Don't dream of stepping into the kitchen until you get a 70% pass on Food Safety

Did you know that bacteria multiply between temperatures 5 - 60 degrees Celsius? This means you have to store your cold food below 5 degrees and your hot food above 60 degrees to prevent bacteria growth.

I was disappointed to learn that we would not be stepping into the kitchen until mid next week. We have to prove we are safe food handlers before we are allowed in. So this morning was more classroom work on contamination, food safety, microbiology, bacteria multiplication, golden rules for thawing food and personal grooming. I failed in my nails and I just clipped them last night! "If I can see the white of your nails, it's too long. Germs can breed there." Bye bye, manicure.

I quickly got excited again when we were issued our personal knife sets, aprons, chef's hats and kitchen towels.

An 8" Chef Knife, a 31/2" paring knife, and a peeler.
I want to engrave "Extra Virgin Chef" on my virgin knife set!

Hygiene, grooming and safety standards at-Sunrice are top notch, higher than the regulatory requirement, so here I am at the clinic getting my typhoid jab.

The doctor asked if I got a good photo shot if not he could jab again!

Always attracted to vibrant colours, these baby chairs at the clinic caught my attention.
They also remind me of my knives!

As the lectures got a bit dry, the Chef was sweet enough to give us a couple of 20-min breaks. I grabbed my camera from the locker to snap a few pictures of the diploma class in pastry and bakery (DPB) just down the hall. I wasn't allowed in so these are taken from a glass window. I don't know if I was even allowed to shoot but I decided on asking for forgiveness and not permission.

"Looks like quite a happening class!" - a student from the diploma in culinary arts (DCA) commented.

More lectures tomorrow on food safety and then an oral exam on Thursday.