Week 6 of BP

November 14, 2012 Wednesday
Demo Class#11: Chef Jocelyn Bouzenard showed us how to make Succès, Progrès, and Gâteau russe aux noix.  I liked both Succès and Gâteau russe aux noix, tasted really good.

After the demo class, Tanvi made me, Cindy and Cynthia pasta!!

Then we went to Second Cup to study......... yep, "tried" to study....

November 15, 2012 Thursday

It's exactly one year since my mom passed away.  I don't really feel that we're apart, probably because I've been away from my family in Hong Kong for so many years, and also because I believe that she is watching over us.

Practical Class#11: We haven't had a noon class for a long time.  We usually have 8:15am classes.  The good thing is that I could sleep in.  We did Succès today, mine turned out great.  Chef Jocelyn liked it, he said the taste and texture were exactly what Succès should be.  But I should never put the decoration in the centre, hmm... who would have known? I asked him how long it would last in the fridge 'cos my friends would be visiting me this weekend.  He said it would be, but I should leave the decoration (marzipan) out, and just put the cake in the fridge.

Demo Class#12: Right after the practical class, we had the demo class, no time to eat.... Chef Jocelyn seemed very excited to show us how to do Bûche de Noël (Christmas Log) and he took very long time to finish all the decorations for the logs.....

November 16, 2012 Friday
Before going to school today, I had a chance to chat with Muriel on Skype.  It was a nice chat, I'm so happy for her working and living in Paris.  All the best to M U R I E L!!! :-)

Practical Class#12: Today's class was at 3:30pm, but I was a sous chef today, so I needed to be there 15 mins earlier.  We were doing Bûche de Noël for practical.  We were rushing to finish the log in 2 and half hours! I know I could do more decorations if I had more time.  Chef Jocelyn said I could have done more chocolate decorations.  True! I totally forgot to, even though I had it on my notes.  And the green veins could be thinner, but that was the smallest round tip that I used! I just wanted to finish the whole thing! My responsibility of being a sous chef was to make sure everything was clean before we left the room.  So the earlier I finished my work and graded, the more time I had to clean.  Here's my ugly work:

P.s. the meringue mushrooms were made ahead by Chef and ready for us to use.  It took him 3 hours to finish all the mushrooms for classes.

Happy Diwali! Festival of Lights!

November 13, 2012 (Tuesday)

I got up early today to do laundry, and also found out that the macaron class in Toronto I wanted to attend was full.  So I guess I won't be going to Toronto.....  After laundry, I had a big breakfast, pasta, baguette, meat ball, prosciutto, and diet coke.  Yum!

It's one of the big festivals of Indian today, called Diwali.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali Our beloved Indian princess Tanvi kindly invited us to her place for dinner.

I met Cindy in school then met Tanvi on Rideau Street for grocery in a Chinese supermarket across the bridge (in Vanier).  I didn't get much stuff there, only some vegetable.

Dina messaged me to ask if we could walk to Tanvi's place together at 8:50pm.  When we arrived, Cynthia and Cindy were already there.  We met Tanvi's housemate, Leena.  She was the one who cooked most of the delicious dishes.  But Tanvi was the one invited us.  Interesting.  LOL  Then Quinn and Matt arrived with beers, Tanvi was so happy to see the beers, hmm, wonder why? But she told us that she was not supposed to drink due to the festival..... wait folks.  Then Tanvi and Leena went to pray in Tanvi's room, Cindy and I were nosey enough to be there and watched.  THEN, Tanvi had a beer.... I guess it's okay AFTER the prayer.... LOL  Dinner was great, I could take more spicy food though! They even served Indian dessert! And Cynthia also brought the cake she made in class.  We had an amazing time, Tanvi certainly entertained us with Bollywood dance.  Jason showed us some of his magic tricks.  Quinn and Matt made us gingerbread man cookies.  Good food, good people, great time! We kept bugging Tanvi to invite us to her future wedding in India, we even encouraged Quinn and Matt to have their wedding with Tanvi's in India.... sorry, we forgot they are not that mature..... too soon. Sorry :-)

Bernardin Canning Workshop

I got rested yesterday and today, which is great! But there was Bernardin Canning workshop in school tonight.
Before the workshop, I decided to go to La Bottega Nicastro Fine Food Shop in ByWard Market.  I just wanted to get parmesan cheese, pasta, and balsamic vinegar.  Cindy came along, and we had Taiwanese noodle for dinner.

In the workshop, we learned from Chef Emerie Brine what we needed to know about home canning, and the proper way to sanitize the jars and lids.  Will I do home canning? Mmmm.... maybe.  I did learn to make jam as cake filling once in Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts, but we didn't add pectin like the chef in this workshop did.  Instead, we cooked and used the pectin from the fruits.  I might get the Bernardin Canning Kit and try to do more of it.

Free Demo Class

Saturday (November 10, 2012)

Free Demo Class: Today, we had a free demo class by Chef Didier Chantefort and Chef Hervé Chabert.  Cuisine Chef Didier demonstrated a Duck with Salsifis and Pomme Darphin dish, and Pastry Chef Hervé made Exotica Christmas Log.

I love duck breast, but the one Chef Didier made today was kind of overcooked for my liking.  Well, I still finished eating the whole tiny plate.  Will I make this dish at home? Mmmm... probably not.  However, the Exotica Christmas Log that Chef Hervé made would be something that I might try at home.  Before doing it, I need to have gelatin leaves, and some fruit puree, also a PVC tube and a special mold for this particular dessert.  Oh, I also need to master my skill for making macarons.  I was so happy that he showed us how to make macarons.  He told us there were many ways to make them, and we would learn different methods in intermediate and in superior programs.  As we all ate it during the demo, I must say it tasted quite good.  It was crunchy outside, and chewy inside.  Just like the ones in Paris.  The only different is that there was no filling from his.

After the demo, Cindy, Cynthia and I went to have lunch with two other classmates from intermediate program.  Since they finished the basic pastry program, we asked them what we needed to know about the final exam.  They also mentioned that some students couldn't present the product and ended up failing the course.  Scary! I guess I will have to organize my notes and start memorizing the recipes starting tomorrow.

Week 5 of BP

It's already November! A month of schooling was over, which means 1/3 of the Pâtisserie de Base was done.  Just less than two months, basic program will be over.

Tuesday (November 6, 2012)
Term Evaluation for Basic Program: My appointment supposed to be at 1:10pm, but I was early to school.  On the way there, I bumped into Erin.  She told me where we were supposed to meet Chef Jocelyn.  It's called La Chapelle, a very nice cozy area above the school restaurant Signatures.  We had to wear uniforms for the evaluation.  Quinn went in first.  It only took about 5 mins for each student.  Mine was fine.  Chef gave me good comments on every category.  He knew I had some experiences, I told him I attended George Brown College years back.  He asked (everyone) if I would study intermediate and superior program (Pâtisserie Intermédiaire et Pâtisserie Supérieure), I told him I would be doing Le Diplôme de Pâtisserie.  Then he asked me if I would like to write some comments on the journal, so I wrote about what I needed to improve, what I could do better etc.  So I guess it went well.
I bought a swear shirt from the boutique today.

 Love the logo :-)

Then Cindy and I went to have Taiwanese food in ByWard Market.  My Toronto friend Jennifer recommended me to have pork chop there.  So I did.  And it was pretty good.  But I didn't not enjoy the honeydew bubble milk tea.  Then we walked around the area, checked out an Italian fine food store, and a French bookstore, then Ma Cuisine.  I also bought the bus tickets in Rideau Centre.  The worse happened was.....

Yummy cinnamon bun from Cinnabon http://www.cinnabon.com

Wednesday (November 7, 2012)
Before class today, I went to Parc Strathcona to take some pictures of the beautiful scenes.  It was so cold but the sky was clear, and there were so many squirrels in the park.  They thought I was going to give them feed, so they came toward me and wait.  Too bad, I had no food.

Demo Class#9: I was excited to know that we would be doing Pâte a choux.  Chef Jocelyn showed us how to make Pâte a choux: Éclairs au chocolat et au café, Religieuses au chocolat et au café, Cygnes Chantilly, Salambô au kirsch.

Practical Class#9: You might think that Pâte a choux would be easy to make, especially éclairs.  Honestly, I was defeated! My éclairs were flat (deflated).... and could be bigger.  The fondant was shinny but needed to be nicer on top of the éclairs.  Religieuses were out of proportion, the heads were too big for the small bodies.  Basically, the heads should be smaller, and the bodies should be bigger.  Chef Jocelyn said well done, but I think he was too kind.

Class Photo Taken: For Basic Pastry Program, we had a class photo taken session at 3pm.  There are 3 groups in BP.  The photographer told us that he was going to 2 serious looking photos then 1 crazy looking one.  And I think my group (Group A) did a pretty good job comparing to others.

Demo Class#10: Chef Jocelyn was showing us Dry Petits Fours today, including Bâton de Maréchaux, Madeleines, Cigarettes et tulipes, Palets de dames, Tuiles aux amandes.

After the demo class, some of us just went to a so-called Japanese noodle place (called Taste Ramen) recommended by Cindy for dinner.  Everyone was disappointed with the food, except for Cindy.  I guess there won't be a second visit for me.

Friday (November 9, 2012)
Practical Class#10: You know how when you are so focused on doing something, and you don't even know how fast time flies.  That's exactly how I felt in class today.  When Chef Jocelyn said "Ten minutes left!" We rushed to finish whatever we needed to.  All of a sudden, the freshly out-of-the-oven-extremely-HOT-cookie thing became nothing to my hands, I just rolled it into Cigarettes shape with the sharpening steel within 2 seconds. Not a problem!  Chef liked my Madeleines, it's best to have the dome in the middle.  And he told us to present them with the dome side up, never the shell mark side! Who knew?! Oh, I had too much flour on the tray (to prevent the dough sticking on the tray), so when I piped the dough of Palets de dames, it left up with the piping bag! So I had to get another tray and buttered and floured it.  When I tried to flour it with less flour....Chef Eric was standing there (he was doing scaling for his class)... and he said it was too painful to watch me do it, so he just grabbed my tray and showed me how to "dust" the flour on the tray, and how to banged the tray on top of a garbage bin to get rid of the excess flour.  Voila! Well, anyway, everything turned out great.

Tanvi's Birthday Dinner at Haveli Indian Restaurant: It's Tanvi's birthday today! Cindy, Cynthia, Dina, Jason and I celebrated her b-day in, where else? Indian Restaurant! I had a blast! I think she did too!