Red Mullet and a Clergue demo!

After such a lovely weekend with Perrin, it was hard to motivate back into school mode. We walked around the Marais, went out to a fabulous dinner one night with my friends and relaxed. It was so nice! It was like we were back in SF, but with Pierre Hermé macaroons! (Spring flavors are out...Jasmine is so far my favorite). Nevertheless, I headed off to school for 8:30 practical. We had the jerky Chef again, but I ended up ok. We had to fillet the fish in a different way than usual. We kept the tail on so we could stuff the fish- which was neat to learn, but a little tricky. I managed to do really well with that. We only plate 1 fish, and instead of wasting time and food (I knew I wasn't going to eat it the minute I smelled it) I decided to only do 1 fish. That left very little room or time for error.

In the end, I did well- all 3.5s and 4.0s which is great, but I was a mess. I'm not sure if it was because I was tired, or because I hadn't really thought THROUGH the recipe enough times, but I felt like I was losing my mind the whole time. Lara and I shared a sauce that was good, but had a bit too much lemon juice. I for once got a 'parfait' on my presentation. My onion royale (essentially an onion flan) had too much egg white in it, making it too firm, but my fish was cooked perfectly, I was very clean, and my presentation was perfect. I was happy...but I need to improve. I've got a new game plan in place that will make sure that I'm on my A game everyday.

After practical- I took off my hairnet and completely forgot that we had class pictures. We took the picture and headed up to the 1st floor demo room for our Chef Clergue demo. I'm not sure I can pinpoint what it is about him that I love. He's an unreal Chef- he moves at lightning pace, is super clean and seems to dance through the demo. He doesn't tell stupid stories, he makes mistakes, recovers from them, and just generally is a happy guy. He made the most amazing dishes- all from his adopted home of Burgundy. Intermediate is all about the regions of France and this lesson was about Burgundy. He made escargots with smoked bacon and brunoise vegetables, a free range chicken (with the feet...you know what that means, achilles removal), with potato pancakes and a a fabulous sauce, and the dessert- gingerbread millefeuille with gingerbread ice cream (all homemade of course) with a pear poached in red wine. I went back for another potato pancake and another spoonful of the ice cream.

I'm so excited to make the chicken dish tomorrow, I think I have a good handle on the recipe and the order in which I should do it in practical, and it's delish! I might just have to bring it home to make!

I'm off to read- I feel as though I haven't sat down to read anything that isn't French cuisine in months, and I am excited to start a new book and read the rest of my Vanity Fair!

A Bientot!

Guinea fowl practical, sweetbreads and oysters

Thursday I had the day off and only had practical at 6:30pm. Being my first practical in intermediate cuisine I was extra nervous. Anthony came over in the morning- we picked apart my report card and then had a glorious walk to Les Halles. We walked there to meet Bruna, her mom, Lara, and Laura for lunch. Laura unfortunately had to drop out of intermediate because of scheduling with her kids. We had lunch outside and the sun felt amazing. In standard culinary school fashion- we all went to the kitchen supply store before lunch...I held off (though I could have bought spatulas and whisks until the cows came home!)

Getting on the Metro- I needed to get in the zone. Like when I was an athlete, I always listen to the same songs before I go into practical- sometimes I think it's superstition, other times I think I just need to get pumped up! We got there SO early and I was pacing like an idiot. Waiting impatiently outside the 2GS, I saw the Chef Clergue was the proctor of a basic practical. WHAT? I so wished that I had him for my sole bercy recipe, and here these little brats are getting the most amazing Chef critiquing their SOLE? He came out periodically and rolled his eyes at some of the students. We eavesdropped listening to the feedback from Chef...lots of dishes were cold, some over salted, some not salty enough. By no means am I an expert, but I felt good thinking about those recipes. I never thought I would say this: but I really thank Chef Cotte for being so hard on me in the beginning. Had I not plated my puff pastry with poached egg and albufera sauce cold, I wouldn't know one of the most important lessons that I've learned here. I also thank Caals for telling me that I had a finger print on my plate when we did the poached chicken with riz au gras and sauce supreme. Plating things EXTREMELY hot and making sure I have a completely clean plate are some of the things that are just instinct to me now. So while I was jealous that the basic students had Clergue, I'm glad that we had who we did...as I learned from them.

We walked in to the big salle and I felt rusty. It had been over a week since I'd been in the kitchen and I hoped that I remembered what I had to do! We had a new Chef- another visitor for the practical. I didn't really like him very much. He's extremely hard to understand and when I said to him 'je ne comprend pas' he yelled "YOU GO TO A FRENCH SCHOOL!" I just said "oui Chef" but was thinking to myself that I can understand every other Chef in school, just not you! I prepped the guinea fowl (luckily it did NOT have it's feet) and got it in the oven, I began working on cannelling my vegetables and slicing them thinly. We had to make 1/2 moons with them, so we used an apple corer to take out the middles...it was actually fun, but cannelling celery is VERY difficult. All in all my dish was good- I got 3.5s and 4.0s across the board but the Chef got to me a little. I was annoyed that the school would have a stranger giving us our grades- he doesn't know me!

Friday we had 8:30 demo with Caals. He was a mess! He was completely all over the place with the recipes and I'll be shocked if Monday morning I get it right. I tried to keep my notes organized, but he was jumping around from entree to plat to dessert and not really making much sense to me (or anyone for that matter). Monday afternoon we have a Chef Clergue demo! I'm so excited...I just love that man and can't wait for his fabulous demo!

A Bientot!

My own little ceremony!

Having missed the real graduation ceremony to travel to San Francisco, I went in to the academic office to receive my diploma yesterday (and to have my absences excused). I have to admit, I was pretty sad to have received it from Céline in the office rather than hearing my name called and taking pictures with the Chefs. Nevertheless, I went to my first demo class of intermediate (guinea fowl, fish stew, and an apple tart...more on that later) and really looked at my certificate. When i first decided to take this journey, I was hoping to not flunk out and just make it through basic. Now- I'm sad that I didn't graduate from basic with distinction and I'm already plotting how I can improve for intermediate. I never in a million years thought that this is what I'd be doing right now, that I'd be living a dream of mine in Paris and meeting the friends that already have and will continue to change my life.

I have proudly displayed the diploma and our class picture with distinction and prominence in the house- where it should remain to remind me just what I have done. I hope to look at it when I have a bad day and think to myself that I overcame what I thought impossible at the beginning and was able to do well and finally feel like I've accomplished something in a school setting.

Let me rewind a bit here- or as Anthony would say start at my 21st birthday and move forward. Wednesday March 17th and the days preceding were quite stressful. I tried to remain calm and have a sense of humor through it all, but there were times when I was so scared I could barely speak. A group of us practiced at Laura's house one day and I was mute. Constantly thinking about which dishes might be on the final and going through the steps in my head. We had been tipped off that our dishes were going to be brill (a flat fish) and the roast duck, but we couldn't rest on that. I memorized every step in every recipe. When we were there- a sudden calm came over me. People were freaking out and for some reason, I felt ready. Chef Caals was our proctor and knowing that he would give us the grades on organization, our skill (turning 2 artichokes), technique and generally overseeing us in the kitchen made me nervous. He's SUCH a clean freak that I really wanted to blow him away. I thought of the organization and the technique as gimme points. We could control everything about those 2 aspects of our exam, so it was imperative to really knock those out of the park. I chose the brill dish- so I just went right to work.

Pretty soon into the dish, Lara cut her thumb, badly. I didn't think anything of it initially, but when she came back with a glove on her hand that was filling with blood- I knew it was bad. I told her that of all the Chefs at school Caals would freak about the blood, so she went down and had it properly taken care of. She was gone for 30 minutes of our final. At first I thought to myself, keep going Carolyn and get yours done. But when she still wasn't back- I knew she'd be in trouble if I didn't help. I cored her tomatoes, put on a pot of boiling water for her to peel the tomatoes, skimmed her stock, chopped her mushrooms and made her a bouquet garni. She came back and was right on par time wise with me. We both went on to chop out onions and shallots, peel, seed and chop our tomatoes and were in good shape. We talked each other through steps and it felt like it was just she and I in the kitchen. All of a sudden, it was time to plate- and we were SCRAMBLING to finish on time. Both of our sauces weren't reduced enough, and I knew my presentation wasn't going to be great.. but when push came to shove, Lara and I both were finished. While she wasn't pleased with her performance, I knew we both had passed. Caals had told us that we all had received great organization grades- so I knew we were ok. We presented our dishes to the jury of Chefs and went down. Sweaty, tired, and emotionally exhausted- we went to clean out our lockers. I just started crying. Not sure if it was because I was happy, I wished I had done better, or that I was just proud of myself- but I sat on the floor of the locker room surrounded by all my stuff and cried. After pulling myself together, Lauren and I went to have a celebratory lunch. We sat outside in the 6th and had a bottle of wine and a great lunch. I called Dad for him to make the phone tree calls that I had finished and that I knew I had passed. Lara came later to join us and we had a great day. Anthony, Gillian, Bruna, Laura met us later and we celebrated with a bottle of Champagne (or 2).

I'm happy to report that we all passed with flying colors. In fact, our own Lauren was #2 in our class!!!!

Back in Paris after a quick, but fantastic jaunt to San Francisco- and my first demo was a fish stew, guinea fowl, and apple tart. Having gotten to class early Caals had recruited me to help him along with Sara and Lara to remove the digestive tracts of LIVE crayfish. You pinch a section of the tail, twist and pull it out. It's repulsive and they are in fact still alive at this point- pinching and squirming. That was nothing compared to what we have to do to the guinea fowl. Those who know me that ligaments and tendons give me the willies due to the amount of times I've torn them. The guinea fowl come with their feet on, and in order to really lop them off, you need to remove the achilles tendons. So a knife cut on either side of the tendon, then reach an S hook around it, twist and twist and twist and YANK! It 'should' rip. While you do this however, the toes on the feet clench around you. I have to do this tonight, so Dr. Marzo- wherever you are, I'm very sorry to have to do this to the guinea fowl- I know how much it hurts!

I'm in a brand new practical group- thank goodness for Lara, she saved my spot for me!!!! I'll report back after my first practical tonight! I'll leave you with a picture I took out the window last night!

A Bientot!

Back in the saddle again...

After about a minute in San Francisco which was delightful- I'm back in Paris and ready to take on Intermediate! I have to run to school and talk to the woman in charge about excusing my absences while I was getting my visa.

I'm really sad I missed graduation, but I had a great time being home. When I landed back at SFO- I really felt like home which was so nice to feel after being away for so long! I got my apartment subletted, I got my visa, I went to MB's amazing wedding and saw all my friends!

I'm off to my first intermediate class, wish me luck!

A Bientot!

The end...

...of Basic cuisine leaves me with a very heavy heart. I was finding myself getting misty when I walked to school for our last demo as a basic student. I never thought coming to Paris would have this profound of an impact on me, but it sure has. I'll never be in the same class as many of these people again, and those who are leaving- I'm sure I won't see again. It's crazy to think that these people that have been such a huge part of my life won't be here come the beginning of intermediate.

Ask anyone in my family- one of my favorite things about holiday season is Susie Schoellkopf's annual Christmas party. Sure, I can count on one hand the people that I know- but there is ALWAYS au gratin potatoes. I could eat those things by the chafing dish- so it was very fitting that it was included in our last demo. They are incredibly delicious- but knowing how healthy they aren't makes me think I might not go back for 4ths at Susie's next gathering.

Chef Lesourd went out with a bang- the end of demo brought a flambé baked Alaska and Champagne. I had chills- we were all clapping as we do at every demo, but it just felt different knowing it was the last one...and of course with the Champagne! He made rack of lamb with parsley crust, the potatoes and the baked Alaska (of course with all freshly made sorbet). It was great. Now all we have to do is pass our test! Thursday- Laura and Anthony came over to practice beef strogonoff. Tonight, I'm cooking for my neighbors. Here's the menu:

* Marinated raw salmon (salmon escalopes marinated in shallot, lemon, lime)

* Roast duck with glazed vegetables (which is one of our exam dishes!)

* Green Salad

* Cheese course

* Profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate sauce (and if I'm really ambitious...chantilly cream)

I had planned on making a chocolate mousse- but they called and asked for profiteroles. I've never made them, but we watched Chef make them...so here's hoping they turn out!

I got up at 7:30 this morning and was at the market by 8 to make sure that I would be able to get everything. Today was the first day that I really felt French. It was really fun to see everything and walk up and down the market with my list. Dinner is going to be served around 8:30 or 9:00 and I'm going to time myself with the duck...it all has to be done under 2.5 hours. Profiteroles...I might have to start those babies now.

Off to commence the cooking- I promise to upload pictures of the final product!

Veal with Fresh Pasta, Practice, Truffle Lecture

You'll all be thrilled to know that I am over my exam grade. You won't need to hear me gloat anymore! You'll also be pleased to know that I am now the owner of a brand new, shiny 10 year passport. I picked it up yesterday, hopefully that will be the last time I'll need to go to the Embassy. I've also emailed it's secret hiding place location to my father in case of another 'incident'.

8:30 yesterday morning came very early (as usual) and there was a problem on the Metro. I get on the 12 at Solferino as I do everyday. And we stop at Montparnasse. The announcer comes on and blabbers something in French and everyone gets off the train. I start to panic, having not listened to the announcement due to my ipod, I had no clue what was going on. I looked over and spotted Gilbert and Alexx from class. We soon found out that the train was closing and we needed to get to school! We get out and start to walk to school from Montparnasse (which is far). I'm asking directions when all of a sudden a taxi SCREAMS over to us on the side of the road. Someone rolls down the window and yells "GET IN!" it was Dimitri! He had the same problem and had found a cab. Luckily we got to school on time, but many others did not. We had the chatty Cathy new annoying Chef for our breaded veal, fresh pasta and tomato sauce. I burned through practical and finished second. Partially because I didn't want to listen to him tell us how many different meats we could bread the same way. I got a tres bien (and 4's across the board- he kept his paper where we could see him marking our grades). I left school, went to the Embassy, came home and went to meet Anthony and Lauren for some celebratory wine.

This morning, Laura and Anthony came over to practice Beef Strogonoff. It was DELISH and we did very well with it. I didn't overcook my meat thank goodness! The people that live in the apartment next door were coming in and I met them. They seem very nice! I stupidly offered them the leftover Strogonoff being as they had just traveled. I went to this amazing lecture at school on truffles- given by the only Michelin starred Chef from Avignon. It was great- he did a demo and we all got to taste while this other guy talked to us about truffles. How they are harvested (dogs only these days), how long they keep etc. It was really really interesting.

I came home and was changing laundry when the bell rang. I ran over and it was the neighbor inquiring about the food. I hadn't ever thought that she might pop in and get it! I kind of just offered to be nice, not thinking she'd take me up on it! Off went my dinner, but she also asked me to cook a 'romantic' dinner for she and her husband on Sunday night. AND she offered to pay me! I of course got very awkward when money was mentioned and she just kept right on going about how she'll think about the menu etc. This could be my first 'catering' job! Very exciting!!!!! Who knows? Maybe they have some very important friends that might need a meal cooked for them!

In other news, tomorrow is my LAST BASIC PRACTICAL AND DEMO! Could you IMAGINE if I was leaving now? I'd be such a wreck. Word on the street is that we get Champagne in our last demo- which is a good thing that it's after practical! I have to make duck l'orange and Parisienne style gnocchi tomorrow morning at 8:30. I'll let you all know how it goes!

A Bientot!

I'm gloating and I'm ok with it!

Yesterday after the daurade debaucle, Lauren and I went to meet up with E'Lane who had had the dreaded stomach bug that's going around for 2 days. She didn't care where she went, as long as it wasn't her house! We went to Le Bon Marché and walked around before coming back here to finish off the rest of the Italian Wedding Soup (which I must say was fabulous). Gill came over later and it was just heavenly- 4 girls sitting around chatting...what could be better than that?

I had to go to the Embassy AGAIN this morning to check the status of my passport. The gentleman told me that I wasn't permitted to bring any beverage into the Embassy, that I needed to chug my tea in front of him before entering the building. 3,000 burned taste buds and 15 minutes later, I was out sans passport. I hustled to school- not wanting to miss out on veal escalopes with fresh pasta and tomato sauce. As if the menu wasn't enticing enough, we walked into demo and heard MR. BEAN'S voice!!!!!!! Chef Clergue did our demo today and it was UN REAL. He's a superior cuisine Chef and his demo was so great. We all were so engaged the whole time, he never idled or told stupid stories (AHEM Lesourd) and we all were SO into it. When he finished- the classroom ERUPTED into a powerful applause, complete with hoots and hollers. That certainly hadn't happened before! We tasted the delicious breaded veal, fresh pasta and tomato sauce and chocolate and orange mousse and were all in heaven.

I came up from the locker room and saw this swarm in front of where they post the planning. OUR GRADES FROM THE WRITTEN FINAL WERE UP! Suddenly my heart started beating a mile a minute and I sprinted back down to get my ID card. We needed it to identify our grades. The crowd was similar to that surrounding the Chefs plated dishes at the end of demo. I tried to wait patiently, but I couldn't. I strained my eyes and found my ID number 480971. There were 2 grades- the first one was 100 and the second one was a 92. I couldn't really see too well what it said up at the top so Anthony read it to me. The first grade was the recipe memorization grade...100!!!!!! The second grade was the rest of the test 92!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once the crowd faded- I got a closer look to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. I matched my ID card number to the grades at least 5 times. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only 2 people had beat me in the entire class. The highest grade was merely 3 points ahead of me, and most impressive was that my grade indicated that I had only gotten 2 questions wrong.

For someone who ALWAYS struggled with schoolwork and never was able to excel on tests- this was a huge coup. I am so excited, so relieved and so happy that all my hard work had paid off. I wanted to scream from the rooftops- I GOT A 92 ON THE WRITTEN FINAL!!!!!!!! I refrained and went to eat with Bruna, Lara, Anthony, Noor, Sara and Bruna's friends from Barcelona- the whole time wanting to run outside and make 2 phone calls- 1 to my parents (they would share with the sisters) and another to Carol Pratt. If anyone in this world can understand my academic struggles- it's her. I made it home and made the first call. Mom was so excited! I've since told Dad, Bird and Boo...and I bet if a stranger on the street asked me about it, I'd tell them too! I'm so excited that I'm not ready to stop talking about it yet...maybe tomorrow, but certainly not today! My email is not working properly or Carol would have an email in her inbox too. Too bad we don't actually get the tests back- or that bad boy would be sent to 36 Rumsey Road to be posted on the refrigerator (I think my acceptance letter to St. Lawrence was just recently retired...I like to relish in any academic accomplishments)!

Off to bed- I'll be breading veal at 8:30am tomorrow!

A Bientot!

ps. I GOT A 100/92 ON MY WRITTEN TEST AT ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS CULINARY SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Written Exam, Chicken with Tarragon, Fish Terrine and Daurade

Apologies for the delay (again) I promise I'm going to get better at this blogging thing. Last week was really exhausting- I didn't realize how much so until it was over and I still can't seem to catch up on sleep.

First- was the written test. I had practical that Thursday at 12:30 before the test at 3:30- we were making chicken with tarragon, Italian style veggies and a sauce. I felt like I had a good handle on the recipe, but again- I had spent so much time studying that I was unsure about pretty much everything. We had Chef Terrien and this new Chef who is visiting. He's perfectly nice, but he's an odd duck. He wants to help out, but seems to annoy more than help. He kept telling me how perfect my chicken was, how amazing my sauce was etc. I mean it was good, but Terrien mentioned that the sauce could have used more tarragon. I was so mad, and flustered before my test I had to go sit by myself and not talk to anyone. Then out of nowhere I just burst into tears! I think I had worked myself up so much that I just lost it. I had to have Anthony do the bain-marie dance so I could get my shit together before the test.

Everyone at school had said that the test was no big deal- but the pastry people said their test was really hard, so I really studied (as you all know). I sat in the front row and all my test anxiety came back at once. It took me 20 minutes flat. That's with having checked every answer and every question. I felt very prepared for it and was very happy. I left and thought I was going to collapse. What a relief! Friday we learned about hot fish terrine- which is repulsive. Spinach wrapped pike perch paste with a salmon stick in the middle- also wrapped in spinach baked in a water bath so it's gelatinous. We made it right after and It was disgusting. We also made a beurre blanc sauce which is made from 250g of butter (!!!!!) that's 2 American sticks in a sauce that goes on a plate with hot fish terrine....GROSS. I had Caals and he loved it- I of course didn't touch a bit of it.

I had a fun weekend- went to the Louvre...saw Mona, she says hello to all my blog followers and had some fun times with friends. Saturday night, Anthony, Lauren and I made homemade gnocchi with tomato sauce, prosciutto, spinach and baked it...AMAZING. Yesterday I made Ina's Italian Wedding Soup- I love that stuff. Today we learned about filleting a round fish (one with 2 fillets instead of 4 like Sole). We were making daurade with stewed fennel, and yet ANOTHER butter sauce with Pastis in it (anise flavored liquor). Chef Lesourd said mine was tres bien and I headed down to try and deal with the US Embassy because....

...I'm staying for intermediate!!!!!!!!!! I didn't want to share until I knew for sure, but I'm staying and I can't wait to continue here. I have to go back to SF and get a visa (ugh) go to MB's wedding (YAY!) and deal with getting spring clothes, subletting my apartment again (by the grace of God, I'm allowed to) and just generally dealing with 'stuff'. It's a major pain in the rear, but I'm so excited about it that I can't let it bother me. It's amazing how well things have worked out for me- I feel so lucky to have had such seamless transitions into life in Paris and also Le Cordon Bleu. I can't imagine what's to come and I just get excited every single day to go to class. The friends I've made here have been so incredible too- as you know they are from all over, but it's so nice to be around people who are so passionate about the same things that I am. It's refreshing to just 'get' it. To order food at a restaurant and have everyone pick it apart and appreciate it like I do. I've never felt like I've belonged somewhere like I do here- I think that's why everything has been so great for me...it was what I was meant to do, so things just fell into place!

I've appreciated all of the comments, questions, words of encouragement that you all have given me over the past 3 months. I've loved every single second here (yes, even those I didn't have blanky...just not as much) and I can't wait to continue my adventures. I hope you all continue this journey along with me until June 4th!

A Bientot!

Fried.

Anthony, Lauren, and I studied for longer than I care to discuss yesterday. They arrived around 1 and left at 10pm. Lara and Laura were here for several hour intervals, but the 3 of us were in it for the long haul. Anthony makes an excellent Alex Trebbek, I made up dances for all the sauces, and we found ourselves cheering and high-fiving when one of us got a recipe perfect. The profiteroles recipe got extra oomph from Anthony who sang Chantilly Lace every time we were ready for the Chantilly cream portion of the recipe. The pissaladiere got very roudy when it came time for the finish (24 black nicoise olives, 1 tbsp. capers, 2 cherry tomatoes- seeded, peeled and cut into petals, 1/2 tin of anchovy filets, garlic and thyme)...bottom line- we all lost our minds.

It was by far the most fun I've ever had studying- and I've never felt so prepared for a test in my life. Our LCB student party was last night, and at 10:16pm after deciding that I was too tired to go- I got in the shower and went. I was glad to get out of the house because I know that I would have driven myself batty going over the veal marengo recipe if I hadn't. It was a lot of fun- it's so funny to see people that you see every day in a different outfit. I mean sure, we all look GOOD in our uniforms, but seeing people all gussied up was hilarious. I recognized about 10 people.

I couldn't sleep- I was up thinking about recipes. More specifically- I was up trying to remember which croutons are fried in oil, and which are fried in clarified butter. For the record- crab bisque croutons are in clarified butter, and veal marengo croutons are in oil.

I have practical at 12:30 and then go right into my test at 3:30. Wish me luck!

A bientot!