Weeks 1 and 2

WOW!!  I have made it through 2 full weeks of culinary school and I cannot believe the amount of information we have already covered.  Our days are mostly the same format. You always arrive early, at least by 15 minutes because there is often some amount of set up that needs to be done, especially if we are in "production" which means the students do hands-on work. Basically, if you are on time, you are late. End of story.

Every day there are 3 people assigned as Sous Chef, Sanitation Steward and Food Steward. They are in charge of attending to the Chef's needs, making sure sanitation tasks are taken care of and that all food items are retrieved and stored properly. I was Sanitation Steward for today!

So upon arrival, we read what is going on for that day and we set up our our work areas if needed (cutting boards, sanitation buckets, knives and peelers, etc).  Then the Chef comes in and takes attendence and sometimes does an inspection. We must be in proper uniform that is pressed and clean, nails short, hat and cravat on, thermometer and black sharpie are in our uniform pocket and of course the black shoes and socks. Inspection happens about 3 times a week. 

We might go into lecture for a while first and then the Chef might do the demo.  If appropriate, we will then duplicate what he just did on our own.  During these 2 weeks we did knife cuts on potatoes, carrots, tomato, zuchini and onion.  At the end of each week, Chef cooks up whatever we cut for that week for a tasting demo on Friday. (On Friday of week one, Chef made mashed potatoes that were to die for. Literally. He used about tons of real butter and not half-and-half but WHOLE cream.  I think I had a tiny stroke after the tasting.)

Then at end of the day we do our clean up of the entire kitchen and then the last hour is all about sanitation and food safety with a different Chef instructor. It's what we call "The Nasty Class" because it is all about the disgusting things that go on with food-borne illness, safety and allergy, contamination and all the other disgusting things that can happen (and do happen) in the food service business.

So, weeks 1 and 2 consisted of knife cuts, weights and measures, history of food service and learning the kitchen positions called The Brigade. We also did recipe conversions (converting to yield a larger or smaller number of servings) and learned all about brown and white stock preparation.

Working with the knives and learning our cuts was really fun.  We did have a few people give themselves pretty bad cuts, but I was not one of them. I am sure my time will come.

Here are the knife cuts we learned during week 1 and 2:

• Batonnet cut
• Small dice
• Julienne and Fine Julienne
• Brunoise and Fine Brunoise
• Concasse
• Cisseler
• Mince
• Tourne
• Oblique

The stock making process was also a very interesting one.  We worked with very large volumes like it would be done in a professional kitchen so there were huge stock pots filled with simmering bones and mirepoix (celery, onion, carrot mix).  For the brown stock we used 2 huge trays of roasted veal bones, mostly joints because those have the most cartilige and create the best stocks.  The mirepoix is browned on the stove (or roasted in the oven) and tomato paste is added to that and browned slightly, then we deglaze with red wine.  This is what gives the brown stock the deep, dark color.  Some herbs are added as well, but no salt.  All of this simmered overnight and in the morning we "dropped" the stock to seperate the broth from the solids and quickly cooled it in an ice bath so it was ready for storage and out of the tempurature danger zone for pathogen growth.   A white stock is essentially the same process except we used a huge tray of chicken bones, did not brown the bones or mirepoix, no tomato paste and after it simmered overnight, we got a beautiful, butter colored stock.  Both stocks were reduced down to glazes that were combined with the vegetables we cut up that week and we all did a tasting. Yummmm.  The stocks will be used as flavoring in other recipes such as in the 5 leading "mother" sauces and demi-glaces we will learn about next week!!

This weekend I will be practicing my knife cuts on potatoes and carrots.  I guess I will be eating a lot of mashed potato and carrot soup for the next few months!

First day of school. I feel like a girl of 13 again!

Today was my first day of  culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Seattle.  For the last week leading up to today, I felt confused, scared and suddenly unsure about my decision. I worried about all sorts of things: What if I hated it? What if I sucked?  What if it was just not what I expected it to be?  I guess this is why they give you a 5 day grace period after you start class to backout with a full refund.  I didn't understand how I could be so sure one day and not the next but when I went to bed last night all of that was gone!  I felt renewed and had the same feeling of excitement and joy that I felt when I enrolled a month ago. Phew!

Today's agenda included getting our uniforms, being fitted for our shoes and reviewing the syllabus for the first of the 2 classes we will be in for the next 6 weeks: Culinary Foundations 1 with Chef Knaup (hilarious guy) and Food Safety and Sanitation with Chef Brian Kim. 

Our uniform consists of a chef jacket with Le Cordon Bleu logo on it, those funky black and white checkered pants you sometimes see on cooks, a neckerchief or cravat, a skull cap/beenie hat, towels, non-slip black leather shoes (steel-toed) and all this it neatly tied together with a long white apron!  I have NEVER felt more attractive in my life.

The shoe experience was different.  There was actually a big "shoe truck" out back where we all walked up into, two at a time like we were being loaded onto an ark, and we tried on and walked out with our shoes.  I asked for something in Gucci but that was not offered under this tuition level.

Our grade will be based on things such as quizzes and final exams like in a regular school but we also get graded on professionalism, organization, safety, culinary skills, etc. 

Some of you may wonder if we are required to respond to your instructors with a "Yes, Chef!"  Yes, you do.  It is the respectful way to respond when asked a question and it shows the instructor that you understand the request.  You can give a "No, Chef" or "Maybe, Chef" or "Not sure, Chef"  if that response makes sense too.

The people in my class seem pretty nice, all ranging in age from just graduated from high school to others in their 40's like me.  There were some like me who seemed really enthusiastic and immediately took their place on the first row of seats.  And there were some that have already worked in the business. And there was one guy who had even already been yelled at by Chef Ramsey!  He said it was not fun, but I can't understand why.  I realize I am going to have to work with many different types of people, personalities, maturity and industry experience levels. But I know I have something I can learn from each person and maybe they will learn a few things from me.

So that was about it for day one, the rest of the week will include getting our books, reviewing more "housekeeping" related items like policies and proceedures and I think on Wednesday we get our took kit including our knives!!  Stay tuned!