SPOILER ALERT: I have my first big rant at the end of this post...
Okay, I simply didn't have the energy to get my post done last night. I got home around 9pm, took a quick shower, I was ready for some sleep. I have managed to survive Hell Week, so the end is in sight. 9 more days of classes, and I even get some afternoons off!
The scheduling person must have a twisted sense of humour, because we had a "tasting" seminar for Offals with Chef Benoit, on a Saturday morning, as our sixth 11-hour day in a row. Offals are internal organs: kidney, liver, brain, testicles - as well as extremities such as snout, trotters, etc. Since this was somewhat optional (you still get an absence, of which you are allowed only 5, since there is no accompanying practical, it doesn't count as two, since you can't do the practical if you haven't been at the demo) three people didn't come to class. Before I get started on the gross stuff, Chef Benoit talked about a number of interesting random culinary topics during the demo, such as molecular gastronomy and tricks that Chef's play on the new staff in a kitchen.
Molecular gastronomy, as a type of cuisine, has really only caught on in the last 5 years or so. It's an interesting type of cuisine where they re-formulate food into weird textures using expensive apparatus based on scientific methods. Biggest name / most famous restaurant is El Bulli in Spain. Google for more info.
When Chef Benoit worked in industry, they would often play jokes on the new help. For example, sending them off to find ridiculous things that don't exist. Such as: "Get me a banana bender! Get me the bacon stretcher!" or in one instance "Get me a grape peeler!" The grape peeler story was particularly funny, because Chef was working in the GTA at the time, and the poor kid actually went to almost all the cooking supply stores asking for this device, to the point where some of the stores were calling Chef about it. This went on for about 3 weeks!!!
Back to the awful Offals...
They come in two major types:
- White: tripes, brain, sweetbreads, ears, snout, trouttens, amourettes (spinal cord)
- Red: liver, tongue, heart, kidneys, lungs, cheeks (apparently the most delicious part if you can find it.. which isn't surprising, fish cheeks are the best part of white fish)
Sweetbreads (Thymus) - are only found in young animals (lamb, veal). They are glands that fight disease during development. Two in the neck, one in the chest. In North America, it's tough to find these.
Gastrique is a term meaning sweet & sour. Usually Caramel and vinegar
There are three steps to remove the fluids / impurities in the proteins we were working with:
- Degorger (usually salting something to release humidity), Blanchir (cooking in water to release impurities) and Presser (pressing it down in a tray with a weight on top)
Chef Benoit made dishes with veal sweetbreads, kidney and liver and also lamb brain. Check the pictures for more details on the names. Not going to dwell on this anymore, I did try them though and I've actually eating much stranger things.
After that deliciousness, I had to get the aftertaste out of my mouth, and since we had a 45 min break, we made a quick run to Subway, where I quickly inhaled a footlong meatball sub. It was delicious and made me feel much less queasy.
Lesson #020 was taught by Chef Benoit and introduced two new techniques.
Poeller (with two dots above the 'e') is a cooking method that doesn't exactly translate directly to english. It involves cooking an ingredient in a bit of hot fat + garniture aromatique in a covered cooking vessel. Saisir -> concentration and then add the G.A. about half way through. The item is larger and whole (ex. chicken or duck) and is cooked covered in an oven. Fond de Poellage is the resulting liquid from this process.
NOTE: Always Glacer after cooking, never add liquid while cooking.
Rotir - to cook something under dry direct heat (375+) in an oven or spit with a little bit of liquid. Ingredients immediately render the fat and quick co-agulation on surface prevents drying. Concentration cooking method. Use large pieces, and the ingredients are never in direct contact with cooking vessel. Usually serve with jus. Always rest before carving. Either lustre or glace, but NEVER PUT SAUCE ON TOP. Either under or on the side.
The dishes were Caneton aux Navets (Duck with turnips), Poulet Cocotte Grand-Mere (Chicken grand-mother style) and Contre-filet roti, pommes chateau (Roasted beef with Potatoes). They were all quite tasty. My preferred way of eating duck is Peking Duck, and my mom makes it quite well. Duck is an extremely fatty bird, so you can only eat so much of it. The Chicken was really nice and had mushrooms, lardons and pearl onions with it as well as potatoes. The Roasted beef and potatoes was probably one of the easiest to make, and I don't know what makes it all that French, but it was done well.
I was the Sous-Chef for the practial and it was difficult to get all the ingredients for Caneton aux Navets from the production freezer, since it involved getting veal stock, 10 ducks, and huge bag of turnips, etc. The demonstration ran a bit late, so we had to go directly to the kitchen and still showed up about 10 mins late. I didn't even have time to review my recipes, so it was a stressful lab. Duck is slightly different to Brider than a chicken, and I spent way too much time at it. This was the killer lab where we were asked to turn 70 turnips. I turned I think around 34 in the time allocated, my goal was 30, so I achieved it. My end result was not bad, my duck was cooked properly, no comments (which is good) on my turnips.. but my glacer (to baste the top skin with a sauce to make it shiny) was not good enough, because my sauce was too thin, so it didn't do much... Overall, I still think if I really feel like duck, which is very rarely, I'll go to Chinatown or T&T and get some.
So one last thing to close off Hell Week. After everything was done and we were ready, this idiot old woman who I despise in my class was arguing with Chef Benoit for a good 30 minutes about turning vegetables. I was so mad and I also screamed "SHUT THE FUCK UP, NO ONE CARES!". I made a loud point of putting on my knife bag several times to get things moving. After 66 hours of cooking classes in a week, I don't need this shit. Finally, Chef Benoit said that in all honesty the 70 is an arbitrary number, its not set by the school. Other Chefs might as for 30 or 40, it doesn't really matter. The important thing is to get people turning faster and to practice proper technique. This woman is one of the most self-centered people I've ever met, and gets caught up in her own little world and never helps on clean up, she's too busy chatting or cleaning her own tools to actually help. She was actually walking around with a hot pan to get butter, a huge NO in the kitchen. Me and someone else snapped at her and told her "You are going to hurt someone. Next time get the butter and bring it BACK to your pan." What a silly woman... Everyones tired and nerves are frayed and you have the audacity to hold up the class for half an hour crying about your inability to turn vegetables quickly? This is the second bitter divorcee that I've met at a cooking school.
A big group of us were supposed to go grab some dinner after class, but I was so pissed, I simply wouldn't go eat with that silly woman, and all the other guys agreed. Some guys went home, and three of us guys left the girls in a lurch (who definitely felt the same way but it's awkward in the change room) and got changed as quickly as possible and just skipped out and went to the Royal Oak for a quick drink.
Sometimes in gets hot in the kitchen, with all ovens roaring at 500F and stovetops blazin'.
Today I have to study for my mid-term on Tuesday. And get some much needed sleep. I can't wait for my afternoon nap!
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