mind the gap

I'm going to have to get used to the fact that I won't ever be able to update this as often as I would like to! In a way, I can't believe I was so optimistic way back in October, about keeping up with the writing. I've had enough access to the internet, but I guess there's been a bit of a shuffle in priorities over the past couple of months. For example, when I'm in Melbourne on the weekends, I'd rather be catching up with people face to face, than updating them on my life via this place. Oh, and while I'm on base with a bit of spare change and time up my sleeve, I've discovered the simple joys of reading magazines, or books from the library, and using Defence resources to write letters back home.

Yep, I'm still scribbling out or typing the odd bit of correspondence, if only to keep up good habits. It's way too easy to just talk myself into believing that the odd phone call or barrage of SMSes can make up for a good ol' fashioned letter. Much like trying to convince myself that a handful of paragraphs here and there on a blog will be enough to jog my memory whenever I get around to writing the book about my life and times in le militoire!

So, where do I begin? I might start at now, and work my way backwards. My Melbourne man's currently at work, which is why I'm madly catching up on Internet related chores of sorts. I've actually remembered how to do email posts to this blog, so I might give that a go during the week to see if it works, and more importantly, if someone, somewhere gets angry about me doing so. I figure that technically speaking, if I'm writing about cooking for the Defence Force, I actually am doing something work related, even if it's just expressing my opinions on what I do.

Procrastination as an art
What I'm meant to be doing is either cruising back to home proper to pick up mail, stash some more clothes and books in the boot (I'm trying to get as much of my things onto base before my posting, when I get a free removal of my cabin's inventory), or going back to base to celebrate a coursemate's birthday at the superlocal or perhaps a not so local, or heading further south to Sorrento for a school friend's hen's night gathering of sorts. If anything, the past few months have taught me more elaborate forms of procrastination, which are getting more and more honed as the days go on.

My typical cycle goes a little something like this: do washing to avoid ironing, do ironing to avoid running, do running to avoid washing. Lather, rinse, repeat if necessary. I usually have a mental list of tasks to tackle, and I'm definitely getting better at tearing my way through the list, but it's almost like there's some part of me that has to put at least one thing off until the next day, or the last minute. So that sort of explains why right now I'm attempting to catch up on months of gossip on the pus, rather than get ready for a trip back to base (and beyond).

Ever learning; never burning
This week we've actually finished the last of our cookbooks, winding up with a theory and practical test on hot and cold desserts. I'm a bit torn about desserts, moreso than with our unit on pastry, cakes, and yeast goods. These are the things I've always wanted to master, if only from enjoying looking at and eating them so much, but because I have an iota of baking talent in my blood, I've found it a bit of a struggle. There's also a lot of precision work involved, measuring ingredients and being meticulous with technique, especially when it comes to under-mixing, over-whipping, and all manner of skills that only come with practice.

Actually, the class as a whole was coming along quite nicely until we came to the baking unit. Of course, tempers were bound to flare once ovens started being opened at the wrong times (I'm still paranoid about using shared deck/baker's ovens), and instead of solid results, suddenly things weren't turning out as planned, despite recipes being followed to the letter. It's a little disheartening when you start off being able to get away with a little gung ho here, a bit of improvised rescue tactic there, and then you realise you can't mess with the rules of bakery too much, or things just don't work.

We're about to be launched into yet another learning curve, despite the immediate relief of not having to learn any more cooking. Now comes the commercial aspect. As of next week, we're going to be providing lunch to all the ADF trainees at TAFE (around 80 people), cooking a la carte for paying customers in the TAFE restaurant, and preparing a full takeaway menu for civilians as well (including mains, salads, and desserts). We're about a week off from getting into K1, which is the proper restaurant kitchen that's sectioned like a real commercial kitchen, as opposed to K2's setup of a stove/oven, access to a deep fryer, and a sink/bench space each.

Sure, we've done the theory on menu planning, and quality control in the kitchen, but more than half of us have never actually been in charge of an entire kitchen brigade before. We each get a turn at being Chef Of The Day, where we run the kitchen while the rest of the class produces our own menu for ADF lunches, as well as restaurant and takeaway items as needed. Towards the end of our time at TAFE, we also get to organise and execute four themed buffets that paying customers will attend. Then it's off to single service training for a couple weeks; for the Army and RAAF that means heading north near the VIC/NSW border to do some field training.

Performing without norming
I only found out recently that the forming-storming-norming-performing group development model was tested on the US Air Force. It seems fitting really, that research into group dynamics could be done on members of the military. I actually thought that people in a military kitchen would find it easier to gel because of all the brainwashing we get in recruit school about how there's no room for individuals here, we're all about working together as a team.

Sure, the inter-force rivalry has pretty much died down, but now it seems all the bickering that goes on is just random personal stuff. One would think that once you step into the commercial kitchen environment, all that should matter is getting a good product out to the customer on time, every time. One would like to believe that mere weeks away from being posted out to serve the nation, having an argument about turning an ice cream machine off at the wrong time would seem petty, and immature. I don't like using high-school as a metaphor or simile often, but that's pretty much how it's been when things get nasty in Session 85.

There was a long period of storming last year, when the battle of the alpha males (possibly myself included) culminated in an enforced group pow-wow after TAFE one day, in a small room of the School of Catering building on base. I'm not at liberty to say what went on in that room, but I did think that once we'd had it out in there, said what we wanted and needed to say (and maybe a little bit on top of that), our Sergeant learnt a heck of a lot more about us (our chefs know more about us as people than he does, really), and we also learned a lot more about each other. Did it do any good? I'd say so. But after weeks of being cooped up in the same living and working space, it's no surprise that most of us were hanging for a month's break from each other over summer.

The real question is, did the norming ever happen? I believe there was a truce of sorts, or perhaps it was just the calm before the storm. It makes me wonder if anything really gets through to the class, after all the talks we've had with the Course Implementation Officer, our Sergeant, Ma'am in charge of ADF at TAFE, and our various chefs. I'm hoping that once we get into K1, people will realise how important it is to work well individually as well as part of a team, and the way we pump food out of that kitchen will show everyone that we can pull together.

What I do worry about is if we don't manage to get it together in the end, and I know from my old hospitality days that seeing a kitchen fall apart at the seams is an ugly, and in a way, heartwrenching sight to behold. So these coming weeks are ultra important, in a moment of truth kind of way. It's our chance to prove ourselves, and I know we're capable, it's just a matter of whether we can use our skills for good, not evil. Only time will tell.