Ringing in the New Year with Puff Pastry

Bonne année 2011! Intermediate Pastry began today with both demonstration and practical for my group. At first, I was dreading it a bit but it wasn't too bad after all. We received an entirely new binder full of recipes for the semester!

Lesson 01: We learned Streusel (Streusel Cake), Pavé aux Amandes (Almond Cake), and Écossais (Scottish). So, Streusel Cake was the only one that incorporates puff pastry. hehe. Pictures below!

Yeah, I tried to be fancy with my powdered sugar decoration but I was horrible at cutting the shape out the cardboard. At that angle, it's not as easily noticeable how my "flames" are not smooth and curvy. hehe.

My critique for today: be more generous with the garnishing! Oh, and also improve on crimping the edges of the Streusel Cake. It's very similar to how a "Gok Jai" (fried Chinese flaky crescent pastries with peanut & sugar inside) is sealed up. Whenever I tried to help my mom during all those times when she made them, I would never be able crimp them nicely. If I had done it more back then, it would have paid off today!

Onto other things: I finally took a quick stroll through Jardin du Luxembourg yesterday. Who knew they'd close up the park at 4:45pm! Luckily I was able to snap a few photos before I got whistled out the gates. I kind of wished that it was a snowy scenery instead but bare trees also signify winter just as well.

I'll leave it at that for now. I took more pictures but it's time to hunt for some food. :)

2 Weeks Remaining

So I had actually delayed publishing this post by a week. Two weeks remaining is currently one week, however, I am too lazy to retype the post below so you're stuck back in time. Or rather I am. Um, okay... carry on.

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Wow, two weeks passed by just like that and now we are left with two weeks remaining to complete the Basic Patisserie course. The earlier half seemed to be more relaxed and this second half seems to be more intense. Ironically, I feel that I am gradually picking up pace and speed only during this more challenging stage whereas I was fumbling around often during the earlier weeks. Regardless the reason, I am feeling more motivated. Our first and only written exam will be next week. The week after that is our final exam. We will receive a list of 10 recipes to focus on studying. It will be exciting but I am sure as hell that I will be extremely nervous.

I'll just cover what we had learned thus far within these two weeks of no updates with photos of pastries our chefs made and the ones I made during practicals. To sum up, we learned tartlets, Moka Genoise, croissants & pain au chocolat, and brioches & pain aux raisins.

I also had my one-on-one Chef Meeting with Chef MOF (of all chefs!) this past week. It was weird because I have only had him once for practical. I wasn't sure whether the chefs discuss among themselves about our performance in class. In the end, he was the one who provided me with the most encouraging words. I think my intimidation has lessened and I am growing more fond of him now.

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Back to the present: I took my written exam today. It was more complicated than what we were told. Sneaky translators trying to throw our expectations off! Never listening to the gossip from school faculty anymore!

Since we finished early, I decided to stroll around in search for a coiffeur. How are you supposed to distinguish the trendy ones from the mediocre ones? I went for the one that had fancy bordered mirrors. Alas, it had cost me more than what I would have liked to have paid. Let's just say in New York, I could've dyed my hair in addition to the haircut for the same price. Heck, in Chinatown, they might even be able to fit in a one-time bonus hair treatment! It was for the experience I guess...

I made french toast with the brioche that I had left. Then realized that I didn't have syrup! So with whatever ingredients that I had on hand, I made a mush of banana purée with some milk and sugar. Don't ask.

Anyway, it's been colder lately yet I still wore a dress out today. I felt a little pretty in this foreign Parisian land. Until next time!

Today Marks My Official Residency

Today was my appointment at l'OFII to get my medical examination and resident permit approved. Paid my 55€ in taxes first. Afterwards, I hopped from room to room to get eyesight (near and far) checked, weight and height checked, lungs x-rayed (first experience ever and I even get to keep the copy), and finally a face to face discussion about my health in general. Overall, I passed! They stamped and signed my medical certificate and stuck the resident permit into my passport. "C'est fini!" is what they said to me after all that was done and over with. Finally! All legal documentation done.

With that completed, I took my stroll through Paris once again but this time from the 11ème to 4ème to 1er. I just basically went from East to West but this time on Rue de Rivoli. Here are some pictures!

There's: Hôtel de Ville on top left (going clockwise), a neighborhood filled with streets like these near Forum des Halles (a mall), Tour Saint-Jacques (Saint-Jacques Tower), L’église Saint-Eustache (a church in Les Halles), and Colonne de Juillet (July Column) with L'Opéra Bastille in Bastille. This is not the order of where I walked. It's just for the sake of fitting the photos in proportionately. Lots of cultural buildings and monuments that I passed by. So breathtaking!

Since I was in the area, I decided to check out Bubble-T. As seen in the photo, the letter "T" seems to be missing. hah.

I ordered a Green Bubble Chai. It was okay... I should've went for Matcha au Lait or something. Yes, it came with the tapioca that I never really liked. BUT the nifty thing worth mentioning was that the lid had my astrological sign!

On a side note, I really liked the portraits hung on the wall. Very artistic. It seems like with my logo there, it's as though I'm claiming credit for those pieces of art. I'm just claiming credit for photographing them!

So here are also some nummies I have came across today shown below. Times like these, I really do wish I had the polarizer lens filter. Horrible window reflections of light and sometimes of me holding the camera...

Well, actually, the bottom left photo is savory. There's cheese and meat in them. Anyhow... since we're on the topic of food, here's a recap of Lesson 05 at le Cordon Bleu: Feuilletage (Puff Pastry)

During demonstration, we learned how to make Chaussons aux Pommes (Apple Turnovers), Palmiers (Palms), and Pailles aux Framboises (Raspberry Strawmats). Layers and layers of butter. Yum. In demonstration, we only made the Chaussons and the Palmiers. See below!

I'll need practice with this puff pastry. My layers weren't exactly puff enough. Boo. Oh and we ended up having Chef C as our practical chef. I was happy. Anyway, that's all for tonight. Tomorrow will be back to pâte à choux with both demonstration and practical in one day. Oh and it will be the start of my French language classes! Huzzah.