Saturday – 2 demo’s ! Are they mad at Le Cordon Bleu? The first one started at 8.30... and after an hour’s break, we had the second one at 12.30 until 15.30.
It was quite a difficult morning in class because my neighbours, opposite my apartment, had a party until 5 ‘o clock this morning. Students...
Today, it was chef Philippe Clergue’s last demo. The final one, number 30, next week on Wednesday, will be given by chef Terrien.
Well, today’s recipes were:
Lesson 28, starter crabmeat in jelly with (molecular gastronomy style) pea pearls. For mains chef made filet de boeuf en gratin gourmand, aux champignons, croquettes de pommes de terre, asperges vertes et blanches au beurre – in short: beef with asparagus! And for dessert he made Tonka Bean panna cotta with cherries.
The most interesting bit was the molecular ‘cooking’, the pea pearls. Chef used Algin and Calcic to make these. Algin comes from brown algae and it can do magic tricks in/with water. Calcic is needed to perform a trick to make droplets; check out this link for making mango droplets; chef did the same with peas;
It was hot in class today; And everybody looked tired. I guess we all showed up just for some possible exam info....
Lesson 29;
· Langoustine consommé with veggies
· Semi-wild duckling with a parmentier
· Watermelon jelly with melon, mint and Sauternes wine cocktail.
Not bad, not special. Allthough the consommé was nice, until chef put gelatine in it. What a waste of a nice soup, but he wanted to make a jelly, so you actually need to use the stuff. Today we got some ideas about plating dishes again, making a good pea puree and making a good potato puree. Exam stuff...
I went home knackered, did some shopping on the way (artichokes, fruit and wine) and fell asleep when I got home. At 7 ‘o clock I started to prepare the rabbit legs that I took home from school yesterday. Just finished dinner; not bad...
Tomorrow, I’ll be going to the market and buy some fish to practice for the exam. I’ll keep you posted!
Sjoerd
