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.