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.