Today was the first day of our Intermediate term. This term we generally have Patisserie on Monday and Tuesday (with the occasional Wednesday class) and Cuisine Wednesdays - Fridays. It's all over the place, but the good news is: no weekend classes! None - zip, zilch, nada. I have all my weekends and it feels good. Hopefully I can get back into a routine for going to ballet (my teacher is going to wonder who I am, I've been gone so long).
But I digress. Back to first day - I initially felt quite organized. I had my document folder holder things, paper, extra pens because someone was bound to ask to borrow a pen (they did), highlighters, new hairpins (from NY, because no one in the UK appears to need the roller pins as bobby pins)...and I left my St Honore piping tip at home. So - that's the one that looks like a plain old piping tip except it has a V-shaped notch cut out of it. It makes the shapes that look like interlocking "V"s (or see the panicked effort on the lemon meringue tarte - was it the previous post?). It's the first day, who needs it?
It turns out that was a stupid question. I hear South Park and Mr Garrison in the back of my mind right now ("There are no stupid questions, Kyle. Only stupid people...") It turns out that we were going to make a Gateau St Honore (more on that later) - and because the universe likes to laugh at you and can do so in a myriad of ways - it was also puff pastry day.
The Return of Evil Puff Pastry and Gateau St Honore
It only makes sense that on a day when you want the kitchen (or Patisserie, in this case) cold, it's HOT. As in, it was so hot that the air conditioning in the demo room was blowing hot air despite being cranked down to 19 degrees (normally it's freezing when it's set to 21 degrees). Outside was 33 degrees and humid (which is high 80s Farenheit) - and it was much more uncomfortable inside.
So we had to start with the puff pastry so that it could rest while we did our Gateau between turns. In basic we did the single turns, which is where you roll out the dough and then fold it in thirds, like when you fold a piece of paper to stuff an envelope. Today we did double or book turns - you fold each end towards the middle, then smush them together to get a piece that is a lot smaller (and the ends tucked in). Somehow mine got air bubbles in it - Chef G, whom we had as our kitchen chef for the first time in a practical (the exam didn't count) didn't seem to be too concerned. Easy for him - he's not the one who has to make something with it in 2 days' time and have butter leaking out. He seemed to think I did a moderately successful job, but he didn't see the rips where I didn't care anymore after the umpteenth airbubble burst and left a little tear in the dough. It's one of those things where if you look at it wrong, you can see layers ripping. Yikes!
So - puff pastry done. In between turns (and swearing in my mind) we had to do the St Honore which involves a premade puff pastry base and choux pastry. Yes, more choux - arghh!!!! We made our profiteroles (like my swans and eclairs - same dough, different shape). Then something happened to my caramel. Apparently it didn't sit in the ice bath long enough because it got to the perfect color when I shocked it, but then it kept darkening as VC and I were dipping our profiteroles - the first few on each of our gateaux looked perfect, the rest were too dark. Oh, and as soon as Chef G said, "If you drop your profiterole in the caramel, use one of the cocktail sticks to fish it out," mine fell in. I managed to fish that one out, at the cost of a blister on my right index finger from a drop of caramel. Then another drop dripped on my left middle finger - I would take a photo except that would look like I am making a rude gesture and this is (or aspires to be) a family blog.
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| Gateau St Honore - yes I know - not very pretty... |
The Gateau was not super inspiring - I think it was too hot for anyone to muster enthusiasm about anything. Luckily this one didn't have the grand marnier (shhh! Don't tell Chef!) because my partner and I both dislike alcohol in our desserts.
I didn't want to take it home and the base wasn't going to last long between the cream filling and the humidity - so I asked our porter if he would like it. He initially said no because he knows most (all?) of the recipes call for alcohol in the creams. I told him there wasn't any because I'm allergic - which is true. However, he took it so I don't have to find a home for it, which is all to the good.
I'm not sure what happened - I blame it all on the jetlag. Yesterday I didn't feel like eating anything and today, I haven't been able to stop. I am about to have a belated midnight snack - I suppose it's dinner time in NY, where my stomach thinks it still is. I haven't been able to convince it that we are now back in London and should be on London time and really, what's a girl to do when her appetite is complaining that she is neglecting it? Given the hour, I have ordered pizza - ah, back to college days...yes, yes, not an ideal thing to have before bed. So say all those nutrition articles - I think I will ignore them unless they say something I like. All those diet fads make no sense to me and my mind instinctively rebels at the idea of being restricted. Normally bread doesn't do it for me, but as soon as I thought about trying one day of no carbs, all I wanted was bread, pasta, sandwiches...you get the idea.
Leavening
Last term my cuisine class was all female (the chefs were fond of saying we were their favorite all-lady cuisine class) and we had one male in our patisserie class. This term we have a full complement of 10 grand diplome students, 3 of whom are male. It seems some of the fellows are pretty intense, but there was no sign of that in class today.
It's really nice that everyone is supportive of each other - I suppose close ties are bound to happen, given the amount of time we spend together. I find that it's hard to have a social life with anyone who doesn't live close by, if they aren't in school us.
Random thoughts
I don't know what reminded me today, but I had a random recollection of Chef DM telling me one day that everyone feels that they are the worst one in class on at least one occasion. Maybe it was finding out that some of the people who were in the course with us last term didn't pass an exam. Of course rumors abound and I wonder how the people who seem to know find these things out. You can't ask the person who failed either, can you? There was one guy last term who was quite open about it in cuisine, but that information was volunteered.
My elation over weekends and lots of days where we have later starts (noon-ish) has been temporarily stymied, due to the heat. I am sure it will return shortly - especially since we have a few days where we only have 3 hours of class. If it works out - more ballet! Definitely feel the need to go and do something active. It's very different from being in the kitchens.
I did have a temporary reality check when I read the front part of my folder (no, I am not a nerd - not that there's anything wrong with that - thanks, Seinfeld! - but more of an occupational hazard. I read the terms and conditions of my stupid bank policies and credit cards too, although retention is another matter entirely) and it said something like this course is for people who want to be assistant pastry chefs or commis in a patisserie. Um, what?
Also - had a quick chat with Chef MH about l'Ecole. I told him I thought I tasted almond in the creme brulee and he agreed that didn't sound nice. I told him our recipe is better. I don't know what it was that I didn't like - maybe they just used a different kind of vanilla...
So until next time - happy thoughts and may the cool/warm depending on your preference, be with you...
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