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.