Every professional chef has faced catastrophe in the kitchen. They are days that test you—and teach you. Three CIA chefs share their worst kitchen disasters:
“I invited my three young boys to spend time with me baking in my restaurant kitchen. The result was a dropped carrot cake, tons of flour spread over every corner of the kitchen floor, and our clothes and walls decorated with cream cheese frosting. It was a disaster zone and I opted to close the fully booked restaurant for that evening.”
“I once “enrobed” some shallots in dark chocolate and dusted them with cocoa powder. They looked like really big truffles and I meant to give them to guys in the kitchen as a joke. Regrettably, they got sent to out to some VIP guests…yeah.”
“Catering the black-and-gold Rose Bowl party for the booster club at Purdue University. On the way out to the 50-yard line, one of the cooks tipped over the entire hot box of prime ribs. Thank God we hurricane-wrapped the hotel pans, so we only lost the precious sauce, not the meat! It did turn out OK, but at the moment the hot box hit the ground and I saw sauce pouring out, I just wanted to disappear.”