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Carribean Punch
A drink to remember…..
Four years ago I employed a young French chef from Toulouse who came into my kitchen on the back of a ’stagier’ in Texas, full of energy and enthusiasm. He was a rare commodity, despite his young age he had already developed a passion for food and a remarkable interest in wine and travel.
He was very much a raw talent in need of nurturing, he made mistakes and sometimes his enthusiasm got the better of him but he never stopped wanting to learn. He took his share of bollockings and always came back stronger, he adapted to the English way of life easily and embraced the cultural differences without a care.
He was a lively prescence in the kitchen, he worked incredibly hard for me, working overtime week after week he would still maintain his energy and enthusiasm for both food and girls, of which both got him into equal amounts of trouble.
Last year, in late summer he left for pastures new in the French Carribean. The time was right, he had achieved all that he had wanted to and the desire to travel had returned. Two days ago I received a parcel from him, it was a bottle of passionfruit punch for myself and the kitchen staff, it was, as he wrote an entente cordiale to remember him by.
Yesterday he rang me from the small Island where he works to catch up and ask how everyone was. It reminded me of myself when I worked abroad and would telephone my former Head Chef and miss the conversations I had with him and the rest of the team. I thought about him and how his whole life is still in front of him and how quickly that all changes.
We shared a standing joke about the English weather and how it only ever rained in England and never in Toulouse. As we said our goodbye’s he laughed and said, “I can’t believe it, it’s started to rain”
Next week a young girl and her mother are coming to see me for some advice on becoming a chef. I am often asked if I would choose the same career again given the choice and there are times when the pressure is on, the fatigue kicks in and I wonder what I am doing. But then I recall the friends I have made and the lives I have influenced in some small way and the fact that they remember makes the hours seem worth it.
As for Pascal, ‘the boy done good’.
Miles,
Would you mind listing your ’surgery’ times so we might all benefit
Cid
February 23, 2008 @ 10:01 am
Cid,
It feels like 24/7 at the moment!
Miles
February 23, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
Miles
Great to get such feedback. It is ithe remembering and the show of appreciation that is the joy for the giver and the recipient. We should never be too slow or shy to demonstrate it from time to time.
Cheers
Elsie
February 23, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
Miles,
One of the things I love about this site is that it’s always an education. Whatever it is you’re doing with your life, you must be doing it very well…. look at your achievements with the camera as well as the Collins version of the Eden project in the garden
As far as teaching goes a friend of mine was once described as the grit that makes the pearl… very true.
Cid
February 23, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
Elsie,
Do you think it would be a good idea to book an appointment with Miles for the two of us, to discuss what we’re going to do when we grow up?
Cid
February 23, 2008 @ 11:37 pm
Miles
thank god everything is working !
Rod
February 24, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Rod,
With you on that one!
Miles
February 24, 2008 @ 8:20 am
Cid,
Thankyou, it’s always nice to hear from those who have worked for me, I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing them develop and go on to become great chefs in their own right.
Miles
February 24, 2008 @ 8:22 am
Cid,
I am not so sure about wanting to grow up. I don’t think it is all that it’s made out to be. May be more fun staying as we are
Elsie
February 24, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Elsie,
Without doubt we should stay as we are and I feel it fair to tell Miles now so that he may gird himself for the future… speaking of which there must be a vacancy in the kitchen from what we hear. For openers we’re going to stun him with our version of rolled sushi, mainly because we might not be able to cope with head cheese yet but will he notice if it looks vaguely circular?
Cid
February 24, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Miles,
Is it time yet to do the what’s hot and what’s not about the week? Would clearing out a blocked sewage system outside count because what I’ve dealt with today is unlikely to be equalled in the history of all blockages. Do I feel good about myself, you better believe it… you see Harvey Nics one day and latrine digging the next. Time for an exotic bath of sweet almond oil and Jeyes Fluid
Cid
February 24, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
Cid,
I’ll get onto it, didn’t want to be accused of stealing ’someone’ else’s thunder!
Miles
February 24, 2008 @ 9:59 pm