Tuesday,
September 11, 2012
Today
was sauce day. We learned how to turn roux into béchamel, and how to turn béchamel
and stocks into veloute. We also made hollandaise and mornay sauce.
It felt good to learn the basic foundation sauces of French cookery, even if
they are a bit stuffy. Chef warned that when Chef Pepin works with us we had
better crack eggs his way or we are guaranteed to be berated. Apparently he
insists that the best way to crack them is to hit them on a flat surface (such
as the cutting board) rather than on an edge. I’m hoping to remember this
warning when the day comes!
Wednesday,
September 12, 2012
Today’s
class was different and fun. We discussed herbs, spices, and other seasonings
and also a bit of menu planning. Chef had an assortment of fresh herbs which
were passed around so we could smell and taste them. Apparently there is a
look-alike herb for lavender. I neglected to write down the name of it, but I
was 100% sure it was lavender. In fact, in a previous apartment we had a bunch
of the look-alike growing by the front door, and I used it to make what I
thought was lavender soap. Oops. At least I know it’s food grade material!
Chef
related a precautionary tale regarding the use of cardamom (one of my very
favorite spices). He worked at a world-renowned hotel as executive chef, and
one year royalty from Saudi Arabia stayed there with their entourage. Chef and
his staff brought lunch and dinner to their suite every day. One day Chef’s
co-worker went up to retrieve dishes and never came back down. After a long
time, Chef went up to the suite to investigate and found his co-worker
unresponsive on the floor. He was rushed to the hospital, but no one could
figure out what was wrong, beyond the fact that his blood pressure and pulse
were extremely low. Chef came back to the hotel and questioned the Saudi
royalty, who laughingly admitted to giving the man coffee laced with tons of
ground cardamom. Apparently the large quantity of cardamom, combined with
extremely strong coffee, made a very potent sedative—enough to put a man in a
near-coma. Lesson learned. Joke accomplished?
Our
lab assistants provided lunch in the form of leftovers from a wine tasting/meal
held the evening before in our demonstration room. We had a big Greek salad,
couscous studded with almonds and currants, spiced shrimp, and curried chicken.
Chef also brought in three different heirloom tomatoes from his garden, which
we cut up and tried. They were all delicious!
For
the afternoon lab portion we were given free reign of the kitchen with the
simple guidelines of making two dishes—one with chunks of white meat chicken
and one with chunks of sirloin. We were expressly asked to experiment with all
of the herbs and spices on hand and make accompaniments as necessary. I decided
to try a mild, cardamom-laced cream sauce for the chicken which would let me
try out making another veloute. For the beef, I wanted to make a bolder sauce of
Thai basil, kefir lime leaf, and curry leaf. Unfortunately, I let my roux
darken too much to use as the cream sauce base, so I tried to coax it into a
decent beef sauce. I failed. The finished sauce, although strained, was a bit
bitter and floury. I tried to disguise it with a bit of lime juice to no avail.
I
then tried my hand at a vaguely sweet and sour pan sauce for the chicken. I put
in clarified butter, olive oil, and a good squeeze of lemon. I added salt,
white pepper, and a spoonful of honey. I let the sauce thicken a little. It was
better than the veloute beef sauce, but not by much. Part of me wishes I had
stuck to something familiar so that I could be proud of sharing what I made,
but it was probably a more valuable experience to try and fail and learn from
it.
We
finished with a tasting of herb salad and bread baked by the Chef. He
chiffonaded (can that be a verb?) all of the remaining soft herbs and made a vinaigrette,
turning it into a very herbaceous small salad. He served it with small rounds
of rosemary olive bread which were divine!
Guess
what? Dirty dishes, that’s what.
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