So I've some how managed to survive yet another week... Next week is the killer 6 days in a row. These 11 hour days are really starting to drain me, and we only had a 4 day week! I'm also done 12 out of 30 lessons, so before I begin my recap of Friday, I'll reflect on how I feel overall about the school and the course in general thus far.
First of all, I've gained an appreciation for the trade of cooking. It's very hard work and long hours, and for the most part not very well paid, so you have to have a real passion for food. You truly have to put in your time to get any good at this, and make a lot of mistakes (which I definitely have) along the way. Also, you have to apprentice to get anywhere. I compare this with the field that I work in, IT, and it's completely different. I work in a comfortable climate-controlled cubicle and make a "healthy" wage for banging away at a keyboard. I'm paid, to use the french term, to "mijoter" ideas, so I can sometimes just be there reading and thinking about ideas... at least that's what I claim when my boss catches me staring off into space. Yes, I did spend over four years of studying at the post-secondary level with the goal to put myself in this position, but I look around me at work, and very few people can say they LOVE what they do, and they'd do it even if they say, won the Lotto MAX jackpot split six ways. I actually believe most of the Master Chefs would still work in the culinary industry if they "made it big".
The course is called intensive for a reason. My blog posts have become more and more technical and short form out of necessity. With 3 sessions per day + prep for labs + clean up, I"m putting in good 11+ hour days. A lot of the information being provided is new to me, so it's a lot for me to digest and internalize. I can understand why Ottawa doesn't offer the later courses at this rate, because quite honestly, I think it would be a waste of money to compress that much information into intensive courses. Apparently Paris is going to offer the Intermediate level soon, but some of the Chefs here don't agree with it.
The class has 11 students in it. There are two Europeans (Russian guy who takes a lot of pictures, and Greek guy who is really struggling and asks ridiculous questions), the Psychiatrist, an IT girl, a Mining company exec Retiree, a Jewish female engineer, a female Gatineau public servant, a young big mouth silver spoon kid, military guy who has worked in a kitchen, ex-RIM engineer who wants to change fields, and me. The only person I see continuing and completing Le Diplome Cuisine is the guy who wants to change fields. The rest of us are doing this for personal development reasons, and after this month is over, we go back to our regular lives. This makes for an interesting dynamic... Personally I only care about getting through this thing. Most of us are high achievers, so there is a competitive streak, but as cheesy at it sounds, I'm only competing against myself. There is no bell curve, and there is the correct way to do things, which is what you are judged against. Some of the later level students have said that they never give out 80%, so don't worry about it... just learn as much as you can. Each practical, the Chef walks around and takes note of how you are doing, and obviously evaluates your final result. There are a number of categories that he grades you on, out of 5. He rarely gives a 4, and 2.5 is the threshold of whether or not it would be possible to serve in a restaurant or not. So most people hover in the 2s.. and if you got a 3 or 3.5, you did something right. So yeah, its not marked easily....
French cuisine in general is very finicky and I am definitely not used to this much butter. It's everywhere.. Sometimes I feel like I'm sweating it. The recipes that we've done so far aren't really my thing, but the "real" cooking didn't start until the fish, so I believe it'll get better once we get to the lamb (which I also don't particularly like) and the frogs legs (which I haven't tried before, but heard taste like chicken) ... so I would have to say I don't like the food so far, but the process is what's important right now.
So I guess the real question is, "Am I having fun?". It's definitely been very difficult physically and mentally to go through this, but I'm happy I'm doing this. I do feel overwhelmed at times, but this is one of the most challenging things I've ever done in my life, so I am not complaining. With the tuition that I paid for this course, I could have spent a month globe-trotting the world in style, but been there, done that, and this is (at times anyway) a lot more enjoyable. If you stop learning, you grow old. Since I'm going to be 32 soon, I am fighting this like crazy! Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program...
The day started with Practical #11 and once again Chef Benoit. Poulet Poche Sauce Supreme (Whole poached chicken served with a white creamy sauce). We were each given whole chickens, and expected to habiller (dress) and brider (truss) chicken. It's not that complicated once you do it, but it's quite gross patting down the chicken, plucking any excess feathers, cleaning the inside cavity. You then tie it together with kitchen twine and a needle, through the thigh skin, then the ribs, then between the two bones of the chicken wing and then the skin flap. Look at the pictures for a better idea. You then boil it in cold water with a white mirepoix of leeks, onions, carrot, cloves, celery and a bouquet garni. Salt and pepper to taste. Make sure to Ecumer the top as soon as any grey foam (impurities) go to the top. If you let it simmer with that nasty foam on top, it will make bad flavour.
Sauce supreme is derive from Veloute de Volaille (Fond Blanc + Roux Blanc) and then adding reduced cream. I made the rough with 30g of butter, 30g of flour, and you cook it until the gluten breaks down and smells like "cookie dough". I then shocked it by putting it in the fridge. When the Fond Blanc from the chicken was ready, I added it to the Roux and whisked like a mad man. Next I slowly added the reduced cream, and salt and pepper.
The chicken is served on a bed of Rice Pilaff, which is very easy to make, provided you follow the recipe EXACTLY.
Time: 17-19mins at 400F in oven
Quantities: Liquid = 1.5X rice
DO NOT STIR once liquid is in.
Cover with Two lids (paper lid and regular lid)
First, suer some ciseler onions that are very finely chopped. Then NACRER the rice. The rice will become coated in the butter. This prevents it from sticking to the pot. Finally, add liquid and Bouqet Garni and bring to boil. DO NOT STIR!!! Put the two lids on, put in oven, and 17-19 mins it should be perfectly done. Remove the B.G. and then gently lift the rice with a fork, with some butter on top that should be melted in. This rice is too rich for my tastes, but is useful in making shapes.
My dish turned out okay, except my rice had a weird colour to it, since I browned my onions... oops. It was cooked to the right consistency, my chicken was good, and my supreme sauce was okay, but a little thick.
Lesson #12 was once again with Chef Benoit. The lecture was on Sauce Emulsionnee (emulsion sauces), which come in two forms, stable and unstable. Today we are focusing on stable sauces, which are affected by temperature. If you "break" a stable sauce, use a small amount of cold water, and then slowly whisk the broken sauce bit by bit into the water, and it should come back to fully recover you will do it over a bain marie. Salt does NOT dissolve in a fat, you must add it to the liquid first. Always slowly add the fat to the liquid, to give the Emusifiant a chance to work. Emulsifiant (Emulsifiers) used are yolks and mustard. Lectin is the protein often found in egg yolk, but is also found in soy for our vegetarian friends. Chef Benoit went on a little bit of a rant on "trend of bastardized modern vegetarian cuisine" but I forgot to take notes. It was mildly amusing.
Clarified butter is butter that has been melted in a bain marie and has been separated. Butter is composed of three parts, the milk solids (lightest) the Fat (middle part) and butter milk (the bottom). The Fat is obviously what you want, so you skim off the milk solids, and then laddle the Fat into a separate container. Keep it in a bain marie. You lose about 20% of the volume of the butter, but this stuff is liquid gold, and a lot harder to burn.
Pommes Anglaise - potatoes turned to about egg size, boiled in cold salty water, and then LUSTRER (brushed with butter).
Potatoes can be turned to 4 different sizes, from smallest to largest they are: Cocottes (standard veg size - carrot, turnip), Anglaise (egg shape), Chateau (larger) and Fondant (only six sides,compared to the standard 7).
The practical today required salmon filets, so Chef Benoit went over how to butcher a whole salmon. This is a nasty thing that I will avoid doing in the future, but it's something to see it done:
-Wipe down the salmon
-Cut off the various fins. (scissors)
-Using the serated knife, chop right behind head, turn 90 degrees and let spine guide you to the fin. You will be sawing through bone.
- Repeat on other side. There will still be some meat on the bones, scrape off with a spoon.
NOTE: Don't make fish stock from Salmon head, disgusting. Throw it out.
- You now hav, e two large pieces. There is a white part towards the bottom. Chef Knife, cut from the middle to the bottom to remove it.
- Remove the "Pin" bones with a pincer. They go about half way through the meat.
- To remove the skin, use a Chef knife to make a small incision behind the fin and then gently slice.
- Flip over and cut off as much of the silver part as you can. It becomes grey when cooked and doesn't look very appetizing.
160-170g is the standard salmon serving.
When grilling: Rub with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Always cook the presentation side (the side towards the bones) first.
Back to sauces....
The sauces prepared by Chef Benoit were: Sauce Mayonnaise (egg yolks, dijon mustard, vegetable oil, white wine vinegar, salt/pepper, cayenne pepper), Sauce Chantilly (mayo + cream), Sauce Remoulade (mayo + capers, pickles, parsley, chevril, dijon mustard), Sauce Hollandaise (one of the 5 Mere Sauces), Sauce Bearnaise (derivative of Hollandaise, to be served with the Saumon Grillee) and Sauce Tyrolienne (Bearnaise made with oil instead of butter and with some tomato paste).
Sauce Hollandaise is important as it requires significant whisking and heat control. When whisking above the bain marie, make sure to spin the bowl as well to avoid scrambled eggs around the edges. Always whip to soft peaks.
The practical dish is Saumon Grille, sauce Bearnaisee... grilled salmon, with Bernaise Sauce and 3 cooked Anglaise shaped potatoes and a cool lemon shape for garnish.
Practical #12 went fairly smoothly. I had difficulty getting my Bernaise sauce to lift, but it eventually got there. There's a lot of team work going on for the prep, with one person measuring the amount of liquid, making paper lids, chopping up specific vegetables.. but it's still up to you to do the actual cooking. My final product turned out quite well although I completely butchered the lemon. I was lucky that even though I was one of the people that was asked to butcher one of the whole salmons, by the time it was my turn, I didn't have to do it since we already had enough filets. Hopefully I can dodge it next time as well, since I barely finished my dish. A small note that I hadn't mentioned before... always serve hot food on a warm plate and MAKE SURE ITS CLEAN!
So that was the end of week 2. This weekend I have to practice my turning of turnips. Big week ahead! Chef Benoit suggested we do a Hollandaise sauce at home, but I'm gonna pass. I should buy some metal bowls as well....
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