One down.....2 (or many) more to go.....

>> Monday, August 30, 2010

I've been in such a blissful state of mind the past week (read: VACATION TIME) that I am way behind my blog updates. Here're some photos that I'd like to share from last week's graduation ceremony - yes, I passed (phew!) - thanks to all for your kind wishes. It's been wonderful to hear from you, especially some newcomers this past week. Thanks for all your emails and I just wanted to let you know that I'm getting ready to head home this week, but I will definitely get to your emails soon.

A small, simple ceremony held on school premises, in the grand Jardin d'Hiver  - grand is a highly relative term here; at LCB Paris, any space larger than 10 square meters can be considered grand!
guess which is my two most favorite pastry Chef-instructor in the world......
there was an entire hour spiel on Chefs' credentials and accolades. So alright, we're fully convinced that we paid mega bucks for superstar Chefs; we just need a little more convincing that the great Chefs can also be great instructors, coaches and mentors........
Each of us were then called to the front to receive our certificates and take a photo with the Chefs. Only a handful of us showed up since many - more than half of the students had left to go on vacation, as you can see from the group snapshot
The best part of the day for me was  having the Chefs cooked and served us food. Now if only we could get to yell at them (well, some of them), have them take instructions and follow our orders for once. Wishful thinking.....


Despite the fact that I wasn't top-5, I'm extremely satisfied with what I've accomplished here for the past 3 months. I've barely scratched the surface, I still have so much more to learn and I am embracing the future, its uncertainties and all, with much anticipation. Thanks so much for following my journey.

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You get what you ask for!

>> Thursday, August 19, 2010

 THE DAY. Basic pastry final exam at Le Cordon Bleu, after 20 weeks of lessons. I didn't know what to expect when I woke up this morning. 10 recipes, 3 will be picked and it was anyone's guess which 3 those would be. After 9 practice bakes, including a failed attempt  (I'm officially announcing my loathe for making French brioches!), I could not be any more ready than I was as I made my way to school - tuna baguette in hand, a cup of espresso on the other, music blasting from my iPod - simply calm and ready for show-time. As I walked through the front door, I bumped into a group of students from basic pastry group A (I'm in B) who shared what the 3 picks were: Gateau Basque - not my favorite and this afternoon's weather was a bit hot so dough-handling might be tricky so immediate mental note to self - longer chill time), second pick, the Dacquoise - this is one of my favorites and I was extremely happy with the one I made during my practice bake at home

and last but not least -
(click on post title to read the rest)

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My Sunday in Paris

>> Sunday, August 15, 2010

Rainy Sunday morning. You've visited the national monuments. You've spent hours at some of the world's best museums. You've walked  up and down the stretch of Champs Elysees (and wondered why you were once so captivated by an over-hyped shopping area crowded with tourists), taken long strolls along the Seine, explored popular neighborhoods like the Marais, St. Germain des Pres, Latin Quarters and also got lost in some not-so-familiar places in the city - in and of itself, a delightful experience, I must add - you've taken day trips to visit  modest little homes of former Kings, short trips to neighboring country and hit the beach for some fun and sun, you've hung out with friends - watched movies, visited the  open markets that are always in abundance of fresh local produce, cooked and had lunch-dinner parties together, took loads of silly pictures in front of Eiffel Tower, hopped on the metro - any train and just pick a station to hop off, wander, explore, then hop back on to the next train, and during your alone time, you've spent hours in cafés, sipping your usual beverage of café crème, trying not to choke at the thick second-hand cigarette smoke blowing your way, doing some serious people-watching and taking mental notes of fashion faux-pas, and sometimes, when you've just had enough of peculiar behaviors, you chose to just stay back in the apartment to savor the magnificent view of the city in quiet contemplation.

So then, what else can you do on a rainy Sunday morning in Paris?

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It's a Wrap!

>> Saturday, August 14, 2010

We had our final demonstration session yesterday. The mood was unusually somber, not a whole lot of jokes throughout the session with Mean Chef just working from one component of the cake to the other, showing us the steps in making one of the most fabulous ensemble that we've seen this semester: an embedded cake - and I say embedded because you can't see the layers from the side, even before the chocolate glaze was applied - made from a thin layer of biscuit, then heavenly layers of bergamot and chocolate mousse with a touch of crispy orange tuilles. A rather complex construction, there's no practical session for this one but I assume it's a teaser to sign up for subsequent levels
I want to learn more, despite the uncertainty of where all this will lead me. I was hoping that after the first month into the program, whether to come back for the next levels will be an easy decision to make. It has taken me more than 2 months to decide and even now, doubts creep in occasionally. It's a big investment of time, money and sacrifice in terms of being away from family and the comforts of home.  Paris will always be a wonderful city for me, and while I wished I could live in this state of enchantment all the time, it's time to make some serious assessments and decisions on next steps.
But for now, I'm psyched about next week's exam and intend to spend my time off from school practicing the recipes -   all 10 of them. Bring it on!!


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Freshly Frozen

When you think of French gastronomy and French cuisine, what comes to mind?

French cuisine is known to be one of the best in the world; visit any of the world's greatest restaurants and chances are, the Chefs there have been trained in France. Gourmet. Fine food, wine and incredible pastries. Michelin-star establishments. Highly skilled master Chefs. Quality and fresh ingredients. Those are the key words that came to mind.


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It's over.....almost

>> Thursday, August 12, 2010

We had the most grueling schedule of our course yesterday: back-to-back practical and demo sessions followed by a short break, then another practical session late in the evening. I left the apartment before eight in the morning and didn't get back home until past 9:30 pm. It was both physically and mentally challenging, since you not only have to be on your feet in the kitchen for a long stretch of time but you have to stay mentally sharp and alert to execute all the steps to deliver the final results.

I'm not totally satisfied with the finishing on my gateaux, but I think it's more a matter of practice in order to master the techniques, something which is easily achievable. I am more perturbed by the way the final practical session went. We had the Mean Chef, unfortunately, and whilst he was in a relatively better mood than before, he was still his usual temperamental self. I started off on the wrong foot when I cut open a brand new package of ground hazelnuts since I didn't see the half-opened packages that some other students had grabbed and somehow kept out of sight. Désolé, that's all I can say. Afterall, we were being rushed in everything we did in the kitchen so if I didn't see any ingredients on the common work counters where those ingredients would usually be placed, it was a natural reaction on my part to open a new package. Everything went relatively smooth thereafter, until I made that big mistake. The big mistake of opening my mouth to ask Chef whether the consistency of my chocolate ganache was alright. You see, we had learnt a different method of preparing ganache by another Chef during the practical session in the morning, who instructed us to always prepare ganache in the way he had prescribed. Then during the afternoon demo session, Mean Chef showed another way of preparing the ganache and insisted on that method for our practical session. I welcome the learning process and being shown the various methods; at the same time, it's always a confusing thing to figure out what each Chef wants during the practicals as we are graded at the end of each session hence, ensuring that our execution method is in line with what the Chef-of-the-hour wants is critical. After preparing my ganache with a different technique, I was somewhat uncertain about its consistency, thought to err on the cautious side and decided to ask Chef before I plop the entire batch into the pastry bag. And boy, was that the biggest mistake ever. Instead of a simple yes - it's alright, or no, it's not quite ready answer, Mean Chef just raised his voice and started ranting "Didn't I show you during the demo? Weren't you paying attention? What did I say? If it's too cold, use the bain marie, or too hot, chill it!!?!".....tout en français. Utterly shocked at his reaction, I had to take a moment to regain my composure. I almost decided to throw my whisk at his face initially, but decided that unlike him, I should have better control of my emotions. I didn't quite understand why the outburst, especially since my friend asked him the same question 15 minutes before. So back to my work station, question still unanswered, I just decided to finish decorating the cake with my ganache as-is. At that point, I was totally fed up with his behavior and felt the lack of professionalism and control over his emotions was something that no one - be it paying or non-paying students - should ever need to tolerate. We're here to learn and have the right to ask basic, legitimate questions, no?
With one more week to go before the finals, I'm eager to simply put this all behind me and focus on the final stretch. I believe that favoritism and sudden outrages aren't rampant, the school still provides excellent quality education and maintains a fair grading system (I hope). However, it does get me thinking about the disparity between the workplace culture that of the culinary vs.  corporate world. There's bound to be a difference, we all know and accept the fact but it's interesting to understand why. Thoughts?

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A little bit of this and that, here and there......

>> Saturday, August 7, 2010

Whilst July was a slow month of fun and sun, August seems to unravel at such a rapid pace. I've had back-to-back sessions in school almost everyday with little time to catch up on notes from Chef's demos, let alone blog updates. We've just completed our written exam which constitutes 10% of our grades and by noon next Friday, we would have wrapped up the final demo session with less than one week to go thereafter before our finals. They've revealed the potential 10 - a list of recipes that we've made during our practicals throughout the entire term and on the day of the exam, the Chefs will pick 3 out of 10, then each of us will need to draw from that same pool to ascertain what we'll be baking for the final exam. We'll be given 2 1/2 hours to complete and present our bakes to a panel of internal as well as external Chefs. There's also a technical section that every student will need to complete within the same duration, in addition to the recipe which we'll be making. Grading will be based on organization, technique execution, presentation and taste. During yesterday's briefing session, Chef gave us a pep talk, stated that he has confidence in us, we'll all do just fine and also mentioned that while chances are slim, it is possible to fail the finals, especially for pastry students. That's so motivating.
The pressure's on!
I'm hoping that I'll get to make this for the finals





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What dreams are made of

I have a dream.......
....that someday, I'll be creating beautiful works of art such as these


click post title for more

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