Diary: July 28, 2002

[Malawry]

Thursday, July 25

I got chewed out again today on cleanliness. We were coming up towards lunch service time, and my teammate Jonathan had been helping our table by making the dressing for a caesar salad. I finished with everything I could see that needed to be done while he completed the dressing, but I was concerned that he still hadn’t filled the roulade he’d baked for our dessert. So I told him I’d clean up from the dressing while he went to fill the roulade. And I pitched the spatula and whisk into the dirty utensils bin without rinsing them off. (I’ve never made a habit of rinsing off utensils, since they tend to clean easily. I worked dish duty, and I saw for myself that the time invested in pre-rinsing was mostly wasted.) Two minutes later, Chef Peter pulled the utensils out of the bin and stormed around the kitchen, yelling, “Whose are these?” I owned up to it and he bitched at me for several minutes while rinsing them himself (I tried to, but he wouldn’t let me.)

Tensions seemed somewhat high to begin with, since there’s so much anxiety about the test. Lunch service was marked by frenetic activity (caesar salad, mushroom soup, fried cod with tartar sauce and haricots verts, roulade filled with lemon curd and served with a fruit compote). Most students, myself included, spent the post-lunch break studying. There was much discussion about the notebooks. I showed my French menus to Chef Francois first thing in the morning, so many people came over to check their spelling against mine.

Immediately after the break, Chef Francois came over to tell us that he was going on vacation tomorrow and returning to the school Wednesday morning, and so he will not need our notebooks until then. There was a combination of relief from the unprepared students, and anger from people like me who had put a lot of work into assembly this week. (I was benefited by Edemuth’s assistance; she made all my divider tabs last night.)

The afternoon lecture passed in a blur. The rumor mill spat out the following menu for tomorrow’s test: onion soup, omelettes, risoleed potatoes. Nobody knows what the second course might be, or what might be involved in the dessert. (The test is a four-course menu.) One theory is that the dessert will be the orange salad, which involves triple-blanching zest.

Friday, July 26

Today’s theme is “suspended animation.” Towards the end of the day yesterday, the sewage system at the school backed up. This morning, it still hadn’t been fixed. So we couldn’t use the bathrooms, and we could use the sinks only minimally (we discarded dirty water into a big trash can for later disposal). This meant no cooking, so I still haven’t taken the practical portion of my exam. We took the written exam this morning, and we’ll be taking the practical portion on Monday at 8am sharp.

I think I did pretty well on the written exam. Most of the questions were easy for me to remember. I know I got at least two questions wrong, both about pate a chou. (I hadn’t studied the pastry we’ve covered as much as I’d focused on other lectures.) I had been worried about questions on meat, and spent a lot of my study time going over the primal cuts of beef (short loin, sirloin, rib, chuck, round, plate, flank, and brisket/shank. See, I know them now!) I was disappointed that they didn’t appear on the test. The only meat-like question was about cuts from a flat fish, a question I answered correctly (three cuts include filet, goujon, and supreme).

After the test, my classmates gathered in the kitchen and waited for everybody else to finish. We verbally ran down the test together and talked about correct responses, and Chef Peter chipped in his two cents when we couldn’t agree on an answer. (Chef Somchet remained in the demo classroom, supervising the remaining test-takers.) There were a couple cases of chicken backs that needed cleaning, so a bunch of us set up cutting boards and whipped through them. The mood was somewhat cheerful and cooperative.

At 9:30am, the last student finished his test, and we still hadn’t had our water problem fixed. (Roto-Rooter ostensibly scheduled an 8:30am appointment for us, but they still hadn’t appeared.) So Chef Peter had no choice but to let us go. He’s starting to refer to us as the “teflon class” since now the notebook deadline and the practical exam administration have slipped right off of us. We will take the practical test on Monday morning at 8am.

[Rachel Perlow]

Sounds like you've had a rough couple of days. Glad you did well on your written test and good luck on Monday.

[Lesley C]

Could you explain the triple blanching for the zests? Also, do you add a bit of salt to the blanching water? (never did it myself until this terrific French chef I know suggested it; it's definitely a cook thing, not a pastry-chef thing).

[Fat Guy]

Thanks for another insightful and frank report.

[Malawry]

The orange salad is one of the first desserts we learned. To make it, zest your oranges and julienne the zest. Blanch the zest three times in plain boiling water to remove the bitterness, and then cook the zest in a simple syrup to infuse the syrup with orange flavor and candy the zest. Peel the oranges "a vif" (or to the skin) and cut into even slices. Remove seeds with the point of a knife. Arrange the slices on chilled plates and spoon the syrup over, using the candied zest to decorate the top.

Being allergic to oranges, I have not eaten this dessert. I have made it, though. No salt in the water.

[chefchelle]

Your posts are so helpful as to what i can expect ( only 22 days)! I have one question: How much time do you get to prepare lunch?

Good Luck on your exam!

chefchelle

[Malawry]

Most days, the demo wraps up by 10am, giving us 2.5 hours to prepare lunch for 12:30pm service. Sometimes, the demo takes a little longer. That's only happened a couple times so far though.

On Wednesdays, since we have the sanitation course for the next 8 weeks or so, there will be abbreviated menus and lunch service will be at noon.

[col klink]

Thanks again Rochelle and good luck tomorrow morning!

[katbalou]

dear malawry,

your posts are great. they bring me back to when i was in school and make me remember things i had stored in the back of my brain somewhere! sounds like you're doing well with your studies. how was the test?

kat