Olympic Spanking

OK, so today was an Olympic culinary spanking as we quickly learned about feeding 1600 with 4 cooks is a real challenge, and on top of that we still had to do the prep for the next day to do it all over again. I added a photo as Michael had 12 sub recipes to make one Korma Chicken Recipe. The Chicken was awesome but super labour intensive.

Last night was the final securty sweep for the athlete's village site, I've never seen so may RCMP in one area and not one donut on the menu. Getting in and out is now a major issue as we try to go through all the security checks on our way to and from work. It's good to see Canada's finest at work keeping us safe.

Olympic Chef Bill Pratt

First Real Feeding

Today will be the real test as we prepare to feed over 1600 meals today for the workforce. Yesterday was a crazy day of prep trying to figure out recipes. The food is good but one recipe may have 4 sub recipes to make it and we're quickly learning how much streamlining we're going to need to do in order to make it more efficient. We still don't have cooks to help us yet so as we try to get food in, figure out routines and do the prep for the next day, we can't forget the fact that we have to serve meals as well. I've cooked for years but following a recipe simply slows us down. It's vitally important that we follow these recipes because the nutritionals for the athletes are linked to it so they know there daily caloric and nutritional intake. Standby for tonight's Blog, I'll let you know how it went :-)

Bill

More Pictures

Day 3 for me on the ground and we managed to get our culinary teams figured out on how were going to feed 12,000 meals a day in 9 food stations. Tomorrow we only have to feed 170 and then it jumps to 1600 meals on Sat and up from there till we get to 12,000. The good news is that we have time to test recipes now before the athletes arrive on the 4th of Feb. Trevor our Sous Chef from Scotland is a heads down get'er done Chef willing to do what's necessary to make sure we don't fail. Michael Smith is in the lead Chef role taking the brunt of the heat as we try to adapt to routines as we all try to learn the Sodexo Policy. They are bar far one of the most professional companies I've worked for with the strictest HACCP regulations I've seen. They didn't just set these policies for the Olympics, they live them everyday and it's impressing the hell out of me the more I work with them. Imagine for a second as a cook or a chef preparing, Beef Stew, Chicken Breast and a fried egg sandwich for lunch. As you finish preparing the stew you record a temperature reading, then place the food on the steamline or in a holding hot box only to record the temp on a regular basis throughout the meal period. Now do this for the Chicken, veg, Potatoes etc and you have a mountain of paperwork for the cook to track. It's been quite a while since I followed recipes as close as I do with these but the one's I've tried so far all all really good. let's see how we do when the #'s increase and were preparing Venison Chili for 500.

Olympic Chef Bill

Bill's Arrived In Whistler

With 23 days to go till the 2010 winter Olympics begin, I've arrived in Whistler raring to go at 100 miles an hour. There is a flurry of activity within the village itself as everyone scurries around with last minute details. The kitchen is no different, just think for a moment, we have a brand new facility with all new equipment (from England with European power) we have to learn to use, then add on the fact we have all new staff who have never worked for us with recipes we've never used, work routines to figure out so we can tell people what to do when they arrive plus a 1000 other details and we have to get it right the first time right up to the last meal in 10 weeks. I'm amazed at the organization and work gone into this project so far, it's simply fantastic to be part of such a professional team.

At Present we 4 Chef's to figure everything out before the bulk of our workforce starts to arrive at the end of the month. No pressure says the boss but we start feeding over 1500 people in 3 days. Trevor from Scotland, Steven from Toronto, Chef Michael Smith from PEI and myself from Halifax and were all keen to make it work even if it means working 14-16 hours a day to make it happen. I will take some photo's once we get more things set up and will be sure to post them as soon as I can, Cheers

Olympic Chef Bill Pratt

Achievement. How does one define it?

Achievement

How do "you" define it?  How many times have you heard the phrase "just the cook?" It's the people that makes our trade what it is, not what the trade makes of us.  One of our very own has made his mark at the top of the culinary world.  I'm proud to announce that my very good friend, CPO1 Bill Pratt, CCC, MMM, (ret'd) has toppled yet another milestone in the Food Service world.  Even though retired from the service, he is the very first Canadian Forces Cook to take on the challenge of Iron Chef America in the role of Sous Chef to Chef Michael Smith, battling it out with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

Our trade has succumbed to many hurdles over the years, but here is a prime example of what one can overcome and achieve to be the best of the best.  To all those starting out, this is the ultimate of example of what "you" can accomplish as a Cook in the Canadian Forces.  The sky is the limit, and you would be the only one holding yourself back.

CPO1 Bill Pratt (ret'd) has been and continues to be a prominent "hands on" advocate promoting the Cook's trade of the CF to the world.  Many talk the talk, but Bill walks the walk and promotes his passion of cooking & our trade to all he comes in contact with.  If you were one the fortunate to work along side Bill at one time or another as I was, you'd be hard pressed not to get swallowed up by his enthusiasm, or lust for the next challenge.

Myself, after 10 years of retirement from the CF have recently reconnected with my old friend, and he has included me in his next incredible adventure.  If you didn't think you could top Iron Chef America, Bill has landed himself one of the top jobs at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as Executive Chef of Whistler's Athletes Village!  That truly puts a positive emphasis on our trade.  A retired CF Cook at the top of the world, for all the world to see.  He has generously included me in his adventure and secured me a kitchen supervisor role in Whistler.  So there you have it, 2 retired CF Cooks making a difference at the Greatest Show on Earth.

You can catch Chef Bill Pratt and Chef Michael Smith battling it out in Kitchen Stadium with Chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network on 31 Jan 2010 at 9PM Eastern Time.  Check your local stations for other times.  You can also check this link for times in your area;

http://www.foodnetwork.com/iron-chef-america/flay-vs-smith/index.html

You also might want to check out a great little interview with Chef Michael Smith on Good Food Revelation talking about Bill, Iron Chef America and the 2010 Olympics at; 

http://goodfoodrev.com/0102/michaelsmith.htm


Watch for and keep up to date our blog, Bill & Mike's Olympic Whistler Adventure and we'll keep you informed daily of what happens behind the scenes of the 2010 Olympics!        Do You Believe?

Yours in Food & Wine,

Mike

We now have real time Olympic Photo's on our Blogsite

This past Nov I travelled to Whistler for menu testing and site Reccee. In our slide show you will see actual photo's of the inner workings of the kitchen and diningroom during construction. Click on the photo in the slide show so you can read the caption underneath. I must have received a hundred E-mails in the past 2 days from everyone congratulating Mike and I, and we Thank you all for your support. Two more sleep and the adventure begins for me.

Bill

Olympic Photo's are coming

I asked Mike if he could set us up a Blog site so everyone can follow the Olympics daily from a Chef perspective with a "Behind the Scene" look at what it takes to feed upwards of 70,000 meals a week during peak periods.

Although we have a slide show already on this blog site with Olympic photo's, Mike and I will start posting our own photo's of the Olympic village and kitchen site as soon as we can. Enjoy the site.

Bill