Your Least Favorite Prep Task - Page 4

Shimmer · #46 04-03-2002, 02:46 PM

My eyes don't water when I wear contact and work with onions either. Now that I don't work with food all day, I usually only have a lot of time to cook on my days off. But on my days off, I wear glasses to give my eyes a break from wearing contacts!

Oh well, that's life.

~~Shimmer~~

Plongeur · #47 11-29-2005, 09:30 AM

I know this is from a long while ago, but - to peel garlic more easily soak it in water for 10-20 minutes beforehand. Most varieties just pop out of their skins then, although there are some with an inner skin which is a pain to get off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shroomgirl

Gotta be peeling copious amounts of garlic..my hands get cut under the nails

kimbrosj · #48 12-02-2005, 05:24 AM

well since Plongeur revived this thread, I will go ahead and post in it....

I actually love cutting large amounts of veg or fruit, relaxes me, gets me back to my roots. But I'd have to say the prep that drives me absolutely bonkers would have to be peeling, be it potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes etc, so freakin tedious and mondane....standing in that one spot for hours peeling that stuff....all I gotta say is thank god for dishwashers, ie potato peelers!!!!

MarkV · #49 12-02-2005, 09:12 AM

The absolute worse thing I ever had to do was to take a box of live lobsters and tear them apart with my bare hands into their respective anatomical parts.

It was years ago and I don't remember the recipe right now but the head chef insisted on breaking them down first, and then cooking them.

It was horrible. Call me squeamish, a sissy, or whatever you like but it disturbed me to rip a living creature apart with my bare hands. I'll throw it in a pot of boiling water but to dismember it alive as it squirms and suffers was grisly and made me feel very uncomfortable.

Mark

Harpua · #50 12-02-2005, 01:38 PM

peeling apples and making mousse.

Plongeur · #51 12-03-2005, 06:28 AM

I enjoy most prep work, usually because it means I'm not washing dishes and pots. But I don't particularly enjoy cleaning out 'encornets' - cuttle fish or baby squid, especially the smaller ones. Chef usually wants them for stuffing so they have to be kept whole, and it's really tedious cleaning out the insides to do that. Especially when you're into a shoal that were caught while eating and their insides are full of half-digested fish.
I do like peeling spuds, though, very calming - turning them all 'à l'anglaise' so they have 7 sides is absorbing.
Maybe I'm losing it...

Merlot · #52 12-03-2005, 11:14 AM

Hi, I'm new so I thought I would jump on in. I'm not a chef but my ex was training as one so I fell in love with cooking! He used to give me the task of cleaning mushrooms with a damp paper towel. I hated that!

and I will probably never eat swordfish again.. I heard the same about grouper and haven't touched it in years....

even stephen · #53 12-03-2005, 12:09 PM

Breaking down skate wing. All the mucous and the texture of the
skin is murder on your hands. A close second has to be cutting osso
bucco on an old fleetwood ban saw at 5:30 in the morning. The
smell of burning bone and the occasional oh so scary ka!pow! of
the blade coming off. Of course there is no chance it can jump
off and get you, but still, quite disturbing after a couple of double
espresso.

Blade55440 · #54 12-08-2005, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foodnfoto

What about cleaning swordfish? Has anyone here had to pull out the parasitic worms from them?
I found one 16 inches long one time.
Haven't eaten swordfish since.
As an alternative, I always learn toward Mako or Black-tippped shark for that kind of flavor and texture. No worms, either.

.....I think I'm gonna be sick.

shroomgirl · #55 12-09-2005, 06:56 AM

slicing onions paper thin for salad on a slicer.....tears running down my face with a Healthy respect for the moving blade.....

panini · #56 12-09-2005, 08:07 AM

OMGosh,
Started tearing just reading that.
Don't you love it when the go from driping clear to opaque.

Andrew563 · #57 12-09-2005, 10:57 AM

i get really bored peeling prawns.

Jim · #58 12-09-2005, 07:52 PM

Skewering/Making Brochettes. Especially when you have to make a billion of them. I particularly enjoy when the bamboo skewers go through the thin, web-like area between your thumb and index finger. Nothing like raw shrimp 'goo' getting jammed into your hand to wake you up!
A close second would have to be dicing sweet potatoes/yams. While I, too, enjoy knife work as an escape from all the chaos, nothing says "blood blister" better than a case of rock hard sweet potatoes.

Nentony · #59 12-10-2005, 08:16 AM

I'm with Andred653. My first job in a restaurant was as a busboy. I was always nagging the chef/owner to let me work prep because it looked interesting. One morning he called me really early and said if I could come in right away I could work prep. I said great and hightailed it over. He had been shrimping the night before and hit the motherlode. he had 2 big rubbermaid cans and a bunch of coolers full of shrimp. I peeled and deveined shrimp for 8 straight hours while the salad girl portioned and froze them. What a drag. Only good news was he gave me a couple pounds to take home, my folks were thrilled.

Tony

Suzanne · #60 12-10-2005, 11:36 AM

I am definitely with Plongeur on cleaning calamari!

Used to spend all morning doing it when I was externing. Disgusting. But at least then I got to cook it later.

Had to tear apart lobsters at the same place, but I enjoyed that. No thought to whether or not they "felt" anything. In fact, I especially like doing it in front of the kitchen window that opened onto the hallway leading to the restrooms: give those customers an idea of what went into their fancy food.

Now that I only cook at home, I hate hate hate cleaning lettuces for salads. Fortunately, my husband -- who eats huge amounts of salad at every dinner -- enjoys it. So it all works out well.