A bit about me and my cooking background:

Now that I am a man of leisure, I can focus on writing about one of my favourite topics; food and all the good things associated with epicurean pleasures.

My interest in food preparation was inherited from my Polish/Ukrainian heritage where traditional recipes and appropriate beverages were always the cornerstone for special occasions with family and friends. I guess that is no different from other European cultures. My father was the one who dominated in the kitchen and was my first mentor teaching me how the traditional Polish and Ukrainian dishes were prepared.

Leaving home in my teens and living with a few blokes who mostly lived on pub counter meals, takeaways and breakfast cereals provided me with the opportunity to put into practice some of the skills learned in my days at home with the folks.

Conscription for National Service in 1970 provided me with the opportunity to follow my passion for food. After completing 10 weeks basic training at Puckapunyal in Victoria, conscripts were given the opportunity to do trade training in an appropriate army corps. I chose catering and was transferred to Bonegilla which was an old revamped migrant camp near the New South Wales, Victorian border town of Albury. There we where given an Australian Army Cook Manual and intensive training on all that an army cook needed to know to feed the troops. Working in the butcher shop was a very valuable experience. Learning about breaking up beef, lamb and pork carcasses and preparing the various cuts for the kitchen was part of the training. We were taught all the various cooking skills including baking and I can recall making 100's of bread rolls for the mess. Menu preparation and pantry management were also valuable skills which I acquired.

At the end of the 12 weeks training I was lucky enough to be posted to the SAS Regiment at Swanbourne. Thankfully still with the Catering Corps, so I didn't have to do the soldiering stuff. On meeting the Warrant Officer Caterer (boss of the cooks) I was asked what experience I had in cooking. I told a white lie telling him I worked for Kings Park Restaurant, when actually I worked there as a part time cleaner. That meant I was destined for better things and not the O.R. (Ordinary Ranks) Mess. I spent the remainder of my National Service time working in the Officers' Mess.

My mentor there was a civilian cook, an Italian gentleman named Santo Ferrarra; he was may savior from all the regular army stuff, teaching me all his skills, tricks and recipes. We worked really well as a team after I got my feet on the ground. I learnt heaps, catering for officers who demanded better meals than the average digger, lots of catering for special functions and even a few weddings. When the Gurkas stayed in the mess during their brass bands visit for the Royal Show I even was taught some of their ways of preparing really good curry with tin bully beef, but that's a story for another blog.
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