Updates

Well, I've been gone from here for awhile again! Seriously, where did February go? Oh right- school, interning, and travel-time.

So, some quick updates.

1. It makes me sad to think the last time I posted, it was about my stage (or internship). Well, unfortunately that is over already. No, I did not get fired, but instead, it turns out that I was in fact working for free illegally.

Basically, France has strict laws about working for free (socialist country) and I am not allowed to intern until after I graduate, so I got one solid month in until this was all figured out and now I'm out. "Auf wiedersehen, Au revoir!"

At first, I was pretty upset about the whole situation, but now that I've had a few days off and some more time to relax (before my big final especially), I do have to appreciate that France is trying to protect me. Even if they are not. Because, I've been reading a lot lately about the intern epidemic that is taking over DC and watching HBO's Girls and realizing how much more shitty the system of interning for 10 years before you ever get paid in your field is much worse than France not letting me get some experience for a few months. Well, a mix of the two systems might be best.

But I did learn a lot and the Chef will give me a recommendation in the future. So, it was definitely worth it.

2. FINALS: that's right. It's that time again. This Wednesday, I will enter the kitchen and choose a recipe out of a hat (literally) and cook it in exactly 2.5 hours for 45% of my grade for Intermediate coarse. So, we have been studying a lot in preparation for that event.

Yesterday, me and a group of friends went shopping for extra tools we may need. For example: a hook to pull the tendons out of a duck or guinea fowl, small meat thermometers, squeeze bottles for sauce, industrial wipes for plates and counters and stoves, molds for risottos/meat/flans/etc.

We have also been practicing in our own kitchens various potential dishes. Not to mention the hours going over recipes in various cafes and bars.

3. Finishing the course: We also had a written final, which according to my professional opinion was complete horsesh*t as the exam had little to do with what we have/had/are learning and all about random cheeses that no one has ever heard of before. Let me explain, as this course is all about the different regions of France, we learned the different traditional styles/dishes/produce/wines of each culinary region of France. Awesome. I like it! So, when we were told by other students to make sure to know the desserts/wines/cheeses of each region, we did just that! I can get behind that.

(A studying montage)

That's not what happened. Instead of choosing the main cheese known from that region, they asked us about practically unknown cheeses that none of us had ever heard of before. Because that's a fair testament to how good of a chef I could be.

Basically, they hate perfect scores. Well, they won- the highest grade out of 60 people was a 93 and  there were only 3 or 4 A's in general.

Besides that stupidity, we've just been cooking up a storm. Despite my early hesitance, I ended up falling in love with my practical/kitchen group. We were good at cooking, had no drama, worked well as a team, and the chefs liked us. Not every group gets that lucky.

Here we are on our last day.

(With the chef in the middle- yes there were only three of us girls, but we held our own!)

(Me and two of my best friends with one of the Chefs in charge of Intermediate cuisine after our last demonstration)

(At the end of our last demo, waiting for our complimentary glasses of champagne)

4. Student Party: Every course, there is a student party. It's a very fun night. Maybe too fun at times.

Here are some photos from that night:

(A group of us girls at the party)

(Drinks at the bar below my apartment before going over to the party. The waiter behind us is Vincent and the only waiter that I know the name of despite the fact that I live above them...)

(Some new pastry friends! We're crossing the divide!)

(Not sure what Alexis is doing- believe it or not he is a runway/photo model when he's not in class. But love these three very ridiculous people.)

5. Birthdays: February was full of them! Two of my closest friends here celebrated big birthdays this month. Here we all are at different events having a great time.

*Cheesy Alert: I really can't believe how lucky I have been in meeting the most amazing people while here. Whether at school or friends of friends, somehow I have been able to surround myself with people that inspire me while being a helluva good time. Ok- I'm done.

6. Weather: It is finally getting warmer in Paris! We have had a week of sun and decent temperatures! There was even a time yesterday when I didn't need to wear my coat!! Now, they are saying it's going to get colder again by the end of the week, but these few days of sun for the first time in 4-5 months has been amazing.

PS. it means my break dancers are back!

Anyways, that's about it that is interesting around here right now! Report back for more posts in the next few days- especially about the final and then (hopefully) GRADUATION!

Stay Golden,
Elyssa

Stage

No, I am not getting on a stage.

Instead, I am talking about the French term for someone who works in the kitchen for free. In the US, we would recognize this as an intern (and apparently if you live in DC, you would recognize it as the average post-grad 20-something). In France, we call it your stage (pronounced like corsage) or being a stagiaire. 

At the end of our diploma, if you have followed all of the right steps and protocols, the school places you in a stage in a kitchen here in Paris.

At school, that is known as your "official" or "real" stage.

However, some people take on extra jobs or stages while in school (most of the job people happen to be fluent in French or even better, citizens). Well, as of yesterday, I joined that rank of super cool people as I started my own "unofficial" stage.

You may remember the first part of my two part Thanksgiving Post Special (or you could refresh your memory here), in which I discuss dining at the opening of a good friend's new restaurant. Well, I was finally able to convince that good friend to let be his newest stagiaire.

So, I showed up Tuesday at 5pm with my jacket and security shoes, ready to go. I helped prep some of the mise and then worked the passe with Chef Yann during service! It was definitely a trial by fire experience, but also completely amazing.

Some highlights:

• Yann speaks perfect English, which he used when speaking to me
• No one else in the kitchen speaks English and at one time when Yann was giving me shit for a stupid mistake, they all started chanting "Translate! Translate!" to which I responded with an emphatic, "Non!"
• It took me like an hour to distinguish Yann speaking to the other chefs in French versus when he was reading off a ticket that I needed to prep- which can be a HUGE problem
• I made all of the steak tartare served last night
• I had to taste the tartare to make sure it was good
• I've never had tartare before...
• I was an hour in before I realized I kept referring to Yann as Yann and not Chef which is not only disrespectful, but also super embarrassing!
• The 3 other chefs in the kitchen even though they speak NO English could not have been NICER to me
• At the end of the night when I was looking for where the spritz-cleaner-bottle was, I asked the pastry chef in terrible French if he knew where the *insert spritz-bottle trigger finger motion* for the *wax on/wax off motion* was. The look on his face as I did this for a good 30 seconds was priceless. We finally figured it out together. 
• In my mind, I made so many mistakes, but at the end of the night Yann told me that I did a good job, especially for my first time

So, that was my first night at Beaucoup and I can't wait for Friday night and Saturday when I will be back. Hopefully, Yann will indulge me and let me stay for the rest of my time here in France. Maybe my French will even become just bad as opposed to horrific. 

friends with blogs

Today, I am going to talk about having friends with blogs. Because I have such friends. And they post some pretty neat stuff.

First, I would like all of y'all to go look at my good friend Brittany's blog. It is adorable. But more than adorable, it is a lot more informative than my blog here.

So, first read this entry where Brittany talks about what it's like inside the school and in the kitchens because it explains a lot of things that I would like to talk about, but I don't have the camera to sneak into class with!
http://brittanyinparis.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/a-look-inside/

Then, read her whole blog, Brittany in Paris as she talks details about each region we study along with the dishes we are making to accompany it. Also, her photo skills are a bazillion times better than mine.

Second, for those of you that speak Russian, check out this blog, Meal Time by Roma. Roman takes AMAZING pictures. If you do not speak Russian, I would recommend Google Translate or just the pictures.

Third, is Nat Cooks in Paris which is written by another of my dear friends here. However, Nat is just a smidge technology un-savy, so she has yet to figure out how to post on her blog. We're working on this.

Fourth, another friend actually professionally blogs! Here are her posts in Jamie Oliver's magazine: http://www.jamiemagazine.nl/nl/weblog/auteur/134/index.html. But, they are in Dutch...She also writes for Culy and you can see those posts here http://www.culy.nl/inspiratie/culinair-student-marina-verklapt-les-secrets-de-paris-deel-3/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook.

Happy reading!

Working through it

So, it has been an unfortunate trend in my time in Paris that I keep getting sick. Stomach sick. It's not pretty whether it's cramping, pain, heartburn, food poisoning, or god knows what. I get at least one of those things a week.

Yay.

Today was one of those days, but worse. I'm not sure what caused it, but in the space of 2 hours I went from being a little uncomfortable to downright sick as a dog.

And that sick as a dog part happened in the kitchen.

I had made the decision to go in today despite not feeling my best because I knew I could fight through it. If I let this stomach thing win over my life, then I'm done for.

But after about 30mins of being in the kitchen, I had to run out as my body decided to vomit. And I am not a vomit-er by nature. It's always the last resort.

Anyways, as I unfortunately have been making the rounds of the LCB toilets most enjoyable for vomiting in, I must say the second floor ladies is quite nice. In case you ever find yourself in the same situation in the same location.

Anyways, after cleaning up, I returned to the kitchen and finished my dish. The chef, one of my favorites and who likes me, told me multiple times to go home.

I told him I was fine. He told me, "Quel courage." (What courage).

While I'd say we're on pretty good terms, he doesn't know how much of a stubborn ass I can be. Or badass for that matter.

But I survived. I plated a great dish, no serious complaints from the chef. So, Stomach, I won. You did not earn me a zero for today and I beat you. Take that.

But can we be friends again tomorrow? I'd like that.

Grades Part Deux

So, this week we received our mid-semester grades same as we did in Basic Cuisine. I wrote about that time here.

I just re-read that post and the excitement contained within that post has me thoroughly annoyed. Why? Because grade time did not go quite so well this time. And we all know how much I love grades and being a teacher's pet.

I came it at a 3.24 and my kitchen's average is a 3.26. I am below average. Granted, the other two kitchen's averages are 3.15 and 3.04, so I am still actually above class average, but I am not happy.

In the meeting, the chef (pictured in the group photo in this post) and I discussed my areas that need improvement to return my grade to a happy place of bunnies and sunshine. Except I don't really like bunnies, so let's substitute in scotch. I like scotch.

These areas were/are:
1. Filleting fish- yeah, yeah I know I suck at this
2. Sauce- true, but I think my suckiness is less sucky in this area so that could be an improvement
3. Organization- wait, schwatt?? I had NO idea about this one
4. Hygiene- wait, wait- I am all about hygiene! (seen here)
5. Plating- duh, I do have some serious issues here

However, I am looking at this whole experience as a good thing. A kick in the derrière, if you please, to get a grip on it. Maybe I was getting too comfortable? Maybe I really did want to buy a few hundred pounds of mackerel and fillet them for hours? I still wait for that allusive perfect sauce to appear on my stove...alas.

Anyways, the next day (yesterday), I had two kitchen turns and I hyper focused on hygiene and organization and at the end of the second turn, I asked my chef how I had done and he said, "Good. Today you did good."

So we're back at it baby.

Also. I filleted AND de-skinned my fish perfectly yesterday. Even the chef had to agree and there were no comments of "Sashimi?" when looking at my fish bones post fillet job.

Yeah, buddy. Rolling like a big shot.

This week

Well, this week has been crazy and super busy with lots of class everyday. So, I will give a run down of what it was that we were doing this week!

First: Guinea Fowl Pie

This recipe is not too bad, except for the fact that it takes about an hour to cook in the oven and has a lot of prep time. First, you have to make the pie crust. Then there's the whole cutting the guinea fowl up into two breasts and separating the dark meats for the stuffing. You also have to make the stuffing which includes the separate task of cooking the potato lining and cooking the chicken livers. So, it was a pretty hectic morning in the kitchen with this recipe, but it was a great leftover especially during all of the snowy/icy days we have been having here in Paris.

Second: Bordeaux-style Duck Breast, Fondant Potato Rounds, Pan Fried Cep Mushrooms with Smoked Bacon

We made this later in the day after the GF Pie (above). This recipe was pretty easy and included a Bordelaise Sauce, which I really liked. A bordelaise sauce is essentially reduced wine infused with shallots, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper and then you add reduced veal stock. It has a nice flavor.

Third: Lobster "A l'americaine", Rice with Raisins

Yep, we were all killing live lobsters. Which really didn't bother me and I killed someone else's for them as well. The rough thing I found with lobsters is that even once they are dead, like really dead, their reflexes are still working. It threw me for a shock when I was slicing the tail and it snapped back at me as I placed my knife into the flesh. I jumped a mile high. Then I learned how to palm the tail down, so it will not do that whole attack thing.

Also, the fact that it is called American style Lobster is because it is served with what the French call an American sauce. I do not know what is SO American about this sauce, but I am definitely not claiming it for my country. Just give me a good garlic/butter sauce with my lobster. This sauce is a fish stock base with seared lobster shells, white wine, tomatoes and onion. And then coral at the end to thicken it. It was ok, but definitely no garlic/butter sauce.

Fourth: Ballotine or Chicken Stuffed with Foie Gras Mousse and Pistachios

This recipe required deboning a chicken. Yes. Taking every single bone out of a chicken. It was fun! I really enjoyed it. We then took this carcass, lined it in a pork stuffing, and placed the foie gras mousse which had been rolled in pistachios inside. Rolled the whole thing up and poached it in a court bouillion.

However, during this lesson, I couldn't figure out how to get the foie gras mousse out of the can, so one of my classmates showed me how he did it- by taking a spoon and scooping out a bit to let in some air so the very compacted mousse could slide out. Well, the chef saw me do this and FREAKED out. We're talking him telling me that this was a travesty; that I was destroying the product; that I had no respect for food; and that I was getting a zero for the day. All because I emptied a can incorrectly. Luckily, it's a MOUSSE, so it was really easy to roll it all back up together and continue on with the cooking. I think by the end of the day I did not get a zero. But, who knows!

(The ballotine on the Aspic plating)

Fifth: White sausage (Boudin Blanc) with Apples

(the sausage)

Yep, I stuffed sausage this week. Which, also yes, earned a lot of snickers and inappropriate jokes from students and chefs alike for that day. But, I enjoyed making the sausage- it's actually pretty easy and allows for a lot of experimentation. Also, on this day, we made Aspic (from the court bouillon that we cooked the ballotine in). Aspic is a meat jelly. There are also lots of jokes back home about me and my love of aspic, hence my real excitement. I think it stems back to all of my grandmother's jello salads. We made it from a chicken based consomme, so our's was pretty clear. We lined dishes with it and made vegetable decorations. I made tomato roses with leek stems. It was fun, if not super 1950s looking.

(Individual plate. This is the chef's but mine ended up looking similar)

Sixth: Trout stuffed with Morrel Mushrooms and Braised in Riesling Wine

This recipe was for Alsace. It is basically trout with a duxelle of mushroom. It was very good, but those trout were a pain in the butt to filet. And I did not do a very good job of it at all! So.Many.Bones. But it all worked out. Except for my sauce.

It was a white fish stock based sauce that you add cream to at the end. So, I reduced my sauce, added the cream, turned around to start plating, went to grab my sauce and there was essentially scrambled egg in the bottom. SCHWAT?!? Not cool. I had to strain my sauce, leaving I kid you not what looked like a flan in the chinois.

(We also learned how to make Choucroute for Alsace, but did not cook this recipe)

This left my sauce super thin again so I ran to grab flour and butter, whipped up a beurre manie (a cold roux) and threw it into my sauce and plated before the fish (that had now been sitting for a minute or two) got any colder. When the chef tasted, he said my sauce was one of the best for the day (because it was so thick from the beurre manie) and not to worry about the cream particles in there because it was something wrong with that box of cream and that a few others had had the issue. He only speaks French, so I only understood that the milk is ok (it had not smelled bad to me or anything) to eat, it just reacted weirdly to the fish sauce, but apparently this happens. Whatever. It was over.

Seventh: Lamb Filet with vegetable "tian", peppermint jus

This was a great recipe and I love lamb. It was a tomato concassee on the bottom, then sauteed spinach, with lamb on top and little sauteed potato balls to cover. It was my kind of recipe and I definitely ate all of the leftovers. I didn't even use rice or pasta to get creative. Just ate it all.

And that's where we are now. There were a few other recipes in their, but these were the best/most exciting/most difficult ones of the week. It was pretty busy! But also a lot of fun and definitely preferable to the lazy weeks we had before.

Student Dinner

For each course, we have a student dinner. You may remember Basic cuisine's went like this.

Well, Intermediate Cuisine was not that different. Except that we are SO much more knowledgeable and SO less innocent.

This time, we were expected to show up at the Eiffel Tower at 8pm as dinner would be served at 8:30pm in Restaurant 58. And in usual fashion, we showed up a few glasses of champagne and wine for the better. This pre-libation was necessary as the elevators in the Eiffel Tower are not my definition of a good time. I do not like heights or confined spaces, so my friendly champagne definitely was helping me.

When we got to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, we entered 58 for a lovely night. If I'm being honest, the food was not that great. What was more exciting was being in the Eiffel Tower, seeing everyone dressed up and being all together for a fun night.

(Most of my kitchen group with the Chef. FYI The Chef is in the Red Scarf which is a scarf for Paris St. Germain, the soccer team. The tall blonde guy next to the chef is A, a Parisian student who is a big fan and the chef is always messing with him about them. However, on this Thursday, Beckham had just signed with Paris St. Germain aka a huge win for A and why the chef was being made to wear it.)

We had an amuse buche, a shrimp entree, lamb with creamed leeks and potato puree for the main, and a chocolate brownie-like cake for dessert. As well as glasses of red and white wine.

(the shrimp)

(dessert)

Unfortunately, one of the Pastry girls had a little too much free wine and ended up vomiting all over the stairs. It was pretty gross and embarrassing, but honestly, what do you expect when you invite pastry people? They can never hold their liquor.

(Great friends)

A big group of us ended up going out after to a bar of all leopard print sofas (I can't remember the name...) and then to Duplex, a classic skeezy Paris club. We danced all night and had a great time. At 6am when we all finally stumbled out of the club and got back to our respective apartments, my whole body hurt from so much dancing. Especially my neck as apparently, I like to whip my hair back and forth. BUT, I did make it in to cook the next day and plated very well.

Someone mentioned that our kitchen smelled a little stronger of alcohol than what we were cooking with...To them, I say, "No Comment."

But actually, it was Duplex we were at, not No Comment. No Comment was Saturday night for a different friend's birthday and equally fun.

So, that was Intermediate Cuisine's Student Dinner. I think we did ourselves proud.