CorkPopper

I’ve been struggling mightily with how to write about my experience at Le Cordon Bleu.  The first six weeks were little more than sanitation and knife skills, and only in the past couple of weeks have we finally begun to produce anything more substantial than stocks and sauces.  One friend suggested I write about any funny or ridiculous or interesting things I or my classmates do.  There have been few such stories thus far, however, though I am most definitely trying to keep my eyes and ears open.  Part of the problem, of course, is that on the days we cook, I find myself mostly in my own little zone.

In any event, we finally cooked some food today that actually photographed well (cauliflower soup in a white bowl, after all, is not all that interesting), so I thought I’d share some photos….

Legumes Glace Brun (Vegetables with Brown Glaze)

Poireaux Vinaigrette (Leeks with Vinaigrette)

Laitue Braisee (Braised Lettuce)

Asperges Froides (Asparagus with Hollandaise)

Cheers and buon appetito!!

I’m finishing up my fifth week of culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, which means two things: (1) I have finals next week (it’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that!), and (2) I finally got to (kind of) prepare some food!  You see, the first six weeks of the curriculum is pretty much limited to learning about sanitation and food safety, practicing knife cuts, and learning about foundational processes and techniques primarily through watching my chef instructor lecture/demonstrate.

Today, however, our class was split into five small groups, and each group was responsible for preparing a different aspect of an incredibly complicated French salad that involved shrimp, mussels, artichokes, cauliflower, white beans, tomatoes, shallots, leeks, and a vinaigrette made of the cooking liquid from the shrimp and mussels.  I say I only kind of got to prepare some food because my group was actually assigned to distribute the ingredients needed by each of the other groups and then finish and plate the salad, which means that the only things my group actually prepared were some diced tomatoes and some finely chopped parsley.  In other words, whether this particular salad tasted good or bad was entirely out of my group’s hands.  As for the visual presentation, however, I think we nailed it….

Looks delish, right?

After next week, I’ll be moving into the next class, which means I’ll start cooking A LOT more.  Get ready, folks!!

Cheers!