Developing a Le Cordon Bleu Menu

The process begins with anticipation.

What will the proteins be? Will there be side requirements? I wonder if we’ll get fruit.

Every student has an opinion. On everything. Why this and not that. We all fall into a tizzy of speculation.

Then all is revealed. With great pomp and circumstance the administrative office walks into a random instruction. Pile of paper in hand.

Sweat starts to form on our brows. Some can’t resist and blurt out, pass them around already. It gets wild. And finally. The master secret is in hand.

Required items listed. Followed by supplementary ingredients. Must dos and can’t wants are also scribed. Ceasing mystery in an instant.

The brain shifts from guesswork. To possibilities. Running the gamut from pasta. To jelly. To stuffed. To decomposed. To puréed. For the next two weeks the ideas flow. Slow at first.

Later hemorrhaging uncontrollably. What may look like a mess, is indeed, art in action.

The menu starts to fall in place. After some trial and error – mainly error – an organized sequence begins to form.

Two weeks have passed and our dry-run atelier is coming up. By this point – whether ready or not – your list, recipes, and plating ideas need to be finished.

Through the atelier you learn a great deal about your menu. Wondering, where did that stupid idea come from? To, shear brilliance! Working the kinks out. Refinement derives from the chef’s feedback.

With the atelier’s input, it’s back to the drawing board – more like the revision board. Tweak here. Adjust there. Practice this. And scrap that. For 10 days until the final exam.

Things begin to take a more professional shape. Detailed timelines. And completed plating.

Until the final result of exam day.

Le Cordon Bleu - Superior Final Exam

I woke up with a confident feeling. Thinking it would wane as I got closer to my exam start time. But it never did. Anxious to get started, to get in there, and do my thing – yes, this feeling never left. But scared or worried never settled in.

With only four of us in the kitchen – normal is 8 or 10 – it felt like a ghost-town. Plenty of space to roll guinea fowl breasts, sauté foie gras, and stuff cantaloupe. I clicked along at pace that left me calm and with spare time in the end. My planning paid off.

I thought I could successfully execute my plan if nothing had to be repeated. You’d think this was true, considering the extra moments at the end. But, it didn’t.

Gauging the viscosity of my port sauce. I thought just a little more reduction. This ended up in me forgetting and burning it. I was twelve minutes to presenting. I quickly slapped a new pan on the range and started over. This time without slowly sautéed onions and shallots. And. At a high speed boil.

Caramel. Also gave me a run for my money. The beginning of the final lime and ginger sauce – burnt twice. They say when you make caramel you should pay attention to nothing else. Don’t answer the phone, check the oven, or walk to the refrigerator.

The first time I set my sugar to brown. I went to the sink to wash a knife. Returning to a scorched mess. I took a deep breath and said, ok let’s try this again. This time I decided to pan-sear eggplant strips on the range right next to my sauce pan. Nope. Burnt again. Finally I got it. Next to vacating the building, I successfully caramelized sugar.

Once it turned a beautiful golden-blond. I added lime juice and a dash of sherry vinegar. Initially shocking the caramel into a hard candy. Slowly melting as the heat continued to penetrate. Deglazed a second time with guinea-fowl stock. And carried on from there…

..until my dishes were complete and ready for presentation…

Once our group had all presented their dishes. We were invited into the judges’ kitchen for feedback. Giving critique of the cooking of the breasts, portion size of garnishes, and seasoning of sauces.

It was a proud moment for me. To be with the group I had been cooking next to for the past six months. To see all our dishes lined up. Like some four-star restaurant.

Everyone happy – and sad – that it was over. Some looking like they needed a shot of whiskey while others quietly wept. It was an emotional packed room – a feeling I wanted to bottle up forever.

No matter the end results. I know I passed. And above that. I am happy with my efforts. I worked hard. And diligent. With heart and soul yesterday.

I gave my last Le Cordon Bleu the absolute best I have within me. And. In the end. That’s all you can ask for.

Au revoir ma Cherie Le Cordon Bleu.

Le Cordon Bleu - Final Exam Arrives

For the last time. I will walk to Le Cordon Bleu. Put on my uniform. And cook. Today is a great end. But an even bigger beginning.

Life as you’ve read over the past eight months. Will never be again as of 12:50 p.m. Handing in my final dish I will remember Chef Stril’s first lesson on how to cut a carrot. To Chef Tivet’s wacky Coq au Vin. All the way through Chef Clergue and Terrien’s brilliance in Superior.

One of life’s milestones. Laid forever.

Thursday LCB will host our final graduation ceremony at one of Paris’ most prestigious social halls, Cercle de l'Union Interalliée. My brother and sister-in-law have already arrived. And James is due in on Tuesday. To help celebrate a victorious end.

Finding Wonder

I took an unexpected turn. Leading me to Madeleine. Knowing the métro stop well – home to my favorite line – but unaware of what was on street-level.

Madeleine refers to an enormous building. Neo-classical architecture with fifty-two columns left me wondering its function. I thought maybe a library, or a court house, or even a concert hall. So I walked in.

Heading up the stairs, pass the tourists, and to the doors – which reminded me of something I couldn’t think of – still unclear. Once entered, it all made sense.

Feeling partly sheepish, I gawked at the beauty. The gold plated entrance resembling the Ten Commandments. Images of Mary Magdalene darted throughout. Pews lined with parishioners. And an organ that could sing of angels.

Perhaps it was the unexpected that captured me, but L'église de la Madeleine is one of the most beautiful Roman Catholic churches I have come across. Certainly in Paris.

Most visitors head to Notre Dame or Sacré Coeur for mass. Usually overcrowded and full of disrespecting tourists on the side line. Leaving an un-spiritual feeling. My suggestion is to visit these churches as a rude tourist. But. Find religious growth at Madeleine.

My experience also pointed out after eight months of scouring Parisian streets I’ve barely scratched the surface

L'église de la Madeleine
14 Rue de Surène

75008 Paris

Notre Dame

6 Bis Rue Cloître Notre Dame

75004 Paris

Sacré Coeur

35 Rue du Chevalier de La Barre

75018 Paris

Le Cordon Bleu Empty Planning

We are broken into smaller groups for practicals. Eight per group divided by the 24 total Superior Cuisine students makes for three groups – A, B, and C. I belong to the later. In fact. I have always been in group C.

Groups A and B had their final exam yesterday. Poor planning by Le Cordon Bleu left my exam for Monday. Four days of wondering, stirring, and rethinking. All while my friends celebrate their victories. Unfair.

Believing things happen for a reason, I am searching for the meaning.

Saturday my brother and sister-in-law arrive into Paris. My final visit. Friends, family, and acquaintances have all breezed through during my stay. Their presence will help distract me – at least for the day before my exam.

More stir-crazy thoughts to come…

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #30 - A Farewell

For the last time I write to you from the demonstration room of Le Cordon Bleu.

Other than a couple notes about the final exam. Chef Terrien proceeded as though it were any other class. Leaving the group with an anti-climatic end.

The entire process through LCB has been without flare. Moments I sometimes feel like I am a number in a mass-producing giant.

Graduation for Basic and Intermediate were held in the Winter Garden. Rather quick jumbles of name calling. This. I dismissed because it was only a small milestone – like finishing a semester. One certainly doesn’t expect grandeur for that.

I must say, however. Orientation was heightened with emotion. Probably more due to my nerves than the school’s performance.

Le Cordon Bleu will not disappoint. From what I know. Superior graduation is something to write home about. Hosted in one of Paris’ most posh hotels. Formal dress required. And a ceremony worthy of putting a sugar-rushed two year old asleep. But. More about this later.

Instruction #30 – A farewell. Forever.

• Shot glass of goat cheese and oven-roasted vegetables, mini sacristains with black salt
• Mini veal loin in a salt crust with vegetable spaghetti, soufflé potatoes
• Small pear cooked with caramel, gingerbread bostock, carambar ice cream

The entrée was nothing innovative. But heavenly delicious. Items naturally paired.

Goat cheese mixed with a touch of honey, olive oil, and fresh herbs of chive and basil. Roasted vegetables – tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, and fennel. Twisted puff pastry seasoned with black salt and sesame seeds – sacristains. And a final dash of reduced balsamic vinegar.

Black salt – sea salt – hails from Hawaii. Land of lava. Simply, sea salt harvested with charcoal. And thought to have detoxifying characteristics.

As we have seen sea bass crusted, so was today’s veal loin. Protected with a layer of salt, flour, egg whites, crushed black peppercorns, and fresh herbs. Disrobed for plating, this meat was packed with flavor.

Long, thin slices of carrot, zucchini, and daikon radish made a spaghetti-type garnish. Accompained by potatoes that were naturally souffléed. First frying slices in 130 degree Celsius oil until they start to swell. And shocked at a higher 170 degrees made them explode like little pillows. Neat, but time consuming and unreliable.

Carambar are hard, French candies made of caramel from the mid-1950’s. Most known for chipping teeth and poor jokes found inside the wrappers. Melting a few. Chef added to crème anglaise. And churned for ice cream.

Pears poached in syrup and later caramelized made way to the dessert plate. Along with syrup imbibed gingerbread topped with almond cream. A simple, great dessert all around.

[I am not quite ready for this post to end. This is a special moment for me. One that I know I will never have again. A time in my life that is too unique for words. Trying to hold on. I realize that whether I embrace it or not. Life progresses forward. *deep breath*]

And. Without fail. Chef Terrien produced a meal worthy of any Michelin-starred restaurant. Finding moans of satisfaction throughout the room.

Today is the last Le Cordon Bleu instruction...EVER!

Le Cordon Bleu - Winter Garden

The Winter Garden is a strange place within Le Cordon Bleu.

The overall function is to give students and guests a place to sit. Drink coffee. And eat lunch. In actuality it is overcrowded. Supplies bad coffee from a machine. And is always out-of-stock of water.

A place that is deathly hot in the summer. Humid from plant water. And stuffy from no air movement. While the skylights give light during the winter. They also bring cold. The room gets so cold that your fingers numb and breath forms when you speak.

This is our lovely little place we call, the Winter Garden.

Nonetheless. We gather to recall last night’s events. Ponder what will happen in the day’s demonstration. And sip coffee, hoping the caffeine kicks in before class.

Above all. The Winter Garden has the bulletin board. A place where administration attempts to communicate to students. Displaying the week’s schedule. Final examination times. Details about up coming events. And. Of course. Our grades.

Finally posted this morning, written exam grades are out. My 83% on the written exam was bettered by the recipe fill-in-the-blanks’ 100%. Since the later is added to our final practical grade it carries much more weight. This 100% will help out in the end. As for the written part, it is what it is. Its importance is less than 10% of the final grade, so no real worries here. Happy overall.

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #29

Instruction #29

• Chilled langoustine consommé with fava beans, new season vegetables and cilantro
• Semi-wild duckling served in two styles and parmentier
• Watermelon jelly with melon, mint and Sauternes wine cocktail
  

Tartare – finely chopped raw meat or fish – of langoustine was not my favorite. The rawness mixed with lime and passion fruits was a bit off putting.

The chilled consommé didn’t help matters either. Langoustine stock clarified with egg whites and gelled made for a nice presentation. But taste was also most gagging.

The main dish of duck was much better. Crispy breasts seasoned with four spice. Sweetened by honey. And knocked up with cider vinegar. Add next to braised legs with juniper berries, red wine, and veal stock. And you’ve got a great dish.

Potatoes served parmentier made for a great way of serving the duck legs. Alternating layers with puréed potatoes.

A final purée of peas completed the dish.

The chocolate tuile was a bit random on this plate of melons. Fresh watermelon juice sweetened with powered sugar. Mixed with lemon juice and vanilla made way for a great jelly. Topped with some more Cavaillon melon, mint, and Sauternes wine.

Cavaillon is a small, seaside town in France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Famed only for melons de Cavaillon , the town’s 26,000 people eat theirs with a glass of Port wine.

Where Do We Go From Here?

My intention was to write a blog about my experiences in France. Living among Parisians. And studying at Le Cordon Bleu. Opportunities are dwindling down – barely dripping from the faucet of memories.

Many of you have asked if I will continue pass August 26th’s graduation. After some consideration, I have decided. As long as you keep reading. Then I’ll continue writing.

I am not sure how the focus will change. Part of me feels evolution should occur naturally. And the other side thinks I should develop a plan – the voice I want spoken and stories I want to be told.

Off the cuff. I imagine it will be a portal of watching a young – newly graduated – cook find employment. Navigate a new culinary city. And grow from lowly line cook to the sought after title, chef. If made into a movie, it would be a dramatic satire.

Young foolish boy making mistakes. Angering large men in tall, white torques. Slowly evolving into something worth paying. Perhaps even good enough to cook unsupervised. Until one day. When this culinary ugly duckling breaks forth into a white master of knives.

I can hear Irene Cara’s Fame. Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder. And Bridge Over Troubled Water. Progressing the flick. And. Of course. Jay-Z singing I Made It as the credits roll.

“…I look to the skyyy!
I made it!
Ooo!
Made it, I made it
Yes I did”

Le Cordon Bleu - Orange and Lemon Cake Recipe

You asked for it. So here it is.

Molleux Orange et Citron Servi Tiède,
Sauce Mandarine
Warm Soft Orange and Lemon Cake, Tangerine Sauce

Butter and paper line 4, 6cm (2.5 inch) diameter ring molds, 5 cm (2 inch) high. This recipe serves four.

Orange Cake Batter
2 eggs
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
Peel of 1 orange, finely grated
20 ml (4 tsp) reduced orange juice
100 g (1/2 cup) flour
1 pinch salt
100 g (1/2 cup) butter

Blanch eggs with sugar (whisk until pale yellow). Mix in zest and orange juice. Whisk in flour in thirds to prevent clumping. With a spatula incorporate butter making sure it is well distributed through the batter. Fill piping bag (or zip-lock bag with tip cut off) and rest in refrigerator.

Lemon Filling
1 egg
30 g (2 tbsp) sugar
Peel of 2 lemons, grated
80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice
25 ml (1.5 tbsp) cream
25 g butter (1.5 tbsp)

Blanch eggs with sugar (whisk until pale yellow). Mix in zest, lemon juice, and cream. Cook on low to medium heat (like you would for crème anglaise) until well thickened. Be careful not to scorch or cook the eggs. Move the pan on and off the heat to regulate temperature. Once well thickened remove from heat and incorporate the butter. Fill small molds the size of a €2 or fifty-cent piece (about 1 tablespoon). And chill to harden.

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Once the batter has rested and the filling has hardened then prepare the cakes. Pipe prepared molds half way full with cake batter. Stud center with a harden lemon droplet. Top with more batter. Flatten top with a dampened spoon. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 10 minutes – until firm and slightly golden on top.

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Tangerine Sauce
150 ml (2/3 cup) tangerine juice (can be obtained from blending tangerine pulp and straining)
10 g (2 tsp) orange peel, very finely grated
30 g (1.5 tbsp) sugar
20 g (4 tsp) white chocolate
Cointreau

Heat juice over medium heat with zest and sugar, dissolving the sugar. Take off heat. In a separate bowl set over steaming water melt the chocolate. Mix chocolate into juice mixture. Chill. Add desired amount of Cointreau. (Always add alcohol once the mixture has cooled otherwise the alcohol will burn off.) Serve with baked cakes.

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #28

With no associated practical, there was little note-taking by other students. I suspect senioritis will only get worse.

Still focused, Chef Terrien presented our third to last demonstration.

Instruction #28

• Flaked crabmeat and grapefruit jelly, pea pearls, honey and yuzu jus
• Beef tenderloin with duck foie gras and mushroom gratin, potato croquettes, buttered green and white asparagus
• Tonka bean panna cotta, lightly pan-fried cherries

If you mix algin – anionic polysaccharide – into purée. And drop droplets into a CH solution bath. Pearls form. With the consistency of caviar – formed skin and liquid/gel interior – this allows you to make chocolate or broccoli or even red wine bubbles. Unfortunately, Chef choose pea flavor. Resulting in a small ball that looked like it did in the beginning, a pea. But. We get the idea.

Agar-agar (algae based for warm dishes) and gelatin (animal based for cold dishes) have been flying through LCB these days. Gelling, firming, and solidifying all sorts of liquids. Today grapefruit juice slightly sweetened with honey, benefited from agar-agar’s amalgamable characteristic.

Pea pearls and grapefruit jelly made their way to a plate with wasabi-mayonnaise crabmeat. And dressed with honey, yuzu vinaigrette.

Yuzu is thought to be a Japanese fruit. Actually originating in China and later introduced to Asian neighbors in the 8th century. Rounding out not much larger than a tangerine, these little gems are a great addition to any dish. Try some in granita with ponzu on raw oysters. Or drizzled over grilled watermelon. The aromatic, citrus yield per fruit is low keeping the juice quite expensive. But, a little goes a long way.

Finishing the dish with an Asian note. Chef prepared potato crisps with Matcha green tea.

I am not a fan of beef. But. This was a killer dish. The jus alone was worthy of my bowl. Smothering beef tournedos topped with foie gras, mushroom mousse. I was delighted.

Fry a potato in any form and I’ll fight for the last one. Puréed potatoes with chives, breaded in crushed Japanese Somen noodles were no exception. (Without saying out loud I may have had three or four.)

Panna cotta, an Italian custard-like dessert, was given a rare flavor from tonka beans. Resembling old, wet wood, the aroma didn’t do it for most students. Cherries pan-fried in Kirsch didn’t win anyone over either. Unless you’re a diehard cherry fan I would skip this dish all together.

Le Cordon Bleu - Atelier Exam Dry-Run

Menu written out. Time line laid. Ingredients listed. And plating drawn. I walked into the first floor practical room. Ready for my last atelier – the final exam dry-run.

GOALS

1. Complete all components
2. Master new skills and ideas
3. Make it taste good
4. Complete on time

Proctoring Chef Poupard could not have been more helpful. Present in our room, walking around, assisting all students as needed. Everyone called out, Chef, many times throughout our six hour period. Most of us however, didn't take the full time and plated at the four-and-a-half to five hour mark.

Most of my goals were met. All listed items were cooked, puréed, pan-fried, baked, or blended. Failing at first. Some of my new ideas took a couple times at bat, but came through in the end. And Chef gave some great suggestions on taste. Complete on time. Didn’t happen.

I am fast, efficient, and organized in the kitchen. My sequence is always planned and my plating mapped. Yet. All three ateliers I have finished late. Assessing. I can see I underestimated some tasks. Inefficiently plotted particular steps. The main culprit though, is repetition – redoing because a caramel over darkened, or the tomatoes burnt, or the peas came out too soon.

Having completed the dry-run I now see the importance. A chance to make mistakes, mis-season, and incorrectly cook. With all this behind me I can revamp, tweak, and practice the difficult parts of my menu. For the next eleven days until the exam.

For Basic Cuisine we all went into the kitchen at the same time. Intermediate was staggered by ten minutes per two students. And Superior’s final exam schedule is one student, every ten minutes. This is mainly for the judges – a panel of outside chefs.

Staggering start times, does so as well for finishing. Judges receive one plate every ten minutes, rather all at once. Giving them a chance to look, smell, taste, and judge without pressure or confusion.

Such schedule was posted today in the Winter Garden.

Anthony Fassio – Cuisine Supérieure – Groupe C – Commencer 8h50 – Présent 12h50 – Lundi 23 Août 2010.

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #27; Practical #27

There are still 30 instructions. Even though. We only have 27 practicals.

Those that would normally go with class #28 and #29 have been combined. Into one, five-hour, dry-run. And. As normal, practical #30 constitutes the final exam.

Today’s practical #27. Therefore. Was my last. Menu included; veal stuffed rabbit legs, braised endive, and polenta with olives.

I moved through practical with Chef Poupard hovering about. Stopping often, taking it in. While this was not my last time in the kitchen. It does mark an end.

Demonstrations from now are just for show. Wondering what dish will come next, ceases. And focus is solely on final exam preparations.

Without ceremony. Chef Terrien plowed through lesson #27.

Instruction #27

• Mussel fricassee, golden chanterelles and beans, poulette sauce
• Stuffed and roasted rabbit leg, crisp endives, polenta with olives, reduced jus with sage
• Inversed flat peach Melba, red currant jus flavored with hibiscus

Poulette refers to the poulet – chicken – stock in the sauce. Not to my aunt Paulette. Finally mixed with mussel cooking liquid, cream, chives, butter, and parsley.

Mussels steamed in white wine, shallot and parsley stems. Opened for consumption. And prepared them for a garnish of cannelini beans, sautéed chanterelle mushrooms and sliced chorizo sausage. Making for a decent entrée.

As mentioned before. Rabbit stuffed with veal slowly roasted at 180 degrees Celsius for about twenty-five minutes. For a first at Le Cordon Bleu. Sage was used. Studding the legs and throughout the jus. Chef suggested adding beyond the two sprigs that I used.

Disliking the olives in instruction’s polenta. I left them out. When presented to Chef. He asked.

Where are the olives?

I told him that they were optional and I didn’t like them. Slightly chuckling. Chef replied.

I think you are optional. Not the olives.

We laughed. And I added a bit at the end. Just for him.

Belgian endive and I don’t get along. Always too bitter for me. Even today’s lemon juice and sugar in the braising liquid didn’t help. Chef liked it in the end. Different tastes. I suppose.

Dessert is a classic. Syrup poached peaches, coulis, and vanilla ice cream. Barley modernized with red currant, hibiscus perfume, and gingerbread tuile.

Le Cordon Bleu - Superior Written Exam

Victoria pineapples.
Sanguine blood oranges.
Montmorency cherries.
Charlotte potatoes.
Sucrier bananas.

This was the first matching part of the exam. The second required pairing cuts of meat to the animal. Suprême of chicken and foie gras of goose, for example.

The balance of the exam – multiple choice and true-false – came from every where. Basic Cuisine vocabulary. What does déglacer mean? Intermediate regional information. Do the best walnuts come from Auvergne? And Superior’s recipe compositions. Grenadin de veau is veal tenderloin that can be cut into fillets?

Overall the exam was fair, not too tricky, and manageable. Studying this weekend was time well spent. A decent grade is expected.

The second half of the exam was fill-in-the-blank. We are required to memorize six recipes. Quantities and ingredients. This mindless exercise is completely useless. This does not test any knowledge or skill other than the ability to memorize.

I think we should be required to memorize useful information that every French trained student should know. Like mother sauces and their derivatives. Cuts of meat. Or geographical ingredient production zones.

Sunday afternoon was nothing but rote. Handed a recipe I knew best, this was a piece of cake. Once I filled in all the blanks, the stored, useless, information vanished from memory.

Whether I did well or poorly. It’s over. No more written LCB-style exams. Ever.

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #26; Practical #26

We may never see Chef Poupard again. At least in demo. With only four more instructions time is limited.

In a jolly and ready to get ‘em mood, Chef controlled the stove. His eagerness slowly waned as things began to unravel. Ok, unravel is a bit strong – he just burnt the dried orange decoration for dessert.

Instruction #26

• Oysters and oyster leaves in a frothy Jerusalem artichoke broth
• Double veal chop cooked in a cocotte, demi-glace jus, spring vegetables
• Warm soft orange and lemon cake, tangerine sauce

Froth is made from lecithin – a group of phospholipids most commonly extracted from soy beans. The powered lecithin used in most restaurants needs to be added to cold liquid. And brought to 70 degrees. Then emulsified, or whipped. Adding anything containing soy – oil or milk – will also work.

Oysters quickly poached in their jus. Presented with whipped artichokes. Made for a nasty gag. Oysters – in my opinion – should never be heated. Cooked. Or warmed. A simple raw bivalve mollusk with some horseradish and ponzu granita is all you need.

There may have been more vegetables on today’s main plate than any other dish at Le Cordon Bleu. Blanched snow peas. Stewed baby carrots and new pearl onions. Sautéed chanterelle mushrooms. And finally, fava beans.

Garlic flan and well reduced veal jus finished off the dish.

I highly dislike beef – almost detest. Veal, however, is one of my favorite proteins. In line with duck and lamb. This was a great dish all around. Practical is another issue.

Most of our class completely lost steam by practical time. We had just finished our written exam and a lengthy demonstration. The two hour wait from test to cooking drained all enthusiasm. My work today was fair. Everything cooked, seasoned and presented well. But. Without finesse, as the chefs say.

Lauren is still moaning about today’s dessert. As a student of both cuisine and pâtisserie, she made a bold statement.

This was the best cake I have eaten at Le Cordon Bleu.

Do you hear that? Small lemon nuggets made of melted white chocolate, cream, and lemon juice oozed out of fluffy orange-flavored cake. If you need the recipe let me know and I’ll send you to a wonderful place.

My mother-in-law recently asked me if it was all worth it. This Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, husband-separating, thing. The answer across the board is yes.

For those that know me intimately however, know that there were some rough cracks over the past eight months. Times I wanted to quit. Spaces when the loneliness was too painful. And bumps that seemed too high to clear. But, my answer is still a qualified, yes.

The hard days were peppered throughout. Surrounded by mind-blowing, passion feeding, rapture filled moments. After all, you can not have downs without ups.

More events, stress, and experiences are yet to be had. Preventing an official reflection to be formed.

The time remaining in Paris will indeed be epic. Last practical. Final exam. And, of course, graduation.

The story is far from over.

Le Cordon Bleu - Rungis

Field-tripping. Our class traveled the short 7.2 miles from Paris to Rungis.

Known as the world’s largest market, this place was impressive. So large that we traveled by bus from hall to hall. Nine buildings the size of a small airplane hangars dedicated just to vegetables and fruits. There are similar shops for beef, poultry, butter and cheese, pork, fish, and even flowers.

As a true market, most activity finished by 11 a.m. Even earlier – 4 a.m. – for fish. Things move fast and in tons. Wholesale items are only for restaurant and chef industry members. Think of Costco on horse-steroids. Here are a few facts.

Rungis in a nutshell

• €7.767 billion annual sales
• 1199 companies
• 12,000 employees
• 573 acres
• 1,462,191 tons of foodstuffs, annually
• 19 on-site restaurants

We traveled from pavilion to pavilion marveling at the size and volume of it all. There were two official Rungis tour-guides at our disposal answering all sorts of questions.

My operation management soul was on fire. Reeling from happiness and excitement. I couldn’t help but to imagine the logistics department and all the fun algorithms, charts, schedules and plots they must have. A little piece of heaven for me. I could have spent a week. If you get the chance, it’s a must visit.