NOMA: A WEEK FOR AN APPETIZER

That means –  the currant knobs, the milk sheepskins chips, verbena oil and a plenty of other interesting stuff. And most important, I was finally at the bottom! I thought, that this will not happen yet, but because one of my colleagues was ill, I went for the lunch and evening service. That was an extreme experience. As I already wrote, at the bottom of Noma there is an absolute concentration prevailing, so my stress didn’t help me at all and several times I haven’t caught what was going on and what exactly I was supposed to do. Fortunately one of the department heads sensed my anxiety and moderated me through the entire work process. It came off! I want to come back there! I only need to be more relaxed into it, because the nerves aren’t going hand in hand with the concentration. It’s time to talk about the sections. Of course, the ones who work in the gastronomy, will know with what laws every kitchen functions, however I guess, that for many of you it is an unfamiliar topic. I’m about to explain. The Noma’s kitchen is divided into five sections, to each of them a different  “chef de parties” is allocated (somebody resembling the manager).

• The production: this is where the ingredients are being prepared and exploited on individual sections (what I described already in previous entries)
• snacks (in short “snx”): this section is responsible for the dishes which are being served at the beginning of the menu, i.e. appetizers
• the first section: the cold dishes section
• the second section plus the grill: these sections are responsible for hot dishes
• pastry: in this section one prepares the desserts and bakes the bread

Probably the heaviest section is the second one, so-called “full time job” and of course work at “barbecue”. The section where the work seems to be the most pleasant is the ‘pastry section’. In this section apart from two guys there are only girls and this is the place where most of the female interns ends. So I can probably be proud of oneself if I hit on “snx”! In the “pastry” department I would like to learn to bake the earlier recalled croissants and an awesome bread. Apart from that, I don’t think I would find myself there. Cakes baking was never my biggest strength. Every section, apart from the production one, starts the work earlier and  prepares for itself the “mise en squares” (that is, it organizes the ingredients for an individual dishes) for the whole day. Sounds easy, right? This week in our kitchen we had a fourteen years old intern – Cedric from Belgium, a young adept of the local culinary school. The boy few years ago ate lunch with parents at Noma and was fully enchanted. So when he grew enough to reach our table tops, René agreed to accept him as an intern for one week. Cedric was doing great, helping with every section. Perhaps, who knows, he will come back to Noma as an experienced cook?

text: Maria Przybyszewska, photo: USTA Magazine

The review sponsor from z Marii Przybyszewska Noma‘s stay is the HERMES, a producent of flavoured waters.  www.hermes-amita.com.pl