I’ll disqualify myself from this on the grounds that I used to be (well, technically still am) a trained professional chef.
I got 2 years into a 4 year chef’s apprenticeship before realising how shit the hospitality industry actually is. Toughed it out for the remaining term to earn my qualification, but then left the industry for good and never looked back. That was nearly 30 years ago.
I love when people watch MasterChef and think “I wish I was a chef”. Let me tell you - no you fucking don’t.
Of course I do all the cooking at home, and love it, but that’s because it not my day job.
So many people see Old el Paso and chains like Mad Max, Guzman etc. and think it’s Mexican Food.
It ain’t. It’s Tex-Mex, which is nice (I can’t go past Old El Paso Taco binge on occasion), but if you want authentic Tacos cook up a good Carnitas or Birria Tacos. Then you’re on a more authentic path.
This was pretty much me. Did 2 years of my hospitality apprenticeship at school and then bounced around different kitchens for a couple of years after school for work.
All came to a head one day when I was working at this insane cafe in the CBD. The sous chef, who is one of the best guys I’ve ever met, turned to me before service and said, “You need to get another fucking job… Don’t spend your life doing this shit.”
He would also play The End by the Doors before every service and once accidentally roasted a finance looking type for ordering pancakes after lunch… The joys of a semi open kitchen!
There’s a Serbian butcher in Stanmore just near the college (not sure if he’s till there or not). The guys name is Lazar and you can smell the place miles away.
He grew up on the border of Yugoslavia and Hungary and makes all different sausages and smoked meats from that region as well as a small range of imported smallgoods.
The wonderful Mrs Hybrid has given permission to link to some of her handy work. This page chronicles the first 113 dishes if anyone’s interested.
Updates here were always a bit behind, in keeping with the MKR theme I rated every dish out of 10 and have 159 scores recorded (Slovakia will be # 160).
I love a good steak on the Barbie and although I’m not pretentious about it, I try to cook them as well as ai can. Salt and pepper before hand, let it rest etc. all the basic stuff.
Has any tried those American style bbq rubs? Do you literally rub it into the steak as the name suggests or just shake a bit over the steak and let it rest for a bit before grilling . I’m keen on grabbing a bottle from the local butcher. They are not cheap though
Slightly shameless plug as they’re from my mate’s family’s restaurant in Kansas City but they’ve won local awards and are delicious. The Bovine bold is great on steak (naturally) but is especially tasty on mince - I use it for taco bowls with mince beef all the time. The yardbird is good on chicken and mince turkey but really comes into its own on potatoes (this is probably because there’s no such thing as chicken salt in the US and my body is craving something similar).
Agree with that. I generally use rubs on chicken and other simpler meats. I have a bbq cookbook that has a few amazing recipes for rubs and the like.
I did recently do myself a steak cooked on butter with a bit of thyme and rosemary, with basting etc. Then did it on fresh bread and mushrooms. Was one of the nicest dishes i’ve had at home. Doesn’t help that we generally need to avoid dairy as the wife is lactose intolerant, although there’s enough similar tasting substitutes that it doesn’t make to much of a difference.
