Day 3: Veeta-vita-vegetables

I am most definitely a self-proclaimed food nerd. I’d rather go to the farmer’s market or TJ’s or Whole Foods then Barney’s or L&T any day (but don’t get me wrong: I love shopping!). There’s nothing quite like meandering through the produce; admiring all the colors, and aromas. Fantasizing about the delicious preparation for that perfect, robust artichoke…So naturally, on vegetable day I was in utter bliss.

(To practice what we learned in class, I made pan seared cod, over ratatouille, and goat cheese polenta pictured above)

The first two hours, Chef Nic presented all different kinds of vegetables. Greens, onions, tubers, fruits guising as vegetables. (Did you know that sweet potatoes are not even potatoes, they’re not even in the same family!) It didn’t hurt that he pronounces every syllable of vegetables with a Ukrainian accent: ve-ji-ta-bles. And that he ends most statements and questions with “Eehh, guys!”

What was most amazing about vegetable day was the importance of salt. Until this day, I had no idea of its magical powers. Mystical, really. The best way to understand this is to do exactly what we did:
1. cut a cooked potato and a raw tomato into bite sizes.
2. Sprinkle the tiniest amount of salt on a bite size piece you are about to taste.
3. Savor…
Isn’t it amazing?! The tomato tastes so divinely tomato-y, the potato so creamy. The essence of the vegetable really comes out. Salt makes each food taste more like itself, and that is why salt is so important in cooking. What a revelation!

The rest of class was spent making our first two dishes: beet salad timbale with herbed goat cheese, apples, frisee, and vinaigrette. Also, a traditional ratatouille. First chef demos the correct way to create the dishes, then we all go back to our stations and recreate them with our partner. Simple enough, I supposed. However, in an hour and a half, it is amazing how difficult this can actually be. The cutting, the different cooking times, the different cooking pans! Not to mention gathering all the ingredients, battling other students for the last of the squash or zucchini. And heaven forbid you forget the bouquet garni! After all the scurrying, and furious chopping, it turns out chef liked our dish when we presented it to him; good texture in the ratatouille, although a little watery, and tasty beat salad that could use a little more acid in the vinaigrette. Either way my partner and I were rather pleased and practicing more taillage for homework didn’t seem all that bad anymore.

Day 2: Don’t eat at Patsy’s on 23rd between 8th and 9th

Day 1 homework was pretty straight forward: chop carrots in to ¼ inch cubes, and julienne some turnips. The execution was not so much. It’s proving to be quite an obstacle. One end of my carrot sticks are rectangular, the other a square, and I can’t seem to figure out how to make them the same. However, my julienned and brunoise turnips aren’t too bad. Being so focused on getting the technique right, I didn’t pause to take some pictures. Next time.

As for actual class, we started our ServSafe section, which is necessary to get your license for food handling. It’s basically about sanitation and hygiene, preventing bacterial growth. For the most part, we listened to Chef Tim tell tales of nasty food poisoning. My personal favorite, about Patsy’s on 23rd between 8th and 9th where he ate some bad meat from an antipasti platter and was so sick that he missed his plane for Rome the next morning. The cause? Staph. How did he get it? Someone probably scratched their face, or itched their eye and touched the meat without washing their hands and as the day went on and it sat at room temperature, the bacteria multiplied so much that by the time Chef Tim ate it, puked it all up, there was still enough Staph in his body that the doctors were able to positively identify it as the culprit. Gnarly, right?

The second half of class was spent cooking vegetables, pretty much uneventfully, and frankly not worth writing about. Hopefully class will get a lot more exciting! (Gulp, I may eat those words)

FYI for those interested in culinary school, be prepared to stand on your feet the entire time, that’s 5 hours straight for night classes.

Day 1: Holy wake-up call

(These are pictures of the different cuts we learn and use regularly)

Before I begin on my reflections of the first class, let me just say that I think I’m a pretty good cook. I know I’m tooting my own horn, but people actually want to eat the food I make, more than once! Ergo, I went in with the mindset that this course would basically be a reiteration of the techniques I already know. WRONG! I know nothing.

While the first half of class was pretty basic: proper uniforms, hygiene, the structure of a kitchen, and basic cooking utensils, the second half was a whole other ball game. I had never before heard of taillage the French term for proper vegetable cuts, but I would soon learn it is my nemesis. After a quick demonstration by the Chef on how to cut a carrot into a jardinière (5 cm long, 5 mm thick sticks), and émincer (thinly slice) an onion it was the students’ turn to dive into taillage. After 15 minutes of fumbling over oblong carrots, and crying over hacked onions, it was time to get a sign-off from the Chef.

Drawing all the courage I had, I held my breath as the Chef fondled my onion slices, and eyed my carrot sticks. Finally he spoke, “Bery inconsistent.” Instantly I deflated like a popped balloon. Sigh. Only 595 more hours to go…

Totally Forked

What’s a girl to do when she reaches a fork in the road? Use it to take a bite of something delicious!
As a 25-year old communications consultant with a serious cooking habit, I needed somewhere to channel my culinary energy. The solution: A rehab program in the form of nine months at the French Culinary Institute (FCI). Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays from 5.45-10.45, I’ll be attending night classes to gain the skills and contacts necessary to open the doors to my wildest foodie fantasies. It’s still unclear where this journey will take me. I really don’t know exactly what I plan to do once I have completed my time at the FCI, but with fingers (and knives) crossed, I’ll find the answer along the way.