What goes up must come down...
Friday, October 20
...and that means the beautiful chocolate souffles we created today. We created them with such care, separating the eggs using the 3 bowl method, cooling the souffle dishes in the fridge and coating them with butter and chocolate powder, creating perfect egg whites, folding the egg whites into the mixture using the special method that Chef Guido (used to be the personal chef to the Seinfelds and just came back from a month in Italy) taught us, carefully putting the mixture into the souffle dish and into the oven, and this resulted in beautiful dishes with tops that were fluffy and rose up. We were hesitant to break into them as they would be flattened, but had to in order to taste them with creme anglaise, which we also made.
Today was Egg Techniques 2 and all about the basics of making sweet things from eggs, including learning how to make custards, whipping egg whites and forming different peaks, learning about the types of meringues and how to fold the mixture with the egg whites so nothing is destroyed. Guido explained that eggs are put in a lot of things we are not aware of such as some dessert ices. By adding egg whites to water ice, it will be easier to scoop. Also, whisking egg whites in copper bowls creates better volume in the finished product.
So we were put into teams of three to create a variety of dishes, including the popular hot chocolate souffle, served with creme anglaise (stirred custard). I started making the creme anglaise and the first chocolate souffle came out, and people ran to it, leaving everything behind for a taste, including my team mates, who are two guys around 25 that have the attention span of puppies at times. I needed help with my creme anglaise as I had to continue to whip it vigorously in a big bowl over a hot pot with water and it is very sensitive, but got distracted at the faces of joy plunging into the chocolate souffle, and was tired from whipping constantly. As I became uncentred, I was agitated and couldn't get the sauce to turn out, and I wanted to taste that chocolate souffle! The chef came over and said that it was ruined and invited all students over to look at my mistake. He said it is good for us to make mistakes and we need to make mistakes so that we can learn. I agree, however, you'd rather it be the other guy vs. the spotlight on your mistakes and everyone happy that it wasn't them. And, I still didn't get any chocolate souffle to taste. Also, he said it wasn't a good day for making things like foam and meringues as it's rainy and damp, and this should be avoided in general when the weather's like this. In the end, I did get to taste lots of chocolate souffle and creme anglaise and cheered up from my mishaps, though I think it was more of a sugar high.
We also made in teams meringue shells, baked custard (creme caramel) - my personal favourite, zabaglione or sabayon (stirred custard) with wine or Grand Marnier, which we served over fresh strawberries. It was a decadent sugar day, or not really sugar but using maple crystals instead, and we were all full from eating lots of desserts and on sugar highs as we drifted from class for the weekend.
So in preparing for a four hour exam next Tuesday on cooking techniques and cuts, I was home alone tonight with my knives and vegetables and fruits, making some basic dishes and practicing the key cuts at the same time. I am much better than I started and I'm proud of that, but it's the precision and consistency that's really hard, especially when you have to create a cut like the brunoise that's 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8 and often turns out more of a rectangle than the square it's supposed to be. And, a week after this test, we have our mid-term exam, which will cover all that we've learned to date and a three-course lunch-type meal that we have to prepare without a recipe. We are getting busier and things are heating up. I can't believe that another new full-time chef's course started this week and we are now more senior with about six weeks under our wings, or should I say belts as we all now have bigger bellies. It's amazing how far we've all advanced and that I'm starting to think like a chef when I cook and when I go out... this may ruin me from enjoying my meals as much as I now tend to look at the cuts, consistency of sauces, quality of ingredients, etc. You become very critical.
I shouldn't have spoken so quickly about the nice autumn weather as in the afternoon, a big wind storm blew in and with it cold air, which made it much cooler here. Hopefully temporary. Often on the weather, they blame the Canadians for any cold weather in NYC so no wonder they think it's always cold in Canada... "a cold front from our Canadian neighbours is bring cooler temperatures to the city..."Keep warm wherever you may be...
...and that means the beautiful chocolate souffles we created today. We created them with such care, separating the eggs using the 3 bowl method, cooling the souffle dishes in the fridge and coating them with butter and chocolate powder, creating perfect egg whites, folding the egg whites into the mixture using the special method that Chef Guido (used to be the personal chef to the Seinfelds and just came back from a month in Italy) taught us, carefully putting the mixture into the souffle dish and into the oven, and this resulted in beautiful dishes with tops that were fluffy and rose up. We were hesitant to break into them as they would be flattened, but had to in order to taste them with creme anglaise, which we also made.
Today was Egg Techniques 2 and all about the basics of making sweet things from eggs, including learning how to make custards, whipping egg whites and forming different peaks, learning about the types of meringues and how to fold the mixture with the egg whites so nothing is destroyed. Guido explained that eggs are put in a lot of things we are not aware of such as some dessert ices. By adding egg whites to water ice, it will be easier to scoop. Also, whisking egg whites in copper bowls creates better volume in the finished product.
So we were put into teams of three to create a variety of dishes, including the popular hot chocolate souffle, served with creme anglaise (stirred custard). I started making the creme anglaise and the first chocolate souffle came out, and people ran to it, leaving everything behind for a taste, including my team mates, who are two guys around 25 that have the attention span of puppies at times. I needed help with my creme anglaise as I had to continue to whip it vigorously in a big bowl over a hot pot with water and it is very sensitive, but got distracted at the faces of joy plunging into the chocolate souffle, and was tired from whipping constantly. As I became uncentred, I was agitated and couldn't get the sauce to turn out, and I wanted to taste that chocolate souffle! The chef came over and said that it was ruined and invited all students over to look at my mistake. He said it is good for us to make mistakes and we need to make mistakes so that we can learn. I agree, however, you'd rather it be the other guy vs. the spotlight on your mistakes and everyone happy that it wasn't them. And, I still didn't get any chocolate souffle to taste. Also, he said it wasn't a good day for making things like foam and meringues as it's rainy and damp, and this should be avoided in general when the weather's like this. In the end, I did get to taste lots of chocolate souffle and creme anglaise and cheered up from my mishaps, though I think it was more of a sugar high.
We also made in teams meringue shells, baked custard (creme caramel) - my personal favourite, zabaglione or sabayon (stirred custard) with wine or Grand Marnier, which we served over fresh strawberries. It was a decadent sugar day, or not really sugar but using maple crystals instead, and we were all full from eating lots of desserts and on sugar highs as we drifted from class for the weekend.
So in preparing for a four hour exam next Tuesday on cooking techniques and cuts, I was home alone tonight with my knives and vegetables and fruits, making some basic dishes and practicing the key cuts at the same time. I am much better than I started and I'm proud of that, but it's the precision and consistency that's really hard, especially when you have to create a cut like the brunoise that's 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8 and often turns out more of a rectangle than the square it's supposed to be. And, a week after this test, we have our mid-term exam, which will cover all that we've learned to date and a three-course lunch-type meal that we have to prepare without a recipe. We are getting busier and things are heating up. I can't believe that another new full-time chef's course started this week and we are now more senior with about six weeks under our wings, or should I say belts as we all now have bigger bellies. It's amazing how far we've all advanced and that I'm starting to think like a chef when I cook and when I go out... this may ruin me from enjoying my meals as much as I now tend to look at the cuts, consistency of sauces, quality of ingredients, etc. You become very critical.
I shouldn't have spoken so quickly about the nice autumn weather as in the afternoon, a big wind storm blew in and with it cold air, which made it much cooler here. Hopefully temporary. Often on the weather, they blame the Canadians for any cold weather in NYC so no wonder they think it's always cold in Canada... "a cold front from our Canadian neighbours is bring cooler temperatures to the city..."Keep warm wherever you may be...
posted by Caroline at 9:07 PM
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