[Sca-cooks] The apprentege, Adamantius and Drakey

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Apr 2, 2006, at 10:22 AM, Denise Wolff wrote:

> I publicly want to state that I have worked in many a kitchen run  
> by Adamantius and  that he runs a safe kitchen. I believe his  
> convection story came from his exploits in the modern world of  
> cooking.

That was in one of the groups which was once Eastern, but now  
AEthelmearc. I'm blanking out on the name of the group, but it's  
mundanely Binghamton, NY. Sterling Vale? Master Dyffan ap Iago (who  
may not have been a Laurel at the time) had put some puff pastry in a  
convection oven, and some of it, especially a large square of foil,  
had decided to go for a little ride into the fan blades. In the  
amount of time I had to make a decision, and before the fan motor  
blew out (the dials had had some of the numbers worn away and nobody  
actually present could figure out how to turn anything off), I  
wrapped towels around my hands and went in, first removing the pans  
and racks. It should be noted that I was tall enough to lean in  
without ever really taking my all my weight off my feet, and I was  
wearing good, protective clothing (my Mark I chef's cote). But I'm  
sure it looked plenty Hansel and Gretel, and if the accounts of me as  
a fireproof madman are a slight exaggeration, it does, after all,  
make a smashing motion picture ;-)

> He is very good at rescuing other cooks from their mistakes at  
> feasts. I feel safe and happy when he volunteers in my kitchen- I  
> know things will get done right.
>
> I once cooked so many cheese dishes at the same time- the cheese  
> goo in the oven caught fire....Adamantius was there to rescue me.  
> No people, kitchen, or food was lost.

I like to think of myself as the kitchen equivalent of a Hitchhiker's  
Guide, with the little "Don't Panic!" sign on it...

It's true, and especially so as I get older, that I need to be more  
careful about my own well-being, but my most reckless moves have  
generally been to protect others from some form of damage, and so far  
I've been extremely lucky. But then, they also say you make your own  
luck... ;-)

>
> Greatful,
> Andrea MacIntyre

Well, you're a peer now, and people get to be grateful to you! ;-)

Adamantius



"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04