It's been a while since my last update, for which I apologize. It's apparent that the CIA is obviously hard to infiltrate!
Currently I am on my externship at Solbar in Calistoga, just 10 minutes north of the CIA in St. Helena, but before I dig to deep into that, let me sum up the final months of my first year at school.
The last update was right after Skills 3, which marked the beginning of my second semester at the CIA. After Skills 3 I had Cuisines of the Americas where we learned about how cuisine here in America has evolved and also cuisines of South America. It was great because we got to work in pairs rather than teams and concentrate on one dish for two days. The disappointing part of the Cuisines classes was that each person did not get to make every dish, but saw everyone's dish and tasted it. I had two chefs for that class because another class was taking it with us and Chef Tucker was one of those chefs. It was a great class and I have a bunch of recipes and techniques that I learned from it.
Possibly my favorite class thus far was Cuisines of Asia, the class after Cuisines of the Americas. We worked in teams again, but it was the first time we were given a menu and told to get it done before a specific time. It was great to work on something without having Chef peer over your shoulder every couple of minutes, but he was there if we needed help. This class' final was also my favorite part of the course. We did not take a written exam, but only an identification test and we had to lead cooking demos. It was great to lead a quick 15 minute demo for my classmates because it is definitely something I would consider doing in the future. Chef said I did an amazing job, "the best presentation he has seen in a very long time."
After Cuisines of Asia, I took Breakfast and Lunch cookery, both of which we amazing. Breakfast was hard to get up so early from, but it was extremely rewarding to work action stations and cook breakfast for all the other students in the school. Lunch was the same way and since everything was made to order, it gave us plenty of practice to showcase our serving and cooking abilities.
The last class of the year was Garde Manger. This class was all about sausage making, smoking, cold foods and appetizers. It was a fun class and a good way to end of the school year because it was slower paced. In the middle of this class I had my second term practical. This required test had to be passed in order to go on externship so the tension was high throughout the class. Students were very nervous about passing or not and I had a little case of the jitters as well. After everything was out of my system, I just relaxed and had a great time during my practical. I made beef stew, mashed potatoes, chicken consomme and vegetables for my test and passed with flying colors. After my practical and Garde Manger were over, I finally started my externship.
Solbar, Calistoga's premiere California cuisine restaurant, is a Michelin Star rated restaurant and serves amazing local, fresh California cuisine. Chef Brandon Sharp is a great chef that calls it California Soul Food. It has been a great experiencing, tough, but finally rewarding. I had to do prep and some banquets work for the first couple of weeks, which was difficult because I wanted to cook more, but now I am on the lunch line. This week I will be working the grand opening of our pool bar and am very excited about that. I have been there one month now and have two more to go, so things are going in full swing right now. I will update more as time goes on, I promise I will be better at it.
I have no special culinary ideas for you this time, except a quote from one of my favorite chefs, Julia Child.
"If you're afraid of butter, use cream!"
Until next time, happy eating.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
In Review
Skills three has been the best class since school has started. It has also been the most difficult class. Any idea or notion I had of this school is represented in this class. We are basically cooking everything that we went over in Skills one and two, but now we have to create at least 20 portions of all production in the same amount of time, with added sauces, soups and veggies. It is also fun to finally work together with a team because it is more representative of a restaurant setting. Last week Chef kicked our butt by pushing us to work faster, harder and cleaner than we ever have. I talked with one of my classmates last week, Big Rob, and he said that the previous year of culinary school at a different school was never this busy or difficult. This class finally dips into how the CIA is different than other schools. I am having the time of my life.
Here in Napa, life is treating Korina and I very well. We are truly blessed by our good God with each and every bill paid, good night's rest and every bite that goes into our bellies. It has been such an amazing first semester that I would not trade it for the world.
I was asked a lot over break how my first set of classes went, but it was difficult to say because I change classes every three weeks. I will try to summarize some of my favorite moments here at the CIA so far...
-The time that the butter exploded! Murphy and I still joke about it, but it was pretty scary. Let's just say that every time I move some butter across the stove, that is the first thing I think of.
-Chef Tucker in Meat ID and Fab quoting Talledega Nights more often than we were and making fun of cats and how silly dinosaur arms are.
-The time in Skills one when Chef Tod asked me what I had put into my dish that made it taste so different than all the other students. My response: “It's called passion chef.”
-When Murph and Alex decided that it would be funny to put their toques together in interpersonal communications to make one giant toque attaching them by the head. These are the professionals of the future.
These are only some of the memories that I have created so far and I cannot wait for more to come.
Next on my list of important topics to discuss is my externship. I am meeting with the career services advisor on Thursday to discuss my resume and cover letter. I also want to talk to her about tips regarding applying at certain places. I have decided that I am going to stay in the area and hit up one of the numerous restaurants in the area with a Michelin star. So far some of my options include the French Laundry, etoile, Terra, Redd, Auberge du Soleil, Ad Hoc, Solage and Bottega. Google the names and you will find some more info on each other them. All of them except Michael Chiarello's Bottega have a Michelin Star. Anyways, I am hopefully going to put some letters in the mail here within the next two weeks and we will see where God takes those.
I thank you for following along with my journey into the things I am most passionate about. I hope the good Lord continues to bless you as this new year begins. Happy Eating!
Daily Bite: Contrary to popular belief, putting oil in your pasta water while it is boiling is counterproductive. The oil does not mix with the water and will only coat the outside of the noodle causing the noodles to be oily and not absorb the sauce as much. Next time you make pasta, put on at least one gallon of water on for every pound of pasta you are making. Salt the water until the water tastes slightly salty, boil your pasta, do not rinse when it is done and add the hot sauce to the hot pasta. If you rinse your pasta, the starches on the outside of the pasta will wash away, causing the sauce to not adhere to the outside of the noodle as well.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving!
Here we are on Thanksgiving break and I am deciding to take some time out and update on the past couple of weeks at the CIA. We have a whole week off which is great, so I am well rested and ready to start my next class on Monday.
Skills Development 1 just concluded on Friday and it was awesome, to say the least. We learned precision knife cuts and the general guidelines and recipes for soups, stocks and broths. Lets just say that I am a soup base making machine! It was great to learn about quality stocks and the use of bones in the kitchen. Let me briefly recap what we learned...
We learned about Chicken stock and broth. The main difference between stocks and broths is that broths can be served as is whereas stocks are used as a base for other dishes, mainly soups and sauces. Also broths use meat and bones in the recipe rather than just bones that stocks call for. We also learned how to make a white and brown veal stock which is used a lot within the kitchen for sauces. We made French Onion Soup, Fish Chowder, Cream of Broccoli Soup, and potato dishes. We also learned about the basics of blanching vegetables for garnish and for other production components. We made Espagnole sauce, one of the mother sauces, and Jus de veau Lie, which is a reduced brown veal stock and super delicious.
We now move on to Skills II which continues to explore knife cuts including the dreaded tourne potato and fluting of mushrooms. It is also and introduction to basic cooking techniques such as sauteing and braising and the specific culinary applications of each. We will have the same chef-instructor that we had for Product Knowledge which should be awesome. It will be good to work with my fellow students better as we continue to learn more.
This school continues to demand professionalism in every aspect of our education and I couldn't love it more. I never realized how seriously I took this leg of my journey, but I find myself holding other students to the high standards that the school does. Let me tell you though, I sure get the comments! ;) I get disgusted at myself when my chef pants aren't ironed and it's the only thing I can think about all day. I realize that I am a dweeb and probably should focus more on cooking and not on ironing my clothes.
Well, now I am off to enjoy the family and rest some more, but I will update at the end of the week to showcase Skills II in the best light I can. Until then, happy cooking and enjoy the rest of the holiday!
Daily Bite:
As I mentioned earlier, Espagnole sauce is a mother sauce. The mother sauces, also known as grand sauces, are considered the basic sauces in traditional French cuisine. Antonin Careme, one of the most influential French chefs, found a way to classify the immense amount of sauces used within French cuisine. There are mother sauces and secondary (or derivative) sauces that are based off of these mother sauces. There are traditionally four sauces that make up the Mother sauces: Espagnole, Bechamel, Veloute, and tomato. There is some disagreement about the mother sauces, Careme actually does not include tomato sauce and uses Allemande as the fourth sauce. A lot of people will also argue that Hollandaise is considered the fifth sauce, it just depends on what you agree with. Check it out online and if you want some recipes, let me know and I will hook you up.
Skills Development 1 just concluded on Friday and it was awesome, to say the least. We learned precision knife cuts and the general guidelines and recipes for soups, stocks and broths. Lets just say that I am a soup base making machine! It was great to learn about quality stocks and the use of bones in the kitchen. Let me briefly recap what we learned...
We learned about Chicken stock and broth. The main difference between stocks and broths is that broths can be served as is whereas stocks are used as a base for other dishes, mainly soups and sauces. Also broths use meat and bones in the recipe rather than just bones that stocks call for. We also learned how to make a white and brown veal stock which is used a lot within the kitchen for sauces. We made French Onion Soup, Fish Chowder, Cream of Broccoli Soup, and potato dishes. We also learned about the basics of blanching vegetables for garnish and for other production components. We made Espagnole sauce, one of the mother sauces, and Jus de veau Lie, which is a reduced brown veal stock and super delicious.
We now move on to Skills II which continues to explore knife cuts including the dreaded tourne potato and fluting of mushrooms. It is also and introduction to basic cooking techniques such as sauteing and braising and the specific culinary applications of each. We will have the same chef-instructor that we had for Product Knowledge which should be awesome. It will be good to work with my fellow students better as we continue to learn more.
This school continues to demand professionalism in every aspect of our education and I couldn't love it more. I never realized how seriously I took this leg of my journey, but I find myself holding other students to the high standards that the school does. Let me tell you though, I sure get the comments! ;) I get disgusted at myself when my chef pants aren't ironed and it's the only thing I can think about all day. I realize that I am a dweeb and probably should focus more on cooking and not on ironing my clothes.
Well, now I am off to enjoy the family and rest some more, but I will update at the end of the week to showcase Skills II in the best light I can. Until then, happy cooking and enjoy the rest of the holiday!
Daily Bite:
As I mentioned earlier, Espagnole sauce is a mother sauce. The mother sauces, also known as grand sauces, are considered the basic sauces in traditional French cuisine. Antonin Careme, one of the most influential French chefs, found a way to classify the immense amount of sauces used within French cuisine. There are mother sauces and secondary (or derivative) sauces that are based off of these mother sauces. There are traditionally four sauces that make up the Mother sauces: Espagnole, Bechamel, Veloute, and tomato. There is some disagreement about the mother sauces, Careme actually does not include tomato sauce and uses Allemande as the fourth sauce. A lot of people will also argue that Hollandaise is considered the fifth sauce, it just depends on what you agree with. Check it out online and if you want some recipes, let me know and I will hook you up.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Exploding Butter
It's been a while since the last update, only because I have been working after school in the campus store, filling out my day at 12 hours. It's been tough, but I am enjoying it.
I finished Meat and Seafood Fabrication and Identification last week. It was great to learn what different cuts of meat look like and the best type of fish for certain dishes. I still feel relatively new to these subjects, but it will come as I practice more. Our chef for the course was a wonderful beginning to our career in the kitchen. Not intimidating, fun and energetic, all the qualities that we need in our first chef at the most prestigious culinary college in the world. It was also great to learn how to correctly fabricate these products so I can buy whole products and with the best yield, save a lot of money.
Our current class, Skills 1, is an introduction to knife cutting skills and stocks, is a blast. For the first time we are all working together in the kitchen. In fabrication we worked together, but we did not depend on each other for the different aspects of production. Now we count on every person of our team to get a specific task done, which is a realistic model of what will happen in a kitchen. We also have specific tasks and some students get to be the sous chef for the team or the class. I was a sanitor just last week, which means that I was the go to guy for all the cleaning and product distribution for our team. It was tough work because I lost precious minutes of production, but it was great to gain some more respect from the students.
We were clarifying butter just the other day and as Murphy, one of my teammates, and I were slowly sliding a pot across the burner, the saucepot of butter erupted and caught on fire. This was so crazy, yet we both came out of the fireball with every appendage and both of our eyebrows! Not even the chef was fully aware of what caused the explosion, but we figured that the slight movement of the pot caused the water molecules underneath the butter to burst through the oil. Anyways, I thought y'all would appreciate that story.
Currently, I am in the middle of volunteering for Worlds of Flavor. Check out the website--> http://www.ciaprochef.com/wof2010/ This is the biggest foodie conference right now in the world of culinary arts and I am so excited to be a part of it. This year's theme is Japan and our whole building has turned into an expert display of traditional Japanese cuisine. I will be working side by side with some of today's brightest and most honored Japanese chefs, while learning more about the culture of Japan. Iron Chef Morimoto will be here, as well as Thomas Keller (owner of The French Laundry), and many authors, including the editor of the late Gourmet magazine. It looks to be a wonderful event, I will update at the conclusion.
School has been busy, life is good. I sleep, eat, cook, work and do it all over again. My wife has been a wonderful blessing through all of this and I cannot wait to see where God takes us from here. Until next time, consider one of the CIA's many taglines:
Food is Life. Create and Savor Yours.
Daily Bite:
Clarified butter is butter that has had all milkfat solids and water removed. The ending product is pure butterfat. This helps raise the smoke point so that the butter will not brown as easily. Careful though, it might explode on your face and catch fire.
I finished Meat and Seafood Fabrication and Identification last week. It was great to learn what different cuts of meat look like and the best type of fish for certain dishes. I still feel relatively new to these subjects, but it will come as I practice more. Our chef for the course was a wonderful beginning to our career in the kitchen. Not intimidating, fun and energetic, all the qualities that we need in our first chef at the most prestigious culinary college in the world. It was also great to learn how to correctly fabricate these products so I can buy whole products and with the best yield, save a lot of money.
Our current class, Skills 1, is an introduction to knife cutting skills and stocks, is a blast. For the first time we are all working together in the kitchen. In fabrication we worked together, but we did not depend on each other for the different aspects of production. Now we count on every person of our team to get a specific task done, which is a realistic model of what will happen in a kitchen. We also have specific tasks and some students get to be the sous chef for the team or the class. I was a sanitor just last week, which means that I was the go to guy for all the cleaning and product distribution for our team. It was tough work because I lost precious minutes of production, but it was great to gain some more respect from the students.
We were clarifying butter just the other day and as Murphy, one of my teammates, and I were slowly sliding a pot across the burner, the saucepot of butter erupted and caught on fire. This was so crazy, yet we both came out of the fireball with every appendage and both of our eyebrows! Not even the chef was fully aware of what caused the explosion, but we figured that the slight movement of the pot caused the water molecules underneath the butter to burst through the oil. Anyways, I thought y'all would appreciate that story.
Currently, I am in the middle of volunteering for Worlds of Flavor. Check out the website--> http://www.ciaprochef.com/wof2010/ This is the biggest foodie conference right now in the world of culinary arts and I am so excited to be a part of it. This year's theme is Japan and our whole building has turned into an expert display of traditional Japanese cuisine. I will be working side by side with some of today's brightest and most honored Japanese chefs, while learning more about the culture of Japan. Iron Chef Morimoto will be here, as well as Thomas Keller (owner of The French Laundry), and many authors, including the editor of the late Gourmet magazine. It looks to be a wonderful event, I will update at the conclusion.
School has been busy, life is good. I sleep, eat, cook, work and do it all over again. My wife has been a wonderful blessing through all of this and I cannot wait to see where God takes us from here. Until next time, consider one of the CIA's many taglines:
Food is Life. Create and Savor Yours.
Daily Bite:
Clarified butter is butter that has had all milkfat solids and water removed. The ending product is pure butterfat. This helps raise the smoke point so that the butter will not brown as easily. Careful though, it might explode on your face and catch fire.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Heart Shaped Grilled Cheese
Another week has gone by at the CIA for me and it has been a blast. I am working with the Special Events department. We cater weddings and other activities on campus. Just yesterday I put in a ten hour day working on a catering job for a 150 person wedding on campus. Just to give you a heads up on how much that would run you, we charge a minimum of $100 a person for catering. Depending on what you want and any special services like more apps, a raw oyster bar or sliders after the ceremony, it will cost more. So, lets just say that you would be spending a pretty penny to have your wedding ceremony or reception at my school.
I've also started a job at the campus store. We run a flavor bar where people from the public can come in and watch a video guided presentation on different types of olive oil, chocolate or tips on how to calibrate their palates. I do a little bit of everything from the flavor bar, to general help in the store to shipping and receiving. I am excited about it because it pays just as much as Special Events does, yet is much more laid back.
This week I will be finishing up Product Knowledge and Food Safety. Both of which have been fantastic. Product Knowledge has guided us through how to look for the best type of produce. We've also been able to taste ingredients in their raw state so we can know how to alter the flavor from there. In Food Safety, we are going through the ever-so-popular ServSafe program, which seems like it is dragging. And how it is! This course is designed for one day certification and we are stretching it into three weeks worth.
Starting a week from tomorrow is Meat Fabrication and Identification. There I will learn all the different cuts of meat and how to trim, cut and butcher them according to what I will be using it for. It should be a little more intense than what I have had so far, which is exactly what I want.
Professional sets this school apart from any other culinary school in the country. We are required to be in a full, traditional chef's uniform now that we have outgrown our business casual. I have received my chef whites with my name on them. The air about the school could be seen as snotty, uptight, but I beg to differ. If you ever get that feeling, sit in on one of my classes and I will introduce you to some of the most passionate people I have ever met. Ron loves his Zinfandel almost more than his wife. Steve, although he cuts himself at work regularly, knows how to run a restaurant in the industry with great knowledge. A.J. may be a brown-noser, but he sure does never give up. Anil is a good friend and a great listener, willing to learn all that he can. These are the people I get to spend my schooling with. We laugh and share some awesome memories while keeping a light heart about everything all the time. It's people like this that I cannot wait to work with in the near future.
Since it is the weekend, I will leave you with a descriptive menu of what I helped prepare last night for the wedding.
Appetizers:
-Grilled cheese cut into hearts
-Grilled lamb chops with red wine reduction sauce
-Tuna tar-tar in a fried filo dough cone
1st Course:
Fresh Mozzarella and butternut squash tortellini atop a pool of heirloom tomato sauce and tomato concasse. Finished with a fried green tomato, basil oil, parmesan cheese and micro basil.
Main Course:
Sauteed spinach with white corn risotto. Beef tournadoes (filet) with carmelized onions accompanied with herb crusted halibut with a red wine reduction sauce.
Daily Bite:
There are certain fruits that do NOT ripen once picked. No matter how long you leave them out, in a paper bag or in the fridge, these fruits will only change color, but never get any sweeter than they once were on the vine. Examples include pineapple, citrus (except lime), grapes, watermelon, berries and cherries. These types of fruit are best when purchased from a local farmer, where they are picked more ripe than their supermarket counterparts.
I've also started a job at the campus store. We run a flavor bar where people from the public can come in and watch a video guided presentation on different types of olive oil, chocolate or tips on how to calibrate their palates. I do a little bit of everything from the flavor bar, to general help in the store to shipping and receiving. I am excited about it because it pays just as much as Special Events does, yet is much more laid back.
This week I will be finishing up Product Knowledge and Food Safety. Both of which have been fantastic. Product Knowledge has guided us through how to look for the best type of produce. We've also been able to taste ingredients in their raw state so we can know how to alter the flavor from there. In Food Safety, we are going through the ever-so-popular ServSafe program, which seems like it is dragging. And how it is! This course is designed for one day certification and we are stretching it into three weeks worth.
Starting a week from tomorrow is Meat Fabrication and Identification. There I will learn all the different cuts of meat and how to trim, cut and butcher them according to what I will be using it for. It should be a little more intense than what I have had so far, which is exactly what I want.
Professional sets this school apart from any other culinary school in the country. We are required to be in a full, traditional chef's uniform now that we have outgrown our business casual. I have received my chef whites with my name on them. The air about the school could be seen as snotty, uptight, but I beg to differ. If you ever get that feeling, sit in on one of my classes and I will introduce you to some of the most passionate people I have ever met. Ron loves his Zinfandel almost more than his wife. Steve, although he cuts himself at work regularly, knows how to run a restaurant in the industry with great knowledge. A.J. may be a brown-noser, but he sure does never give up. Anil is a good friend and a great listener, willing to learn all that he can. These are the people I get to spend my schooling with. We laugh and share some awesome memories while keeping a light heart about everything all the time. It's people like this that I cannot wait to work with in the near future.
Since it is the weekend, I will leave you with a descriptive menu of what I helped prepare last night for the wedding.
Appetizers:
-Grilled cheese cut into hearts
-Grilled lamb chops with red wine reduction sauce
-Tuna tar-tar in a fried filo dough cone
1st Course:
Fresh Mozzarella and butternut squash tortellini atop a pool of heirloom tomato sauce and tomato concasse. Finished with a fried green tomato, basil oil, parmesan cheese and micro basil.
Main Course:
Sauteed spinach with white corn risotto. Beef tournadoes (filet) with carmelized onions accompanied with herb crusted halibut with a red wine reduction sauce.
Daily Bite:
There are certain fruits that do NOT ripen once picked. No matter how long you leave them out, in a paper bag or in the fridge, these fruits will only change color, but never get any sweeter than they once were on the vine. Examples include pineapple, citrus (except lime), grapes, watermelon, berries and cherries. These types of fruit are best when purchased from a local farmer, where they are picked more ripe than their supermarket counterparts.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Day 18: Chair Jacker
Despite having my chair stolen from me in the middle of lunch today, things have been going very well. Gastronomy ended last week on a high note. We discussed the history of restaurants and how it has related to what we see today when we go out to eat. It's interesting to see the evolution of how we've spent our money regarding food. We now spend more money eating out than we do on food we purchase to cook at home.
As of this week, I have now started Food Safety and Product Knowledge, both of which are extremely interesting. In Food Safety we are learning the Serv Safe program and how to avoid food-borne illnesses. After listening to my professor for an hour and a half, I hesitate to eat out at any sort of restaurant and I feel compelled to sanitize everything that I touch everywhere. Despite the uneasiness of my stomach during the class, I am eager to learn more about how to keep my food safe. (I'm a nerd, you don't have to remind me.)
Product Knowledge is our first hands on course here at the CIA. Not only do we learn about how to identify produce, but we also are tasting and experiencing the first aspect of cooking. Today we dived into leafy greens and cabbage. We tasted various pieces of lettuce and cabbage including cheddar cauliflower (orange colored cauliflower), graffiti cauliflower (purple colored cauliflower), and rainbow chard. We have this book call the Professional Chef and it is essentially a bible for culinary education. This book guides us through all of products that we will encounter in this course.
I cannot wait until I further my knowledge in this subject so I can update a little better. As of now I will leave you with today's menu.
Breakfast
-Fruit
-Banana Blueberry Muffin
Lunch
-Roasted Chicken with fine herb gravy
-Roasted baby carrots
-Spicy Eggplant
-Shrimp and Pine nut fried rice
-Broccolini
Weekly Desert Count: 3
As of this week, I have now started Food Safety and Product Knowledge, both of which are extremely interesting. In Food Safety we are learning the Serv Safe program and how to avoid food-borne illnesses. After listening to my professor for an hour and a half, I hesitate to eat out at any sort of restaurant and I feel compelled to sanitize everything that I touch everywhere. Despite the uneasiness of my stomach during the class, I am eager to learn more about how to keep my food safe. (I'm a nerd, you don't have to remind me.)
Product Knowledge is our first hands on course here at the CIA. Not only do we learn about how to identify produce, but we also are tasting and experiencing the first aspect of cooking. Today we dived into leafy greens and cabbage. We tasted various pieces of lettuce and cabbage including cheddar cauliflower (orange colored cauliflower), graffiti cauliflower (purple colored cauliflower), and rainbow chard. We have this book call the Professional Chef and it is essentially a bible for culinary education. This book guides us through all of products that we will encounter in this course.
I cannot wait until I further my knowledge in this subject so I can update a little better. As of now I will leave you with today's menu.
Breakfast
-Fruit
-Banana Blueberry Muffin
Lunch
-Roasted Chicken with fine herb gravy
-Roasted baby carrots
-Spicy Eggplant
-Shrimp and Pine nut fried rice
-Broccolini
Weekly Desert Count: 3
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day 4: Juice Fight
I got in a fight with an orange juicer this morning. Let's just say that the juicer won the battle. Here I am, a culinary arts student at the world's most prestigious culinary school and I can't figure out how to work the juicer. I had a 6oz glass of OJ and ate the rest of the 6 wedges that I gave up on.
Gastronomy is quite an interesting course. Yesterday and today we talked about perception about food. How do we perceive food and what is our response to it? We discussed how our senses are receptors to all aspects of the food and that taste of the food is one of the last things that happens during a meal. Knowing this information is extremely useful as I consider how to plate, design a restaurant and other very important part of a meal. We also discussed how we taste with our nose and mouth.
Today was more focused on different methods of cooking and browning reactions. I've heard numerous people explain that they want to carmelize a specific dish, which is not possible without the presence of sugar. Other methods of browning are Maillard and enzymatic reactions. Ah, the Maillard reaction. There's nothing like a beautifully seared fillet of beef tenderloin. Good ol Maillard!
This first week at school exceeded my expectations. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy the professionalism ever present in the curriculum and overall atmosphere of the school, but I love the passion that resonates off of those thick stone walls. I walk those corridors and can hear the dreams that reach out from each and every talented mind present in that building. Everything from the faculty's dreams for the students, to each and every story we will have to tell very soon. Here begins the hard, but ever so exciting work. Hand me my chef's knife, lets jump this jump.
Breakfast
-Oranges (of course!)
-Pastries
Lunch
-BBQ Beef Sandwich with onion rings
-Stuffed Quail
-Selections of a beautiful arrangement of Garde Manger
Daily Bite
-Garde Manger (loosely pronounced Guard Mon-jay) is the fine art of cold cooking. This type of cooking reflects those dishes that are prepared, then served cold. This can be anything from cured salmon to any type of appetizer that is chilled. For more info check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garde_manger
Gastronomy is quite an interesting course. Yesterday and today we talked about perception about food. How do we perceive food and what is our response to it? We discussed how our senses are receptors to all aspects of the food and that taste of the food is one of the last things that happens during a meal. Knowing this information is extremely useful as I consider how to plate, design a restaurant and other very important part of a meal. We also discussed how we taste with our nose and mouth.
Today was more focused on different methods of cooking and browning reactions. I've heard numerous people explain that they want to carmelize a specific dish, which is not possible without the presence of sugar. Other methods of browning are Maillard and enzymatic reactions. Ah, the Maillard reaction. There's nothing like a beautifully seared fillet of beef tenderloin. Good ol Maillard!
This first week at school exceeded my expectations. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy the professionalism ever present in the curriculum and overall atmosphere of the school, but I love the passion that resonates off of those thick stone walls. I walk those corridors and can hear the dreams that reach out from each and every talented mind present in that building. Everything from the faculty's dreams for the students, to each and every story we will have to tell very soon. Here begins the hard, but ever so exciting work. Hand me my chef's knife, lets jump this jump.
Breakfast
-Oranges (of course!)
-Pastries
Lunch
-BBQ Beef Sandwich with onion rings
-Stuffed Quail
-Selections of a beautiful arrangement of Garde Manger
Daily Bite
-Garde Manger (loosely pronounced Guard Mon-jay) is the fine art of cold cooking. This type of cooking reflects those dishes that are prepared, then served cold. This can be anything from cured salmon to any type of appetizer that is chilled. For more info check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garde_manger
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