Day Eight Summary and Analysis

At exactly six o'clock each day, anyone who is not finished with their mise en place will have points deducted from their overall score each day. In addition to the mise en place, the students learn a number of other mother sauces on top of which classical French sauces are created. Erica brings her split pea soup to Chef Pardus to judge. Seeing her, he sighs in predicted frustration, but upon tasting her soup, he is shocked. Her soup is superb; this step is a huge improvement for Erica and representative of the class standards overall.

Along the way, Pardus is not only teaching them how to make soup and other recipes, but how to work more effectively when they enter the working world of their own restaurants. Despite the chaos that ensues each day, Ruhlman is amazed that...