We finished level three on Tuesday, which meant we also took our big midterm exam. The exam consisted of writing one of the 16 recipes we've been making the last month word for word, and then cooking two dishes-4 plates each-for the guest judges.
We didn't know what we'd be writing/cooking until we got the test/drew our dish out of a hat. This meant we basically had to memorize all the recipes.
(On a side note, the fact that I'm studying recipes is really weird. I mean, reading your history notes or memorizing oceanic currents is something one does; but, memorizing lists of ingredients and what temperature to cook pots de crème is not. Consequently, my usual study methods i.e., flashcards, dry erase maps, pneumonics, failed me and attempting to commit all those amounts to memory was a struggle.)
Our written test was writing the recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon. Fun fact: I can't even spell Bourguignon. I just barely had to google search the phonemic spelling I came up with and wait for google to do this...
Fortunately for me, the recipe title was already printed at the top of the test sheet. I think I managed all right. I know I at least got all the ingredients. The amounts, however, were mostly guesses.
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| The end product my recipe should produce |
Wait Caroline, isn't it listed on the recipe cards you look at when collecting ingredients? Is it not also listed in your book? Shouldn't you have connected it by now? Yes, yes, and I attempt to.
I use what my classmates and I have designated "The Egg Method." One egg is appx. 50g. True statement. So we've fallen into the habit of gauging amounts in terms of eggs e.g., "This looks like 3-eggs-worth to you, doesn't it?" Yes, we've basically reverted back to medieval times in which people decided, "We should call the length equal to a man's foot, a foot! And look! Our cups can measure stuff. We shall call it a cup. This horse is 16 hands." They went with the obvious choice when it came to naming things. If we wanted, we could say we're going wayyyyy old school and reverting to Biblical times. Cubit, for example comes from the Hebrew word for fore-arm, and is thus the length from elbow to finger tip. But I digress...
Point: The egg method isn't all that accurate, but it sort of came in handy when inventing amounts on the test.
Once I knocked out the ingredients, the instructions were fairly simple (minus forgetting to lower the temp. and running out of time and having to write pasta-making and plating instructions in 5 minutes).
Next, it was time to draw out what we'd be making. We would either draw GM/SA or PO/PA. Despite hoping for pastry, I, of course, drew Garde Manger/Saucier. Then came time for Chef to announce the recipes we'd be making. Drumroll please....... Poached Eggs. (Totally called it, cause I hate poaching eggs.) Trout Grenobloise. (What the heck? That's so easy. It takes zero time. And has five ingredients.) Chicken Grand-Mère. (Of course. He would.) Apple Tart. (So easy. Grrr*#@!)
Not that poaching eggs, or roasting chicken is particularly difficult, but compared to the other two dishes? It involves way more steps. And zero "we have the luxury to just stand around time". Our class was in a bit of a tizzy. All the GM/SA were shooting daggers at the PO/PA crowd. We then got half an hour to take notes on the recipes. Which, I won't complain about, but was probably too easy on us. What's the point of studying when you can basically just copy down the entire recipe. I didn't. I mostly just sat and commiserated with my fellow GM/SA about how "we got gypped" and "they have it so easy" etc. etc. etc.
On our way to the kitchens we drew our presentation times. I got A6/B6. Middle of the pack. The cooking part wasn't so bad. It went by fast. No major mishaps. I did glance at the times wrong and thought my first dish was due 5 min. earlier than it really was and started plating before I realized it....which meant my food just sat there for about 3 min. because I couldn't exactly put the eggs and hollandaise back....buuuuut I've blocked that from my memory.
Eggs Hollandaise*
Dish two went well. The jus was a bit over-reduced and I had to thin it at the last minute and might have been late? Not sure.
Chicken Grand-mère
After we were all done cooking. We were called back one by one to hear the judges comments. They invited two guest judges to grade on taste and appearance, while chef graded our cooking technique/kept time. Here I was living out my own version of a reality cooking competition show! I was awkward. The judges were super nice though. They had a few minor critiques but overall good!
*all pics were taken at the end of the day, so they'd been sitting a while getting crusty.
And now I'm officially into level four and onto our pig. Expect a lovely (slightly disgusting) post on charcuterie and our buffet!
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| Mr. Kevin Bacon in all his glory |
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