SC - Compost and Kitchen Crew management

[Elaine Koogler]

Second reply...sorry, I should have read the message in its entirety before
responding.

What I do is to ask the autocrat to provide me with help during the day and
during the feast to wash dishes.  That way I don't tie up cooks with
dishwashing...and we always have the gear we need ready and clean to be reused
(unless someone else is using it at that moment).  The other thing that this
accomplishes is that it involves folks who do not feel comfortable helping with
food preparation in creating the feast.  Also, they can be cycled out and
replaced by others who are willing to do this.

My rule is "Cooks don't clean", so this method fits in with that philosophy.

Kiri

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> -- ONE --
>
> I'm thinking of making Compost The Medieval Dish for the feast i'm
> doing in late Nov-early Dec, even though it isn't one of the
> "traditional" dishes for that feast. The main dishes are pork, pork,
> pork - in just about every course except dessert. And that's because
> it's The Boar Hunt - a day of hunting boar (a couple heavy fighters
> so designated) by other heavies and "hounds" (light fighters so
> designated). The feast comes after a day of good clean fun (or not so
> clean if it's raining).
>
> Months ago when i first took this assignment (cue Mission: Impossible
> music) i asked for recipes from the good folk on this list and will
> be playing with them before i decide (my thanks again to those who
> sent them).
>
> Usually dishes are cooked on the spot, starting around 8 or 9 AM with
> the pork roasts, as there's a pretty good kitchen there. The feast
> starts around 5 PM: a course is served, folks eat, the dishes are
> cleared and there is singing, or dancing, or juggling, or other
> stuff, then another course, then more stuff, etc. Hall clears around
> 10 PM and the kitchen is theoretically clean by 11 PM.
>
> But, as i said, i'm thinking of making Compost. i'd have to start
> this some time ahead of the feast. What i'd like to know is, how far
> ahead of the feast should i start this?
>
> Also, must i have one of those big ceramic crocks or can i use a
> couple big glass jars (i think mine are 2-gallon size) or what? The
> feast is for between 50 to 100 people. There are i think four courses
> with four dishes in each course.
>
> -- TWO --
>
> I've worked two feasts and i finally attended one at which i didn't
> work for the first time last weekend, but i don't yet know how to
> "manage" the cooking crew. I intend to volunteer for a couple more
> feasts this year to learn more, but i thought i'd pose this to the
> list.
>
> Since i've never managed a kitchen crew before, i'm not sure of the
> "best" way. There's cooking going on from around 8 AM until shortly
> before the dessert course, although most of the crew arrives between
> 10 and 11 AM. What happened last year was one or two people worked on
> each dish - chopping, mixing, cooking. When the dish was done, they
> moved on to another dish or took a "play" break.
>
> Last year i spent about 5 hours washing when i noticed that the
> serving trays needed to be "recycled" and no one else was washing.
> Also, as people finished cooking their dishes they just put the dirty
> stuff in the sink and moved on to the next dish.
>
> I want to find a way to rotate the crew so that stuff actually gets
> washed, but no one person spends the whole evening doing it. I'd
> like, first, to ask (tell) folks to wash the items they used when
> they're done using them, so that part of the stack up in the sink is
> eliminated. There are three sinks - i'm guessing, one soap, one clear
> first rinse, one clear final rinse...
>
> How to other Kitchen Stewards do this? Do i just informally watch and
> pick people out from time to time and cycle them over to the sink? A
> posted list of names and jobs, then i watch to make sure people move
> to their next job? Try to get a volunteer washing crew in addition to
> the cooking crew?
>
> Thanks for any hints,
>
> Anahita al-shazhiyya bint-al-karim al-Fassi
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