Stage

Stage is an industry term.. Short for the French word Stagiaire meaning trainee, intern, apprentice working for free.... Almost all stages are unpaid and a great way to gain experience or is required by a restaurant to "audition" for a position whether in the front or back of the house.... I got an offer at my last job because I staged 2 days a week, for 5 months... They saw my dedication, my abilities and my willingness to learn and they offered me a job 

I really like stages cause you get to show them your abilities while also checking out their practices as well... It's a 2 way street... You may decide you don't really want to work there after all and no hard feelings are had

As I mentioned before I really wanted to stage at Nahm but logistics did not work so my mom knows someone who knows someone and they were willing to take me on for a couple weeks to learn the ropes... My goal was to learn traditional Thai cookery (ingredients, methods, recipes)

I was torn between not sharing my experience here, because the people were extrememly nice, and  laying out every details I could recall..... So I'll find a happy medium of not telling you where I staged and not sharing all the details that I experienced

This group of restaurants I staged at has several locations throughout Bangkok and I was assigned to a location closest to my house... My first day I showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed and my chef was late.... Only a couple people there knew I was coming to stage so they told me to wait for the chef

#Fun fact about Thailand# no matter where you go, where you came from or what time of day it is... Thai people always ask "did you eat yet?" This question used to annoy me so much, I don't know how to explain it but it was like if I was hungry I'd eat! Now I've come to appreciate the fact that someone is making sure that I feel welcome and that I'm fed

First questions... What's your name, how old are you, and did you eat yet? The age question caught me off guard cause it against the law to ask that in the states but everything is fair game in Thailand... Actually I knew they asked me cause they wanted to know if they should called me older sister or little sister. Everyone who walked by me asked if I ate yet and offered me food... It was very nice!

When the chef finally came she put me to work doing some prep for the restaurant... My Thai is fine, conversational but not formal and if there are big words involved, my eyes glaze over.... They were very accomodating to my random speech pattern... In fact some of them asked how long I've lived in America... Haha I was born there.. but your Thai is so good! (Lies) 

Eventually I came in to a rhythm of the way things run there and many were very willing to explain things to me... Thailand labor laws allows employees to work 9 hours with no break, meal time is included during work time so you got paid to eat! I'm not sure if other restaurants provide staff meal but this one does and it always makes me warm and fuzzy when a restaurant takes care of their own... I started to know what I needed to prep and what had to be done by a certain time, to how plate dishes and mise (prepare) ingredients for the wok person when certain dishes were fired... They even let me cook a few things for the guests! I say 'let me' cause they basically asked if I wanted to try and then walked away... I was left standing there staring at the wok wondering what goes first 

I'm used to working in kitchens where people talk to eachother and when you're walking behind someone, something is hot or you're carrying a knife etc. you let those things be heard loud and clear.. It was a bit of a shock to me that people were very polite with eachother... They say 'excuse me' instead of 'behind' or 'knife!'.. Sometimes the dishwashers wouldn't say anything, they would just stand there and I'd turn around and run in to them! They rarely washed out comtainers before they filled it with new product and they never had any towels so I was constantly using paper towels to clean my station and got in trouble for using too many paper towels... They don't have handwashing sinks and they don't have a clue about proper storage of raw ingredients (raw chicken goes below everything)... Things like this, things that I've been taught better and know is wrong would drive me insane! I was constantly cleaning up after my coworkers, cleaning their staitions, cutting boards and knives. Folding towels and sweeping up trash off the floor... On top of being physically tired, I was I was mentally drained... I thought about all the mess of the kitchen and had to translate orders in my head....

They did however provide staff meal and sometimes I took pictures of them!

Staff meals

Chicken with bamboo shoots

Pork belly with Chinese watercress

Pork rib congee

Dried fish fried rice

Pork meatball soup 

Pork Penang curry

Crispy pork belly with fresh veggie and nam prik (spicy relish)

Chicken and squash curry with nam prik

Three flavor fried fish

Pork meatball soup

Pork and Chinese broccoli 

My coworkers

My coworker making staff meal

My final staff meal

Pork belly with yard beans

Tapioca balls in coconut cream syrup

Overall I felt like I didn't learn as much as I could have... I'm happy for the experience and the people I met while there but I already know how to work in a kitchen, I wanted to learn Thai food. I do however get to learn a few other things on my days off from different people do I'm excited for that

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