Day 5: Controlling the Controllables

Exploding eggs and Manchego cheese sauce.

Oct 22, 2021

Hazardous work

It’s day 5 of the 100-day chef stage and I’m standing by a pot of incredibly hot oil making an appetiser they’ve nicknamed the kinder egg for its appearance.

I have about a dozen lined up when Marcos appears.

“Will these work?” I ask pointing to a row of possibles. He takes one of the delicate shells, squeezes lightly and it breaks up. He eats it. So I take that as a no.

Marcos is the chef du partie and in charge of making sure the cold section of the kitchen runs smoothly. He’s responsible for all the starters including this canapé.

“Make extra,” he says apologetically. “We are going to need at least 60.”

He rolls his eyes, so do I. We both know this is hazardous work and there will be many casualties. Eggs will be lost along the way, and making 60 is going to be time consuming.

But getting the mise en place done is something I can relate to. It’s the chef version of what sports psychologists call ‘control the controllables.’

In sport, that means taking a look at all the factors that determine your performance and controlling all those within your power.

It something that makes sense to me. Preparing for fight day at the Olympics, I’d have checked my equipment (about ten times), found out the bus times to the arena, done a dry rehearsal of how long the journey would take, I’d have scouted the warm-up room and organised times with my warm-up partner.

I’d have had all the controllables under control.

Because by focusing on what we can control we are more likely to get the outcome we are after.

The trick is to also work out what is beyond your control, and stop wasting energy and time on things you have no influence over.

For example, in sport you can’t control the crowd, the opposition or the referee.

Likewise, in a kitchen you can’t control other people. Other people’s comments and opinions of you or your food are not something you have control over. Nor are their attitudes.

But there are lots you can control and mise en place is one of them.

You can make sure you have enough ingredients chopped, sliced and prepped and ready to go. You can get equipment out, check it works, plug it in. You can keep clean and organised.

More difficult, but also within control - is you. Your attitude is up to you and within your power to control. Yes, it is! It’s you that is driving your stress levels up or down.

Mmmm…. stress. I’ve found there comes a point, during most services, when there is an overload of tasks. This happens, when you are at max.

You are at saturation point and more tasks come in: the head chef sends you to urgently get extra stock, while you are watching something in the oven, prepping the next order, and cleaning a spillage. Then two more orders are called through and …. overload.

And it is for these moments, it’s vital that your controllables are in place.

And so, in the name of control, I get going on making 60 ‘kinder eggs’ for service.

Unfortunately, they are not these:

There’s no chocolate, and no toy

These are not your typical kinder eggs.

The shells are created from won ton pastry, which is cut, separated, fixed back together and shaped into an oval. They are then fried at 220°C until they puff up into beautiful hollow oval shapes. Or not.

Sometimes they don’t puff up. Sometimes they puff up big and explode. Sometimes they puff up into mutant shapes.

Admittedly, when they do work they look great. Crispy and delicate, the shells are the perfect vessel for the surprise filling; a Manchego Cheese Foam.

Manchego is a buttery, nutty Spanish cheese from La Mancha that gets its taste by being soaked in brine, then brushed with olive oil as it ages.

To create the foam, Manchego is melted into full fat cream, stabilised with xanthan, put into a siphon and injected with nitrous oxide which is then piped into the delicate pastry shells.

The result is the airiest of foams inside the crispiest of shells.

And in this moment, you will forgive me for the lack of chocolate and toys in this Kinder Egg, as you realise it is worth coming to El Monastrell for this canapé alone.

When popped into one’s mouth, and bitten into these Kinder eggs explode in a silky moment of pure goodness.

Fast forward. It’s now a few minutes before service and we are all set up.

I have been put on canapés - and I triple check everything is in place.

60 crispy pastry shells have been carefully layered into plastic trays.

Manchego cheese, cream and xantana have been added to a siphon, which sits in a warm water bath to hold its temperature during the evening. I feel in control.

Soon, the first customers come through the door and Federico calls out the order.

I’m up…

I take one of the 60 shells that took me most of the morning to make, and position it between my thumb and fore finger.

I push the thin tube from the siphon into the shell. It goes in cleanly.

Then, I press down on the siphon handle way too confidently.

Manchego foam bursts into the casing at around a hundred and fifty miles per hour.

The egg shell explodes, cheese flowing everywhere.

Oh bollocks.

“And that’s why we always do extra,” says a voice over my shoulder. It’s Marcos. He nods at the 59 shells I have left on the shelf.

Thankfully he’d put the controls in place.

Good job too. Eggs number two and three went pretty much the same way as egg number one.

However egg four, five and seven, I am relieved to report, made it through the operation and were quickly whisked away by a waitress who must have thought she was in for a long night.

I return to my chopping board, which is now a disaster zone of delicious Manchego foam and broken pastry shells.

I pick one up. It’s way too good to bin it, so I eat the evidence and clean down.

A quick head count of the remaining egg shells tells me there are 52 left and 28 covers to complete. That should work. Even at my success rate, that should work.

Federico calls in the next order and as I reach for the next egg shell, I am back in control.

So, what can you control and what can you not?

This will be a growing list, and I’ll add to it as I continue on this journey but here is a checklist of controls I run through before I get going - I hope it helps!

A lot of stress comes from trying to control what you can’t. So, I’ve also included a quick mental checklist of what I’ve found I can’t do anything about. I try not to waste time on these.

Please do share the article if you’ve found it useful.

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Can Control

Within your power - and worth investing time and energy.

1. Having enough prep

You don’t want to be running to the store cupboards half way through cooking - so get everything ready beforehand. Do 10% more than you think you need to cover the unforeseen.

2. Setting up equipment

Get everything you are going to use out and at the ready. Check it works. Plug it in.

3. Allowing enough time

If you can give yourself an extra half hour leeway then do so. Begin prep a few minutes earlier. Your heart will thank you for it, later.

4. Your attitude

Although it might seem this is driven by other people or events, your attitude is ultimately driven by your own interpretation of what has happened. You can control this through auto-dialogue. Keep calm. Keep positive.

5. Stress is contagious

Stress is contagious. A busy kitchen is full of stressed people. Aim to control you own stress levels and not absorb the stress of others.

6. Keep clean

Keep cleaning down between tasks, or orders. Especially if you are rushing. Errors have a habit of compounding.

Can’t Control

Beyond your power - not worth investing time and energy.

1. Other people’s opinions

You can’t control what other people think of you, either as a person or your skills as a chef.

2. Other people’s reactions to the food you serve.

Worrying about if people will like your food is also waste of energy. With so many personal preferences at play it’s impossible that everyone will like the same food. Serve the best dish you can, then listen to feedback with an open mind.

3. Overload of tasks

There will be moments when you have too much to do in the time given. Be ready for it. Identify when you are in the midst of it. Prioritise and keep calm.

4. Mistakes

Mistakes will happen. Sometimes they caused by other people - and are completely beyond your control - but might affect you. When they happen, learn from them - can you do something next time so it doesn’t reoccur?

👨‍🍳 Chefs - would love it if you can add to these list in the comments below.

Want to join me on this journey?

For the next 100 Days I’m staging in Spanish Michelin star restaurants. In the next episode, things get prickly. I learn about sea urchins. You get some top tips on where best to eat them in Spain.

If you want to join me for the next episode, add your name to the list.

How to Make a Roux, Bechamel and Mornay Sauce

See the Visual Guide on how to make a Roux
See the Visual Guide on how to make a Bechamel
See the Visual Guide on how to make a Mornay (Cheese) sauce.

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