Egg and Dairy Day with Chef Vyhnanek

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Today was eggs and dairy day. Chef Vyhnanek came back and led us through a morning demo of eggs benedict. Pretty basic, but he told a funny story. The dish got its name from a one Mrs. Benedict, a woman who dined at Delmonico’s on a regular basis for breakfast in the 1880s. One day she requested a poached egg, a piece of toast, a piece of ham, and a side of Hollandaise sauce. She ordered it the same way for several days, and one day the chef suggested to Mrs. Benedict that she might like the dish better were he to put all the components together rather than side by side. She agreed to try it, and Eggs Benedict was born. Chef wasn’t sure when the toast got swapped out for an English muffin.

I have never actually tried eggs benedict, as I don’t like raw egg yolk, nor do I like any sauce that reminds me of mayonnaise. But, like a good culinary student, I tasted his sample dish. It was pretty good, minus the ick factor (which is totally unfair to the dish). Anyway, in the afternoon we each made our own eggs benedict and mine was added to the handful that got offered to Gastronomy staff. We garnished the dish with slivered black truffles and chopped chives. They are very lucky to be feet away from the kitchen!

After the eggs benedict, Chef demonstrated a breakfast setup. He cracked eggs into little plastic cups—2 eggs for over easy and sunny side up and 3 eggs for omelet orders. He pre-cooked sausage and bacon and heated it up as needed in the salamander. He kept par-cooked home fries on the stove top and portioned them as needed. He demonstrated the difference between an American omelet and a French omelet. For a French omelet, the eggs are wrapped up into a roll, a slit is cut down the center, and filling is set inside the slit. Chef turned the French-style omelet into a fois gras and Medeira sauce masterpiece. Chef also demo’d French toast. He made a batter of beaten eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar and dipped plain white bread into it. He pan-fried it and topped it with a bit of maple syrup. He noted that maple syrup is becoming more and more expensive, with a gallon costing upwards of $70. Interesting to think about from the perspective of a food business owner.

After the breakfast cooking demo, the entire class made a Grand Marnier Soufflé. Chef guided us through the steps and helped by whipping egg whites for everyone in a monstrous electric mixer. I have only made one or two soufflés before, and thus knew a little bit about the process, which helped. Once the soufflés went into the pizza oven (it was a good fit for all of them) we spent 15 minutes on clean-up, then had a wine and cheese tasting. I’d never been to a real one before, so it was news to me that we were expected to have and taste the cheese, its accompaniment, and the wine in one mouthful. Once I got past the weirdness of it, I found I actually liked each component better with the others! I need to take the time to write down the name of each wine and cheese. I thought I’d be able to pull the names from the photos I took, but none of the shots are clear enough. More on that next week after I get a chance to ask our TA! Oh, but I CAN now officially say I’ve tried a moldy cheese. Roquefort, to be precise. Not impressed. Not at all. Only the accompanying slice of pear and rich sweet wine made it bearable.

Random factoids and notes from this class:

·         Cheddar cheese was originally made in Cheddar, England. I had no idea that there was such a place!

·         A good brie is less than 21 days old.

·         Semi-soft cheeses are sometimes washed in salt water or brandy to reduce bacterial growth while aging.

·         Morbier, a French cheese (which was on our tasting board; yum), was originally made with the morning milking and the evening milking, and the two layers of milk/cheese were separated by a fine layer of ash.

·         Chef highly recommends Putney Farms 16-year-old aged cheddar. Made in Vermont! Adding to my wish list…

·         There are wine and cheese “appreciation boards” and various groups that put on lavish French-inspired dinners. Chef is president of the Boston Escoffier Society.

·         In the year 1248 there was an Goose Roasters Guild, sanctioned by King Louis the 9^th.

·         Knives were illegal in France until the 1500s, when Catherine Medici finally allowed them to be used at the dinner table. Apparently they were too much of a threat to have near royalty, even at meal times.

·         Supermarket eggs are usually 30 days old or more.

·         You have to be careful when using recipes that contain eggs and are more than 25 years old, as the egg grading scale was updated. 30-year-old recipes that call for two large eggs should be updated to two modern-day medium eggs.