Bags and Vegetable Soup

Great news, my bags arrived!!!! I had a morning intro session where we got our binders full of recipes, went over the rules (again! we get it, be on time) and went through other housekeeping items. I ran home in between that and demo to see if my bags had come (I got the call last night); when I didn't see them in the atrium I went upstairs feeling very deflated. Once I arrived in the apartment VOILA les bagages! I took them right upstairs, ransacked them (hugged blanky) and ran off to second session...our first demo.

I got there a bit early to avoid the traffic in the locker room which proved to be inevitable. It is literally like oragami in there. Picture 100 ish women trying to get dressed, wrangle knife kits, binders, jackets, scarves, purses, uniforms etc in a teeny tiny little room. I banged my head on the top locker once, got in my uniform and went to sit in winter garden. After finding my seat in class (there is not ONE left handers desk...) Chef Strill came in to begin our demonstration. He showed us how to tie our neckties and then went in to vegetable soup. He was very jovial and friendly, but I have to say that I really didn't like our translator today- she kept messing up and would skip over a bunch of stuff. I'm lucky that I can understand the actual French, there were many people scratching their heads.

He began by doing his prep work. Putting a towel under his board, then explaining to us that we use 1 board for our practical. We must keep our areas clean at all times. He also told us how we're to NEVER (jamais) place vegetables on our board that have not been cleaned, or as he said "no earth on the board". We're to use a big steel tub to put all dirty veggies and peels, and we have a big bowl of water to wash them in. Now we get to work.

1. trim leeks, remove outer layer and take a paring knife to cut a + sign into the top, soak in water
2. peel potato, take out the eyes, soak in H2o
3. trim and soak carrots
4. trim, peel and soak radish
5. trim and soak celery (making sure to remove all the fibers)
6. trim and soak cabbage leaves
7. top and tail haricots verts, waste NOTHING
8. remove peas from pods

Now we clean and chop the veggies into a paysanne cut (very small, thin triangles). Once the vegetables are chopped, we use a plastic scraper that we MUST keep in our pants pocket AT ALL TIMES to put into a clean bowl.

Then the actual cooking begins! It seems like a relatively simple recipe but at free moments, Chef showed us the different cuts we'll need to master. He showed us the Mirepoix, Julienne, Brunoise, and then taught us how to chop an onion with the heart in it, without the heart and also a shallot. Then he'd go back to the soup, then he showed us the bouquet garnis- where you tie herbs with string with a leek paper wrapped around it. Back to the soup, chopping garlic, season the soup, taste the soup, talk about herbs, show us our knives, etc.

When he was done, he let us take pictures and taste the soup. It was great, but to me could have used a little more salt! It's probably my untrained palate.

All said and done it was 3 hours of feverishly writing everything you saw and everything he said. I'm exhausted, and have 6 pages of notes. In practical, you're only allowed to bring 1 piece of paper in to the kitchen, so I need to re-write all my notes. People in class ask the DUMBEST questions and when they ask, it screws up the Chef's train of thought and we're all left going "what was that?" I'm all for asking questions, but some people really asked dumb ones.

I just got home and am going to re-write my recipe for tomorrow's practical and remove all the sleeves for my knives, label them and get everything ready.

I definitely made a friend today! Anthony is great, he is from Salt Lake City and is really nice. I'm excited to get to know him better. I also finally chatted with Melissa (who found this very blog and wrote me!) she found an apt in the 12th and lived in Sonoma and Petaluma working on a farm that supplied Chez Pannisse! Very cool.

I am LOVING Paris, and really feeling like I'm getting the hang of things. It's so beautiful and very clean, and it snowed today. It was so incredible looking out of the apartment and seeing snow falling on the Eiffel Tower...does life get any better? There are no windows at school, so I have to get my looks in when I'm traveling to and from. Tonight- I'm going to get steak frites with Zu who introduced me to the friends in her section. I felt really cool knowing someone in intermediate :) People at school are from every place you can imagine, I'm so lucky to be here and meeting these people that will surely go on and change the world!

I'm going to re-do my notes and UNPACK!

A Bientot!

ps. I have my blanky wrapped around my neck right now...I missed it SO much!

My internet here is spotty, so I'll upload the pictures from class today later



Chef Stril's soup:

I Made it...

You know you look AWFUL when you walk onto a plane and the flight attendant says "ma'am, are you alright?", you manage to choke out "I'm moving to Paris" from behind your tears and keep walking. That's how my journey over here began. I had a full blown, four alarm panic before I got on the plane. There were MANY tears and not nearly enough wine.

I land in Amsterdam to be told that I've already missed my connection, but not to worry because KLM has already booked me on another flight leaving in 2 hours. I wait in line at customs where a scary looking woman doesn't say one word to me and stamps my passport. I got a sprite and a muffin with my KLM food voucher and waited to board my next plane. I asked the nice lady at the desk if my bags were on the plane and they were not, but they were still loading them. I asked the nice lady on the plane once we were in the air if they had made it on. They hadn't. Cue more tears...lots of them.

I arrive in Paris and wait at the carousel like an idiot knowing full well my bags with EVERYTHING in them aren't going to come out. I go, file a report and take the train(s) into Paris. Now in the middle of my misery, I manage to procure a train ticket from a machine in Euros (thanks Mom for the change!), get on the correct train, transfer at Chatelet Les Halles, then transfer again at Concorde to arrive at my stop, Solferino.

Fairly confident that I'm going to receive my bags, I'm pretty pleased at this feat and bee bop around the 7th to find my apartment. Somehow I find the place and the outside code works!!! This excitement was short lived as the inside code I had didn't work. Luckily the guardienne came out to help me. She was lovely and showed me the place- it really is unreal. I call Zu, figure out how to use the phone and look around. Secretly waiting for the phone to ring and it being Air France. The woman said they make a trip to Paris at 3 with delayed luggage and again at 8pm. I call, nothing. They can't find my bags. I decide to walk to the store to get something to eat. It's Sunday and EVERYTHING is closed. I finally find a market and get the necessities. I come home and am FRIGID so I take a shower and have been laying in bed crying. I've called my parents, they've called me, but nothing seems to be making my bags appear. All I want to do is snuggle up with my blanky, unpack and put on some warm socks.

Alone and wanting clothes.

Merde.