The III Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage has officially begun.
Ruth Selby and Elisha Ben-Haim entered the ktichen of Restaurant Martín Berasategui this weekend, for their first introduction to 3-star Michelin kitchen life. These two cooks came to Basque Country from New York, where hours are long, kitchens are tiny, and hands are kept to a minimum. So how are they adjusting to a kitchen staffed with stagieres?
*photo by Ruth Selby
Ruth says, “The sheer number of people working here….numbers-wise, we would be very close to a football team…once everyone is in motion, it can be difficult to find your way through the tangle of people.”
“There is always someone to ask if you need a hand with a task, or if you don’t know where something is,” comments Ruth on the strength of numbers. Ruth has started her adventure on the fish station, learning to love the delicate and demanding squid ink ravioli.
Elisha finds himself overwhelmed, as well, in a good way. “So much going on in my head,” he says. “What a giant kitchen, with so many cooks and chefs….I am very excited about the learning opportunities that are coming ahead. It is very clear that my lack of Spanish is going to make things harder on me, but I know what I know and plan on proving to the jefes de partida that I can do what they want and do it good.”
As Elisha put it “The adventure continues one day at a time…”