We tried several recipes in class that showcased some of the techniques to both prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms, and encourage development of different microorganisms to conserve and add flavor to food
Salmon Gravlax: Gravlax refers to burying something i.e. "grave". Back in the day people used to burry things in cold soil to keep them from going bad. Our recipe did not involve dirt. Rather we watched chef fillet a salmon. He made it look so easy, and I wish I would have taken pictures. It was a perfectly beautiful fillet when he was done with it. After the fish was cut and the bones removed, it was covered in salt, sugar, dill, pepper, a bit of aquavit (a scandinavian alcohol) and lime zest. then we placed another pan and a weight on top of it, wrapped it and put it in the fridge. It stayed there overnight. This morning we flipped it, rewrapped it, and put it in the fridge overnight again.
Brandade: Brandade is a mixture of codfish, potatoes, and cream. It uses salted codfish, so that's how it fits with the preservation theme. We learned how to prepare the previously preserved fish. First it involved soaking. On Friday afternoon, we unwrapped and unboxed it all (each little fillet was in it's own wooden box) and let it soak all weekend. Then we poached our fish, flaked it, then added in fork-mashed potatoes, garlic, and cream alternately with olive oil until it was creamy. It was okay. But why? It kind of tasted like mashed potatoes that were a little bit off. I mean it didn't taste fishy really, but you could tell there were chunks of fish in your potatoes.
Duck Confit: This is duck cooked in it's own fat. Surrounding a food in fat is a good way to preserve it because it seals out the air. And bonus, duck fat is actually pretty healthy. Today confit is enjoyed more for its flavor than preservation abilities. To begin we had to prepare the bones/meat. We had to expose some of the bone, because it's prettier looking when it's cooked and presented to have a clean bone. Monchonner is a French term that refers to exposing the bone. (It literally means something similar to pushing up the sleeve. Manchon is a sleeve.) It involves making a cut around the bone and then scraping the meat off to expose the bone. It was difficult for me to do. Chef made it look easy, but tendons are kinda of thick and the fat/muscle wants to stick to the bone, especially around the joints. We did get to use our boning knife for the first time, which was exciting. Sadly, I nicked myself and it would not stop bleeding. So I only made it two weeks without a cut. Not bad. After the bones were pretty, we rubbed the legs with a cure--similar to what we did with the salmon--and left them wrapped up in the fridge overnight.
Today we took them out, brushed them off, and then cooked them in duck fat. We then put them all together in a pan and poured the fat on top and then re-covered and left them to spend another night in the fridge.
Codfish Fritters: Chef demoed these. They also used the salted codfish. Chef made a batter with the fish, onions, peppers, jalepeño, cilantro, breadcrumbs, eggs (we were going for a Mexican theme), then fried them up. They were actually good. Way better than the recipe the book suggested of just plain fish, onion and batter.
Lunch: Level four came through for us again. This time serving plated meals.
Pickled Jardinière Vegetables: Pickling is really quite easy. You make a brine, which is just vinegars, water, sugar, salt, and seasonings, and bring it to a boil, then pour it in a air tight container with your veggies.
* Please note my lovely veggies and recognize how perfectly square my tranche is. I'm getting better.
Pickled Lemons: Same deal-with lemons. My question, what do you do with pickled lemons afterwards?
In other news, we had our first test Monday. I overdid it on the studying. I memorized 126 flashcards (most of them French terms). And...the test was way easier than anticipated. I'm used to things being a bit more rigorous. Yay college.
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