Chef Darian’s Blog

Knowing Your Plaice……

October 26, 2008 on 12:07 am | In Ireland | No Comments

Well, I knew going into this trip that there were a lot of words and phrases that we don’t use in the US that are common in the UK and Ireland. I watch a lot of the Britcoms on PBS and am a huge AbFab fan. But I have to say that I have run into a lot more than I bargained for here. One of the first tribulations I had was the accent. There are many different Irish accents and even in Dublin there are several. For instance, I happen to live in a “Posh” neighborhood (just down the street from Enya and Bono, I pass by their houses on my way to work). The accent here is very clear and has a lot of American influence. On the north side of the Liffey River that separates Dublin down the middle from east to west, there is a much heavier accent and incredibly hard to understand. There is a common phrase here, “What’s the story?” and it simply means “What’s up, what’s going on, how are things” (you get the idea). Well, on the north side of the Liffey they say “Story”. If you don’t know the whole phrase you might think the person asking you is a little “thick” (or stupid, if you will).

When I first started working in the Dungeon I had some things to learn there about terminology. One thing that happened right away was when an order for “Plaice” came in. The chef yelled out, “ONE PLAICE PLATE”. I had absolutely no idea what he was asking me for. Asking him for an explanation on Plaice only made things worse. A few minutes later he yelled out, “PLAICE AWAY”. I have to admit that at the time there was a lot going on, I was nervous, the POS (point of sale) was spitting out tickets, there were waiters yelling information to us, hot oil burning “chips” (French fries) and so on. I was sure I would throw up. I had no idea what he meant when he said “Plaice Away”. Well, with some guidance from a young chef who knew exactly what was happening to me (deer in the headlights syndrome) he jumped in and said to just drop it in the fryer. Oh, that simple. Plaice away – drop it in the oil. Got it. Duh! You might be wondering what Plaice is. I know that I am ignorant on a lot of fish. Don’t eat a lot of it and not really a person who cares……sorry. I love the Silver Streak Striped Bass from Texas. You can get that at Central Market or Airline Seafood in Houston. Love it. But Plaice? Well, when I got home I opened my trusted Food Lovers Companion and found that it is in the Flounder family. I have to say, when I saw the fillets that were not breaded, they were pretty unattractive. Well, it is a mild fish, similar to flounder. Easy enough.

One very funny incident happened when I was working in the Dungeon with two Polish chefs. The head chef asked me to go to the banquet kitchen and get some cauliflower. I asked him how much he needed and he said, “very little, maybe a spoonful”. Why so little cauliflower. I asked him, “cauliflower” and he replied with, “yes, cauliflower”. I was very keen on learning why he needed so little? He was making a sauce and I was pretty sure that cauliflower would not thicken it, or would it? How clever. I was really interested in learning how he was going to use a spoonful of cauliflower in his sauce. I ran to the banquet kitchen and came back with one floret. I would eat what he didn’t use. When I returned he had a puzzled look on his face. Too much cauliflower? No, the problem was that he had asked me for “cornflower” or cornstarch. They say cornflower here. Cornflower, cauliflower…..how stupid was I. The same chef also asked me for a portion of Kolislav (pronounced Kohl-e-slav). After a good laugh, my English is apparently not as good as I thought it might be, he really wanted coleslaw. Go figure. When you are busy and orders are flying in, it is imperitive that you know your coworkers. Now when he asks for Kolislav I go right for the coleslaw (with a little giggle).