studying the art of fine French cuisine
Last week I had the opportunity to be the chef’s assistant for the upper-level cuisine student’s final demonstration class. I helped to pipe cream, bake macarons, fill jars, deep-fry and garnish these cocktail appetizers for their class.
Of course these aren’t actually the final plated dishes. I took these photos after the finished dishes were eaten. The squid ink-brushed macarons, for example, were served in scallop shells as they are filled with a salted cod brandade.
March 13th, 2017
This dish is yet another terrine. It was cooked in a loaf pan but sliced and plated for the photograph.
Beurre blanc sauce is just so lovely and glossy when it’s done right. I found the crisped sea bass skin was a nice touch for texture contrast.
March 13th, 2017
Terrines are apparently a very, very big deal. This dish is garnished with orange and lemon zest, pea shoots and basil. I find that the Cumberland sauce tastes terrible on its own but makes some sort of sense when tasted with the duck terrine. It’s mostly Port wine, anyway.
March 12th, 2017
These dishes feature Canadian specialities: freshwater fish (walleye and trout), venison (deer meat) and morels (black mushrooms).
The venison is topped with crispy fried sage leaves and garnished with a refreshed venison jus.
The second dish I made was essentially warm salad. The cured fish was torched à la minute on the skin-side only to give a slightly caramelized appeal.
March 12th, 2017
Last weekend I went on a field trip to a maple syrup farm! We enjoyed a very Canadian brunch and tasting.
I hung out with these two horses, Sparky and Winston, as well as our fantastic tour guide.
This goat also kissed my cheek (and then tried to eat my hair.)
Finally I did the most Canadian thing of all: rolling hot maple syrup onto a stick in the snow to make a lollipop!
It was a pretty great adventure.
March 5th, 2017
These are dishes from what is apparently called “DOM-TOM”: Départment et Territoire D’Outre Mer, or in other words, Departments and Territories overseas from France. This includes areas such as French Guiana, French Polynesia, and Bora Bora.
Coconut and passion fruit cream dessert, which closely resembles panna cotta.
I learned that gumbo salad is a cold salad featuring okra. I have also learned that the french word for “okra” is “ocra”, which is a close call away from “orca”. To be clear: this is not a killer whale salad.
March 5th, 2017
The first type of gnocchi is how gnocchi is enjoyed in Paris.
Yep, it’s pretty obvious that this one collapsed in the centre once the steam escaped before I took the photo.
I was actually supposed to fill the bottom of the ramekin with bechamel sauce so that it wouldn’t be, you know, hollow on the inside. My bad.
My classmate who lived in Rome and attained a master’s degree in Italian cuisine claimed that this is not actually what gnocchi is like in Rome.
Needless to say, there was some argument as to whether or not this is gnocchi or just oven-baked polenta.
This last one is the gnocchi I am familiar with. Potato gnocchi with fresh sage, capers, parmesan and butter is hands-down undeniably delicious in my humble opinion.
March 5th, 2017
This was fun experiment with vegetarian (but far from vegan) food.
March 5th, 2017
This nightmare of a dish is from Bourgogne! I did not enjoy cooking rabbit whatsoever because I quickly became emotionally attached to Thumper as I was cooking him.
What are those little toothpick kabobs stuck in the tourné potatoes? Those are Thumper’s kidneys, gently fried in garlic-thyme butter.
This plate is comprised of turned potatoes, turned mushrooms, glazed onions, rabbit jus and half a rabbit.
Apparently Thumper was delicious.
March 5th, 2015
These dishes are from the Île de France.
This is a green pea soup with a really chunky garnish, because that’s how I like my soups, but I know it could be – and should be – much more elegant in plating. Oh well.
I had so much fun plating this dish though. This first example of plating is classic and simple, but I also prepared a scallop in its shell with a parmesan tuille shell lid.
The first way shows off the jewel though.
March 5th, 2017
Once in a bleu moon 