la fin: supérieur pâtisserie!

Last Thursday marked the final class of Le Cordon Bleu, which was also known as my final exam in pulled sugar. I must not have been fully awake as I made a few clumsy mistakes which resulted in a blister that remains inflamed 3 days later. It's about the size of Jekyll's tumor that was on his face. It's hurting me so much that I can't imagine how much pain my baby hamster was in. Then again, blisters are nothing compared to tumors... Anyhow, I digress again.

Here's some photos that summarizes the classes focusing on tempering chocolate and working with sugar. These two areas of study took up the latter half of superior pastry.

If you were to ask me what I enjoyed most out of this experience in culinary school, I'd have to say pulled sugar was my favorite. Needless to say, working with 165°C (329°F) sugar was no easy feat at the beginning but as time went along, my hands began to grow accustomed to the constant heat. One of our chefs work with sugar bare handed. It was a jaw dropping moment when we first watched him do it but one can understand why he has what he calls "gants au naturelles" (natural gloves). He's been working with sugar for so long that his skin must have grown thicker. My hands have turned quite ugly after these lessons but it was well worth it. It's a pity that the 5 hours put into these pieces of display only gets thrown into the trash bin after being graded. I cringe at the sound of pieces shattering.

Graduation is happening later this week on June 3. My long time friend from Canada will be arriving to Paris in 2 days just in time to attend the ceremony. We'll take a side trip to Switzerland for a bit. Lausanne and Geneve: here we come! I'm still not giving Greece up. Occasionally I check on the flight fares but it's so ridiculously expensive! On another thought, it's even more expensive to fly from NY. Why can't money grow on trees? There's so many in the courtyard outside this building harboring so many insects instead! (One of which just flew across between me and the screen)

Unfortunately, I have withdrawn from the externship opportunity due to several reasons. I am extremely excited about sleeping in my own bed in Brooklyn again though. I miss everyone so much and look forward to meeting up with them to reconnect. Hopefully it won't take too long before I can get my hands on some flour and butter again in a professional kitchen.

Paris, it's been fun. Time surely does fly by.

Results of a Broken Laptop

So what happens when your primary source that connects you to the rest of the world breaks down? Answer: A prolonged break from updating your blog (even after you've fixed it and bought a new source). Because it's late now seeing as it's 5AM, I'll just recap the past 2 months with pictures and some minor wording while trying to keep it chronologically correct.

I took a side trip to Milano with two friends during our week long break from class. Coincidentally, fashion week had just begun there. The streets were more crowded and more was happening. The area where our hotel was situated on the other hand didn't seem most inviting but we made it through fine. I stepped foot into Switzerland for a few hours during this trip because we went to an outlet. I can still say that I've been to Switzerland now, right?

As for classes itself, I have completed Intermediate Pastry last month finishing off by making the Plaisir during the final exam. I had unknowingly spent too much time trying to practice piping the word "Opera" out with chocolate that I lost track of time. In the end, I had failed to remove the mold from the cake so I am positive that had crippled my final score. I'll know better to keep an eye on the clock for future practice.

March was a pretty busy month as my best buddy from college and my brother came to visit me. They made life in Paris that much better. With them, I was able to go on more side trips (can never get enough of them!). I went to Lille, France with Sally and hit up a few places in Italy with Andy. I think I remember the food more than anything else from those towns. Anyhow, pictures will tell the story better than my half-asleep state can right now.

I guess the photos are a bit jumbled as well but you get the idea. That brings us to today, where I am living by myself again and in Superior Pastry! Next destination: Mont Saint-Michel! I haven't bought tickets yet but I hope they aren't excruciatingly expensive.

I love weekends.

Au Chocolat and an Excursion to Lyon

And so we're in the month of February already! 2 more days until Chinese New Year. I should really clean up the apartment even though I'm not all that traditional about it but I can imagine my mom instructing me to do so if she were here. Tomorrow night is also the student dinner so I hope that I can get all my errands done prior to that! Not to mention I idiotically left my phone in my locker at school so I'll have to waste some time trekking there to pick it up.

Anyway, so the past lessons have all involved chocolate! I've washed my uniform 3 times already because it just can't get enough contact with that ingredient. First, we learned to make the Bavarois aux trois chocolats: 3 layers of [dark, milk, and white] chocolate bavarian cream over a lady finger sponge disc covered with a cocoa glaze. Melted white chocolate was used for decoration. The following 2 lessons after that were Chocolat au lait and Chocolat noir. Here was our first time finally to pop the battery into our thermometers and temper chocolate. Lastly (tonight), we made the Douceur Chocolat (Heavenly Chocolate). By that name, you must know it tastes pretty darn good! It's like eating Ferrero Rochers but in cake form. Its main ingredients basically consist of chocolate and hazelnut. It even has that crunch in the center! The downside about it is that there's no pretty way of cutting into it. I tried heating up my knife to slice through but it still came out a mess. Oh well, it will only end up in my stomach anyway!

Examples from Chef T and D's demonstration.

I actually shipped home a box of those chocolates since they're more practical to send than say mousse cakes? I hope they'll still be edible by the time it reaches my brother's office.

And not to forget, I went to Lyon two weekends ago with 2 classmates. We did a little sightseeing on our first day (there were Roman ruins! My favorite!) then spent the next day at the Sirha Exposition. The expo was HUGE. If I could've stayed a few hours longer, I definitely would have. There were so many different foods to taste from savory to sweet in addition to a wine section (which of course I did not have the courage to try). Luckily for me, there were other non-alcoholic beverages such as cinnamon orange hot chocolate among other flavors. All sorts of kitchen equipment, restaurant equipment, and furniture were placed on display. The grand Pastry World Cup was held on the day we went also. That was exciting. In the end, I found out on Facebook that Spain won. USA, you weren't too shabby. I rooted for you.

After that one little weekend excursion, I'm now tempted to go on more of these 1-2 day trips outside of Paris. Hopefully I can find people to join me. If not, I guess I can also go alone since I'll be returning home on the same day anyway!

By the way, this past week or so, the weather has decided to dip below 0°C. FREEEEZING... someone please buy me a better heater. Thanks.

Fickle Weather and Trip Planning

It's been a little more chilly these days around again while the previous week I had to open the windows because it had felt so warm. It's like a tug of war between winter and spring! Or something of the likes.

Anyhow, we had our Lessons 05 and 06 this week thus far. (Lesson 07 tomorrow but I'll post that next week). We learned to recreate typical restaurant dishes such as the Crème brûlée au caramel and layered cakes with buttercream and ganache. Oh yeah, we also learned ice cream for the first time. I totally missed where they took the bowl of freshly made (not frozen yet) ice cream but it went out the room and was brought back in later when it was needed. There is a freezer in the classroom... I don't know. Anyway, pictures below!

Why yes, we made a fancier style of macaron known as Macaron Anis-Framboise (which is a raspberry filled macaroon with anise flavored pastry cream) and my favorite cake, Opéra. I forgot which way the accent mark for the "e" went so I didn't pipe it on. Unfortunately, Chef caught it and commented about my lack of an accent proceeding to draw into my glaze with his palm pilot stylus. Hence, that mark you see there is obviously not piped on. Don't ask what that horrible design on the corner is. He was stopping everyone from continuing on so I randomly rushed to just fill up some surface area.. Meh.

Onto other things outside of school, I had my first fondue here in Paris with some classmates. We ordered two different pots of cheeses. It was so tasty dipping bread and potatoes into them! Extremely tummy satisfying but a few hours later, I was hungry again. hehe. One meal a day does that to you.

And now with regards to the trip planning, there's quite a bit going on! This weekend will be a mini trip to Lyon by train. There will be an exhibition focusing on trends in the food and catering industry. There are a few schoolmates who are also attending. (It is an event that our school is promoting and participating in.) While we are there, might as well check the city out, right? The month after, two friends and I will be flying down to Milano for a bit during our break between classes. Hope the weather will be good.

The Friday on the week that we return to Paris, Sally will be visiting! I'm pretty psyched about that! Shortly after, my brother will fly in and we'll be heading down to where else but Italy again. Florence and Venice are on the itinerary. I would have preferred Athens but I guess that will have to wait. The calendar is quickly getting filled up with events! On the other hand, my wallet is quickly emptying out. Traveling is a bad addiction.

Anyway, until next time!

More Cakes With Fruits

This week focused on using fruits as the main ingredient. Both cakes were assembled with two thin cake discs entrapping a mousse or cream filling with fruit pieces in the center. As it usually is with mousses and creams, there was a lot of whisking.

Lesson 03: Jamaïque (Jamaica). Where this name originated, I'm not so sure. I can, however, tell you that it is made with a chocolate joconde biscuit that is decorated with grated coconut, sliced almonds, and coarse pistachio. In between is a coconut mousse with poached pineapples. On top is a thin layer of mango-passion fruit mousse (Mine was too thin because my strip of joconde was cut out too high)

After class, we took a field trip to Angelina, a well known restaurant on Rue de Rivoli. They're famously known for their incredulously rich hot chocolate and Mont Blanc (not the pen, but the chestnut/Chantilly cream dessert). Anyhow, we were able to take a quick tour of their kitchen through the guidance of the sous chef. We were shown the various machinery utilized to make production more quick and efficient. Sure beats whisking and piping everything by hand! By the end of the tour, they shared some deletable sweets with us.

Lesson 04: Fraisier. Many of you are probably familiar with this one. It's a genoise cake with mousseline cream lined with strawberries. My mom and I actually made this cake together in Hong Kong at those one-day culinary courses some while back. Of course ingredients and procedures were somewhat different. It had red beans in the mousseline cream and it used whipped (Chantilly) cream instead of Italian meringue, etc.

A weekend off! I will be seeing some school friends tomorrow night for a housewarming party so that will be fun. Before that, I hope I'd have the chance to buy some dried anchovies to make my soondooboo soup sometime this week. Attempt #2!

I'm also currently in the process of figuring out which destination should be next on my 4-5 day breaks in the coming months. Athens is quite tempting as the airfare is around $200 roundtrip. There is also the option of Italy (Florence + Venice or Rome + Venice). Any picks or suggestions?

Transportation Dilemma

I have been debating on how to transport my 3 suitcases from CDG airport to the studio. My 2 options are taxis or shuttles (also known as vans).

TAXIS

They're more convenient and readily available as there's always a line of them outside the airport. You can take your dandy time collecting your luggage and that line will still be outside. But it's too confusing for me! The cost ranges from Rate A, Rate B, and Rate C. Each denoting a different time frame. Rate A is 10h to 17h (5pm), the cheapest I assume and also the time that I'll be needing it. Each day also has its own rates. Monday to Saturday incorporates the 3 rates. Holidays, Sundays, and Suburbs are Rate B and C only. Beyond the suburb is Rate C only. Where do I fall in this rate selection? I'm not so sure.

SHUTTLES

Multi-lingual! Not that I don't know how to say where I need to go in French. Super Shuttle and Parishuttle had some mixed reviews. Some customers claimed that their names were not listed on the roster even after they had paid for it (21€). So I looked into Shuttle-Inter. They seemed to be more reputable being on time and accommodating. Its rate, however, is less accommodating compared to the other two shaky companies at 55€. Luckily, you do not have to pay in advance. Did I mention that you get the entire van to yourself? Not too shabby!

So I sent a reservation to Shuttle-Inter hoping they will return a confirmation email. Yes! I'll have a driver at the airport waiting for me with my name on it. I should've told them that my name was Lucca. That would've been cool. hah. Worst case scenario: driver doesn't show up, I will just have to immerse myself in the mysterious world of taxi rates... and hope they're not a gypsy waiting to mug me of my empty wallet.

Bonne Anniversaire!

I turn a quarter century 25 today! Does it feel any different? Not exactly. I am still young at heart and I am still a glutton. Maybe my metabolism has slowed down another notch.

Only 10 more days until I fly out of New York to Paris on British Airways for my culinary endeavors, which leads to the spawning of this blog! I had originally thought of using Word Press but I think Blogspot/Blogger is more trendy? Anyhow, I still have yet to pack all my necessities into the suitcases. Just the thought of it nags at me and when I get nagged, I feel even less inclined to carry out the responsibility.

With that, I end the post with a picture of some madeleines I had baked last weekend for my coworkers as a farewell and appreciation treat. The recipe was taken from the Culinary Institute of America book.