Wow, we're done for the year! Our group had our exam at 8h30 with Chef C. He was just screaming at us for the first half of the time. "Depechez vous!" "Dans le four!" "Maintenant!" - "Hurry up!" "In the oven!" "Now!". Yeah it was full of pressure but in the latter half, he calmed down. So onto the exam itself, I picked out the green chip which denotes Saint-Honoré. Obviously, we only find out what each color had meant after we were holding it in our hand. The other two were: yellow for pithivier and sacristains and red for dacquoise. In addition to making the Saint-Honoré, we also had to recreate the pâte brisée sucré, the tart shell. No baking was involved with that one though.
I am just glad we finished. Now, onto an entire 1.5 month vacation! I'll be going to Venice, Italy for the first time next week for 3 days. After that, I am home bound for New York! Of course I could have just stayed in Europe and traveled around but I promised my boyfriend that I'd resist the temptation and travel with him afterwards instead. Yes, travel is my love but boyfriend gets prioritized this time. .
So onto the photos!
The first photo presents the demonstration by Chef Tranchant and Chef Cotte individually. The second photo are my messy products haha. L to R: Sacristains, Mogador, Chocolate Pistachio Log, Pithivier, Alhambra, and Pear Charlotte. A lot of chocolate near the end getting my uniform all dirtied! Unfortunately, I failed to bring my camera with me during the exam so I was unable to snap a memory of my final presentation. I believe I have marginally improved on piping. Eh, maybe just in my perspective. hah Chef Cotte gave me a high-five when he finished commenting on my burnt sugar for my Saint-Honoré. Way to go!
In celebration on completing our Basic Patissiere course, later on that night, my classmates and I went out for a dinner at Cafe Constant in the 7th Arrondisement. Good times :)
Oh before I forget, here's a nice photo of us in our uniform during our last demonstration with Chef T sitting among the students. He's such a joker sometimes. Can you find him?
Today also marks the last day of our French course with Hélène, which also marks my last day of being called Evelyn, my French alter ego. To clarify, throughout the entire course, we were stripped of our names and went by a "French name" just to spice the lessons up. The past 3 Saturdays, our lesson became more like a tour of Paris. There were worksheets with questions in French to encourage us to practice reading and speaking. It's been fun. Was it worth the 625€? That, I am not so sure about. haha.
Autumn has fallen upon us! The leaves are changing colors; the shades of yellows and reds. It's so beautiful especially when you're walking along the Seine River. Anyhow back on track, so we had done both sightseeing and bakery/cafe/supermarket visits. Everything looked so tasty that we occasionally stopped to make some purchases. A pain au chocolat along the way or a cup of moka au café! A yummy and educational tour. Can't get any better than that!
Too bad the weather was not cooperating today but I think the umbrellas sort of gives it some flavor and color? haha. I think I have written enough for tonight. I've been having this massive headache that won't go away despite sleeping for a few hours. Maybe I should cook some dinner now. My tummy is calling out to me since all I really had today was this horrible onion soup that was doused with half a bottle of wine. Oh and some crackers afterwards. Graduation next Wednesday! :)
