Diary: Wednesday, September 4, 2002

[Malawry]

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.

[Fat Guy]

Monday, September 2

No classes; Labor Day

So you think this means you don't have to write an entry? It wasn't an eGullet holiday; only a school holiday.

[Malawry]

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.

[Fat Guy]

You wrote a paper on Swiss chard? Throw us a bone here, Malawry . . .

[Malawry]

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.

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, I mean like Swiss Chard is riveting material.

[Jason Perlow]

Cool Peppercorn writeup. Do you get to choose these topics or do they get assigned to you?

[Fat Guy]

That was a fun report. Thanks.

Do you have a scanner? I want to see the sketch.

[Malawry]

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.

[Rachel Perlow]

Here are some good looking specimens for your drawings with links so you can give credit to the proper websites.

Red Swiss Chard

And here's another good link for you: http://msucares.com/pubs/pub1091d.htm with this drawing of Swiss Chard

[Jinmyo]

Soy and butter. Works with steak but with shrimp ravioli?

Nice peppercorn writeup. I love shard so please, speak of shard, Rochelle.

[Malawry]

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?

[Rachel Perlow]

This pages shows the roots system.

And this one.