So they finished the first pan and went immediately to the second batch. This meant putting the second load of breasts into that same oil from the first round. This was the cheap way, an expedient way of going about it. First they strained out all particles they could get out with a long-handle strainer. Then they waited a moment for the oil to heat up again, added some oil if it was needed. Then they loaded up the pan with the chicken breasts.
While the cooks tended to the chicken, their stewards took those that were finished and prepared them for baking in the rotary oven. This was not much more than laying them out on sheet pans which would be slid right into the oven. Breast after breast on pan after pan, they set the chicken ready to be put into the oven. As they did this, the stewards were mindful of making sure their cook did not run out of chicken. As well, they made sure they had clean pans standing by so when their cook finished with that second load they could take away the dirty pan while the cook started with the clean one. The dirty pans went straight to the pot washers. The cooks, once they started, never stepped away from the stoves.
Jimmy G stopped by them at the stoves to talk to Jimmy Banquet Chef and Victor. They spoke in Greek, quickly as always. Jimmy G had a rolled up newspaper in his hands. Bill knew that soon the kitchen stewards would be working on the vegetables while Jimmy G sat on a folding chair and smoked cigarettes while reading the paper.
Five hundred and some odd chicken breasts took them awhile. It worked out to four pans apiece, two sets of two pans. The only lull was when they went to the clean pan, when the fresh oil had to get hot. They talked during this time, not chit-chat but about the day’s work and how they were going about it.
Next up, once the chicken was done, was a quick break, time for using the bathroom and smoking a cigarette. The three cooks did this together as a group. They walked together, talked along the way about who was doing what. Jimmy Banquet Chef provided cigarettes from his pack. Bill and Victor would reciprocate. They all smoked Marlboro so it was convenient.
They spent a few minutes just resting when they were back in the kitchen. Victor and Jimmy Banquet Chef talked in Greek. Bill, still smoking his cigarette, went off after a moment to check out the vegetable station. He found everything pretty well set. Jimmy G was sitting around doing nothing. The stewards were standing around doing the same nothing. He said a quick hello and headed back to the main kitchen. He went around the long way, out by the stock pots and around. The chicken and veal stock were well cooked, he saw.
The pantry women came in just before they began rolling the fish. Kalista and Adonia, Jimmy Banquet Chef’s niece, Kalista’s great-niece, were the two who were working. Salad for a thousand people was the day’s task for them. The number, if you went by the number, was worse than the actual job itself. But they were not alone at it. They worked together for all the parties and stewards trained at the pantry operation worked with them. The stewards carried in the cases of lettuce and dumped them in the sinks. They washed and even cut a good deal of the lettuce. They shredded the carrots, cut the cucumbers, washed the cherry tomatoes. Everything was kept separate until it was all mixed. Dish-up was with tongs and gloved hands.
The three cooks rolled the fish. Stewards could have done this, but Jimmy Banquet Chef liked his cooks doing it. He did some himself then left Victor and Bill to finish it off.
Another day going home stinking of chicken and fish, Bill thought as he worked. Victor apparently was thinking the same thing.
“I hate going home smelling from this stuff,” he said.
“Amen brother,” Bill said.
