A Life Skill – French Cooking?

I’ve been pondering what I will do once I finish my Cordon Bleu diploma in November 2012.  As I think through the possibilities, one that intrigues me is owning a cooking school.  I believe that cooking is a life skill and although there are a plethora of cooking shows and Masterchef renditions, not many people actually learn to cook.

This journey to become a better cook began when I moved to Amsterdam.  My husband could see I was struggling to settle in our new life and suggested I take a few cooking classes.  Exploring hobbies or passions is always a great way to meet like-minded people and he’d found La Cuisine Française close by our home.

I embarked on 2 series of 6 lessons packages on Italian cuisine, met a couple of passionate foodie friends and then before I knew it I was obsessed and registering for Cordon Bleu in Paris.  I’ve kept in contact and become friends with Pat, the owner of the cooking school, over the past couple of years. This spring, post Intermediate Cuisine, I volunteered to be her assistant for her “Basics of French Cooking” series.

The series consists of 6 classes where the students are led through the foundations of French techniques.  The 6 classes were: Stock and fish fileting; Dressings and poaching; Pate’s and terrines; Eggs; Shellfish and roasting, and finally Game.  It’s an ambitious course and not for novices.  Although a number of the ingredients and most of the dessert recipes were new to me, I felt generally confident in assisting.

There were 14 students registered, a full slate, for the Monday evening class.  I was curious as to how Pat would progress through the full menu plan and what I was to help with. As she’s been an instructor for most of her career, this was all quite matter of fact for her.   Although for me, I was used to sitting back taking notes and planning my approach for the practical learning.

We met in advance of the first course where she provided a bit of guidance on where she would start and where I would assist in the demo.  Seems straight forward but when you are with a group often questions and plans shift and change to suit the crowd.  I found myself explaining chopping techniques for vegetables, gutting and fileting a fish and scurrying to remove dirty dishes.

When the demo was done after 1.5 hours the students then went to work to prepare the 6 dishes.  It was beyond challenging the first night to try and keep up with questions, make certain cutting boards were cleaned of raw fish before vegetables were chopped and that no one cut themselves!

I like fish

Cooking for those you love is always special – next time you can’t think of a gift to give someone special – cook a little something special for them from the heart!  My Dad’s cousin Quirina recently turned 80 and as her gift I offered to cook her and 3 guests a special French luncheon. As she is not so happy leaving her familiar environment, it seemed best to cook in her tiny Dutch kitchen. After the date was set, I asked her whether she preferred meat, chicken or fish. “I like fish” she declared and the planning began. Although she and her guests are getting on in years, they all continue to have very healthy appetites so I decided on a 4 course lunch. After a few deliberations, I came to the following menu (in Dutch, French and English – I am becoming so multi lingual ).

Zoete aardappelsoep met een essence van rozemarijn en mascarpone

Soupe de patates douces avec l’essence de romarin et de fromage mascarpone

Sweet potato soup with rosemary essence and mascarpone cheese

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Parelhoen en koolraab “lasagne” met een balsamico reductie en morilles

Pintade et kolirabi “lasagne” réduction balsamique et morilles

Guinea Fowl Lasagna with morilles and a balsamique reduction

Wine: Nuβberg Alte Reben, Austria

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Zwarte zee baars met zoete pastinaak, spinazie en saffraan vanillesaus

Loup de mer avec panais douces, les épinards et la sauce à la vanille au safran

Black Sea Bass with parsnip puree, spinach and vanilla saffron sauce

Wine: Domaine Jaeger-Defaix, Rully Burgundy, Frankrijk

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Elzasser appeltaart

Tarte aux pommes alsacienne

Alsacian Apple Tart

Lesson 30 – The Moment of Reckoning – Intermediate Exam

The scheduling of our exam was the cause of a fair amount of angst.  The exam was first scheduled to allow for groups of 8 in each of the three kitchens.  A couple days later, the exam was rescheduled and we found 4 persons in the largest kitchen, which holds 15, and the remainder of us in two groups of 10 crammed into the small kitchens.   A group of tourists would come for a soup workshop that day and their class would start at 3 pm. Therefore, the large kitchen would need to fully cleaned and vacated.  Less students, less cleaning was the logic.

As I was scheduled to be the 10^th person in the second kitchen I was a wreck as it meant all the equipment would be in use, the produce would be picked over and I would struggle to finish in the 2.5 hours.  That night I ranted on at dinner with friends about the unfairness.  I was determined that I would convince them a change must again be made.  After all were we not paying an exorbitant amount of money for this course?

I went to see the academic director to discuss the matter and was informed it was not possible to make any further changes.  Having heard the phrase “it’s not possible” in Holland for 3 years, I have come to realize this statement is rarely true.  One needs to be a bit more ingenious, creative and flexible for in fact everything is possible!

Lesson 29 – Cod, Cabbage and Beer Sauce

We are at the end of the Intermediate Cuisine journey at Cordon Bleu; 4 weeks of non stop deboning, stuffing meat with meat, tomato concassé and endless flavors of flans. I am exhausted and ready to be done.

Cordon Bleu often has guests attend our demonstrations, of course they pay for the privilege, in fact I was one of these guests once. Today in the second final demonstration class there is a man is sitting in the second last row, smiling from ear to ear, as Chef Patrick leads us through the recipes. My exhaustion fades a little bit seeing his happy face. He is enthralled to watch the demo and participate alongside our class of wanna be chefs. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to be here and have this opportunity. Thank you kind sir for reminding me.

Our recipe is Flemish in origin (French and Dutch) and a somewhat unlikely match, cod and purple cabbage. Purple cabbage is a glorious color and will be gorgeous on the plate with the white cod fish. The cabbage is cooked in two stages, boiled and then baked with onions, apples and red wine. The cod simply pan fried to perfection.

To ensure the color is preserved, the thinly sliced cabbage is placed in a large pot with cold water and vinegar. The water is then brought up to a simmer and the cabbage is cooked for 20 minutes or more. While the cabbage cooks, chopped onions (2/3 cabbage to 1/3 onion ratio) are sautéed in butter seasoned with salt, crushed juniper berry, a tsp of sugar and under a paper lid on the stovetop until soft. As the onions are cooking, peel and dice an apple then add to the onions and continue to cook.

At the 20 minute mark, or when the cabbage is tender, drain and mix together with the onion mixture, return the paper lid and place all in the oven at 190 C for 40 min. We are warned by Chef Patrick to taste the cabbage before plating to be certain it is fully tender as any though stalks will be unpleasant with the delicate cod fish. That means dear students get the cabbage in the oven first and foremost in your practical!

The garnish is onion rings and beer sauce which make for a strange combination with fish and cabbage. Perhaps this is the reason you don’t see a lot of Flemish restaurants popping up in neighborhoods around the world. Just how do you make a sauce with beer? Well let me explain!

Lesson 28 – Is it French or Italian?

I love risotto.   It has all kinds of flavors for all seasons.  To me this is an Italian dish through and through, originating in the north of Italy and exported to the world.  Curiously I am finding this lovely comforting dish in the Intermediate curriculum of French cooking at the Cordon Bleu.

Never mind, I am happy to see it there.  Risotto is my old friend and I am happy to see him and I felt a rush of confidence.  My notes can be scant, my demeanor in class relaxed.  The only thing I forgot, this is Cordon Bleu and although I thought I was in my zone there were many more elements to a successful dish than a mere risotto.

The title of the dish we were to create – veal tenderloin cooked pink with creamy risotto.   Straight forward except for the asparagus coulis and trimmed stalks of asparagus, a Duxelles of mushrooms and a Mornay sauce.  What could be easier?

Quite honestly I felt very in control of the elements with the exception of the coulis.  The generosity of the produce was a tad underwhelming leaving each of us with a mere 4 asparagus.  As my goal is to plate a coulis AND asparagus – 4 stalks creates a challenge.  Our practical Chef, Guillaume, suggested using the fibrous ends of the green veg so we all adhered.

The blender whirs and whirs to try and cut through the stringy mess, but to no avail.  I choose to sieve the green mush, but then had little to plate so I relented and mixed it all back together.   The remaining two stalks, delicately prepared, were blanched and then sautéed in butter and olive oil.

The Duxelles, I always enjoy preparing, for I love mushrooms through and through.   Add to the béchamel and voila Mornay Sauce.  A quick sauté of the veal, seasoned to perfection, in delicious unsalted butter with thyme, garlic and laurel leaf for a hint of flavor.

Now my risotto, on the stove, in my sights, but not demanding my attention because I know him so well.  A little taste cries out for salt, pepper but the sad fact that we made it with water forces me to add cream.  Not so bad, but a little chicken stock would have really helped to layer the flavors.

Lesson 27 – The Brigade

When we dine out I am always eager to sit near the kitchen and watch the action.   Who is doing what to get my meal to the table is always a source of fascination.  Much of the cooking is usually done in advance and the action is relegated to the final step of warming the risotto and quickly searing a beautiful piece of sea bass.

In this lesson we were to make salt encrusted sea bass with a savory puff pastry tart.  Rather than the usual individual performance, we arrived at the late night practical and Chef Patrick announced we would work as a brigade – a team.  The assistants set up stations per his command, fish gutting, salt crust preparation, vegetable slicing and grilling and puff pastry rolling.

We set to work in teams of two, each team responsible to complete the preparation for all class members.  Renata and I were aimed at the vegetable preparation, chopping hundreds of grams of shallots, 10’s of onions, tomato petals, courgettes and eggplants.  Jen and Victoria set to work on the salt crust and puff pastry well away from the fish gutting station.

Once we finished our task, we were moved onto the next task at hand, cooking, grilling our way to completing all the prep.  Once all was in place we individually wrapped our fish in the crusts and dressed our tarts with the prepared grilled vegetables.  All the beautifully egg washed fish in pastry and perfectly flavoured tarts went into the common ovens and we cleaned up as a group.

It was one of the best days in the Cordon Bleu kitchen this term, as now we knew what it was like to rely on each other for success.  We came to the course as strangers and had proceeded to live through 26 lessons without ever coming together to act as a team.  It would have been so beneficial to me if we had acted as a brigade for Lesson 1 or 2.

Team work, in the kitchen, classroom, shop or office, creates bonds and builds respect between people while they work towards common goals.    That evening I learned a lot about my fellow students, their abilities, willingness to help and work ethic.  Great work ladies and gents – I’d have you on my team any day of the week.

Lesson 26 – Silence of the Lamb or Stuffed Moroccan Lamb with Couscous

Before we embarked on the dish for this lesson, a special guest appeared in the classroom to give us an appreciation for the craft of butchery.  Over the last several weeks of this course we have been actively deboning fish, fowl and cuts of meat but now, before us, was a whole lamb carcass and the butcher would show us the portioning of a whole lamb.

He arrived with his huge cleaver, saw and boning knife, donned a white coat and began working on the carcass.  He first explained how a butcher examines the animals for quality.  A whole lamb weighs approximately 18 to 20 kilos.  The shape of the animal, texture and color, which should be rose/pink, play a significant role in judging the quality of the meat.  He could guess the age of the lamb and color of the meat.   After delivery of his quick lecture he set to work, carving up the cuts following the standard method all French butchers use to divide the lamb.

He began by sectioning and removing the shoulders, next came the separation of the best end and ribs from the carcass and finally the legs and rump came off.  The first and most expensive cuts are the best end and the legs.  Second category meats are the shoulders and neck.

We had been given various pieces of lamb to debone, as you may have read in previous posts, and it was exciting to see the ease with which experience allows you to swiftly trim and remove the bones from the meat.  Clearly I can’t imagine ever becoming so proficient or ever buying a whole lamb slapping it on my counter and going to work, but it was very interesting to see such a skilled demonstration.  The only “faux pas” – dropping the knife mid way through, picking it up and continuing on “sans savon” (or for you non-French speakers- without applying any soap to the situation – oops).