It's been too long since I've written about my Cordon Bleu adventures. Two months ago, I graduated from the Parisian
, and I received my Cuisine diploma after I successfully completed all three courses: Basic, Intermediate and Superior Cuisine.
I wrote my first review (Basic Cuisine) in 2008. Click
for the web-link. My second review (2009, Intermediate Cuisine) can be found
I will not try to repeat myself too often, since some questions you might have are already discussed in the Basic and Intermediate reviews. First, I'll write some feedback on the Superior course and after that I'll say something about the Cuisine Course as a whole.
My last semester started mid-March and ended early June. 3 months. This was new to me, since I did the first two courses 'the fast way', as an intensive course. The learning curve in Basic Cuisine was steep, in Intermediate it was fairly boring (although I learned a lot more than I realised at the time) , and I must say that in Superior the learning curve was HUGE again. I learned so much during this last bit. And my knife skills are not that bad either...
Again, like in the other courses, we had 30 demos and 30 practicals again. 30 demos - that means 30 starters, 30 main courses and 30 desserts. That's a lot ! As you all might know, we 'only' have to make the main course in the practical class.
The recipes sounded nice from the day we started. And they tasted great! I wrote on this blog before that I'd make most of these recipes again at home. Click
I must say, the level of the dishes is higher, more interesting and we use other ingredients as well. Also, the quality of the produce is great: can't complain about that at all! Of course there are dishes you don't particularly like (taste wise), but that's just personal I guess.
What have I learned from these recipes? Well, I know how to make a chartreuse now, I can debone fish blind-folded, guinea fowl and flying rat (pigeon) no longer hold mysterious secrets for me anymore. I know I like to work with fish - more then ever - and nowadays I also like to try to make more desserts. Things like that.
Yes, we talked a lot about that during Superior. Especially during the practical sessions. That was very nice and I learned a lot from it. I've also noticed that everybody is very different - even the chefs don't always agree on how the food should/could be plated. I particularly liked the discussions with chef Clerque and chef
'La Petite' (I still don't know her name.) She would stare at a plate for a while, take it all off and re-plate the lot. Great tips and discussions we had. Thank you!
By the way, chef Patrick Caals has finally gotten permission to 'pimp-up' the Intermediate recipes. That is indeed good news. Hopefully he can implement his new ideas as soon as possible.
The Chefs
The two chefs running the 'Superior' show are chef Patrick Terrien and chef Philippe Clergue. Occasionally, some others would give demos (Fréderic Lesourd, Franck Poupard). They're all super chefs, but I must say that chef T. and chef C. are in a different league. No disrespect to the others!
Chef Terrien makes it look all so easy. The recipes all look quite easy, but to get it on a plate properly, that's a different matter. Chef Terrien is a great chef, very funny and creative.
So is chef Clergue. I loved his wine advice and serious cooking during every demo. Also his discussions on (my) plating skills during the practicals were very useful. Chef Lesourd has great dessert plating skills I must say (and lots of gadgets and tips and tricks of the trade).
Here's some more background on some of the chefs.
I believe that during class chefs also have another job. Apart from teaching and being a chef, which are actually two jobs in themselves, they have to control a group of students. Well, let me tell you, that's a big issue. My class had 53 people and sometimes that can be quite noisy. The translators are hardly helping out to shut the noisy buggers up so it should be the chef's job. But no, the chefs hardly do anything about loud students and
class idiots. A little changed after quite a few complaints, but please chefs - be a little more strict in class ! Or the chefs should at least support the translator publicly when they try to control the class. Some of the translators do actually try to help out chef to control the class a bit. Please keep in mind that some people are serious about doing LCB (apart from those that think it's a holiday camp).
Class size:
As I already said, we had 53 people in class. Personally I think that's way too big, but we managed. Intensive classes tend to be a lot smaller, especially in winter time. I liked that a lot better.
Translation of Superior Class
The classes in both Superior Cuisine and Pastry are being translated again, just like Basic and Intermediate. Thank you Leanne, Gabrielle, Deborah and Polly.
The chefs during our practicals:
There were many. These included our regulars, plus the chefs from Basic and Intermediate, as well as non-Parisian LCB chefs and outsiders. All very nice people. Regarding feedback during our presentation of the dishes, there was not always a good feedback. There are still chefs that say too often that it's 'bien' or 'bon travail'. I can't work with that. At all! Actually, there are only 2 or 3 chefs that give proper feedback. When talking to chef Clerque about this subject he explained that he 'knows the problem'. Chefs: Could you please look into this issue? It will help everybody in class.
And when a certain chef is supervising a practical he should NEVER EVER play computer games on his little computer. Every time (yes, every time!) when this chef was in the practical classes he would only play games or even vanish during practicals. He didn't notice people struggling with issues nor did he see people excel during a class; his final comment was always: 'Bon Travail' ! Bollocks! And take his computer off him please. (He's a very nice chef by the way.)
Furthermore, all the chefs speak English these days. Some better than others, but it's great to have a conversation in Franglais or some other mixture of languages. My French still sucks, but I do get the picture when they speak French and I had some great discussions with all the chefs during classes.
The exam set-up:
Great! Only 5 or 6 people in the kitchen during the exam, so there was plenty of space for all of us. The crate with all the ingredients was already set-up for us. We entered the kitchen one at the time, with some time in between. This actually means that everybody could plate their 4 main courses and (in our case) soups hot for the jury.
During my exam, I was in the kitchen with people I'd never cooked with. We had soooooo much fun and stress together! Thank you Ensan, Hendrick, Liam and Miguel. We had some good laughs!
The people working at LCB / the building.
All very nice and helpful. A few have left unfortunately, but everybody is still very nice (to me..). The communicating skills are a bit of a challenge sometimes. Replying to Emails is still very very difficult for some... but I've discussed that before and it hasn't changed at all, unfortunately. There are many comments on blogs/Facebook regarding this issue. They are very helpful to enroll you (read: get the money in), but after that the communicating skills are crap.
My enrolment for Superior went very smooth again, like last year when I started Intermediate. I just filled in a PDF-form and sent it in by Email. Personally, I think they should also ask for 'in case of emergency' details (up-to-date telephone numbers and the right contact address) since that can change from time to time. (LCB was still trying to call me on my old work-mobile even though I'd left a long time ago.)
As I wrote before, the entrance of the school (with the shop and reception area) changed a while ago - and for the better. It certainly looks more organized and professional. The so called 'Winter Garden' is still a crappy place; it's an always-too-hot-room with a few tables. (And yes, I do understand it's an old building.)
I was already used to the kitchens and in my practical group we didn't have any real issues with the equipment. Even the ovens were well calibrated. One of the smaller kitchens could do with a few more pans and bowls.
A big thank you to the dishwasher guys and the cleaning ladies. Thank you Souad, Suzanna, Georges and Jean (and others I might have forgotten!).
The class schedule for Superior Cuisine
Slow! Too slow! I was quite bored sometimes when we only had 1 session a day and too many days off. I do understand that other students are also doing the Pastry next to the Cuisine course, to receive the 'Grand Diplome', but for me these 3 months of only cooking were way too slow.
I certainly prefer the Intensive courses. 3 or sometimes 4 session a day is a lot better, I must say.
Theft (of knives, scrapers and even complete sets!)
Unfortunately it's still very very much present. From those little things that sometimes just turn up in somebody else's knife-kit, to complete knife sets vanishing. Our practical group was great; when somebody would forget something, we'd just give it back the next day.
But there was someone who had her complete knife set stolen on
exam-day, just a few minutes before she was about to start. Nasty!
To be honest, things do get stolen because people are not looking after their own stuff and lockers are left open. People even leave complete knife sets in the Winter Garden unattended and then leave briefly. That's asking for trouble. Most actually think that 'in this nice school nobody steals anything'. Well, get real and please look well after your stuff! It can happen to you and knives are expensive (and popular!).
Rungis market tour.
A great (half a) day out and very interesting. Personally, I would have liked to go to the fishmarket, but that wasn't possible. That particular market only runs from midnight until 4 or 5 am. and that's probably way too early for most people....maybe some other time.
The written exam - a new wind is blowing.
The set-up of the exam is still the same. I already explained last year that I don't like this way of doing exams but I guess that's personal. The change is that the director, Mr. Damien Julia, was present during the exam. I must say that he was VERY present! He watched us like a hawk and he warned us up front that he would sanction cheating with a zero mark. Great! Finally no more iPhones and cameras working overtime of people who take the piss out of the exams and cheat all the time. Keep it up!
Class idiots, disturbing students
Unfortunately, there were a few people in class that were 'quite present' (to say the least). As already explained before, chefs should/could do more about that. But what do you do when the chefs have already given up on the behaviour of certain 'students' in class? If somebody is so stupid that she's ruining dishes that chef presents after a demo (before we even have the time to take a photograph the idiot already starts eating the dish). Or when someone's filming almost every class? Or when you're too drunk to sit up straight in your seat? Or when you're ALWAYS late? To cut a long story short: LCB, please take action and send these idiots away - at least during that particular class.
Graduating, not graduating or how to 'arrange' your diploma
I wrote a bit on this subject before in my last review.
Unfortunately two people failed their course this time, one in Cuisine and one in Pastry. But from what we've heard, it was for a (good) reason. Too bad, but better luck next time, they have to do Superior again. Or not......
From what we've heard some time later is that one of the people who failed the pastry course, suddenly did graduate. Eh? Is that possible? There has been quite some correspondence on the internet/Email and Facebook about this subject and rumour is that 'rich and influential daddy talked to the director and LCB reconsidered this persons performance and grades'. If this is true, then it's a disgrace that LCB is even considering it let alone allowing it.
When someone fails the final exam ('It just was not good enough' the pastry chef said out loud when it happened), when your daily performance is crap and when your behaviour is way out of line every day, you do qualify for failing the course. Period.
Come on LCB, this will back-fire big time. LCB has a great reputation but doing these things don't do any good to the school. You don't want your reputation destroyed by people who 'pretend' they finished a certain program successfully. This person even calls herself a 'French Cuisine & Pastry Chef
' on her LinkedIn site.... And it's also
very very disrespectful to the chefs and even to all the students. What is my/our diploma worth now? Maybe it works like this in the real world, but I can't say I like it! LCB please think about it.
Enough said.
The Graduation Ceremony
Now, this was a nice afternoon. LCB organized this in the posh
'Cercle de l'Union Interalliée', next to Mr. Sarkozy's office. We, the men that is, had to wear a tie, and that was not that clearly stated on the invitation. But the concierge at the
'Cercle' had a good tie collection available for those who had 'forgotten' their tie....
After a long procedure/ceremony we went for drinks and nibbles. A very nice afternoon, thank you LCB.
WIFI
There is still no wireless internet available to the students. It's up and running in the building but LCB is not giving any access to it. That's too bad, since there are quite a lot of people using a laptop in class and during the breaks. Please give the students access to the wireless Email and internet.
But I must say, the computer room with 3 desktops is great.
Locker Rooms
Yes! The men's locker room has been expanded last Januari. We have 1.5 square meters more now....
In general, both locker rooms (F and M) are way too small. Don't know how LCB can solve this problem quickly, but it's certainly an issue. And nowadays, each student is only assigned one locker. (Don't take two as I suggested before..... but if there are lockers 'left over', why not...?)
Wouldn't this be nice..... ? Ha,ha !
Another point to look into is the quality of the lock on the door of the locker. I mean the metal bit that you connect the padlock to. With some lockers you can open the door by just turning this metal bit - even when the padlock is on - and the door is open. It would be nice if LCB could look into that and fix that.
The school party
This time the school party was sort of at the end of the course. A nice evening in a club in central Paris. But wouldn't it be a lot nicer if LCB organises this at the beginning of the course? In that case you get to know each other a lot quicker!
Signing up for the LCB alumni website
That's a no go! This
alumni website doesn't work or there is no response to any applications from (ex) students by LBC. Too many people have tried to sign-up, but ALL gave up after a few tries...
Would I do it again? Will I recommend doing the Cuisine diploma?
In one word: YES! I would definitely do it again (not that I need to!) if I had the opportunity and the money. LCB courses don't come cheap at all, but I loved every minute of it. Of course things go with up-and-downs, recipes are great and bad, I met loads of great people, some idiots, and of course some things or issues are just personal. And we all have our good and bad days.
But yes, I liked it a lot and I must say I've learned a lot of kitchen stuff, recipes, techniques, procedures and other skills as well.
For me, the whole Cordon Bleu experience has been life changing. I'd been unhappy in my former chemical job for many years, and now I have found something that I really enjoy doing. So be warned..... Cordon Bleu could change your life!
Because of my blog and the reviews that I've written about my LCB adventures, I regularly receive Emails with questions from future students from all over the world. Some have really specific questions about the course or (cooking) life in Paris and I've always answered them with enthusiasm and with an honest answer. Some people I have Emailed with are now following a course or have been to LCB already! (From NL (a few), HK, US (a few), E, CH, UK) That's just great. I seem to have become a bit of an LCB ambassador...
How does this Cuisine course fit in the real (kitchen) life?
At the moment I work in a professional kitchen. This is a kitchen of a good (fish) restaurant, a hotel and a banqueting section, so it's busy. I've seen lots of things already that I've learned (or just seen) at LCB, but only now 'I get it'.
LCB could explain a bit more how it works in a real kitchen. Why not explain (in detail) why you use a blast chiller so often, certain mixers, vacuum techniques, steaming dishes etc etc. !? Please explain WHY people have to be assistant for a week during the course. We all understand why we have to learn to chop properly, but you only learn the real knife skills in a professional kitchen. Mine have improved a lot already! Just 'brunoised' 11 crates of sea bass fillets for a nice starter....
I must say that I'm not doing that bad in the professional kitchen, but it's only now that I understand some of the things I've learned in Paris. All in all, the things I learned (and already knew) are very useful.
Before I forget - when you graduate, even after the Basic certificate, people think you can cook! (And some students also thìnk they can cook and that they are already a great chef - even after they've 'only' done Basic Cuisine.....) Well, let me tell you, you just did a nice course and that's just the beginning of it. So please, cook a lot, practice, practice, practice and you'll get better. And - taste, taste, taste, taste! Do try to get some experience in a professional kitchen. That helps a lot.
And tell your friends and family that you still want to visit them for a NORMAL dinner, since they all think you are a critical chef now who only cooks on a high level... (Some are even afraid to cook for you now....) They also expect a posh dinner when they visit you. We all know that that's ridiculous, so explain to them that you also eat 'simple' stuff. Sounds familiar?
Other Blogs, reviews, LCB cuisine adventures
There are many many blogs available on the internet with stories and comments about the Cordon Bleu courses and life in Paris. As you know, I've written 3 blogs already,
Basic,
Intermediate and
Superior with feedback. (Please click on the links for more information.)
For those of you who are interested in attending the Parisian school, or just want some background info on 'LCB life', here are some great web links to start with:
(All blogs are recently written, 2009/2010: Scroll all the way down in these blogs and start reading...)
Mark M. wrote a good review last year. Click
here for the link. Nice stories about his adventures in Paris. (Mark did Intensive Basic Cuisine in Nov/Dec 2009)
Anthony F. is still at the school and doing the Cuisine Diplome.
Great detailed and funny blog, with lots of pictures. (2009-2010). Anthony is also doing the Wine Program. One of the better blogs!
Carolyn G. is also doing the Cuisine program and will graduate this August. (2009-2010)
Meredith G. has just graduated. She was one of my classmates in Superior Cuisine. She did the
'Grand Diplome', both Pastry and Cuisine. (2009-2010)
Sarah D. finished pastry in 2010.
Mirjam v. R.
just finished intensive Basic Cuisine. (summer 2010) including
lots of pictures.
Will R. , a classmate, wrote some articles about his adventures during the Cuisine course (2009-2010)
And Jen is still
writing about the Pastry course she's doing in Paris at the moment. (2010)
There are so many more Blogs, Facebook pages, Hyves, Twitter and other things available on the web that I can't give you a full list. Please enjoy these links and just 'Google' the rest yourself. And if you do have any questions, please do not hesitate t
o send me an Email and ask anything you want!
Thank you!
@ LCB: Bruno, Fréderic, Patrick 1, Marc, Franck, Philippe, Patrick 2, 'La Petite', guest chefs, Xavier, Patrick 3, JF and JJ, Amélie, Karine, Thomás, Vincent, Juliette, Pouy-San, Damian, Céline, Kaye, Jean-Luc, Christine, Setsuko, Bérénice, Sandra, Suzanna, Souad, Catharine, Janine, Leanne, Ben, Polly, Deborah, Gabrielle, Georges and Jean - and all the others that I might have forgotten...
And to all students I met during my adventures in Paris: Thank you! It's been great fun indeed.
Have I forgotten something?
If I have forgotten something in this review, please feel free to contact me and tell me about it. Also if you have questions regarding LCB cuisine courses, (cooking) life in Paris, housing etc etc,
do send me an Email. I'll try to answer your questions the best I can.
Thanks for reading my blog, your comments, recipe input and all your support !
Au revoir, Sjoerd
