Mostly happy trails: Haute Greek cuisine

There’s very little theoretical learning in culinary school. Damned near all of the knowledge is imparted via the practical, hands-on approach. But there’s practical and then there’s practical.

And so begins my secondary learning, a little process called stagiaire or trailing. Or as it should be called, short-term slave labor. Basically an aspiring chef agrees to work a shift at a restaurant in the hope that you’ll learn a bit more and get a job offer later on.

My first trail was a two-day stint at Anthos, a fine dining Greek restaurant in Midtown. Despite the fact that my two-day trail combined with my usual 4-hour school day for a relaxing 17-hour day cooking, it was a great experience. The menu there is fairly impressive, they work with a lot of fish, and the people were very nice.

I also got to learn a little about line cooking jargon. At one point the co-owner of the joint, Donatella Arpaia, sat down with some guests, including who I think was actor Kyle McLaughlin. We were told to "fire" their meals "very VIP." That translates into "cook" your meals "extremely well, because if you fuck it up we'll gut you on the spot."

My first day trailing at Anthos was spent almost wholly prepping, with mixed success: julienning red onions (the cuts seemed fine but I didn’t cover them properly and thus stunk up the fridge, slightly pissing off the pastry chef); cutting oyster mushrooms; rolling cheese balls; and picking beans, among other things.

The second day was much better. I did a little prep, but I also got to work the deep-fry station. It’s not much more glamorous than a stint at McDonald’s, but it was a good entre into the world of restaurants for someone who has no such experience. I was in charge of prepping meze—Greek appetizers that are typically brought out as a complement from the chef—for diners as soon as they were seated.

They consisted of Greek-style mini-hot dogs (using pita bread, pomegranate ketchup and mustard seeds) and a small plate of deep fried cheese balls, sweetbreads, aqualemon foam, tipiti sauce and mini-pita.

Aqualemon foam
2 eggs, separated
2 oz. lemon juice
salt to taste
1 oz. chicken stock

Whip the two egg whites, the lemon juice and a good amount of salt in a blender until moderately stiff peaks form and it tastes very lemony and very salty. Take the two egg yolks and some chicken stock and heat it briefly (in a microwave for 8 seconds or over very low heat). The egg yolk mixture should not scramble at all. Then pulse the yolk mixture into the peaks. Et voila.

Or, as the Greeks would say, εκεί.