Malawry

Thursday, September 5 My next paper is due tomorrow, on the subject of Swiss chard. I wrote it on Monday since we didn’t have class, but I never found the wholesale price of the vegetable. Also, I couldn’t determine the French name for the vegetable; I found four or five names from various sources, and none of those sources smacked of credibility. For these reasons, I was delighted to come in this morning and see a crate of Swiss chard sitting in the kitchen. The price was listed on the invoice, and since it was on today’s menu I got the French name as recognized by the school. This put me in a great mood from the beginning. We learned a fish sauce which is like several sauces in one today: bonne femme, a glazed fish dish, has a sabayon, a fish veloute, and a vin blanc as its major components. We also learned how to make Parisienne potatoes, which are shaped like spheres. I ended up handling the potatoes, and I produced a big pile of asteroid-looking potatoes from using a melon baller to scoop them out. We prepared lunch for the pastry class today, so we got a chance to talk to some of them. One student sat at my table. She came from a writing background too, so we talked about writing and food writing. I didn’t get much of a chance to speak with her because I was trying to coordinate the Swiss chard and the potatoes for lunch service, but I’m glad I had a chance to see her and some of the other new students close up. At one point I couldn’t find the communal pot of demi-glace for finishing the potatoes; the last time I’d seen it, it was on a table where about 8 pastry students had since congregated to eat. So I went and asked them, “Has anybody seen a pot of demi-glace?” I immediately realized that they were unlikely to know what demi-glace looked like and started to explain, but then I realized that it wasn’t on the table and that somebody from another team had it. I apologized and hurried off. I feel a little sheepish about this since I don’t like to make others feel like they don’t know what they’re doing when they’re brand new. I spent my post-lunch break frantically trying to find an image of Swiss chard that includes the root system for my botanical sketch. I did not have any success, and was eternally grateful to Rachel Perlow for saving my ass from going to the library for last-minute research. In the afternoon, we talked about confit. Chef Peter explained the history and the process of confiture of duck, and talked about the two steps (curing with salt, and cooking at a low temperature). He then broke us into teams for tomorrow and sent us to make puff pastry for tomorrow’s menu. I worked with Jonathan and Em to make the world’s fastest quick puff before heading home to add the last bits of info to my paper. Friday, September 6 Evaluations again today. I met with Chef Francois this morning and we talked about my performance, my strengths and my weaknesses. I’m still doing quite well, but I slipped a little on my test grades (which I knew already). I’m now number 3 in my class. Something to work towards. I wasn’t too upset about my ranking, since I know I am doing well and I feel as long as I do my best the rankings aren’t super relevant. The rest of the discussion with Chef Francois was about what I can use to sell myself for a potential externship with a chef. He hinted that my enthusiasm and my participation are my best assets. I spent my lunch break in the pastry kitchen attempting to make parchment pastry cones. My goal was to get a bunch of them made and then keep them in my locker so I can use them to practice piping on lunch breaks over the coming weeks. I did get a little better at bag-making through the practice, but I still lose about 25% of the bags I attempt by not making the opening tight enough. It’ll only come with practice. Sometimes I wonder if there is any new skill that will come naturally to me, that I can do well at the first time I try it.

Thanks, Rachel. I have several images of Swiss chard, but none that show the root system. I'm supposed to show the whole plant. I'm about to head for a library...how retro! I didn't think the soy butter sauce worked either. I can see it might be better on steak. I also didn't like the cilantro in the ravioli filling. But what do I know?

There was a list of possible spices that was passed around to everybody. Then Chef Peter shuffled the class cards and had everybody pick in the order in which he drew them. Presentation order was also determined by the luck of the class card deck. Fat Guy, uh, um, we'll see.

Nothing special. I need a few more bits of info to plug into it. Meanwhile, here is my first paper, grippingly titled Peppercorns. Rochelle Reid Myers August 9, 2002 Peppercorns Peppercorns (piper nigrum) are probably the most ubiquitous spice known. They are used in virtually every cuisine, primarily in savory dishes where their bite and assertiveness highlight other flavors. How Pepper is Used Pepper is used to highlight the flavors of savory dishes. White pepper is the most commonly used form of the spice in French cuisine; its pale color gives peppery flavor without discoloring foods with dark specks. Green peppercorns are used on steaks, while black peppercorns with their heat are an essential element of carbonara sauce. Black peppercorns are an essential element of the bouquet garni spice blend. Black pepper has recently found its way into more pastry applications, and preparations of strawberries with black pepper and balsamic vinegar or black pepper ice cream are joining pfefferneuse cookies as ways of playing sweet flavors against its strong taste. Medical uses of pepper center around its use in stimulating appetite by increasing gastric juices. Some cultures use peppercorns as a heart and kidney stimulant. Historically, pepper was valued for its pungency and its ability to transform other flavors. Pepper was often added to spoiled foods to mask their off-flavors in times past. Chinese and Indian cultures have used it to treat coughs and asthma. Peppercorns are the berries of a vinelike plant native to Sri Lanka and India. The berries are the only part of the plant harvested and consumed. The berries grow in “spikes” along the vine. True peppercorns come in green, black, and white. Red peppercorns are not from the same plant as the other varieties; nor is the Szechuan peppercorn. These two peppercorns are rarely used in French cuisine, and they are not within the scope of this paper. Peppercorns owe their bite to piperine and chavicine, alkaloid compounds naturally occurring in all forms of the spice. These substances are highly soluble in alcohol, but not in water. Prolonged presence of peppercorns in a watery dish can lead to a bitter taste; these dishes taste hotter with the addition of alcohol. For this reason, some prefer to add pepper to watery dishes like soups and sauces before service. In classical French cooking, pepper is added as ingredients are added to dishes to allow the spice to flavor the dish progressively. Storage and Preservation Green peppercorns are soft, underripe berries which are dried or pickled in brine. Black peppercorns are berries which ripen most of the way, and are then picked and dried. White peppercorns are berries that ripen fully and have their skin and fleshy parts removed. Fresh peppercorns are not commercially available. All whole forms of peppercorn are best stored in a cool, dark place where they will keep for about a year without any deterioration. Green peppercorns packed in brine keep for about a month once opened. Black and white peppercorn are both commercially available broken down from their whole form. Black pepper is sold in a variety of grinds ranging from coarsely cracked to a fine powder. White pepper is also available as a fine powder. These forms of peppercorn risk losing flavor; the increased surface area exposes more oils to air, where they may oxidize. For best results, purchase whole peppercorns and grind as finely as needed when using in a recipe. Characteristics of Quality The best peppercorns are large and uniform in shape. Peppercorns are cured in several ways, including sun-drying and rapid air-drying in climate controlled warehouses. The rapid air-dried peppercorns enjoy more controlled and uniform flavor, and therefore are more expensive. (Sun-dried peppercorns lose more flavor during the week or so they require for curing.) Telicherry is reportedly the best type of peppercorns, due to its large size and strong flavor. Sarawak, Muntok, and Malobar are also common types. Purchasing Peppercorns are native to India and Sri Lanka. They grow in warm, moist, sunny climates close to the equator. They can be purchased in the following varieties at the following prices. All prices are from Penzey’s Spices for 16 ounces unless noted otherwise. Telicherry Black: $9.90 Malabar Black: $8.90 Sarawak Black: $11.90 Black pepper, cracked: $9.90 Black pepper, coarse grind: $9.90 Black pepper, shaker grind: $9.90 Black pepper, fine grind: $7.90 Muntok White: $10.90 Sarawak White: $13.90 White, Fine Grind: $11.90 White, Coarse Grind: $11.90 Dried Green: $15.95, 3oz jar History The French name for pepper is poivre, and peppercorns are known as grains de poivre. Most French recipes use white pepper because it does not create dark specks in foods as black pepper does. The use of peppercorns has been documented for over 3,000 years in Indian culture. The spice was popular with the Greeks (Plato wrote, “Pepper is small in quantity and great in virtue.”) and was a favorite of the ancient Romans. The spice is so ubiquitous that there is little reference to its discovery. Its origination in India and Sri Lanka has driven the push towards transience and trade among European cultures. Pepper’s preservative and rancidity-masking qualities led to great demand during the middle ages in Europe, and those who were able to establish trade routes to pepper’s native homes of India and Sri Lanka had a vested interest in controlling the price and accessibility of the spice. The demand for pepper led in part to the eventual “discovery” of America, as explorers sought a western passage from Europe to India to establish more direct spice trades. Peppercorns have been known to so many cultures for so long that a complex mythology has formed around them. Many of the stories about pepper relate directly to its scarcity and therefore prized nature, particularly in European cultures. One story explains that sailors on early peppercorn-carrying ships had to sew their pockets shut to prevent them from stealing any of the expensive cargo. Another story explains that in 735 AD the Venerable Bede carefully divided his greatest treasure, a cache of pepper, among his friends while on his deathbed. Sample Recipe Pan-Grilled Fish Steaks Au Poivre 2 tbsp coarsely cracked black peppercorns 4 tuna or swordfish steaks Peanut oil 1 cup dry red wine 1 tbsp brunoised shallots 1 to 2 tbsp softened whole butter Sea salt 1 tsp minced fresh tarragon Press peppercorns onto the steaks. Sear in an oiled hot pan with a heavy bottom. Remove to a warmed platter and add wine and shallots to the pan. Reduce, season and monte au beurre. Add tarragon and spoon sauce over fish. Adapted from Joy of Cooking, Rombauer, Becker, and Becker. Bibliography Bowens, Sandra. All About Peppercorns. 2002: apinchof.com Culpeper. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal: consisting of a comprehensive description of nearly all herbs. Unknown publication date: W. Foulsham & Company, London DeWitt, David. Spice Profile: Peppercorns. 2002: Fiery-Foods.com Epicurious. The Food Lover’s Companion: Peppercorn. 1995: Barron’s Educational Services, listed on epicurious.com Encyclopaedia Brittanica Micropaedia, volume 2, 15th edition. 1995: Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Chicago, IL. Lehner, Ernst and Johanna. Folklore and Odysseys of Food and Medicinal Plants. 1962: Tudor Publishing, New York, NY. Napoleon Oil. So What Do We Know About Pepper? 1999: napoleon-co.com Penzey’s Spices. Peppercorns. 2002: penzeys.com Rombauer, Becker and Becker. Joy of Cooking. 1997: Scribner, New York, NY. Sahni, Julie. Savoring Spices and Herbs: Recipe Secrets of Flavor, Aroma and Color. 1996: William Morrow and Company, New York. Soupsong. Peppercorns. 2002: soupsong.com Before you ask: I have discovered some recipes for pastry applications of pepper since writing this paper that are from the 1960s and 70s. I don't consider that "recent," and would have to edit this paper to reflect this information. I found this info somewhere in the past two weeks; nobody pointed it out to me, including Chef Peter who graded the paper. We own a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica at home, along with Joy and a few other books referenced. Most of the research was obviously online, plus I used some school books. I had to do a botanical sketch for the paper. I still need to find one of Swiss chard to complete my next paper. I scored a 98; I was docked 2 points on the botanical sketch. I'm a better writer than I am an artist.

It was Labor Day after all. Somehow, I thought a play-by-play of a nonschool day wouldn't hold much interest for eGullet. It went something like: Wake up. Assemble crepe extravaganza breakfast with esteemed housemate. Write paper due Friday at school on Swiss chard. Work out budget for desserts and champagne reception. Nap. Call parents. Help install overhead light in parlor of house. Fix veggie burger for dinner. Go to bed. Sexy, eh? I was on eGullet much of the day too, but you probably noticed that.

Monday, September 2 No classes; Labor Day Tuesday, September 3 Tuesdays normally aren’t so fun; second session students (that’ll be us once we start our externships) are around. This means we have to sit on uncomfortable stools through the demo in the main kitchen with all its noisy machines. Today’s menu at least seemed easy, which I was grateful for. I figured Chef Peter had a soft return to work in store for all of us. Corn chowder, a composed salad of our choice, shrimp ravioli with a soy butter sauce and sauteed spinach, and molted chocolate cakes with coffee crème anglaise. Then he called teams: two people per team. Augh! The amount of work multiplied instantly in our minds, and a collective groan exuded from sixteen throats. I tried to focus on the tasks at hand. There was nothing to do but get started. I was paired with Brett, who after a brief negotiation disappeared to the pastry kitchen to work on the cakes and the pasta. I started on all the mise en place for the soup rapidly, feeling like I was already behind but trying not to think too much about it. Once my corn was roasting I started to feel a little better about things, and by the time the soup was simmering I already had the reduction for the soy butter sauce made, the salad greens and spinach cleaned, and the other salad components together. Having a chance to make up a salad made the whole menu seem more fun. I elected to make a salad of mixed greens with grilled asparagus, nuggets of goat cheese, and sliced tart apples dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. The vinaigrette, the goat cheese, and the asparagus were all growing old in the walk-in, so I thought it best to use them up as possible. Chef Peter was our sole guest. He is always fed whatever the second session students are learning on Tuesdays in addition to whatever he puts on our menu, so by having him on our team we were able to sample the corn-onion bisque with foie gras flan that Chef Francois demoed. He seemed accepting of the food Brett and I served him, despite the entrée taking a while to be plated. My only issue with the meal was the flatness of the vinaigrette; I should have tasted it before using it, and adjusted its acid level. I thought today would be rather difficult, but actually I found I was happy to be working hard and feeling capable. The day passed quickly since we were so busy, and this put me in a great mood. I’m starting to look forward to post-midterms, when we will be on two-person teams on a more regular basis. I was trying to clear our work area after lunch and had a water glass shatter in my hand. The glasses at L’academie seem to shatter quite easily; at least two of my classmates have experienced the same phenomenon. I consider myself lucky to only have one cut, on the pad of my index finger. Wednesday, September 4 Today’s stew was the first one I really like that we have learned: boeuf bourguignon. We started on it yesterday afternoon, cutting and sauteeing the beef chuck and deglazing the pan with red wine. Chef Peter called us on teams yesterday for this advance work and said we’d be with those teams today. Since there are sixteen of us and he wanted teams of three, there was one team of four. I was actually quite disappointed to be on the team of four. After yesterday’s busy lunch service, I was hoping to be tested on my organizational skills and speed again today. I ended up going into pastry and making the quiche and the macaroons on the menu. The new pastry class started their semester today with orientation. I barely got a peek at some of them; we were coming up on lunch service when they started to arrive, and they kept nervously peering at us from the demo classroom as we ran about. We will fix their lunch tomorrow buffet-style, and I hope we will have an opportunity to meet and greet them while they eat. This being Wednesday, we were supposed to have sanitation class with Chris in the afternoon. We served lunch at noon instead of 12:30, but we found out right around noon that Chris was sick and would not be coming in to teach us. Chef Francois came to talk to us about poultry instead; we sat in the extremely warm pastry kitchen while he discussed the different types of chicken and the way in which foie gras is produced. For the last hour of the day, Chef Somchet showed us how to make a pastry bag out of parchment paper, and then she melted some “writing chocolate” for us to practice with. She had some templates with patterns for us to practice that she handed out, including script and block alphabets and some border and decorative patterns. We all produced wobbly versions of the alphabet on parchment paper, and some students joked about taking their work home for their parents to post on the refrigerator. There was an arts-and-crafts feel to the project, and we were as cheerful as children at day camp as we messed around with the parchment bags. I found I am quite terrible at both making and writing/drawing with parchment pastry bags. As Chef Somchet kept saying, it looks easy but it isn’t, at least not initially. I hope to find enough time to come in early a few times over the next week and get some practice in.

On the other hand, try finding micro greens for salads and garnishes or edible organic flowers as a home cook. I live in a major metropolitan area (the same one Steve lives in) and I wish anybody seeking such goods plenty of luck. Chefs in my area can and do easily obtain such foods, locally farmed at that. And yes I regularly visit farm markets and so on, I'm not just looking at a standard grocery store. I think the approach of a professional cook is different from the approach of an amateur cook. Professional cooks have to create dishes that hold without deterioration for hours, requiring minimal fuss for last minute finishing. A home cook can prepare everything a la minute, including sauces and the whole bit. But a professional cook has more stuff on hand at any given time to play with, which is one of the more fun aspects of professional cooking imo. Most home cooks can't afford to have a huge variety of perishable goods available at any given moment. I also echo everything else that's been said in this thread, from my limited experience. I am straddling the line between professional and home cook right now, and it's given me a chance to see both worlds on a daily basis.

Chef Peter has something he calls his "fairy tale book" which is a small booklet detailing the history/mythology of some classic French dishes. He reads entries from it periodically. If a dish has an interesting history then it might be discussed. As for the pad thai, Chef Somchet did not talk about the differences between what she made and a more authentic version. She did talk a little about the low food cost of the dish and how popular it is in her native Thailand, and how it's cheap street food around there. There will not be a pop quiz for those of you who have not read every diary entry.

It's what's usually sold in America as pad thai. None of the Asian recipes we have learned smack of authenticity. I'd be interested in learning about more authentic pad thai, but I doubt we'll learn much about those things in school...after all, it is a French school. For that matter, I think a discussion of bastardized ethnic cuisines could be very interesting, and would gain a lot of interest if posted in the General forum.

You have a point, and I had noticed the disconnect between words and actions at L'academie myself. Several of my friends have also pointed out these conflicts to me verbally. I suspect Chef Somchet has a lot to do with our Asian cookery lessons (she is always the one to demo such dishes). She keeps telling us that these items appear on so many restaurant menus, we should have a grasp of how to prepare them. She's right. The whole "we teach French technique" vs "we teach what we think you need to know whether it's French or not" comes up in other ways. We've learned to make American foods like brownies, for example, and we've done American pie crust for American apple pie. We also learned key lime pie. And then there's the whole squash thing...I gave Chef Peter a hard time about learning butternut and spaghetti squash, which the French apparently do not eat and which are not in season in the mid-Atlantic region in the middle of August when we learned them. I find this disconnect more amusing than irritating, which is why I don't become a gadfly about the issue. The opinions offered don't change my mind about whether or not tofu is important to learn, or whether or not umame is an actual taste. The fact is, I want to know how to make pad thai, kung pao, egg rolls, brownies, pie crust, and all the rest. As long as the information comes, I don't care much about what accompanies it.

FWIW, Chris the Infamous Sanitation Instructor taught my class that taking acid reducer medications on an ongoing basis will lead to a decreased ability for your stomach to kill bugs before they can get to work on you. Apparently, stomach acids kill quite a percentage of the nasties before they get to your small intestine and can enter your bloodstream. This doesn't mean you can't take acid reducers, but it means that if you rely on them you need to be that much more careful about what you eat and drink at home and while on the road. This is also true of pregnant women, the elderly, the very young, and those with compromised immune systems, yadda yadda.

I'm fast, but I didn't type that pad thai recipe in the five minutes between Mamster's question and my response. It came from my notebook. Most of the recipes in my notebook don't have proportions or particularly complete directions. (See the onion soup and kung pao chicken recipes for examples of this.) Pastry recipes are more complete, since they rely on more exact proportions. I had considered putting a recipe in each entry in the diary as a part of each post's "style," but decided against it since I didn't think culinary school style recipes would be as useful as something more...complete. I'm always happy to provide what I have in my notebook upon request, and recipes that are particularly interesting may appear more often in future posts if that's what the masses desire.

Here is what went into my pad thai: 1 pound pad thai noodles 2 eggs Peanut oil 1 tsp chopped garlic 1 tbsp chopped onion 3-4 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 pound shrimp Chicken stock 1 tsp pickled sweet radish 1 tbsp fried tofu Sweet paprika Cayenne Sea salt and white pepper 1 cup bean sprouts 2 tbsp ground toasted peanuts plus extra for garnish 1 cup scallions and garlic chives 1 tbsp nam pla Jalapenos Lime slices Soak noodles in water for at least 30 minutes. Beat eggs. Heat pan with oil. Add eggs. Cook without moving until half done and then move to pan side. Add onion and garlic. Add vinegar, sugar and soy sauce. Add shrimp. Add noodles. Add stock if needed and toss. Add radish, tofu, paprika, cayenne, pepper, and salt. Toss. Add half of sprouts. Toss. Add peanuts and most of scallions and chives. Add fish sauce. Toss and remove from heat. Plate with shrimp and scallions on top. Garnish with jalapenos, raw bean sprouts, lime slice, peanuts, and spring onions. The pickled sweet radish is a little stinky in an intriguing way. I think it adds a lot of the mysterious quality that a good pad thai has...that strange flavor you can't quite place that's intoxicating in the best and worst senses. Everything else is fairly standard Asian cookery.

Cornichons, stuffed olives, home-marinated cherry-sized balls of mozz Salade nicoise using farm market greens, Italian canned tuna, and anchovies from Kalustyan's Toasted baguettes with Italian butter Homemade shortbread cookies, lemon and blackberry sorbets Cluizel chocolates

Thursday, August 29 There’s a bit of a holiday mood at school, because we’re just about to embark on a long weekend. Chef Peter actually left shortly after lunch today for a short vacation, so he was cheerful. “You can’t upset me today,” he said this morning in between joshing around with Melanie and Chin. “I’m not gonna think about any of this over the weekend.” Today’s menu included veal sweetbreads, yet another variety meat I had never sampled. We braised them with mirepoix and veal stock. They looked fleshy when they came out, and I didn’t think they tasted so good, though I’m not sure I can describe why clearly. Something about the soft texture did not agree with me. When teams were called for lunch, I was placed with Kristin and Chris F. All three of us happened to work in pastry yesterday, so all three of us already had a chance to work with puff yesterday, and we all used up most of the puff we’d made when we did so. Today’s menu included a napoleon, which naturally requires puff pastry. Nobody seemed to want to go into pastry and find somebody else’s puff to use. I volunteered just to be nice. I asked Chef Somchet and she pointed me to some trimmings I could use, so I rolled them out and baked them and then whipped up some crème patisserie. (I can make crème patisserie in my sleep now, and I can’t believe that some people buy mixes for the stuff.) Once my puff pastry was baking and I had crème patisserie in the walk-in, I worked with my team on lunch. Le menu included ceviche, and Kristin was behind on cutting all the julienned vegetables she needed to add to the raw shellfish. Somebody pulled my puff out of the oven when it was ready and set it aside, so later I went in to cut the sheet into thirds for layering. I cut it and left it to finish cooling, and was just about to chiffonade some cilantro for the ceviche when Chef Somchet came to get me. “Rochelle, your puff is not cooked right.” I went to look and sure enough, it was damp and doughy instead of crisp and airy in the center. Chef Somchet helped me make an emergency sheet from other scraps and we got it in the oven quickly, but I’m afraid my napoleon experience did not recover well. I was the last one to finish the job, and the writing chocolate I was using the decorate the fondant on top of the dessert had hardened, so when I used a knife to draw decorative patterns in the chocolate and fondant it looked like a kindergarten-aged child had done the job I didn’t have time to let my puff pastry cool completely before assembling, and as a result it melted some of the crème patisserie down and the whole contraption slid around and oozed when I tried to slice it. It’s frustrating; I regard myself as fairly good at pastry work, and I knew what the problems were but felt powerless to affect them. The finished dessert tasted great but did not look especially attractive. I should have just covered the top with 10x sugar and not bothered with the fondant and writing chocolate. We all spent our break scrubbing away…I tackled some of the racks from the convection oven with degreaser, and helped sweep and mop floors in the main kitchen. Nobody has any intention of staying later than absolutely necessary tomorrow, and we managed to finish the major cleaning before the afternoon demo. Chef Somchet took an hour to show us how to make pad thai late in the day. She told us that we’d all make our own tomorrow for ourselves so we could learn. Friday, August 30 Many people came in early enough to complete a substantial amount of mise en place for the pad thai before class officially began at 8am. I was one of these people; I set up everything on a tray and was almost done with my slicing and dicing when Chef Somchet rang the bell to get us to class. I quickly wrapped my tray in plastic wrap and set it in the walk-in before hurrying to my seat. Le menu included the pad thai and a pineapple dessert with black pepper, caramel-orange sauce and a scoop of bourbon ice cream. Chef Somchet demoed the dessert, a recipe that came from Jean-Louis Palladin. (We made a shallot soup earlier in the week which was also a Palladin recipe.) Chef Somchet talked to us about Palladin and also Gerard Pangaud (the only chef in DC to have achieved three Michelin stars, and an adjuct faculty member at L’academie). She said they were both mean in the kitchen but that they both were generous with those who could stand the pressure. She also told us a story about when Chef Pascal (brother of Chef Francois and formerly the lead instructor of the culinary career training program) was teaching her. “I was cooking some potatoes and I didn’t have my pan hot enough and so it got all furry, you know, breaking up. And right in front of everybody he said to me, ‘Somchet, you want to know how to cook potatoes, you call me, ok?’ And I got so embarrassed I cried. But you know what, now I never cook my potatoes until my pan is hot enough. That’s how I learned.” After the demo, she suggested we each tackle a dessert of our choice in addition to making our own pad thai and pineapple desserts. I decided to make eclairs again, because I am planning to make them for a special event I’m catering for my partner’s choir. I wanted another opportunity to practice the skills involved. So I banged out a batch of pate a chou and baked it up, and I made some crème patisserie (yet again) flavored with coffee paste. I ended up running low on time and not being able to finish the eclairs properly…the fondant I mixed up was too thin, and I couldn’t decorate the tops with chocolate glaze because I couldn’t find the chocolate glaze anywhere. My pad thai came out okay. I made mine with shrimp and tofu but no meat or fowl, and I served some to Maria (who works as a sort of janitor at L’academie, and who does not eat meat). She seemed to appreciate it. We served lunch around 11:30am, and had everything cleaned up and packed off by 12:30, at which point we were dismissed.

Hi Cheffie3, thanks for your support. I told Chef Francois about this diary already, and I'm sure word has gotten to Chef Peter (although I have not spoken with him personally about it). Chef Peter would be doing me a disservice if he stopped yelling at me, both because it would be a disservice for me to be treated differently and because it would be a disservice to send me off for an externship without some sense of what it's like to work in a high-pressure restaurant kitchen. I think he knows that. Like most of my classmates, I am quite fond of Chef Peter, and I think he does the best job he knows how to get us ready for what's coming in our futures. (I still don't really know what's coming, but I don't have any sense that his occasional riding herd will be an unusual phenomenon in the "real world.") I think that if Chef Peter had something to say to me about the diary, he'd say it. So far, he hasn't said anything. And no, I don't think much about what he might think of what I write, although I wouldn't turn away an opportunity to hear his thoughts were he to offer them.

Mamster, if you have a heavy chef's knife you oughta be fine. At least, we only use a chef's knife to hack up poultry at school, and it works fine as long as it's sharp and we apply our weight to the hilt. But then we don't saw up chicken backs into smaller pieces...there's no need to. The chef's knife is fine for taking apart the bird into smaller pieces and for cracking through joints and trimming up backs.

In my class, the tamis is part of a running joke. The joke is related to how breading is called a "three-way" by Chef Peter (the three items being seasoned flour, egg wash, and bread crumbs. Why this is a three-way instead a three-ingredient, I'm not sure. We have learned three ways to bread, but that's not what he is referring to when he talks aboug a three-way.) One day, he talked about the three-way breading, and then later he was talking about using a tamis. Somebody asked if she was part of the three way (it's pronounced Tammy, after all). Then later Chef Peter referred to a jus lie (pronounced similarly to Julie) and somebody asked if she was part of the three-way too. Now any reference to any of these things causes titters among my classmates. Make palmiers with your puff. Mmmmm. I don't dread the tamis, but I haven't used it much yet. Ask me after we've done mousses a few dozen times.

My very casual, drop-in-when-you-feel-like-it wedding rehearsal dinner was catered by Katz's Kosher Supermarket in Rockville, MD. They can turn orders around quickly and did a nice dairy-and-fish dinner for us. My large Jewish family loved the food...what's not to love? Shalom Kosher in Wheaton, MD has catered events I've attended and they're fine too. Both are lower-end in price and pretty casual, but if it's a deli platter you need and it must be Glatt they are the safest bets (Shalom is superglatt; some ultraOrthodox will not eat Katz's stuff). They can both work quickly and both deliver to DC, so they very well may deliver in Arlington as well. Google should find you both their websites easily. Oh, and as far as I know, Snider's has no hechsher. They might have something I don't know about, but if you care about Kosher and not just Kosher-style, they probably won't work. If it doesn't have to be Kosher, check them out, and also price Parkway Delicatessen on Grubb Road in Silver Spring. edit disclosure: info on Snider's and Parkway Deli added

Monday, August 26 Back to the regular routine this morning: Albert Uster’s training session is over, and we’ve completed Test 2. We sat through an old-school demo this morning and cooked lunch just like we usually do once again. Over lunch, Kristin commented that things seem more routine than we think of in an educational setting, and pointed out that most of us haven’t spent all day every day learning with the same small group of people since we were in elementary school. We had veal escalopes for what seemed like the fifth time today, and I still haven’t made them, so I volunteered to handle them for today’s lunch. They came with a beurre noisette sauce and a new class favorite (I write facetiously), viennoise garnish: a round of peeled lemon covered with hard boiled egg whites, hard boiled egg yolks, and chopped parsley in three stripes, plus an anchovy-wrapped pimiento-stuffed olive. I had to force the whites and yolks through a tamis and I butchered my first lemon before getting it right with the second one, and then Chef Peter made fun of me with my garnish. I had placed the olive off-center, and he got all fake-haughty with me about it. “This is CRAP! It’s supposed to be dead center, didn’t you watch the demo? (chuckle, chuckle)” It is a fussy little thing, but I like all the components so at least it didn’t seem disgusting in addition to being a pain to assemble. During the break, I picked up my graded notebook, which I scored just as well on as I did the last time. Chef Francois caught me coming back from the library with my notebook and stopped me to tell me he’d looked at my diary. He said that it was interesting, and he commented on the level of detail and the length of the entries. He also said that he understands how people talk in kitchens, but to be accurate I should say “mise en place” and not just “mise.” He asked me a little about my goals with the project and said he planned to keep reading as I continue to post. I also talked to one student who looked at the diary over the break. He told me which entries he had read and also commented on the length and detail. Chef Somchet spent the afternoon going over pate feuillete (puff pastry) with us. I look forward to learning this since puff pastry adds a real “wow” factor to food. We will each make our first batches of the stuff tomorrow morning. Tuesday, August 27 Some days Chef Peter rides herd on us, and nobody can do anything right. Today was one of those days. Usually I don’t let it get to me, but today he yelled at the rest of my team for something that was my fault. We learned our first chicken mousses today, and we stuffed the mousse into rock cornish hens which we had to debone. I deboned two myself, and the first one I messed up badly enough that I managed to remove a leg. Chef Peter came by and looked at it and told me to “make it happen,” which normally means use whatever you messed up and make the most of it. Later, he came and told my teammate Ivelisse to go get an extra hen since the one she’d worked with was pretty messed up too. I didn’t go get a second hen to replace my butchered one, because he’d told me to “make it happen.” So later, when we’d piped on the mousse and tied shut the birds, he yelled at us about the pieces on our tray. “I told you guys to go get another bird for those ones you messed up! Why didn’t you get another bird? Why do I bother telling you guys things when you don’t listen!” By the time this happened, Chef Peter had already picked on my breadcrumbs (too large, I should have sieved them), the seasoning on my duxelles (too peppery), the cut of the mushrooms for the duxelles (they looked like dog food), and just about everything else I’d had a hand in. I just tried not to look at anybody and focus on my work, but later my teammates tried to josh with me about the legless bird. “What’d you do, rape this thing?” Not too long after that I couldn’t help it any longer and I had to go into the freezer (the most private place I could think of) and try to calm down. I know a few of my classmates saw me go in there, which was embarrassing. Jonathan came into the freezer to look for something while I was in there and saw me upset and put his arm around me for a moment, which meant a lot to me. I wish I could leave my emotions behind every day, but sometimes it catches up to me and today was one of those days. After lunch Chef Peter came into the student lounge where a bunch of us were chatting about our next papers and told us our scores on the practical exam. I dropped a little from my last practical score. Most of the scores given to my classmates were a little better, not much better but better enough that I’m still pretty sure I’ve knocked myself from my number 1 slot. We tried our hands at our first puff pastry after the break. I got two double turns in before packing it away for the day, and I intend to come in early enough tomorrow to fit in the last two double turns. (This was a quick version of puff; we saw a demo on the classic version, but I dunno if we will actually have to make it.) Wednesday, August 28 Despite my comments about how routine school has become, things have changed a little about classes this week. Chef Peter no longer gives a list of ingredients when talking about a new recipe, and he’s less patient with our memory issues than he used to be. He fully expects us to rattle off derivative dishes when prompted, and yesterday he quizzed us about something we learned around Week 2 that never actually appeared on the menu and was only mentioned offhandedly in class. He seems to be prowling the kitchen more carefully than before. I wonder if these are the sorts of changes Chef Francois suggested would be coming as we head towards midterms. I did indeed make it in early enough today to finish the turns for my first puff pastry, and once we were divided into teams I volunteered to go into the pastry kitchen. I haven’t spent time in there for what seems like a long time, because I spent so much time there while I was sick that I really wanted to stick to the main kitchen once I was up for it. Today’s dessert was a puff pastry cake with frangipane in the center. Chef Somchet showed us how to use the cool rolling/compressing machine that takes up so much counter space in the pastry kitchen. It has a big wheel on it that you turn to adjust the thickness of the rollers, and a long conveyor belt which will send puff pastry flying across the kitchen if we’re not careful (I didn’t do it, but a few of my classmates came close). Everything came out beautifully, and Chef Somchet showed some people my cake as evidence of the right way to do it. I made a big batch of crème anglaise and served the cake atop the sauce on small salad plates. On Friday, we cook lunch and clean the kitchen and then we can go home early…basically whenever we finish cleaning the kitchen. I am not referring to our daily scrubdown here, I am referring to a serious effort of scrubbing down things like the walls of the walk-in and the oven floor. Chef Peter encouraged us to start on these tasks today, so many of us spent our post-lunch breaks working away. I devoted myself to cleaning off some of the Kitchen-Aid mixers in the pastry kitchen, and then I worked over some of the scales which look like they haven’t been cleaned in a few years. Grime everywhere. Chef Francois worked with us this afternoon, showing us how to break down a pork loin into chops and discussing the various primal cuts of pork and how they are used. I am mystified as to what the difference is between a picnic ham and a regular ham, and the whole ham/leg thing is a little weird (the leg is so often made into hams that the leg is just called the ham, even though it is possible to cook and serve the leg in a way other than curing for ham). I stuck around after class with Melanie and Jessie for a few minutes to wrap up and put away the cut pork. Somebody dropped a small piece of pork trimming on the floor while Chef Francois was in the room, which caused him to ask if we knew the 15-second rule. Jessie asked, “You mean, when you drop something, if it’s on the floor less than 15 seconds then it’s clean?” He smiled and nodded. I asked, “Isn’t it also okay if you just blow on it?” He grinned. This is the first time he has shown a sense of humor about any food-related issue around me, and it made me like him a lot more. Our written tests still have not been returned to us. Hopefully tomorrow.

Jaybee, I'm sorry I missed you too. And I don't watch Seinfeld but of course I have heard of Rochelle Rochelle. Jinmyo, what would eGulleteers taste like? CathyL, I hit the Stoijun King on my last visit to NY, when I came up with Edemuth in February. It's mentioned in the writeup I posted way long back in the NY board. I considered going back for more but thought I should go to Sarabeth's instead because of the jam reputation. Suzanne F, I will hit Citarella and Fairway next time, and if there's enough time perhaps some of the Brooklyn zones you mentioned.

I asked Barbara, the director of admissions, if L'academie has ever accepted a student with a disability such as vision impairment to her knowledge. She said that she doesn't know of any who have tried, and she said she wasn't sure what accommodations the school is able to offer to such a student. She said that once she had an interested student who carried an oxygen tank and wore a face mask (she wasn't sure why) but that student ended up deciding not to come when Barbara pointed out that an oxygen tank (with its highly flammable gas) probably shouldn't be near an open flame for hours every day. I dated somebody for a couple of years who was legally blind. He wasn't a fellow food geek, but I did get some sense of what the visually impaired do and don't need to live in a sighted society. I imagine that if a blind student had access to a good assistant to help them get the chef's demos, they might be able to wing it. After all, I rely heavily on scent, sound, texture, and aroma as indicators in the kitchen. I rely on sight mostly when I watch the demo.

I came to New York with my partner Erin for the weekend of August 23-25 for the purposes of eating and meeting some eGullet folks. I accomplished both missions beautifully. We started out Friday with a visit to Gramercy Tavern. I had spoken with eGullet’s own Christopher about who to ask for as a server and how to get a peek at the kitchen. He PMd me some advice which helped our experience to be almost as good as when Christopher himself waited on Edemuth and I late last winter. We arrived before our reservation time and waited for our table at the bar. I ordered a Campari cocktail on their summer cocktail menu: Campari, grapefruit juice, a sweet (moscato?) wine, and sparkling water with a pickly slice of grapefruit confit. It was the perfect tart-bitter combination to refresh me after my train trip. The bar at GT is just as lovely as the main dining room and the tavern area. The bartenders are just as passionate about food as the captains are, and their friendly banter makes for a pleasant environment. I spoke about my Campari obsession with the couple to my right; the woman was disappointed that she had not noticed the cocktail herself. Once we were shown to our seats, our captain Steven Solomon came over and introduced himself. We checked out the menus and placed our orders. I ordered a crabmeat ragout with spring peas as my starter, and pancetta-wrapped monkfish for my entrée. Erin chose the tuna tartare with horseradish gelee that I had on my last visit, plus some striped bass as his main course. I also ordered a half-glass of a vouvray sec off of the wine list after Stephen convinced me that I needed wine with my meal. (I considered not ordering wine because I already felt loosened up from the Campari drink and wasn’t sure I wanted more alcohol.) The kitchen sent an amuse-bouche of orreichette with heirloom tomatoes to begin; the pasta was delicate and cool, and the tomatoes tasted of sweetness and the sun as they should in August. The ragout was not particularly stew-like, but it was warm and the crabmeat was appropriately sweet and rich. I enjoyed chasing the peas around the sauce with my spoon and lightly crunching down on them with my teeth. Erin liked the tuna, but the gelee didn’t do much for him. I tasted some of the gelee and decided that it really needs the tuna with it to be tasty; on its own it’s just slightly bitter gelatin of little distinction. Our entrees were, of course, terrific. The monkfish was plated with some red and gold beets and halved grapes. The pancetta wrapping around the fish added a delicious salty-smoky quality to the fish without overwhelming it; monkfish is strong enough to stand up to such an encasement. After our entrees, Steven took me into the kitchen to meet sous chef Bill. (Executive Chef Tom Collicchio was not around.) Bill chatted with me and told me about the new equipment the kitchen will be getting when it closes in the next few weeks, and explained the kitchen’s layout. The GT kitchen is large and easy to see across; it was fairly neat and busy but not hectic. I did not get a chance to check out the pastry work area, which is downstairs from the main kitchen. There’s a small public cooking station near the back of the tavern, which serves for the tavern menu only. The rest of it will totally change in a few weeks, with a new salamander and new French ovens with doors that Bill expects will work better than the current ovens. I asked how often Chef Tom is around, given his role in newer restaurants. “Tom should be around more for a while after the new kitchen goes in. He’ll want to play with the new toys.” After my peek in the kitchen, I rejoined Erin for dessert. Our predessert was the GT classic buttermilk panna cotta, with a strawberry glaze and a scoop of strawberry sorbet on the top. It was just as luscious as the last time, although I would have preferred the lemon sorbet I’d had on top of it last time. The strawberry was good, but it didn’t pack the same wallop of flavor as the lemon had. We then received our desserts; I ordered the cannoli, which were delicate tuile cookies rolled into tubes and piped with a softly sweet mascarpone filling, lemon thyme sorbet, very fresh whole raspberries, and a raspberry coulis. Stephen brought me a glass of a sparkling dessert wine on the house with my dessert; it was the perfect complement to the sweet/creamy/acidic flavors. I’m sorry I can’t remember what it was. We managed to trundle back to our hotel with GT coffee cakes in our hands, and we crawled into bed and slept hard until the next morning. I woke up and left the hotel around 8am to meet Wingding for a tour of the Greenmarket. Wingding had suggested that I go through the market with her on Saturday morning since she couldn’t make the planned afternoon get-together. She talked to me about some of the vendors she likes and what products she’s used their produce in. One farmer sold a spicy-smelling black mint that she uses for a mint ice cream at Esca, where she is the pastry chef. I stuck my nose into a bunch and smelled pepper, heat, mint, and a little anise all at once. She pointed out giant heirloom garlic bulbs from another farmer, and encouraged me to check out the amazing chile selection sold by another stall. (Just what is the difference between fiery hot and extremely hot, anyway?) I purchased two of the garlic bulbs, some maple candy from the maple producer, and a low-sugar raspberry jam from Beth’s. After our walk around the market, we found an empty bench and sat and chatted about culinary students, pastry work, restaurant kitchens, and so on. When we parted ways, Wingding pointed me towards Kalustyan’s, a sort of middle eastern grocer not too far from the Greenmarket. I found the shop fairly easily and poked around. There’s a beautiful array of dried and glaceed fruits; I selected several of the glaceed apricots, which I may use for some fruit tarts later on if I can keep from eating them all. I also picked up some Valencia rice for a bout of paella, some black salt (which is actually dark red and which came in cubelike rocks I will have to break apart to use), and some of the Lebanese baklava. I also picked up ginger candies and a jar of anchovies. After Kalustyan’s, I went over to 18th and 8th to join Erin and an old friend of his for brunch. 18th and 8th is a nice little neighborhood Chelsea brunch place that Erin’s friend recommended. I had a spinach salad with warm chevre, bacon, almonds and mushrooms. It wasn’t outstanding but the food was decent and the service was quite good for the type of environment and food offered. I left brunch around 12:30 and walked over to City Bakery to meet whoever wanted to show up from eGullet. Liza, Cakewalk, Nina Wugmeister, Mark Stevens, Cabrales, and StefanyB all came out to meet me and hang out. We went through the food line in small teams; I picked up some ancho-grilled pineapple, some of the broccoli, and some sauteed long beans for sampling. I also ordered a mug of hot chocolate specifically so I could sample the house-made marshmallows. The vegetables were quite tasty and well prepared. The hot chocolate was good, but the marshmallow was way way way too sweet. Liza ordered hot chocolate and pain au chocolat (I think she referred to this as a “chocolate pairing”) and had to stop after a while because she was going into sugar shock. Yowza. We chatted about all types of things: other eGulleteers we have known. What I ate for dinner last night. Adam Balic (everybody was way more interested in him than in me, and several women asked me if he was cute). What Nina was planning to make for brunch tomorrow. The tomato dinner at Blue Hill. Being Jewish in North Carolina (StefanyB has relatives who live down there). Scrapple. Geekiness. We stuck around chatting until around 2:30pm, and then we went to the Greenmarket together so Nina could pick up some berries for the brunch she was making. There was a Spanish wine tasting at a wine shop nearby, so we went over there and sampled a few wines. Liza purchased a whole case of wine from the shop and hopped into a cab to get it home, and it was getting towards time to get ready for dinner, so we started drifting off and I said my goodbyes. I went back to the hotel, showered, changed, and walked through the light rain to Yvonne and G Johnson’s apartment. They had invited me and Sandra Levine and my partner Erin round to their place for drinks and snacks before heading to dinner. (Erin chose to spend the afternoon with his friend, so he simply join us at dinner.) We drank some cava and nibbled on spicy olives and talked. They share a beautiful apartment with big windows, and I hoped to meet their kitty, but she was too shy to make an appearance. The conversation flowed easily and covered some of the same topics as addressed over the City Bakery gathering. Sandy talked about her bird-watching hobby, and we discussed historical preservation and recent British history by way of explaining to one another who we are and what we do. A friend of the Johnsons from London had spontaneously decided to visit while traveling through the US last week, so he joined us right as we were about to leave for dinner. We walked down to Blue Hill together and met up with Erin. Once we were seated and settled, our server told us that the chef wanted to prepare a meal just for us rather than serving us from the menu. She also offered to pair wines to each course for us. We quickly agreed that a chef’s tasting menu sounded fun, and almost everybody had wines paired to their courses as well. After the requisite disclosure of food sensitivities, the wines were poured and courses started to appear. Here is what we ate and drank: Chilled cucumber soup with yogurt sorbet and dill, which we were instructed to chug in one swallow (it was served in a vodka shot-type glass) Tomato terrine with Maine crab and tomato sorbet, Casa de la Ermita, Jumilla, Spain, 2001 The terrine was cold and layered with sharp basil; it was topped with some delicate fronds of dill and came with a small scoop of savory, smooth frozen tomato sorbet. The tomato was rich and sweet, as full flavored and non-watery as you could hope for. Ruby red shriump with Blue Hill cucumber and chives, Costa del Vento-Vigna di Timorasso Monleate, Italy, 2000 Sandy and I would both have been just as happy to have eaten a big plate of the shrimp and cucumbers and called it dinner. The shrimp were sweet and tender, not at all rubbery, and had clearly been carefully watched and removed from heat just as they turned pink. The cucumbers were sweet and crisp and had none of that bitterness that cucumbers sometimes get. Steamed Spanish mackerel wrapped in shiso leaf with roasted corn and mushroom consomme, Rosa del Golfo Alezia, Italy, 2001 I have to admit that steaming the mackerel didn’t do much to infuse it with flavor, and the shiso looked pretty but didnn’t taste like very much. The mushroom consomme was appropriately rich and clear, and I always enjoy corn but I’m not sure it went all that well with the other flavors on the plate. Most people got Skate Creek leg of pork with summer beans and squash salad for their next course, but Erin and I were served braised cod with bok choy and coriander infused bouillabaise. The wine was Abadja Retuerda Sardonde Duerro, Spain, 1997. Sandy traded me a medallion of pork and a couple pieces of green bean for a chunk of cod and some bok choy, a trade which thrilled both of us. I’m pleased to report that pork leg is far more flavorful than pork tenderloin, and the beans were tender with just the right amount of squeak left to them. The cod took on wonderful flavors from its fishy sauce, and the bok choy was my favorite vegetable in a vegetable-intensive meal: sweet, deep green, with crunchy stems. After the main courses were cleared, the sweets started to arrive. First was macerated peaches in a rose wine syrup with peach granita. I wasn’t able to eat much of this dessert due to my allergy to stone fruits (the tomato terrine had already caused enough of a reaction to make it harder for me to enjoy the next few courses) but I had a hard time resisting slurping up the syrup. It’s hard to describe; it tasted like red wine and cassis and rose pollen, but it tasted sweet and syrupy without being cloying or sickly. Our main dessert course was either a blueberry financier with blueberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream, or macerated strawberries with lemon cake and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. This was served with Dr. Parce “Rimage mise Tardine” Banyuls, France, 1993. I liked the strawberry dessert, but was much more inclined towards the financier. The cake was satisfying and not overdone, and seemed to occupy a sort of zone between New England and France. Finally, we enjoyed some petits fours: chewy caramels, squares of chocolate chip cake with a sauterne glaze, and chocolate covered almonds. I think the caramels had bits of pistachio in them, which I particularly enjoyed. We bid our new friends adieu after the petits fours and went back to our hotel to crash. Sunday morning, Erin departed very early for Washington (he has a standing Sunday evening engagement) and I set out to cover some serious food territory on my own. First I took the train up to the Upper West Side and visited Sarabeth’s for breakfast. I was familiar with the Sarabeth’s line of jams, and had heard it was a good place for breakfast food, so I’d wanted to check it out for some time. (My jam obsession is well-documented.) I ordered the farmer’s omelet (filled with leeks, bacon, and gruyere) with a corn muffin and a side of potatoes. I should have known better than to order an omelet now that I’m a culinary student, because I found my eggs to be entirely overcooked and underseasoned. The bacon was barely detectable beyond its telltale red color, and the cheese was a gluey mass in the middle of the egg. The potatoes fared better, with bits of red, green and yellow pepper plus onions and some nicely crisped edges. I liked my soft, sweet corn muffin the best, and slathered it with strawberry-apple and peach-apricot jams. Both jams tasted good, but they weren’t as sharp as I like, and they were so runny they were more like dessert sauces than jams. (I have never purchased Sarabeth’s jams in markets, though I have of course seen them at various gourmet shops along the east coast.) Perhaps the sweeter dessert items on the menu are better. I like sweet breakfast foods but cannot make a breakfast out of them without feeling sick all day, and since I was alone, I couldn’t split something sweet with a friend. Oh well. I did like the homey atmosphere in the restaurant, complete with china displays on the wall and buttery yellow walls. After Sarabeth’s, I went back to Zabar’s and stocked up on jams, Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup, rugalach, and Cluizel chocolate bars. I’ve been to Zabar’s several times now, and I’ve always wished I could try some of their prepared foods and especially their smoked fish. It’s just not possible to carry those things around all day, alas. I did pick up some bagels from H&H next door, and then I headed back to the hotel to drop off my heavy items before continuing on my food geek vision quest. I headed up the east side of town next with the intention of visiting Dylan’s Candy Bar and the Fouchon French foods shop. I expected to enjoy Dylan’s, but I admit it didn’t seem all that different from FAO Schweetz, which I visited a location of in Chicago once. I didn’t see any novelty confections that I hadn’t seen elsewhere, with the possible exception of Trix Treets (a Trix version of Rice Krispie Treats)…and those just seemed too disgusting to brave consumption. They were out of many of the colors of M&Ms, and Skittles and spin pops hold minimal interest for me. Jhlurie may enjoy the novelty gum and candy boxes, and I thought of him as I poked around. I saw very little “serious” candy, candy that might suit an adult palate and adult sensibility. This got me wondering if there is a single place that sells grown-up candies. Not just chocolate type candies. I’d try herb-flavored suckers, and I think candy-coated fruit gels could be quite tasty if done right. How about candy bars filled with really good nut and fruit pastes, that aren’t super-sweet and are coated with good chocolate? Is anybody making these things? I walked from Dylan’s to Fouchon and nosed around for a little while. I picked up some mustard with Sauterne wine, a box of assorted caramels, and of course a jar of jam (four black fruits variety). I wanted to try several of the funkier jams, but everything was super expensive and there weren’t any samples of any products available. For all I know, Fouchon jams suck, and I just got ripped off. I’ll report back once I crack the jar. I went down to the Lower East Side next. I went directly to Katz’s and got in line to check out the pastrami. Once my turn arrived, I asked for a pastrami sandwich on rye. The guy behind the counter asked me, “Regular?” “Yeah, however YOU like it.” I got a smile out of him for that, and he cut two slices of pastrami and put them on a plate for me to sample. “You like?” I chewed the sweet, rich meat. “Oh yeah. My first pastrami in about a decade.” He zipped off a bunch of slices and waved the rye bread at me. “Yeah, rye.” “Mustard?” “Yeah, thanks.” “Pickles?” “Definitely.” He put a big pile of pickles on the plate where he’d put the pastrami sample. I tipped him and worked my way down the counter to pick up some slaw, then went and found a seat. I managed to eat half of my sandwich amazingly easily, and oh boy was it good. I munched on the pickles (which were barely salty-pickly and which complemented the sandwich beautifully) and ate about half of the sweet, creamy slaw. I had the rest of my sandwich wrapped up; Edemuth will be the lucky recipient. After visiting Katz’s, I needed to work some of the food off, so I decided to stroll around the neighborhood. Almost immediately I found myself on Orchard Street, which had been blocked off for a pickle festival sponsored by the New York Food Museum. I chatted with the representative from the museum briefly about the work they do (there’s no physical building, but they do public displays and they host information on the Internet). Then I wandered around, talked to a Polish woman about how to make sauerkraut, sampled half-sours and garlic dills from Guss Pickles, and snacked on kimchi and pickled ginger. I wound my way over to DiPalo’s Italian cheese shop from there, which was small and very crowded. They sold beautiful looking cheeses and meats, but I had no way to get those things home safely, so I didn’t stick around long. I found Pearl River Emporium and checked out the gorgeous porcelain plates and bowls and dishes. I considered buying a Japanese cleaver, but didn’t think I’d get enough use out of it to justify schlepping it home. Eventually, the afternoon started to fade. I decided to get a small meal before heading back to DC, so I went back to F&B for a veggie dog. I asked the guy behind the counter where their veggie dogs come from and he said he didn’t know, but he knows they are based on smoked tofu. I’ve eaten a lot of smoked tofu and these dogs are way better than any tofu pup that’s ever crossed my lips. I ordered it Great Dane style and managed to eat it all despite still having most of the pastrami sandwich in my tummy. I still wasn’t hungry when I woke up this morning after all that eating, but it was a great time plus I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet so many of the wonderful New York eGullet folks. I’ll definitely come back when I can, and hope to hang out and meet more of you when I do.

Hey, Rah Rah is good. Here is my notebook recipe for Kung Pao. I will try to post a more usable version later. Heat level depends on the type and quantity of chiles; we used sweeter Thai ones. Stir-Fried Chicken with Kung Pao Sauce Chicken breasts Ginger Garlic Sea salt and white pepper Cornstarch Sweet cooking rice wine Peanut oil Thai chilis Uncooked peanuts Rice wine vinegar Sesame oil Hoisin sauce Oyster sauce Sugar Soy sauce Chicken stock Tahini Cut chicken free of blood and fat and cut on bias. Marinade briefly in mixture of ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, cornstarch, and sweet cooking rice wine. Saute in peanut oil until browned. Break apart chiles and shake out seeds; cook in peanut oil for about a minute and drain. Roast peanuts in oven until lightly browned. Combine sesame oil, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce, chicken stock, tahini, ginger, and cornstarch and heat to meld flavors. For service, heat chicken and add sauce. Remove from heat and add peanuts and chiles when bubbly.

There is nobody in my class who has a readily apparent disability. I am curious about this issue, which I hadn't considered until you raised it. I'll ask around this week and see what people say.