Moroccan Style @ Mamounia Lounge Mayfair

Back in November, I received an invite to sample the newly refurbished Mounima Lounge in Mayfair, but Christmas time in the travel industry includes having to go to many Airline and Hotel parties, oh how I tire of them… Yeah right….

Foto Friday # 79

One of the stoves and ovens in the slightly eclectic "Andres Carne De Res" outside of Bogota in Chia, Colombia.

Whose Idea was it for me to Work in a Professional Kitchen

Rather late in life, I decided to really get to know how to cook. So I took a 6 month full time cooking course at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London. I was a pretty good cook, and enjoyed it immensely. So when I started the course, I realized how much I did not know. Incredible, but I enjoyed the new learning experience. The theory side kinda bored me a lot, but had to learn the hows and whys.

After I finished in March, we popped over to Asia for six months. (See blogs below). On our return in October I decided to work in a restaurant, kinda wishing I had done it back in March or April, but Asia was fantastic and I am so glad we went.

Luckily enough I got a job in a new restaurant that was going to open in a new shopping centre in West London. The head chef was an ex teacher at Leiths, so thankfully I was taken aboard. In the kitchen there was 7 of us to begin with. 4 commis, a junior sous, a sous and head chef. This over the following 6 weeks dwindled down to just 5 of us.

The menu originally was fast healthy food for ladies who were going to lunch in this new shopping centre. They still came in but not as many as was predicted. Recession maybe.

Like in Sushi bars we had or a conveyer belt where the cold starters were to go. Thankfully this idea was aborted after the 2nd week. It became clear with the lack of customers there was a lot of wastage, as everything has to be cleared within 2 hours. So in the end I was making to order. A better idea.

The restaurant never fully recovered from a shamble of an opening, and we slowly went down hill over the next 2 months. Although we were really busy for weekend brunch …. Not enough to keep a place alive. So the owner closed up shop quite suddenly 2 weeks before Christmas.

For me it was a good introduction into kitchen life as we were not too busy but busy enough to give me an idea of what it was like. The hours were painful though as there were so few of us we used to do shifts of 16 hours. A killer. Normally at least three times a week.

I had a few weeks of doing nothing before Christmas before my Sous Chef gave me a call and got me a trial in a kitchen that is part of the Soho House Group here in London.

Now if I thought Ito was a killer. Nothing could have prepared me for this. I normally do 7 or 8 shifts a week, which are nine hours each. A few doubles in there for good measure. But sometimes the aount of work is relentless. Just to prep my station takes me several hours and if I am doing two at once. It’s a killer. At 38, my body can not really take much more of this. I’m hoping to last to the end of March, then take it week by week.

At one point I realized that over 3 days, I had slept for 15 hours, and eaten very very little. No wonder I was so mashed. All I do on my days off is sleep.

Now this sounds like either I’m moaning or torturing myself. The thing is I am really enjoying the job, and wished I had done this when I was younger. Much younger. I am learning so much more. Basically all I learnt in college does me no good here, as restaurant ways are a lot different from there and at home. 

I Got To Cook !!!

We were lazing on the beach in Nha Trang, soaking up a few rays, making our pasty white skin look a little bit more healthy. When I overheard a conversation between two couples. One couple had been here before, and was telling the other about a local restaurant called Lac Canh. He was describing it as a local institution. A real gem of a place, mainly visited by locals. This intrigued me. He described the food there and how it was cooked, which sent my taste buds into overdrive. 

Later I enquired in our hotel about Lac Canh, and they raved about it. Saying most people go their at least once a month with the whole family. What more of a reason did I need. Dinner was set. 

We strolled to Lac Canh, which was at the other end of the beach, it was a pleasant walk. As we drew nearer to it, we could smell the meat being cooked. My pace quickened somewhat. When we arrived, it seemed as if the whole place was on fire. The smoke made it hard to see. We were shown to our seats and given a menu. We were promptly visited by a beer girl, this time from San Miguel. We ordered a large bottle. Best to order one at a time here, as it gets warm quickly, and I want to get out of the habit of drinking beer with ice. Around us were tables full of Vietnamese families, enjoying themselves. Laughing, joking with eachother and eating loads. 

The menu is short and sweet. A small section on beef, pork, chicken, fish of varying types, a salad or two and a drinks section. What more do you need. 

To begin with we ordered some beef, which was marinated in an in house concoction. Which I gathered consisted of chilli, garlic, rice vinegar and lime juice. We also ordered a plate of shrimps, a salad and some baguettes. 

A charcoal bar-b-q arrived on our table, the coals were red hot, glowing like the sun itself. On top was a grate for us to put our food on to grill. 

The beef arrived first, so with chopstix I placed a few pieces on the grate. The smell was divine, as it dripped onto the coals, smoke would drift up. It was heaven. 

At Leiths, I was always taught, that when you cook a steak, to know when it's done, it's all in the touch. So with chopstix in hand, I prodded the beef slices to see when they were done. Not sure if my teacher had this in mind when she taught me, but it worked. The beef came off perfect. Cooked, but still juicy. 

Popped a bit in a piece of baguette with some salad and munched away. Delish. Taste was divine, a little bit of heat from the marinade, some taste from the flames, but it was so moist. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. 

We cooked a few more pieces of beef, before we went for the shrimps. I had never cooked seafood on a bar-b-q before, well once before, when I got drunk and dropped them on the floor. So, this time I was a little bit more sober. As the heat from the coals was still quite high, they cooked pretty fast, turning them every so often, moving them around the grill as not to burn them to much. Peeling red hot shrimps with chopstix is a difficult job, but Lina is a natural at it. I may start hiring her out. They were delish, not as good as the ones we had n Bangkok, but pretty close to it. They were still juicy, but the taste of an open grill made them better. 

To be honest we ate the rest of the prawns and beef pretty fast. Easy to do when food taste this good. Now being a greedy git, I couldn't resist ordering some more. Shouldn't have, but I did. So I ordered some slices of pork belly marinated in the same in house sauce. These were a little more tricker to cook, as the fat kept dripping on the coals and flames would shoot up through the grates and lick the pork slices. So I had to be on my toes and keep moving them around the grate. They tasted divine also, the crispiness of the pork fat and the juiciness of the meat and their marinade was to die for that night. All washed down with several bottles of San Miguel beer, it was a fun night out. Plus I got to do a little cooking also. All this for about 5 pounds. I was in heaven.

Even though it was late, we decided to walk back as we were quite full. But with a full stomach and a happy heart, no walk is to long.