Kitchen Nomenclature and Situational Awareness

In the world of aviation there is a standard phrase "Situational Awareness"  (SA) that describes one's ability to be in a state of heightened awareness regarding one's surroundings. It is a critical trait for being a good pilot. Some of it is innate and some of it is acquired.  It can be applied to any mode of life like driving, walking on a busy street, etc...As an example, someone who is driving while texting does not have good situational awareness and will most likely not respond adequately to an unexpected event. SA has a huge application in the kitchen as well. I pride myself on having a good SA while flying, in my home kitchen and generally while performing any task, but I just can't seem to have one in the professional kitchen.

It seems that as soon as I step in the kitchen, I become a fumbling clumsy oaf. I know what the problem is, but I can't help but get frustrated at myself. It really has to do with many things such as being unfamiliar with all that's going on in the kitchen around me, unfamiliarity with the equipment, and not knowing all the terminology and lingo of the kitchen. Typically when in a new environment, one's SA is seen through a tunnel and it slowly expands as one becomes more knowledgeable and comfortable with the surroundings. My kitchen SA is definitely a narrow tunnel because so many things in a professional kitchen were never taught in Culinary school and are acquired only through experience- sometimes the hard way!

Last night I went to the restaurant and I decided to take care of one the mysteries of the kitchen terminology. What is a 9 pan, 6 pan, 3 pan, 2 pan etc...I had figured out by watching what a 9 pan is, but I had been too embarrassed to ask about the others. I had simply never acquired their names nor did anyone teach me when I started in internship. I had looked online, but no luck.  Finally I swallowed my pride and asked to get it all sorted out. It has nothing to do with quantity in qts, or length in inches...it's how many pans fit on a large sheet tray. You can fit nine "9 pans" on a large sheet tray, six "6 pans" on a sheet tray, etc. They are actually called 1/9th pan, 1/6th pan, etc...but are shortened to 9 pan, 6 pan, etc...

I got the pans sorted out. Maybe my SA will now improve by .01%. During service I stood at the line, ready to assist when needed. "Mark, can you run and get me the swiss chard from the 6th drawer" the Sous Chef yelled across the line. "Yes Chef" as my legs began to move toward the natural food storage area (the walk-in), my brain was asking where the hell is the "6th drawer"??? I had to run back to the line for clarification. As I turned the corner, the Sous said "the SIX DOOR". I must have looked confused. The "SIX DOOR right next to you". OK, I get it now. There is a fridge at the Garde Manger station that has 6 doors on it.  I just didn't know it was called the "six door". Damn I felt like an idiot, but my SA just increased by another .01%. Great I only have another 99.98% before I can feel as comfortable in the kitchen as I do in a 757.

Back at the line I was ready to retrieve any size pan and could nail any request to get something out of the 6 door. The meat cook yells "Mark run back to the walk-in and get me 15 from the Sail kid in a 1/3 pan". I reply "Sail kid"? Yes "sail kid" was his response as he was deep in the middle of juggling about 25 pieces of meat on his grill. OK, I am going to figure this one out as I ran to the walk-in looking for this sail kid. Is this a name for some variety of fish that I don't know. My forehead is sweating and I feel very hot despite the fact that I am standing inside a fridge. Did he say "scallop" and I just misheard him. "Sail kid..scallop".."sail kid..scallop". The more I say it, the more they begin to sound like one another. At least I'll get the correct pan now that I know what a 1/3 pan is. No time to waste, so I grab 15 scallops and run back through the mine field of the line and hand them to the meat cook in a beautiful 1/3 pan. He looked at me like I am crazy. He ran to the walk-in with me in tow and showed me the "Sole Kit". A tray with sole filets on it. Why didn't he just ask for sole? Damn, well add another .01% to the SA pile.

I drove home feeling very frustrated. It really comes down to time. Time spent in the kitchen. Seeing, hearing, doing. and making mistakes are all essential component of learning. As a perfectionist, it's painful for me to make silly mistakes, feel clumsy, or be disoriented. I have to believe that we all begin at this level and improve with time. Lesson learned: swallow my pride, develop a thick skin and put in the time. It's the only way!