runningjokes.: April 2012

Four months

So if you ask me in person what I've been doing the past four months, I'd probably give you the most negative and depressing answers, coming from that dark corner in the back of my head that constantly nags at me at the fact that after months of receiving rejection letters or just not getting called back from places I've contemplated starting my career at after graduation, I just sat down with my manager, told her I was going absolutely insane, and learned to mix bread as a baker's apprentice in the early mornings. In short, I gave up.

Despite this and the many times in the past two years I wish I would've just went to CIA and got a much much much better return on the 40+ grand I'll need to pay off, I don't regret going to culinary school at all.

Two years ago, I ran head-on into this venture and I had no idea what I was doing. I doubt I'd even held a sharp knife before, much less know how to use it correctly.

I wrote recipes down, forgetting them almost immediately, then scrutinizing every syllable during class. I remember taking one and a half hours preparing the mise the first time I ever made a bechamel.

But somewhere in there between the panic of rushing to the requisition in the beginning of a packed Asian cuisine class full of third-quarters and the measuring out of every ounce of onion I put into a dish to European cuisine and A la Carte, something just clicked. And cooking just makes sense to me now.

When I was in my early years of high school, I watched shows like Iron Chef in awe, thinking I could never be as clever or creative as that. I'd never eaten real salsa before. I'd never thought I'd even like beef, pork, or chicken and now I love cooking it. If I had to cook a 6-course meal using a secret ingredient in one hour, I'd probably end up crying ten minutes into it but now it's starting to look more plausible to me. The idea of getting to any level of creativity seems much more attainable now than ever before.

I graduate June 15th. And maybe I won't get a job then or get to move out of this town to do so. Maybe I'll end up in business school for two more years so I can figure out what I want to do.

But for sure, I don't regret this experience. Never in my life have I met so many good and talented people who have such passion for what they do. I don't know when or if I'll ever make it or even get into this industry, but I sure as hell love it.

Art Culinaire week 2: Jean-Louis Palladin

Oh, Jean-Louis Palladin. What a guy.

So this French dude grows up on a farm and at the age of 12 gets a job at a farm. 16 years and a restaurant later, he becomes the youngest person in the world to receive a Michelin star.

And what does he do?

He moves to America because he believes that he can do the same thing here. So he comes over, opens a job at the Watergate in Washington D.C.. He realizes that there's a lot of things here that we don't have that they have in France.

So what does he do then?

He makes friends with farmers, vendors--anybody, really--and after a while he gets people cultivating crops, growing livestock, going out of their way to catch certain animals, etc. just for him and exactly to his liking. Not only that, but he's been known to travel far and wide to find exactly what he needs for a recipe.

Dude is pretty awesome.

I mean, I not only want to be him, I hope one day I'll look as joyful naked holding a vitamix.

Anyway, to the menu of the week.

I suppose since this is the last class most people have to take before they graduate, the drop-out rate is relatively low if not completely nonexistent by this point, so unfortunately, I'm still stuck in a class with a bajillion people.

But this week's menu was pretty fun.

Potato ravioli appetizer

I liked the filling but this was way too small even for a tasting portion. It was a lot like eating one potato chip. (i.e. incredibly depressing)

Chilled melon sauterne consomme

For some reason, our consomme turned out a little too dark and the liquid was cloudy. If I'd done it, I think I would've clarified it again because Chef looked at it once and made the snootiest face.

True story, though--during lecture, when he was writing recipe notes on the board, he wrote "Child consomme" as this dish and no one else noticed! Or maybe no one else thought it was as funny as I thought it was.

At least it was really, really good.

Chartreuse of asparagus

My teammate accidentally overcooked the custard, but it was so good I think I'm going to have to remake this one day and I don't even like asparagus all that much.

Stuffed prime rib au jus with caramelized pearl onions, sauteed green beans, potato pancake, and roasted root vegetables

I can't believe I've never had prime rib before! God, this was crazy delicious. It was at the right doneness and the vegetables went with it so well. Chef had a problem with the jus not being jus-y (juicy?) enough but if I wasn't plating next, I would've licked the plate.

Peach Charlotte with raspberry sauce

I can't believe I spent most of two days of class making this one dish. I really need to step my game up a little. When Chef uploaded the recipes, I read this one over a couple of times and tried to figure out how this was supposed to look like but I think it turned out pretty well. Chef said the French way is to serve it this dark. It pretty much tasted like caramel with peach cobbler. It was a little sacrilegious to not serve it with vanilla bean ice cream and I regret not doing so, but ironically enough, this last kitchen class of the curriculum is the one you're not really supposed to get that creative about. At least I got to plate the way I wanted to.

Next week is Alice Waters mystery basket style. Can't wait!

Art Culinaire week 1 - Charlie Palmer

So it's been a whole quarter. Sorry about that.

Last quarter, I had A la Carte. It's the kitchen class that kinda teaches you how to run/work in a restaurant. It was honestly the best class I've taken at Art Institutes and I'm both so glad it was such a good experience but also a little upset that it's over.

I would've posted pictures for you but I swear we had fried chicken and ice cream for family meal every day.

But anyway, this quarter (my last quarter!) I have Art Culinaire, which means I have pictures again, yay!

In Art Culinaire, every week we learn about a famous chef and their cuisine, background, how they got to be as famous as they were, and their cooking style. Week 1 was Charlie Palmer.

This menu was pretty easy, really. It's just a little frustrating trying to get it all out in a class of 26 designed for a class of 12-15.

20 grand a year and I'm so glad that's going towards a quality education. Let's not even go there.

Alright so Charlie Palmer.