspiring shit. Really. But fucking exhausting.

This clip is worth juxtaposing to watching Mashama Bailey and her kitchen crew at the highly-touted The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. There is almost total silence in the kitchen. None of this yelling of “yes chef” shit all the time. Just a bunch of well-trained professionals moving at ease and seemingly without any sense of urgency, as if they had all the time in the world. I’m sure that beneath this veneer of placidness, folks are pedalling a bit frenetically. But still, the overall sense of calm pervades. As it should in a soul food kitchen.

OK. So brigade kitchens are clearly made for some chefs and not for others. I’m clearly in that latter category. I’m hoping that the homemade curdling milk and cream combo I just put in the fridge until tomorrow turns into a nicely acidic cheese. But if it doesn’t, time to just try it again. And again. Until it’s right. Plodding along. I’m okay with that.