Line cook said my prep order was backwards, he was right

Last Tuesday I had a new kid on the line tell me I should chop onions before peppers because they release less juice into the cutting board. I've been doing peppers first for 15 years at the diner in Akron. I laughed it off, but then I tried his way during a 60-cover rush and the board stayed dry, knife didn't slip once. Now I switch it every shift. Has anyone else had a younger cook flip a habit you thought was set in stone?

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1 Comment

ivangrant12d ago

Hang on, let me push back on this. Peppers first is the right call for one simple reason: color. You chop bell peppers, they leave those bright red and orange bits all over the board. Then you do onions after and those little pepper scraps get mixed into your onion pile. Now your onions have red flecks in them. That looks sloppy on a fajita plate. Onions first just stains the board white and then your peppers pick up onion juice, which tastes fine, but it dulls the pepper flavor. The kid got lucky with a dry board but he's solving a problem you never had in 15 years.