What to do with “trimmings.”

You know you are the stagier at a farm-to-table restaurant in Ireland when, in January, you find yourself eating roots and cabbage in some form every day of the week. Before I left, friends and family had mocked the idea of traveling to Ireland for culinary training. “What, did you want to learn how to boil cabbage and potatoes better?” The joke had become stale even before I boarded my plane!
And yet there I was today, at 3 PM, sitting around café tables with the rest of my team eating a fine chiffonade of blanched cabbage and onions; parsley smashed swede and potatoes; beef and carrot stew. I have a hard time imagining more “traditional” Irish fare. The thing is: It’s all we have. It is the dead of winter and we can hardly keep up with our cellars filled with roots, onions and cabbages. All day and night we slave away at turning these underappreciated vegetables into Michelin star dishes and sauces. When it comes to feeding ourselves … “Heck! We just plum tuckered out.”
Staff meal works on a “rota” system; Irish for “rotating schedule.” Each day a different station is responsible for preparing a meal for the entire restaurant staff in addition to the regular work. Some of the cooks embrace this task with more energy than others, but in the five days I’ve participated, I’ve never heard anyone complain about making it or complain about eating it. The good spirit about making and eating “staff meal” may be more remarkable than you think.
First, imagine yourself a busy cook in a VERY busy kitchen. Then envision walking into the cooler to find the makings of a meal for 40 hungry staff. Staring up at you are loads of lonely root vegetable trimmings, meat scraps and occasionally a tub or two of poultry bits. Hardly an inspiring start! And yet day after day our kitchen comes up with some edible, and I dare say, tasty variation on these same ingredients.
Tuesday: Whipped Swede and Herbs with Stew and Soda Bread
Wednesday: Chicken Legs and Thighs, Rice and Cabbage Slaw
Thursday: Roasted Beet Salad and Boulanger
And on and on…
My favorite meals are on the days when Jimmy, our token “oriental,” (the Irish are not very ethnically sensitive yet) makes the meal. He always has some wonderful Soy and Mirin take on cabbage and roots, not to mention he cooks the rice right! No matter who does the cooking, or what the concoction, I am always impressed at how gratefully everyone (chefs included) wolf down every last bit of “trimmings.”