Squid Ink Risotto

I learnt very fast. You had to at The Criterion. It was a necessity for survival. After a couple of months the restaurant had settled and the kitchen had divided into two teams.

One time on switchover the earlier chefs told us that we were all good and kitchen prep was complete. They marched us to the walk-in refrigerator to show us the containers of squid ink risotto base and various other items that had been done. We took it as ready.

Service kicked off as always with dockets rolling in one after the other. At about 6.30 pm I headed to the fridge to grab some squid ink rice. I opened the door, pulled the first 4 litre container from the shelf and it felt incredibly light. I pulled the lid off and realised the chefs had just smeared the black ink on the inside wall of the container, making it look full from the outside. I grabbed another container and the same thing—they were all practically empty. We had been stitched up!