TDG: Food. France. Now.

[Louisa Chu]

Fenocchio is good, and has some interesting herbal flavours (thyme, basil and tomato, etc.). Unfortunately as of a month ago they had stopped offering tastes -- one of the former pleasures of the place was tasting a number of flavours and then composing a cone of two or three of them.  "A new policy" said the guy behind the counter.

WHAT???!!!

I can't believe this! I sure hope the summer regulars beat some sense back into them! (I knew I should have stopped after the 10th sample! Damn!)

[Fat Guy]

Exams coming up.

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[MobyP]

Are we allowed to help you in the exam? Can you get a sattelite feed? Can we back-seat brunoise?

What are provencale stuffed veg?

Best of luck.

[Pan]

Bonne chance, Louisa, or should I say <<Merde>>?

[hollywood]

Sounds daunting. Sara Moulton has a recipe that incorporates asparagus and fava beans. Mario stuffs artichokes with them. I think asparagus tastes great with chopped hazelnuts. Good luck. Here's Sara.... http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...36_4927,00.html

[Louisa Chu]

Moby, physically? No. But now I fantasize about an eGullet line-up of assistants. I'll work on the feed. FedEx me some brunoised carrots. And Provencal stuffed veggies - the usual suspects - tomato, pepper, zucchini, eggplant, etc. Flesh scooped out, mixed with a meat/fat/rice stuffing, stuffed back in, baked until tender. Sometimes topped with some breadcrumbs and/or cheese, baked golden. Served warm or cold. Preferably with a chilled rose. Overlooking the Med.

Pan, merci! Maybe we should explain that it's a tradition here in France to wish someone good luck on exams by saying "merde" - like wishing an actor "break a leg"!

hollywood, thanks for the link and the tip on the hazelnuts. But I think I would die before I could shell 3 pounds of fava beans! If only we could do the frozen. And yes! Dare I say it? I've been more inspired by the Italian preparations of fava beans - but French presentation of course!

[Pan]

What would a French presentation of an Italian dish be?

[Rachel Perlow]

Since you don't have a stove to practice with, maybe you could practice shelling the fava beans over the weekend?

[hollywood]

Since you don't have a stove to practice with, maybe you could practice shelling the fava beans over the weekend?

That's cruel. Funny, but cruel.

[Malawry]

Wow...a final exam with assistants, where you only have to present three plates. Very different from my finals during the classwork phase.

My own final-final at school is this week, a group cooking demonstration. I'll be thinking of you during your finals as I go through mine.

[KNorthrup]

What would a French presentation of an Italian dish be?

Smaller portions?

[herbacidal]

What would a French presentation of an Italian dish be?

Smaller portions?

don't forget the snooty atty-tude and accent!!

[Louisa Chu]

Pan, French presentation of Italian dishes. Think pasta - in a ring mold. Think risotto - in a ring mold. Tomatoes - must be peeled and seeded and if served hot cooked thoroughly through. I once did a pasta with the peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes but made the mistake of just warming them through in olive oil and I think my chef thought I was trying to poison him. But I guess that's really more preparation. Though I should qualify this is traditional French haute cuisine. And I'm sorry to say that I haven't had any Italian haute cuisine experiences to know whether or not they're as rigid as French.

Rachel, I still really need a stove for the fava beans! Best to blanche them in salted boiling water for about 30 seconds to shell them. But thanks for the torturous suggestion!

hollywood, I see the cruel - not the funny!

Malawry, one assistant - for eight students! And really just to ensure that we have what we're supposed to have - no cooking assistance! Only three plates? OK, give it up - what's your exam like? Sounds like a lot of fun. And for your finals - merde!

KNorthrup, yes, that too! Sometimes French haute cuisine reminds me of that Wendy's commercial where he's served a carrot, a pea and a tiny hamster-sized chop. Yes, yes, it's the number of courses and the tasting menus, blah, blah, blah.

herbacidal, they don't always mean to be snooty - they're just French.

[Louise Quatorze]

Dear Louisa:

In August 2001, when I graduated from LCB Paris, one of my fellow students received an unbelievably high grade for his cuisine final; he may have received a perfect score. I did not see his dish but I heard it was very traditional French in both preparation and presentation. He took some of the magret and made a farce with the veal and wrapped it in the caul fat. His name is Richard Hilles and I would think that Chef Chantefort would remember him and his presentation. Most of my class prepared dishes we would like to eat, forgetting that the jury had a different idea of traditional French cuisine. Looking back, I don't know if I would have sacrificed my ideas of good cooking for a better grade, but I though you should have the opportunity to make such a decision.

LQ

[Louisa Chu]

LQ, I'm so excited to hear from an LCBP alum here! I will ask Chef Chantefort tomorrow if he remembers your classmate - and see if they still have a pic of his dish. Yes, I'm very aware of the jury - old school chefs that make our chefs look like Gagnaire. But the thing that I've been amazed by is while Chef Chantefort and Chef Boucheret caution us about the traditional tastes that we must remember that the character of the chefs - us - must be on our plates. And no, I've never worried about grades.

What was your final dish?

Thanks so much.

[Malawry]

For my classwork final, I had to prepare this menu:

Shrimp-filled ravioli, alfredo sauce

Flounder meuniere, nut-brown butter sauce

Ribeye steak with chasseur sauce, glazed carrots

Pear jalousie

One plate of each. There was no market basket aspect to the test.

For my final-final (tomorrow!), I have to work with two other students on a group cooking demo. Three hours in front of the rest of the class, preparing a meal with a minimum of three courses. One show portion and sixteen half-portions of each plate, for everybody to sample. Food costing and written recipes required. Each student gets an individual grade and there is a grade assigned to the group as well.

[Bux]

In August 2001, when I graduated from LCB Paris,

Louise XIV, welcome to eGullet. What are you doing now and where are you doing it? I don't mean to be personal, but it would be interesting to hear how your career progressed from school, if you made a career of the culinary arts, and how such training affected you if you chose another discipline. We're interested in the view from both sides of the swinging door.

[Louise Quatorze]

Dear Louisa:

I agree that your plate has to represent you as a chef but you also have to cook for your audience. It took me a long time to learn that my salt level is equal to that of a French Chef and I finally understood that have to trust your palate or there is no point to cooking. In Los Angeles, that tenant really tests your will and patience. I will not speculate in public the personality behind Richard's exam.

I served my magret with black peppercorns and cherries and a puree of potatoes and turnips. The turnips, I believe, were my saving grace as almost nobody else used them. Lots of flans were served, even one with the LCB logo cut out of blanched carrot and leek. The biggest criticism I remember is that the plates were not served hot. Cold food after hours of more cold food must be demoralizing as well as grade reducing.

You are fortunate that the LCB retired the technical portion of the exam. We had to bone out a sole from the back, poach, fill with duxelles and serve with sauce. We did not have a salamander for practice so many plates shattered when we stuck them under the broilers in the demo kitchens. That was entertaining. And we had a good excuse that time.

And whatever you do, rely upon your instinct. The best thing I thought the LCB taught was to do what you KNOW; over thinking only gets you into trouble.

BON CHANCE!

[Louisa Chu]

Malawry, yes, yes, now I remember your final from your diary. The infamous chasseur sauce. I want to hear all about your final-final! You will need a new thread of course - but could you please link it here!

LQ, well yes, you have to cook for your clients - and then maybe, if you're lucky, express yourself within those parameters as a chef. The salt thing! Early on in Basic I had a chef taste my sauce, stare me down, and ask if that's actually how I thought it should taste, if that's how I would make it at home. I stared him back down, and just said, oui chef. He threw the spoon back into the pot, turned, walked away, muttering, well then you shouldn't have any problems here. So you had one principal ingredient and one composed garnish? Plus the sauce of course. And did you use daikon in your exam dish? I was so surprised to learn that when we have turnips as ingredients at LCBP, we usually use daikon. No, no technical in Superior, but we still have them in Basic and Intermediate - and we did do the Glazed Sole as a practical. And that's crazy to use a salamander without practice. In the practical we gratineed in an extremely hot oven. And I agree with what LCBP teaches in general - but I have to qualify that and say I agree only as that applies to exams. Do what you do well. But in regular Superior practicals I took every chance I could get - take - to experiment as hard and far as I could - it is a culinary school. What are you doing in LA?

[hollywood]

hollywood, thanks for the link and the tip on the hazelnuts

Here's something Shiro (in South Pasadena) did with asparagus.

[Louise Quatorze]

Dear Louisa:

As your exams must be very near, the best advice I can give is:

1: Serve a hot dish. This sounds so basic yet, consider the judges- tasting all those dishes and if many of them are tepid; that would put me off my feed for a while. The correlation to this is not to over decorate. Making trees out of rosemary and bay will not impress and will make take temperature off your dish while you decorate. 2: Trust your palate. That is what I did with salt, after a long while of asking others to taste my sauces. I always thought I was an aberration when I salted my food so when I started at LCB I followed what I thought was the norm. Turns out I have a French palate when it comes to salt and once I followed my own tastes, I did much better. 3: If they promise you an ingredient which you have never used before, do not count on it showing up in your market basket. We were give the choice of brick or phyllo, being part Greek I chose phyllo. I bought phyllo at Le Bon Marche and made a pastry coupe filled with sauteed girolles and bayonne ham. Upon some relflection and after eight months at the LCB, I knew I was going to get brick and practiced that for my exam. A bit of puree held the coupe to the plates as they were transported to the judges. The other veg was julienned carrots and courgettes, lengthwise on the mandoline cooked in butter, bien sur. 4: Let me guess--turned artichokes for Basic and bearnaise for Intermediate? For final exams we had 2 hours to prep and then we had to cook in groups of three in the demo kitchens. My practical group had 13 so all I had ever cooked in was the large kitchen on salle 2, except for pastry ateliers. It was disconcerting to have to cook the most momentous meal in an unfamiliar kitchen. It was difficult, but I must say that Chef Chantefort looked out for us and did what he could to help with the process. He was a prince and would never own up to it. 5: DO NOT FORGET ABOUT SUGAR!! French pastry is more rigid than cuisine so follow the sugar formula: base=1.5 times height*three colors+shiny ribbons. As for me, I am not cooking for a living at this time for a lot of reasons. I am doing event planning (quel dull as you cannot order anything but salmon (and only farm raised) and chicken. I am in the testing stages of starting an organic chocolate company and thinking of getting an M.A. in Gastronomy from U. of Adelade. My thesis is either "If it is Round, can it still be an Opera Cake?" or "The Politics of Passed v. Plated Hors d'Oeuvres." I will think positively for you in your endeavors and for a stronger dollar.

[Louisa Chu]

Shiro, thanks! What's on the plate? Fish? Is the asparagus glazed? And tomatoes around?

LQ, exams done! And yes, served a hot dish! Well, three actually. And yes, I have a French palate as well - is it wrong to want to eat fleur de sel by the spoonful? We had everything I needed on the list - I made sure when I walked in - but can you believe that we were running low on onions of all things? And yes, it's always brik not phyllo at LCBP. And nice job remembering the puree to stick! And I actually used no butter in my exam dish. Heresy! And you got it for the Basic and Intermediate technicals. But they did add fileting a fish to Basic. I'm so surprised to learn that they changed the Superior finals so dramatically in such a short amount of time. How much time did you have to cook? And had you ever worked in teams before? And yes, that's crazy that they didn't let you practice in that kitchen. I have cooked in all the LCBP kitchens - and each bruner can vary a bit, much less kitchens. And the demo kitchens are completely different. I used them between demos a few times - since I don't have a stove at home - which used to make the academic staff nuts, but the chefs loved it. And dare I say it - really tall, 4 colours, and no ribbons for me in the Pastry final! Rebel! The organic chocolate sounds amazing. And you should talk to a friend of mine who did a triangular Opera cake for his Intermediate Pastry final! Let's all get together and pray for a stronger dollar. Thanks.

[hollywood]

Shiro, thanks! What's on the plate? Fish? Is the asparagus glazed? And tomatoes around?

You get an A.

[Louise Quatorze]

I am sorry, I had hoped to reply earlier. Your confession of no butter made me swoon and then the no ribbon part sent me over the edge. You are very brave. I am dealing with a temperamental puppy at the moment, he's 12 in calendar years, much too much work and not enough scratch time. I will ask that you ask to bring your dog to graduation. Patricia shot me down when I asked, a Westie less than 9 kilos, and I have always wondered if it was personal. And by the way, the Grande Diplome is pretty big and has a nice blue ribbon.

[Louisa Chu]

LQ, sorry. I should have warned you. No, no butter. No, no ribbons. Yeah, I'm a regular Jean d'Arc. I trust you've sufficiently recovered. And I did bring my dog Karli to our Basic Seine cruise. And to Intermediate class dinner. At the Intermediate certificate ceremony, we made it through the foyer at Monsieur Cointreau's club, but she was then very unceremoniously asked to leave. Dogs are not allowed at Ledoyen. And at Le Grand Diplome graduation, we declined to grace the club with her presence again. Apparently Madame Gallagher made speeches before a number of demos warning students that no animals would be allowed. Funny - you do remember how the student body eats? And we do hope to see you around here more often - perhaps while you tend to scratch time.