We were amazed at the efforts of Stan Brock and the team of volunteers at Remote Area Medical. More than 26,000 people have volunteered their expertise since 1985 to provide free medical treatment for people in need. Take a few minutes to view the 60 Minutes video.

I spoke with Mr. Brock and was further astounded that there was little corporate sponsorship for this endeavor. PS Engineering is helping with an aging fleet of aircraft and Chili Pepper Racing is spreading the word via the RAM logo on their car as well as the RAM url.

Alstom, Brown Construction Services, FedEx, and Wells Fargo are also helping with support of various kinds.

As I watched the 60 Minutes video, produced by Henry Schuster, I was struck by the amount of equipment needed to carry out this gargantuan task: portable dentist’s chairs and examination tables, sterilized instruments, medical supplies, drugs, and everything one can imagine needed to bring relief to those of us in need.

We want to help !

It costs a great deal to feed these volunteers who are donating their hearts and skills.

We need portable kitchens, drivers, Chefs, and food.

Starting today I will be on the phone looking for people and corporations to fill this order and help Remote Area Medical, Stan Brock, and those wonderful volunteers carry out this much needed mission.

Please help us.

“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do” - Helen Keller

Tahoe Mountain Resort  put one of our chefs to the test last May. They had a need for their top end restaurant, The Wild Goose, and had stumbled across our site when they ran a Google search looking for someone to solve their temporary staffing needs.

Chef Brian Coffey, CEC, AAC was selected to head the kitchen, write a menu, train the staff, (yet to be hired), and implement the systems and procedures needed to successfully produce a very high quality product. He did so with panache. Within weeks Chef Coffey was promoted to Corporate Executive Chef and further tasked with providing HACCP training for the entire staff utilizing his proctor status to build and execute a certification course.

Chef Coffey combined his New England roots experience with the west coast spa style to create a hybrid menu that is exciting in its’ variety and flavors as well as the unique fusion of the two coastal cuisines.

We are very proud to be represented by Chef Coffey. He exhibits the dedication, talents, and professionalism that all of us at TemporaryChef espouse.

Congratulations Chef !

Catherine Lodge of Tahoe Mountain Club wrote:

“Paul Green, TemporaryChef.com has been a pleasure to work with. He’s provided us with a superb guest chef for our busy summer season, who is not only a fabulous chef but is also able to help us with training for our staff. I look forward to working with Paul and temporarychef.com in the future.”

Catherine Lodge, PHR

Tahoe Mountain Club

We are Professionals - It’s what we do.

TemporaryChef is prepared to satisfy any appetite - anywhere. Movie location shoots, sports events, weddings, concerts, and other special events needing exceptional attention are our metier.

We provide bundled temporary culinary services including custom portable kitchens and support units as well as Chefs of extra-ordinary talents including HACCP certification, world cuisines, Vegan and other special needs cooking.

Environmental sustainability, Slow Food, Biodiversity, and community food support are part of our professional commitment to the culinary arts. A mentoring philosophy and a nose to the grindstone work ethic results in consistently high quality performance.

We are Professionals - It’s what we do.

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“I detest…anything over-cooked, over-herbed, over-sauced, over elaborate. Nothing can go very far wrong at table as long as there is honest bread, butter, olive oil, a generous spirit, lively appetites and attention to what we are eating.”

Sybille Bedford, English author (1911-?)

It’s time to sustain the Farmers who have  experienced crippling losses due to the unprecedented flooding in Iowa, Wisconsin and seven other states who are faced with foreclosure and income loss affecting their ability to cover basic needs including family expenses and food.

FarmAid is asking for your donations which are then directed to the families most in need.

FarmAid is also assisting with the  emotional and  legal issues of those in need by supporting hotlines and counseling services.

Please help with whatever you can at Family Farm disaster Fund.  100%  of the donations to this fund go to benefit those who are desperately in need of your contribution.

Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog provides information regarding the huge financial impact of the floods and a post by terres concerning the effect of the flooding features an aerial photograph of grain from destroyed silos floating down the Mississippi

Lunch in the cafeteria used to be much like a visit to a fast food diner with seating and ambience designed to move you along after 20 minutes. A visit to a corporate dining facility  will separate you from that perception however.

The decorating styles are becoming more comfortable and showy tending to emulate casual and fine dining restaurants. There are display cooking stations up front as well as open prep areas which indirectly involve the diner with the process of food production as well as showcase the “just for you” service philosophy of cafeterias.

The food itself has changed dramatically. You can lose the image of the three compartment tray and mass production with a few casserole style entrees, Jello, and peach halves. Mirroring the growing availability of once exotic foods and ingredients and the culinary sophistication of the general population menus are focusing on exciting ethnic foods and flavors with an accent on healthy eating. Korean, Thai, & Middle-Eastern influences are apparent. Stations featuring Spanish tapas and Greek mezes, Indian curries, pasta bars and made to order salad areas are replacing the “slide down the line” style of service of years past.

Purchasing has evolved too. Operators are becoming more involved in sustainable farming and local farms as suppliers. Even offering menus one day a week totally produced from local foods.

No, this is not your high school cafeteria. Let’s go down and grab some Pud Dok Gui Chai and we’ll talk about the food setup at Microsoft’s campus.

The FDA was cited on the news last night as calling for bar codes on fruits and vegetables to identify growers and make it easier to track contaminated foods back to their source. The farm industry counters that this would add greater expense for them. Many fruits and vegetables already have small stickers on them that identify the type of product and pricing information that makes it easier to scan the item as it goes through the check-out lane. That innovation was adopted quickly because it saved time and eliminated costly mistakes at the cash register. I can’t imagine that making the sticker a bit bigger and adding the growers bar code can be too much trouble. Can it ?

In the early 1900’s through the 1950’s identifying the source of fruits and vegetables was fairly easy because growers, being proud of their labors, had beautiful labels affixed to each crate with the name of the grower as well as the location of the farm. Not only were these labels a work of art, but, had social significance, too. Much of the art reflected mores and stereotypes of the era. The disappearance of these labels seem to coincide with the onset of corporate farming as well as the cost of designing and printing them.

Corporate farms have provided an inexpensive and plentiful supply of foods through well planned distribution networks giving us year-round access to many things not previously possible. There is a cost, however - flavor.

The chain from farm to table is : producer - processor - distributer - retailer - consumer. Let’s look at the tomato. To get a tomato from the farm to your table before it spoils it must be picked green, stored, and shipped. The “cost” is - flavor. It suffers loss every day between harvest and consumption. Compare a head of green-leaf lettuce from a local stand that was picked that day to one shipped to the store. I am afraid we have come to view food more as fuel and have lost the memories of the wonderful and complex Taste of it. Please take a moment to read the link here to Slow Food USA and the Ark Of Taste.

There is a growing movement by consumers to support small, local farms, and organically grown foods. CSA or Community Supported Agriculture is just one way this is happening. Renewing The Countryside is another group working toward sustainability. Localvore is another food movement gaining popularity.

There is no doubt that it takes more time to access some of these local producers and sellers and time is at a premium as we struggle to stay ahead of what seems to be an increasing demanding economy. I think the rewards are worth the effort. Many of the trips necessary to find local foods can be done with the entire family and are educational, fun, and a break from the stress of time management we are slaved to daily.

It used to be the norm to harvest and put up foods in the cellar for future consumption spending hours preparing and canning fruits and vegetables. That was also a time when a family could get ahead with only one working parent. Perhaps it’s time to take a step back and consider what we sacrifice in the name of expedition.

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“Placing taste, touch and smell below sight and hearing is part of a pattern of dichotomies that includes “the elevation of mind over body; of reason over sense; of man over beast and culture over nature.”

“This denigration of food and cooking can be traced as far back as Plato, as Lisa Heldke shows in her exploration of Plato’s Gorgias, ‘Do You Really Know How to Cook?’ (see p.12) For Plato, cooking was a mere knack, as opposed to a genuine art like medicine.”

…..Philosophy & Food by Jeremy Iggers

Our specialization is linking very talented Chefs with corporate and private temporary opportunities worldwide. We are, as a group, adherents of local foods, culinary ethics, sustainability, and organics and espouse a mentoring style of management to encourage those we work with to be actively involved in the husbandry of our planet.

We are currently seeking Chefs that are available for occasional gigs and would like to hear from you.

http://www.temporarychef.com

“I liked the energy of cooking, the action, the camaraderie. I often compare the kitchen to sports and compare the chef to a coach. There are a lot of similarities to it.”
Todd English

Wild foods are a great way to cut your grocery budget. There is an abundant supply of greens and other wild edibles as near as the first few steps out your door. Dandelion greens spring to mind as well as a multitude of edible flowers. Some require hunting, a great family activity, and others can be cultivated in the garden to provide sustenance as well as beauty.

Garlic is my favorite. Green garlic is the bee’s knees. The cat’s pajamas. You will find an excellent article about it at Chez Pim and Gourmet Sleuth. Daniel Patterson extols the virtues of it and offers recipes showcasing the subdued delights of the softer / gentler form of garlic. What’s Cooking in America ? offers a thorough primer on all things garlic and In My Kitchen Garden tells you how to grow it.

Cattail shoots are a delight, too. I really enjoy the slight peppery taste of them on salads and sauteed in pasta or chicken. They are exceptional sprinkled raw over salmon that has just come off the backyard grill accompanied by a good Graves, a dry white Bordeaux, with a crisp, flinty appeal that also pairs well with seviche. Wildman Steve Brill offers a bounty of recipes for cattails and other wild edibles. The pen and ink watercolors on this site are notable. The Wild Gourmet ( Chef Lee Gray ) has a video for you on foraging for them and you should check out the other videos he’s done on related topics.

As I have said before foraging is a great way to augment the food budget and have quality time with the family as a unit learning about nature and planet husbandry.

Good Hunting !!

eth•i•cu•re•an n. (also adj.) Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical — SOLE food, for short.

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“Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave.”      anonymous

May 21st is the day we recognize the efforts put forth by those who make our dining experience extra-special. Please be attentive to the person who has taken the time to learn the difference between being an order-taker and a waiter and tip accordingly.
A professional acts as the eyes and ears of the chef in a dining room. They are knowledgeable about cooking styles and times, ingredients, allergies, and additives. They strive to provide seamless service committing to memory personal preferences of frequent guests.

A friend who dined out 5-6 times weekly for business and pleasure once described an experience he had while entertaining 5 people at a restaurant as having his entree’ appear as if it had been under his chair all the while. That waiter was so efficient that his/her presence was hardly noticeable yet water and coffee was always full without asking and the course of service was exceptionally smooth as my friend and his guests enjoyed their evening.

It takes a lot of time, effort, and care to accomplish that level of competence. Most of the chain restaurants don’t bother with in-depth training and it must be learned on one’s own time.

A professional waitperson is a diplomat, salesman, food expert, wine steward, host, and public relations whiz.

They have my respect and deepest thanks.

It’s 3:00 p.m. and prep is in full swing as the chefs de partie bring their mis en place up to par for evening service. It was very busy last night and there is much work to be done. Nobody wants to be in the weeds during the rush. It’s a time of clattering pots and the rat-a-tat cadence of knives on cutting boards. Energy levels fueled by glasses of coffee are climbing and, as in most kitchens, some sort of radio or cd/tape player is cranking out audio ranging from driving rock to Debussy. Discussions of the revelry following the closing of service the night before float through the air; this is no place for the timid.

I’ve worked in kitchens that allow music and some that don’t. It is the whim of the Chef that determines the availability of music in a kitchen. Generally, if allowed, it ceases at the onset of service because this becomes a time for intense concentration in order that our attention be directed toward the perfect execution of our culinary skills. We must send into the dining room exquisite examples the mastery of our craft.

While I enjoy the motivational qualities of good rock including - Little Feat, Professor Longhair, TheTubes, Hoodoo Rhythm Devils of ’70s fame, ( check out All Tore Down & Too Hot to Handle), my personal taste for kitchen music is Jazz. Django Reinhardt is right at the top of that list. There is a growing interest in the “Gypsy guitarist” these days. If you aren’t familiar with him, and his work with Stephane Grappelli, you might give it your ear. Here’s another link and a video.

Daniel Willem and Jean-Luc Ponty are always in the queue as well.

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“Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili.”
Harry James