okay, so I absolutely ADORE the idea of this thread.  Although I can't cook, some of my favorite reality shows are cooking shows, and since I've tried experimenting in the kitchen, I've found the idea of cooking as a hobby or profession to be absolutely fascinating. Every time I hear about what other people cook, I think I drool a bit and feel some jealousy.  How feasible is it to make it in this world as a chef, and do you have to have any basic knowledge before doing something like culinary school?  I'm pretty sure it would NEVER happen for me, but what a fun way to go, if I ever had the chance!

I definitely didn't understand some of your terms though.... For example, what the heck is mirepoxie a satche?  (I see where you explained the mirepoxie part, but is it SOLELY the chopped veggies?) How much do you need in comparison to the other amounts you gave?

I'm kind of amazed at the idea of making stock out of fish bones.  They are SO tiny... I used to fish for king salmon in Alaska, and even those bones were minute. Just how many do you need to make a fumet, and how long would it take to gather that many?  I'm sure they're sold in quantity for chefs... but if you were to collect them yourself from fish you cooked? Wow!

How many bones do you typically need for other types of stock?  How do you caramelize bones?

What should you skim your stock with?

Sorry for all the questions. I just would love to try this myself some day. I'm sure it's much healthier than store-bought stock.

That was extremely helpful, and all my questions are now answered. XD 

I have to say that hearing you talk about your own experiences makes me feel pretty good about the idea of ever doing culinary school. I think the chance of me doing such a thing is worse than zero (ha!), but it's still nice to fantasize about, I guess. lol

Although you say that stuff can't really be messed up.. I've been known to mess up brownies from the box... so.... XD

How hard is it to memorize all that stuff or to develop a pallet?  Also, what will you teach us about next?

Because he can't post in this thread again, I'm going to copy/paste Fallman7's second article here:


Garnishes  

It has always been said “it is the little things that make things truly special.” This is a fact of life small changes and adding small details to the most superficial of things can have truly great outcomes. The same could be said when it comes to cooking.

Now, before I began writing this small article I was looking through a few of the cookbooks I own to discover an interesting topic for one to read. The obvious choice was to write about quick sauces. This would make my life easier, although it would be incredibly boring for all of you. And then it hit me garnish.

Garnish is the smallest and simplest aspect of a dish, almost to the point that it isn’t needed. So why is it there? By definition it is there to pull a dish together whether it be by texture, taste, color, or even smell. Garnish could give a final dish definition and complexity, and could be as simple as chopped parsley to complex foams or dusts.

Parsley and herb garnishes are simple enough that anyone could do them so I won’t take up space with it but a complex garnish which, foams and dusts are considered, take more work to make. Dust can be made in a variety of ways but, I suggest either grinding vegetables or fruit on a microplane or juicing the product and using the pulp left in the machine for dust (a very fine hand grater much finer than any normal cheese grater.). Next grab a glass or ceramic plate, plastic or paper plates will not work, take plastic wrap and stretch it tight on top of the plate with little to no wrinkles in the wrap. Take your ground product and place it on top of the plastic covered plate. Put the plate in the microwave for about one to two minutes on defrost. This dried product can be saved for up to a year. The question is though how do I use this? First grind in a spice grinder and sprinkle on top of the finished dish to add a bit of additional flavor. But if you need a bit more color I suggest using your dust as a garnish around the edge of the dish.

Now, Foams are a bit different. Foams fall in the area we culinarians call molecular gastronomy. This usually involves the use of chemicals. It is a subject that is very complex and will discuss in a latter article.

When it comes to garnish I have to stress its importance to home cooks. You see garnish is the third most important part of a dish with; stock and ingredient quality being number one and two respectively. I remember about 6 months ago I was working at this huge country club that was on its own island. The place was just massive and, the people that ate there were incredibly rich. Just one of the places that normal people just won’t be able to eat at. Now why do I bring this up? Well one of my responsibilities was to take care of garnish. Just basic stuff like make sure pint cups of gardener, chives, Maldon, lemon zest, orange zest, chives, and a few bottles or oils were up on the pass. Still why does this matter? Well the stuff had to be perfect if all my chives were not 1/16th of an inch exactly every time I had them thrown at me. Same with everything else if it wasn’t perfect I would have it handed to me or thrown at me and told do it again. Now why I always asked why no one would notice I didn’t so, why did it have to be done again? Well because garnish isn’t something you slap together like staff meal it is something you take care of like a piece of foie gras, you take care of it because that is the last ingredient that will be placed on the food before it goes out to the customer. It is about having pride in your dishes. Because at the end of the day when you cook you don’t make food you make art. And the art is in the details and that is what garnish is about. So I can only give you ideas but I suggest going crazy and trying something new. Because that is what cooking is about.