I have been back from holidays, I should say then that I do not like to be working for my birthday and arrange to be away for a week or two at that time, for five weeks and many things happened since.
The first to mention would be interesting to this blog. We did a blue cheese tasting, so far so good, but I felt that we went overboard as we tasted all of them, and there was quite a few. I will not name them because this left me felt overwhelmed, and really surprised by some of them. Some were quite rich, creamy, and interesting, others were soft with a little piquant something and felt comforting, however there were some really piquant and aggressive, some big blue bully. It took some time for preparation, and it took some time for the tasting proper which put me way back on my other regular duties of Friday. So, the following Monday and Tuesday were used to compensate, and I did not get much time to eat these days.
Well, that is in the past, however there was something to be gained from this experience, other that the flavours of all these lovely cheeses. First, you might want to restrict your tasting to only a few of the same kind of cheese, there was too much of the blue at the end. And then you might want to vary your pleasure and have different kind of cheese as well for your tasting. Then you really should have something to clean your palate, a bit of fresh water, some bread of some kind, and may be some fruit like pear, or apple, or grape, a touch of acidity is always welcome. As long as this is only an accompaniment, and you stay focus on the matter at hand.
A nice cheese selection ready for tasting.
So, why suddenly we did a blue cheese tasting?
Well, we just have a new member of staff concentrating on sale, and it is good to know the products. Even though I was surprised by the flavour of some of them, you should always remember that cheese is a living product, of some kind anyway, and it evolves depending on maturing, how long ago it was made, the temperature of the room where you taste them, and you state of mind as well just to bring that up, without forgetting the people you are doing it with. Anyway, it is good to organise such a training session from time to time as long as you are able to.
Of course, a new member of the sale team means normally bigger orders or new customers. And we were not disappointed on this score, a busy time became busier still. We do send parcels to some clients that are further than the M25, and this brings a lot of preparation. This time of the year, it becomes a priority to be ready for the very large orders to come that will require planning and mise en place, a term that I used a lot during my time in catering and which means to prepare in advance in order to be ready when necessary.
Then we had the visit of the export manager from our parent company, followed a week later by the CEO (I worked with him when I started at the shop near Harrods that he created following the model of his father’s company, the parent company in question). This put to my mind the difference of the size of the two companies and the correlation with the structure of a restaurant as I experienced before.
In brief, the management and office are busy at different times than the execution part of the business in both cases, and in both cases the management need to be present when needed on the floor. Every team member in a small company should be able to appreciate the effort brought to the whole by each member of the team, and every part of the company should be able to bring help if needed and available. Now, this is not easy to achieve, you need every member of the team to be efficient at his job first, and then you need management to create a team spirit, make every member of the team part of a team and not only a cog in the machine. And this is where it is difficult, this is the crux of the question. When the equation is solved, you get a perfect functioning entity.
Anyway, we are going towards Christmas and a very busy time. With the weather at the moment very cold, this makes for some very intense days (we feel exhausted at the end of the day and are ready to go home very fast for some well earned warmth).
The news nowadays are dominated by the troubles of the Middle-East, we can get these news when we arrive home, and it seems to me that as long as some of the protagonists are taught to hate their neighbour since very young, no solution would work. It was kind of funny, and sad at the same time, when Iran went to Saudi Arabia to participate in a conference, however, they never acknowledged that they are the principal source of the problem, or at least the biggest source. Once again willingness to openly participate is lacking to solve a problem that requires time and small steps. Well, hopefully…
Lately I have been hopeful, I like to be positive but am pragmatic most of the time, I want to imagine good things, so, let’s hope.
In the meantime, remember, give life to your taste buds, and above all, enjoy real cheese.
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