Braised Oxtail

I may be weird, but my favorite thing about food is the story that it tells. Whenever I cook something special, I like the food to have a meaning and story behind it. Be it an inside joke or have a symbolic meaning, I like the meal to say something. So how does one sum the end of culinary school with a dish? The past few years have certainly been a journey of many ups and downs. A journey that looks simple from far away, but when you're actually involved with that process, you realize that there is so much going on. What's the perfect dish? It's different for everyone, but my story is braised oxtail.

Oxtails really don't get much play. In my grocery store, I find oxtails placed together with all the other forgotten delicacies such as tripe and tongue. It's a product that is looked over in favor of the more popular parts of the animal. Just like culinary school, it's not favored by everyone. Sure everyone enjoys it, but are they willing to put in the time and effort to make it?

In their simple form, oxtails can't really be used. They must be cleaned up; trimmed of the large chunks of fat. When you're done, there really isn't much meat to it. We must continue to transform it into something great. Next, we gather our aromatics; the basic ingredients that develop the flavor in the dish. In this case, it's mirepoix and bouquet garni. In culinary school, it's basic knife skills and culinary math. We don't stop there, we have to have a liquid that will bring all the ingredients together. Red wine and beef stock. Beef stock to echo and enhance the flavors of the oxtail and red wine for those term paper all nighters. Once we gather all our items, we start the process. Seasoning and browning the oxtails then caramelizing the mirepoix. Once it seems like the mirepoix is on the edge of burning (or giving up), we deglaze with red wine and beef stock. Everything quiets down and we place the oxtails back in the pot. Add the bouquet garni and place in the oven to be alone and work on itself. The process feels like forever. Every now and then, you feel like giving up and ordering out, but you don't. You continue to let all the ingredients work together and transform. Towards the end, you start notice and smell the change and finally it is time. You spoon it onto a plate and take a bite. It was all worth it.

So as I sit here drinking red wine, I wonder, what will be my next dish?

Awhile ago, I had seen a post on A2eatwrite's blog about an organization called bloggeraid and this organization is made up of foodbloggers trying to help the hunger issue all over the world. I've never been one for charities. Mostly because most of the money donated does not go straight to the cause but to administration and what not. The great thing about this project is that foodbloggers submit their recipes and photos and all the proceeds will be going towards the the World Food Programme(WFP). I had a few other recipes I was thinking of submitting, but I decided to submit the recipe for red wine braised oxtails. The book is set to come out around the end of this year, so I will be sure to purchase it.

If you would like to submit a recipe, the deadline is March 31st. (So close. I know)

Recollection: On starting culinary school

I sometimes wish that I had started my food blog when I started culinary school. I've always been a big fan of journals or diaries. Mostly because it allows one to look back at their old lives and see how they have grown and changed. I would have loved to see how my cooking improved through school and to log all my experiences. I've had quite a few interesting things happen.

I remember during the culinary orientation,a very nice gentleman sat next to me and he talked about his love for food and cooking. He told me what his specialty was (sauces) and asked me what mine was. (note: I hate that question. My usual answer is 'everything'. The convo gets over faster that way) This guy really had a passion for food or at least he could talk it up really well. When the Dean spoke, he said that not everyone would make it through the program. He said that maybe only 30 in the room would graduate. Of course I thought it was crazy at the time, but now I see that he was right. The guy turned to me and said," I'm really nervous now. I hope I make it." To which I said, "ehh,don't worry about it. You obviously have a passion for food. As long as you work hard, you'll make it." He quit after the first lab.

My first culinary lab was quite interesting. It was called 'professional cooking techniques I.' It was a class of about 8 students,give or take a few. That class was a blast. We had two instructors on different days. A woman and a man. The woman sported a very cool, blonde pixie cut and laid back attitude. She was a great cook, a great teacher, and she remains to be my favorite chef. She also happened to be a vegetarian who cared about animal rights, but loved a bloody ribeye every now and then. I love that lady. The man was a fairly young and fairly attractive classically trained chef. He was a very cool guy and very laid back. Needless to say, my basic class was enjoyable. I'd go into the personalities of my classmates, but it would make this post much longer than it would need to be.

I will talk about Slash tho. Slash is just a nickname that we gave him within the first 3 days of class. I'm sure you can pick up on why he was named that. The first week of basic consists of knife skill drills. We basically go through the classical cuts; julienne,fine brunoise, tourne,etc. We also learn how to make ten different kinds of potato soup and mashed potatoes. ;) Anyways,back to slash. It was sometime in the middle of class when we heard someone gasp and a knife clang down on a cutting board. This particular gentleman cut himself. He bandaged it up and finished on with the class. The next lab, he was absent because he had to go to the hospital to get it stitched up. I guess he cut really deep. On Wednesday, he was back and bandaged. We were doing knife skill drills again when we heard a gasp and a laugh. Oh no, who cut themselves now? Oh,same guy. This time, he didn't cut so deep. He will now and forever be known as Slash. In fact, I've forgotten his real name now.