I burned my lady fingers :(

Today. Was. Rough.

Wow - I just got back from what was a really tough class. We made genoise (sponge cake) and biscuits a la cuillere (lady fingers). We learned how to make these in demo this Saturday, so today it was our turn to make them. Class started off ok, but there was definitely more of a "rushed" vibe than there had been in our last practical. The Chef who oversaw us today was different (*very* different) from our original Chef (who had been very calming, telling us not to rush and relax more). The Chef we had to day kept telling us to "go, go, go" and hurry up, which became a little nerve-racking for me (and I think everyone else) to be honest.

Anyway, regardless of the Chef, the hardest part today was all the hand-whisking we had to do. Both recipes required us to whisk eggs and since we aren't allowed to use mixers, we had to use our arms. We used our arms A LOT. It was a bit easier with the genoise because we whisked whole eggs until the texture became ribbony, but for the biscuits a la cuillere, we had to whisk egg whites with sugar to make a meringue. That was HARD. I ended up having to start over because the first time I did it, I added the sugar too soon and the egg whites lost their "fluff." The key is to whisk the egg whites as much as you can *before* adding the sugar because the sugar makes the mixture more liquidy, which is not the "proper" texture for a meringue. I thought I had beat the egg whites enough before I added the sugar, but when the Chef came over to my station to see how I was doing he looked into my mixing bowl, frowned, and told me to trash it :( That didn't do much for my self-confidence, but I did as he said and started the whole process over again, this time making sure to whisk the egg whites enough before adding the sugar. The meringue came together much better the second time, but this was far from my last misstep of the day.

After you make the meringue, you are supposed to *gently* fold in some egg yolks and flour into the mixture. You have to be really really gentle because the egg whites are very delicate, and you want to prevent them from deflating as much as possible. I felt confident that I could do this part because, this might be silly, but I feel like I have watched SO many chefs do this on the Food Network lol Well, I guess watching is really different from doing because I folded too roughly and my mixture deflated a bit. But I guess it deflated a bit too much because when the chef came back over to my station he told me to start over. Again. So I started the entire process over again and went back to hand-whisking some egg whites. It was very frustrating, but my consolation was the knowledge that my right arm is going to have some *insane* muscles when I leave culinary school in December!

The folding technique went better this time, and I was able to prepare my lady fingers for the oven. They are supposed to cook for 8 minutes at 380 (in degrees Fahrenheit). I was *so* tempted to take them out sooner because of my fear of burning things lol but I decided not to because I didn't want to start the recipe over a *fourth* time - my arm was SO tired by this point, and I was mentally exhausted. So anyway, I resisted the urge and took the lady fingers out of the oven promptly at the 8 minute mark. And lo and behold...they had burned. lol I think it was just one of those days. So, yes, I started over again (and this time, thank goodness, I didn't burn them...too badly).

I hope this isn't too depressing of a post, but to be honest today was just kinda hard. I learned from each of my mistakes though (including the one where I touched the side of the oven door, which I thought would be cool in temperature, but burned my hand because it was not), and I feel like I got a good example of the kind of learning Le Cordon Bleu is trying to teach us. They aren't just teaching us how to follow recipes or instructions, but they are teaching us techniques. It's a lot harder to learn techniques, but I know it will be worth it in the end!

Anyway, I'm happy I can just relax tonight and drink some of what is becoming my new favorite tea (it's Twinings brand Chamomile & Apple - I found it at Loblaws, a big the grocery store chain in Canada, and it is *fantastic*!) and maybe snack on a burnt lady finger or two lol ;)

This about sums it up lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZgLcK5LzI

The Baker's Philosophy

Good evening :)

Waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning for class is never fun, and it certainly wasn't today (a Saturday morning), but once I was in class, I forgot how early it was and really enjoyed the lesson!

We had a different chef that we had for Lesson 1, and I got a totally different perspective on baking for which I feel so grateful! Don't get me wrong - I still really like the other Chef - but it was just nice to kinda switch things up today and learn some different techniques! Today was a demonstration, so we just watched the Chef cook and took notes. We'll be expected to prepare these dishes in practical on Monday. The dishes the Chef made today were

- Genoise (sponge cake)
- Biscuits a la cuillere (lady fingers)
- Biscuits roule (rolled biscuits)
- Dacquoise (nut cake)

The lesson went really well, but this chef seemed to move a bit more quickly than the other chef. He also had a tendency to be less precise and just kinda "went with it" if you know what I mean lol For instance, in one of the recipes, he forgot to add the vanilla when he was supposed to, but as soon as he realized it, he just shrugged his shoulders and made a "lesson" out of it, saying that sometimes everyone makes mistakes, but the key in cooking is finding a solution. A solution always exists, he said. Sometimes, however, the solution might be that you have to start the recipe over, but other times, he said as he poured the vanilla into the mixture, the solution involves just playing with the order of the steps. A good chef, even a pastry chef, he said, is flexible.

I feel like I really learned a lot today - and not just how to make the four dishes the Chef made, but I learned *how to learn.* I liked that the Chef wasn't "perfect" and didn't profess to be because I believe that no one is perfect! I feel that there have been times in my life that I have wasted too much time trying to be "perfect" and because of that I haven't really learned whatever I was supposed to be learning. I was too caught up in achieving the unattainable goal of PERFECTION.

I really like that we had a different Chef teaching us today because it just served as a reminder that even in the precise "art" of pastry-making, there isn't just one *perfect* way to do something. Each chef has his/her individual spin on things. What I should be learning here is not necessarily how to make the perfect dacquoise, for instance, but what I should be learning is how to critically think (and not just copy what another chef is doing) and learn what method works best for me. I should be learning how to be flexible. I should be learning how to be what the Chef today called "trainable." I shouldn't get too set in my ways, but should be open to new ways of doing things, and I should always be open to (and welcome!) change. The smartest people I know are those who listen to others' opinions and input and can thus see a situation from a multitude of angles. I think that this enables an individual to find the best solution because they can look at an issue from several points of view.

Wow - sorry to get all philosophical, but actually I'm not really that sorry at all lol I feel like I was able to learn about and reflect upon a lot today, and I'm so glad I did :)

A few cooking tips I picked up:

- Remember my cookies from yesterday that were a bit light (instead of brown)? The Chef today explained that the reason we should let baked goods get a bit brown (not burnt, but just golden brown) is that the flavor of the butter gets WAY more developed the longer something cooks and the flavor can come through a lot more when something is golden brown. Hmm...I guess I'll try this out in practical on Monday and see what happens!

- If you add cream of tartar (or another acid, like a squeeze of lemon juice) to egg whites before you beat them into stiff peaks (like for a meringue or something), they are easier to beat.

- If your arm gets tired, it's ok to take a break when hand-whipping egg whites (I was happy to learn this!)

- Dacquoise (nut cake) is *delicious*!!

And here are some pictures:

Chef incorporating some flour into the whipped egg whites for the biscuits a la cuillere (lady fingers)

Piping the biscuits a la cuillere (lady fingers)

Piping the dacquoise (nut cake) - he said we can do any shape we want, but the "traditional" way is to do a spiral

Preparing for the final presentation

Final Presentation! From left to right it's the biscuits a la cuillere (lady fingers), the biscuits roule (rolled biscuits), the Genoise (sponge cake), and the dacquoise (nut cake)

Anyway, it was a really good day of class, and I also had a lot of fun at dinner! A group of about 8 of us went out to a pub-type place. I had fish and chips, and it was wonderful! Just what I needed after what seemed like a long couple of days (long in a good way, but still exhausting!) It was really nice just to go out and relax with everyone and get to know people better. We talked about everything - politics (which at one point involved an intense, yet friendly, debate between a Jewish boy from New Jersey, a Christian girl from Egypt, and a Muslim boy from India), culinary school, our friends and families, how much we love the Food Network, and what we want to do in the future. It was a wonderful evening that ended in a slice of peanut butter pie (I was beyond thrilled to see it on the menu and knew I had to get some! lol) and an amaretto sour :)

I'll say goodnight with another quote from my "Cupcake" book which stood out to me as I flipped though the book just now and which seemed an appropriate quote for my day today: "Food is our common ground, a universal experience" - James Beard. I usually get wary when I hear talk about experiences that are "universal" because sometimes I feel that by simply universalizing an experience, you can risk undermining its significance. However, I don't mind this quote so much because it reminds me of all the times I have bonded with someone with whom I seem to find little else in common (or, more accurately, with whom I can't really find much to talk about) over the topic of food. Conversations about food are usually my "go-to" in awkward (or potentially awkward) situations in which the conversation lags or there are moments of uncomfortable silence (I don't necessarily mind silence, but when it is uncomfortable it can be *very* unpleasant! lol) But everyone always seems to have something to say about food :)

G. L. D. (Golden Light Delicious)!

First things first: My cookies turned out well in practical! Here is a picture I took of them:


The Chef said they were a bit light and so the B part of GBD (Golden Brown Delicious) wasn't quite there, but he said it was really an individual preference kind of thing, and they looked and tasted good to him! For those of you who have ever baked with me, you know that one of the things I hate most is burning something, so I usually take things out of the oven before they get too brown, so I guess my habit continues at culinary school! ;)

Anyway, practical today went really well! I was a bit nervous at first, but once I got going, it was ok! The key is being prepared or "mise en place," meaning you have all your ingredients and everything measured out before you start cooking. Before we started cooking, though, the Chef gave us a mini orientation of the kitchen. He showed us where everything was located and how to work the ovens, etc. We each have our own work station on the long marble table that is in the center of the room. The ovens line the walls, so they are behind us when we are working at the table. We can paper-clip the recipe we are using to the metal shelf which hangs above the table. I'll try to get a picture of the kitchen soon so you can have a better idea of what it looks like!

Once the orientation was over, it was time to start cooking! I was pretty quick to get everything measured out and working with the little gram scales reminded me of being in a science lab, and I remembered how to "zero" the scale and everything before measuring out the quantities of flour, etc. I wanted. The part that was a bit difficult for me was separating the egg yolks from the egg whites, which I had to do about 8 times total today. This summer, I cooked a recipe in which I had to separate the yolks from the whites, so I at least had *some* experience doing this, but it was still kinda difficult! I only messed up one time though which I was happy about!

As we worked, the chef walked around the kitchen, critiquing us and telling us what we were doing well and what needed more attention. He seemed to like what I was doing and said he liked me because I smiled when I was working haha :)

Timing-wise, I'd say I was working in the "middle" of the group. There were 13 of us in the kitchen, and I'd say that I finished about 6th. Baking is not a speed contest or anything lol And we are not graded based on how quickly we finish, but just to give you an idea. (To be completely honest though, even though I knew it wasn't a competition, I found myself glancing over at the other students around me and at times felt a bit pressured to work faster if I saw they were several steps ahead of me, but I think that's just human nature - and also probably a product of watching too much Iron Chef or Chopped on the Food Network where speed is *everything* lol). But I did notice that one girl didn't get to finish her last dough before the time was up, so I'm glad to be in the middle.

So yes, it went well! I was pretty tired and sweaty after it was all over though - I think we all were! Tomorrow we have another demonstration at 8:15am, so I'm not looking forward to getting up that early, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow evening because a bunch of us are going to go out to eat/celebrate our first week of school, so that should be fun! We haven't had much time at all for social interactions/activities outside of the classroom lol so it'll be nice to get out. They've definitely kept us busy this week - but I already feel like I've learned a ton! :)

Day of Doughs

Good evening!

Today we had our first "real" cooking demonstration class. During the lesson, the Chef Instructor prepares a number of recipes in front of us, and we watch, ask questions, take notes, and taste test when he is done! On a side note, the Chef made a point to tell us that the taste testing is not just an opportunity for free food. It is not "snack-time." Just like in my wines class at Cornell, the taste testing is important because by tasting the food, you can note how salty or sweet it is, whether it is flaky or not, whether it is soft or crunchy, etc. This way when we prepare the recipes ourselves, we'll know what they are supposed to taste like. Anyway, tomorrow we have our first practical during which we will be expected to prepare the recipes the Chef did in the demonstration. We are only allowed to take our notes into the practical with us - so they have to be good! We are also allowed to take pictures during the demonstration, so that we can remember what everything looked like.

Here is what the Chef made today:

-Pate brisee (short crust dough)
-Pate sablee (shortcake dough)
-Pate sucree (sweet dough)
-Pate a foncer (pie dough)
-Damier (chocolate and vanilla "checkerboard" shortcake cookies)
-Petits sables Nontais (small shortbread cookies)

So tomorrow, in practical, we'll have three hours to produce each of these dishes. We don't have to "plate" the doughs, but we do have to plate the cookies (we can be creative with this!) and present them to the Chef. The Chef will taste our cookies, note the look and texture of our doughs, and evaluate us on our presentation and everything. It sounds like a lot, and it definitely sounds like a cooking show lol but I'm actually looking forward to it! After watching all this cooking, I'm ready to get into the kitchen myself!

Oh, but there is a catch: we are not allowed to use any electronic tools in the kitchen. This means no beaters, mixers, food processors, or anything. Our tools are our hands. So when we incorporate the eggs into the flour, for instance, we must use our hands to do so. And we don't use bowls either! We do everything right on the counter, making a well with the sugar and adding the wet ingredients inside. I think that's actually what I'm most looking forward to - getting to touch everything with my hands!

Here is something else that is interesting: when baking something, the Chef said that he will never give us any instructions about how much time it will take to bake. He "doesn't know" how long something will take to bake, he said. Ovens are all different and ingredients are different, so we have to just learn how to use our eyes and noses to see and smell when something is finished cooking. We cook until the dish is G.B.D., he said, which means "Golden, Brown, and Delicious!" lol

Here are some pictures I took from demonstration today:

Chef showing us how to assemble our countertop "well." See the mirror above him? That is there so that we can get a bird's eye view of his workspace. There are also TV monitors so you can see if you are sitting in the back.

Butter in the sugar well!

Mixing it together with his hands!


Using a mixing technique to make the dough "sabler" or sandy

The checkerboard cookies!

Final Presentation of the cookies (from left to right its the damiers, the petits sables nantais, and then some marble ones he made from extra scraps of dough - he said he never wastes dough) :D

Up close shot - see the pretty designs he did on the petis sables nantais? He just used a fork! Hopefully mine will look ok when I make them tomorrow!

The doughs or "pates"

Vanilla comes from orchids and chocolate comes from trees

I am exhausted, but I just wanted to share a bit about class tonight before I take a shower and go to bed because class was AMAZING! I feel like I learned so much during those 3 hours! The Chef-Instructor was SO nice and very knowledgeable and very French! The title of the lecture was "Products in Pastry" and we basically went over each of the products one by one, learning about their composition, how they are grown/made, and what they are used for. We covered Dairy (milk, cream, butter, and eggs), Sugars, Flour, Chocolate(!), Nuts, Vanilla, and Gelatin. We got to taste and tough a TON of different ingredients too which really reminded me of the Wines class I took at Cornell my last semester. No computers are allowed, and all notes have to be taken by hand. There was no actual cooking today, just a lot of information about the ingredients, etc.

Some cool things I learned:

- If you are out of Confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar), you can make your own by blending a mixture of 90% granulated sugar and 10% cornstarch - I wish I had known this before! It would have prevented a few last-minute trips to Publix in the middle of a recipe!
- Vanilla beans come from Orchid flowers.
- After you scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean, you can save the bean, dry it, and blend it with some salt to make vanilla salt (good on fish) or with some sugar to make vanilla sugar (good in backed goods)
- Flour is the trickiest ingredient in pastries because there are so many different kinds and even within the same "kind," there can be immense variation because flour comes from wheat which varies season to season
- Butter should NOT be kept in the freezer
- Only egg yolks contain bacteria - the whites don't - so it's ok to ear raw egg whites, just not raw egg yolks

There is a bunch more, but I think that'll have to be it for now - here is a picture of me from today though with my uniform on! :)


Oh, but one thing that I think is going to be a bit difficult for me is working with the metric system and working in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, but hopefully I'll catch on soon :)

I own a cleaver!

Hey everyone :)

Wow - to be honest I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed after Orientation. I feel like things will probably settle down a bit in the weeks to come, but right now it seems like a lot. For one thing, I thought that classes wouldn't officially start until tomorrow, but when I got my schedule today, I saw that my first class is actually scheduled for this evening at 7pm! The classes are 3 hours long, so I'll get out around 10pm.

Orientation was really nice, though, and the chefs and Le Cordon Bleu staff seem very knowledgeable and helpful, albeit *very* strict. There seem to a ton of rules - most of them involving your uniform. You must iron your uniform before every class. Your nails must be trimmed and dirt-free. You are not allowed to wear nail-polish, perfume, or earrings. And no diamond rings can be worn in the kitchen (I know a few food network chefs who definitely violate this rule...*cough* Paula Dean *cough* lol), only wedding bands are permitted. The uniform includes the checkered pants, double breasted jacket, chef's hat, apron, dish towel, steel-toed shoes, and hairnet. We are not allowed to wear our uniforms to class, but we must wear "street clothes" to the school and change here. This is to prevent the uniforms from getting dirty outside the school. Also, I learned that the reason chef's jackets are always double breasted is to allow the chefs to "mix and mingle" with their clients. That is, if a chef is working back in the kitchen, and he spills something on his jacket, he can simply use the double-breast to his benefit and switch which flap is closer to his chest and which one is facing out towards the public so that he can "hide" the dirty spot and go out into the restaurant and say hello to the customers looking nice and clean. Does that make sense? I thought it was kinda neat.

Also during Orientation, we got a tour of the school. It is a beautiful building! I'll try to take some pictures once everything settles down a bit. There are about five kitchens and five demonstration rooms. The way it works is that you will first go to "demonstration" and your chef-instructor will demonstrate the proper preparation of the dish. You must take good notes because your notes are the only tools you'll have when you have to create the dish yourself in the kitchen/lab during "practical." There are no recipe instructions provided at Le Cordon Bleu! Each "demo" and each "practical" are three hours long.

There are two groups of students doing Basic Patisserie. Group A and Group B. I am in Group A. There is no difference really between the groups - they are just on different time schedules.

There is SO much more to tell you, but I think I need to get moving on dinner so I'm not late to class! I'm thinking I might be too wiped out after class tonight to write in the blog, but if I don't get to it tonight, hopefully tomorrow! :)

Ps. We also got *amazing* knife kits at orientation!! They're incredible. I have about 12 knives and 1 giant cleaver now muahaha lol ;)

Beavertails are *delicious*!

Hey everyone :)

I just got back from dinner a little while ago, and I have a bit of time before bed, so I thought I would share a picture of me and my new favorite dessert...it's called a Beavertail! It's a Canadian dessert and is basically fried dough in the shape of a beavertail with cinnamon sugar on top and...a squeeze of lemon juice! This is the first "culinary trick" I have learned in Ottawa - cinnamon tastes *amazing* with lemon juice!

Rafi, Jessica, and me

I went out to dinner with Kristina (from Egypt), Jessica (from Toronto), Beth (also from Toronto), Sam (from Toronto but he's been living in Tampa for the past few years actually), and Rafi (from new Jersey - he's the one going to Yale next year). We went out to a restaurant in what is called the Market Place - it's an area with a TON of restaurants and a lot of cute shops, etc. The restaurant was called Cornerstone, and I had a burger with caramelized onions, bacon, and barbecue sauce. It was very good. Very, very good. The dinner conversation was really good too - it was fun getting to know everyone and learn more about Canada from the Canadian students. We also talked a lot about Le Cordon Bleu and what everyone is looking forward to/NOT looking forward to. It sounds like the school is really strict about uniforms, nail lengths, and overall cleanliness (both of your workspace and yourself). Apparently, if your uniform isn't neatly pressed each day, you risk being sent right home! Also, the grading starts from day one and there seems to be little room for error - the Chef will demonstrate the technique and cook the dish, and then you have to prepare the dish yourself - and you only get one attempt. But you know, even after all that, I'm still really looking forward to everything. My first instinct was to get worried about all the strictness, but just as I was starting to, I caught myself and realized that while I certainly don't want to be sent home because my uniform isn't neatly ironed, I'm not scared about what is to come - I'm actually really excited. I'm excited to learn! :)