GB
Chief Eating Officer
I agree Half Baked. I do not thing he was trying to glorify it either. He was just exposing the realities of what it is like to work in a restaurant kitchen.
There is a difference between toughening up a bit and desensitizing your hands. Calloused flesh can still burn, or freeze....all of which are harmful to the body part. Desensitized flesh is not necessary to competently work in a kitchen. Regarding a cut finger or any other open wound....without a doubt for any reason at all, any open wound, every open wound absolutely has to be covered at all times. Getting a bandaid doesn't make you a wimp, it prevents you from contaminating everything you touch!GB said:It would influence you in knowing where the comment came from. The comment about doing that was not because it is cool. It was taken directly from the book.
In the book AB talks about one of his first experiences in a real kitchen. He was basically trying out for a spot to work there. Something happened (I do not recall what exactly) and he got a small cut on his finger. he asked for a bandage. The kitchen stopped what it was doing. one of the old timers there said that he could not believe he was stopping work to ask for something like that. He then proceeded to pull a cast iron pan out of the oven with his bare hands. He did not flinch at all as he did this. The guys hands were so calloused and worked that he did not feel the heat. He was basically telling AB that if he wants to make it in that field then he has to toughen up a bit.
Nope it is not safe or sanitary at all. Part of what you will learn from this book is that that sort of thing happens all the time unfortunately.KathyJ said:I have the book and am planning on reading it, but haven't yet....
After all the comments, it'll go to the top of my list.
in regards to the cut, please, please stop and put a bandaid on... I, for one, do not want someone else's blood in my food. That can't be safe.
tsi88kid said:he did not get a cut he picked up a saute pan that was hot and burned himself and thought the bandaid would help the burn so the old timer picked up an even hotter pan.
Obviously putting a bandaid on a cut that bleeds is importent but then again this books stories take place back in the 70's and 80's anyway when sanitation wasn't as enforced.
mudbug- you are right this wasn't a book written for a homecook and when I am home and have the time to get oven mits I will do it. However in my work i dont have time too do so when there is a long line of tickets waiting to go out and you dont even have oven mits. Just have to toughen up.