In the kitchen at the central Fitchburg Fire Department on North Street, you’ll find a ceiling-mounted rack clustered with large pots, pans, and lids. This hangs above a restaurant-sized aluminum prep table, surrounded by cabinets which hold additional cooking items, including a tureen big enough to bathe a litter of Dalmatian puppies.
The one item you will not encounter is a cookbook. But you will encounter a cook — firefighter Kenneth “Kenny” Hollums — a man in constant motion.
Recently, I made a few visits to the kitchen while Kenny was cooking dinner for his colleagues on Group 1. He was gracious enough to answer questions, and describe what he was doing, all to the beat of his favorite music (he favors female singer/songwriters and metal).
I had so many questions — how do you plan a meal, let alone produce it — for 14 people minimum — while at the same time — at any moment — an alarm might go off — and what happens if there’s something in the oven when that happens — and even though my questions came out just like that — in sentence fragments, Kenny didn’t miss a beat.
Born and bred in Fitchburg, Kenny served as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan, and when he returned stateside as a veteran, decided he’d take the firefighter exam. He recently marked 10 years in the Department, and said this is the best job he’s ever had.
To succeed as a firefighter, consistency and training is essential. How else could anyone prepare for unpredictable, life-threatening catastrophes every moment you’re on shift? The counterweight to this uncertainty is a fondness for routine. Thus, Saturday lunch is always franks and beans, and Saturday night is “Trash Can Pizza.”
The firefighter schedule is not for the faint-hearted — a 24 hour shift (which could go longer); followed by three days off.
“When everybody comes to work, they’re well rested and they’ve eaten well,” he explains. “But you’ve got to keep it going, because a lot of our calls come in late in the day.” Which means the firefighters need to be fed a balanced diet to be at their best in a reliably strenuous job.
“My biggest thing is when we get calls, and then my timing is off … if I’m supposed to sear the meat for eight minutes, and I’ve only done five minutes, sometimes I just start over,” he said, shrugging.
Fire Chief Dante Suarez appreciates the efforts Kenny and the other firefighter cooks make every day, during every shift.
“It’s very important for firefighters to maintain a healthy body and mind and having a healthy diet is an important part in making that happen,” said Chief Suarez. “I am grateful that we have the opportunity to cook healthy meals at the station as opposed to have to order fast food on a daily basis and truly believe that it is a major reason why we have such a strong and healthy department.”
‘What’s on sale?’
One myth the public has about firefighters and food is that the taxpayer “pays for us to eat,” several firefighters tell me.
“Not true at all,” said Kenny, who collects $6 from each firefighter for each meal, and does his budgeting from how much he takes in, as well as what’s on sale at Market Basket. He “always reads the circulars,” and makes his decisions from there.
“If chicken thighs are on sale — we’re going to have chicken thighs,” he said. He also keeps an eye on frozen veggies on the sale rack, as well as staples like rice, pasta, and potatoes.
“I try to make a hearty meal that’s going to feed the body at noon and six o’clock, and I make enough so that if they get the hungries after a call at night, they can eat.”
‘A huge math person’
On another visit, Kenny was prepping for supper, and a large vat of sausage kale soup remained on the stove from lunch. I was happy to sample this collation, which was creamy, savory, and filling.
I asked him about the recipe, and because he’s “a huge math person,” he can easily figure out the proportions for sausage, broth, kale, the volume of heavy cream, plus the number of potatoes per diner, plus the timing of every step. His spoken description of his recipe put me in mind of a safety bulletin:
“Start with 8 lbs of sausage, throw it in there with garlic and oil, then broth, and heavy cream for an hour. And with 30 minutes to go, you put in the potatoes, say a third of a potato per guy, you don’t want to be overwhelming, so a five pound bag goes in, and then when there’s 15 minutes to go, add the kale, you don’t want to over-saturate the soup — otherwise you’ll have a wet salad,” he finishes with a laugh.
Firefighter Brendan Byrne arrives and also gets a bowl of soup. As Kenny discusses his recipe, Brendan cheerfully supplies a review:
“This is better than the one at Olive Garden,” he declares, which prompts a chortle and a sigh from Kenny.
“Oh great,” he said dramatically. “I’m better than a chain restaurant soup that’s been microwaved!”
The room of diners convulse in laughter, but Kenny continues prepping his chicken and other items. He’s not a fan of “convenience” cooking, and scoffs when the topic of a rice cooker arises. “Cooking rice is a real art,” he said (see his recipe below).
He describes himself as a “varied and resourceful cook,” (never a chef) and his cooking is treasured by the firefighters. Several Group 1 members told me, “he’s the only guy that does French Fries fried in oil.”
But what’s most important for Kenny — and all the firefighters who sit at the table when it’s time to eat — is that “eating together gives us time to decompress, and look each other in the eye. You see how other people think. It’s healthier.”
Firehouse White Rice
INGREDIENTS:
(per firefighter, to include leftovers)
1 cup rice
½ cup water
DIRECTIONS:
Let the rice and water boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low for 10 minutes, and let it sit for another 10 minutes.
Kenny’s Trash Can Pizza
Kenny likes garlic in his crust, as written above, dig deep into your refrigerator, and remove everything that’s a meat or vegetable — chop or dice — put on top of your sauce (Kenny always serves pizza with white or red sauce), bake, let sit, and “let the guys at it.”
Sally Cragin would love to read your family recipes and stories. Write to: sallycragin@gmail.com
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