What I Learned at Culinary School Today

[Manton]

Originally Posted by KJT

When you add the raft to the stock for the consomme, you say to stir. I'm having some trouble picturing how to stir the stock with a donut shaped mass floating at the top. Does the raft float when you first put it in or only after it cooks for a little bit? Or do you add the raft loose and does the stirring bring it together into the donut shape?

Like you, I've always thought that the process for consomme is wasteful and something that I wouldn't try, but one of these days I might get bored and give it a shot.

Always a pleasure reading these posts, thank you!

You stir it when it goes into the pot and is still a big gloopy mess. Stirring helps it set and become a raft. Once that happens, you stop stirring.

 

[kwilkinson]

So now that you've made it (and tasted it) will you make it again??

One thing I do like about consomme is that it's pretty easy to make, the prep just takes a while. While there are other, probably better, things you can do with those ingredients and that time, it does take a certain amount of skill and so it's important to be able to do it. Plus, a lot of dem folks back home in Indiana aint never heard uh no khan so may, and they're surprised at its taste.

 

[Manton]

I really doubt it. It's a lot of work, and it's very wasteful for an end product that is pretty, but not all that filling.

 

[Manton]

Salad Days.

Or day, at any rate.

This day was perhaps not the most interesting, and probably will not result in the most interesting entry, either. We only made two salads. The rest of the day was prep, prep, prep - lots of it. Gave me some appreciation for what the guys at the garde manger station go through. We also learned salad "theory," such as how to make a vinaigrette, all about olive oil, and how to think about combining ingredients.

I believe I mentioned this in an earlier post, the one that recounted "preserves" day. There are three kinds of salads: simple, mixed, and composed. A simple salad has one ingredient, or one plus a relatively insignificant garnish plus seasoning. A watercress salad with steak frites would be an example. A mixed salad has two or more ingredients mixed together. The possibilities are endless, from a basic mixed baby greens salad to a Caesar or a Cobb. A composed salad has several ingredients, all seasoned separately and put on the plate in a distinct place. The Salad Niçoise that we made on preserves day was a composed salad.

Today, we made two more composed salads. Or, I suppose, one was both composed and mixed. That was the first one, the MaçÃ

doine de LÃ

gumes. Or, veggies cut into little cubes. We had to cut lots of carrots and turnips into maçÃ

doine (medium dice), then cook a l'anglaise and drain. We also cooked peas and green beans a l'anglaise, and cut the beans into pea-sized pieces.

Then you make a mayonnaise and mix that into the cooked maçÃ

doine. You need enough for it all to stick together and to retain whatever shape you intend to impart to it. As Chef X. constantly reminds us, the first principle of plating is height. Food should be piled up high, not spread out all over the plate. It's more interesting for the eye that way.

The rest of this salad comprised hard boiled eggs (cut into wedges), tomatoes (boiled, shocked, peeled, and quartered), and a medley of herbs seasoned with oil and S&P. None of these is obligatory. You can garnish this salad virtually any way you want.

We were given more freedom to plate. The only two principles were: the maçÃ

doine had to be in the center, and there had to be height. I used a tall ring mold to stack the maçÃ

doine in the center. The herb medley went atop that. The tomatoes and eggs were spread out around. I used three and three because, according to Chef, identical elements are never supposed to be plated in even numbers. Two or four look bad to the eye, but three looks nice. I am not sure I buy this, but apparently it is a "rule."

So this was a hybrid salad. The maçÃ

doine in the center is mixed. But the other elements make it composed.

The next salad was even more of a free for all. It was just a plate of raw vegetables, or assiette de cruditÃ

s. You can do this with virtually any vegetable. We used red cabbage, carrots, celery root, tomato, and cucumber.

The red cabbage was cut julienne (or chiffonade without the rolling). Then you heat some red vinegar in a pan, and pour it over the cabbage. This cooks it ever so slightly, but not even close to fully, and adds flavor and changes the color to purple.

A celery root is something that I think I have never seen before. It's an enormous tan/brown wrinkly globe, with a thick outer skin and very hard flesh. You have to peel it with a knife; it will destroy the peeler. Once you have trimmed all that hard outside, you shred it on a mandoline (or you can julienne by hand). Toss in some lemon juice and set aside for a while.

Do the same with some carrots.

Meanwhile, make a vinaigrette. This is a misleading term, since any combination of acid and oil counts as a "vinaigrette." The acid does not have to be vinegar. We used lemon juice, for instance.

Vinaigrettes are worth a treatise in and of themselves, apparently, but I am not the one to write it. Suffice it to say, there are a handful of general principles, and then a million variations. The ratio should be at least 4 oil to one acid. If you are infusing something, add it to the acid first; either that or do a slow infusing into the oil (this takes a long time, and once done, the entire batch of oil will have that taste).

What we did was season some lemon juice, whipped it until it foamed, and then put a crushed garlic clove in it and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Then we added the oil and whipped some more. This was used to season the tomatoes, and also drizzled on the salad at the end. Our book called this "Citronette" but Chef scoffed at that name, and said this was a lemon vinaigrette.

The sliced cucumbers were tossed with whipped cream (whipped by hand, I need hardly add) and then some chopped mint was added.

After the celery root had a sat in lemon juice for a while, it was time to add the mayo. This is called CÃ

leri RÃ

moulade. RÃ

moulade is a specific variation of mayo that has capers, cornichons and anchovies. However, CÃ

leri RÃ

moulade is different. It is mayo highly flavored with mustard. We did a one-to-one ratio. Toss the root in that until it is creamy and clingy.

For plating, we took romaine lettuce leaves and dried them in a spinner. Then we laid them out flat, and put the various elements on the plate in separate little zones.

Not much too it. Both my plates were praised today, but nearly everyone did a good job with theirs as well. One lady I have come to appreciate is the best plater in the class. Hers are always gorgeous. I should have photographed it.

The taste of everything was fine, at least Chef said so. I was not in love with these recipes. I prefer just a simple green salad with a vinaigrette. I gave my composed salads to the dishwasher. He liked them.

At the end of the day we picked cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes. Chef says it takes seven days for the flavor to really take hold. We will try them all next week.

 

[KJT]

Originally Posted by Manton

At the end of the day we picked cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes. Chef says it takes seven days for the flavor to really take hold. We will try them all next week.

What's the pickling liquid made up of? I tried once to make my own pickles and they didn't turn out so well - the flavor in the liquid was just not right and made for weird tasting pickles. Haven't tried it again, but I always get inspired reading this stuff.

 

[Xiaogou]

Why was salad so late in the learning process?

 

[kwilkinson]

Hmmm.... I don't like the first salad. It looks too "composed." By that I mean it looks like things were too outlined and drawn out and perfectly spaced. I know that it's a composed salad, but the plating seems too perfect IMO. I was always taught by both the school and the restaurant, that it will look better if it looks like the ingredients fell into place. Random, but calculated randomness. I kind of agree with that. Obvious exceptions are things like Nicoise, etc, where they are meant to look like that. Even the second salad looks better in that regard, with the different zones for different garnishes. But the tomato/egg "clock" looks weird.

Anyway, cool stuff you're learning. Salad days are never really that fun, but it does give you a better appreciation for how much work goes into the "simple" things in a restaurant.

 

[Manton]

One pickling liquid was cider vinegar, boiled then poured over the veg. I can't remember what the other was. I will need to ask and write that down.

 

[KJT]

Originally Posted by Manton

One pickling liquid was cider vinegar, boiled then poured over the veg. I can't remember what the other was. I will need to ask and write that down.

Let us know how they turn out. If it's that simple, I should be doing it a lot more often.

As always, I'm enjoying the posts.

 

[Manton]

Fish day, part one.

We will have three days total of fish, two on regular fishy fish and one on shellfish. Oddly, the latter comes at the end of the class. The order of the classes is a little mysterious to me.

Much of what we did today was familiar to me, since the material had been covered in Knife Skills. Though next week we will be doing the identical two recipes from that class. This time we did recipes that were new to me, at least in the making.

Lecture was all about how to select the right fish. There are a lot of things to check for: the eyes, the gills, how slimy it is on the outside (slime is good for some fish, bad for others). But basically, if you are buying from an ordinary store, do not expect to get fresh fish. Fresh fish comes off the boat (then the truck or even plane) every day and is bought early in the morning first by restaurants, with gourmet markets being the secondary buyer. Basically, if you don't live near a gourmet market, and don't have access to a commercial fishing outfit that sells to the public, you are going to have a hard time getting fresh fish.

The freshness of fish is the key to the goodness of fish. To exaggerate slightly, fresh fish does not smell like fish, and it does not taste like fish. That is, not like the familiar "fish" smell/taste which is so off-putting to so many people, me included. If it smells like fish, it's already bad.

I have never been all that into fish. I have managed to warm up to shellfish - the grilled scallops at Park Bistro used to be amazing, though I have not been there in years - but not so much to their finned brothers. However, as noted, this was my second time making fish, and I had to admit that both dishes were good. I still was not in love, however.

The first thing to know about fish is that there are two kinds, flat and round. Flat fish have four filets, round yield only two. A round fish is what is typically thought of as a fish. Flat fish are the odd looking bottom dwellers with both eyes on one side of their head. They tend to be a dark color on one side, and white on the other. They lay on the bottom of the sea white side down, the dark color blends into the sand. The meat inside does not taste any different.

First, we had to butcher our fish. I had done this exact same drill in knife skills, so I was slightly ahead of the class. It is a rather gruesome business. I think the reason is that the head is still there. And some guts, too. The first think you do is use kitchen shears to remove all the fins. Then you scale and rinse the fish. There are special tools for this, but you can also use the edge of a spoon. Chef said that some say that if you are not going to cook and present the skin, then you don't need to scale it. But he said that he should always scale the fish, otherwise as you butchered it, scales would get everywhere and would contaminate your dish.

Then, for the flat fish, you remove the head by making a V-cut and then twisting it off. When you pull it, the guts all come out of a little pocket right behind. Round fish (unlike flat) are typically sold already gutted, even if the head is still on. Remove that. Fish heads are not saved for stock, Chef said, though we used them in Knife Skills. Chef says they make the stock cloudy. He said that for fish soup, you would use the heads because clarity is not an issue. However, the meat near the gills of a flat fish is excellent, but too small for a dinner portion. Hence it is used in appetizers. We, however, did not have time to learn that, nor is it in the official curriculum.

I won't give a belabored explanation of how to fillet a fish. I think that, without illustrations, it wouldn't be that useful anyway. I will say that I enjoyed the experience, as I have enjoyed most knife work in the class so far. It takes some patience, but it's satisfying. Chef strongly insisted that if you want to eat good fish, you have to buy your fish whole and filet it yourself. So this is a good skill to have. Pre-cutting causes the fish to lose moisture (and flavor) and rot faster. This is made worse if the fish is laid directly on ice, as one sees at so many fish markets. Fish needs to be kept cold, but there needs to be a layer between it and the ice. Directly contact dries it out, and mars the side touching the ice.

Flat fish and round fish are filleted quite differently. It's arguably easier to do a flat fish because the bones are so much harder. However, it's delicate work either way, and you have to be careful not to hack up your filet as you cut. You risk ruining its good looks - the "presentation" - and worse, damaging it to the point that it falls apart in the cooking process.

A major pain with round fish are the pin bones. These are a huge pain with trout, as I will relate next week (but already know from experience from Knife Skills). This time we worked with sea bass, which have fewer and larger pin bones. Still, they are thin, small, and as invisible as fishing line. You have to find them by gently stroking against the flesh with a finger, which should raise them up to the point that you can grab and remove them with tweezers. Make sure you get them all, as it is considered the crassest faux pas, when butchering fish, to miss a pin bone and serve fish with it still in there.

The final delicate operation is to remove the skin. You lay the filet flat, skin side down, and with your knife flat against the cutting board, slide it between skin and meat. It's more complicated than that, but - again - written descriptions are probably not that useful. Fish is always served skin side down, bone side showing. The bone side is prettier than the skin side.

A word on knives. The traditional filet knife is thin and flexile. Flexible is a must with any ordinary sized fish, because it's the only way you can hold the knife and work the blade as close the bone as possible, leaving as little flesh attached as possible. With really big fish, this is less of a problem and besides, the stiffer flesh and harder bones would break a really flexible knife. The other thing your knife has to be is super sharp. Fish is very soft and delicate. A dull knife will just rip and smash it. You want clean cuts everywhere you cut, and you want to get every cut done with one even stroke (this takes practice).

The recipes were sea bass in parchment (en papillote), and flounder "bonne femme." But first we made our own fish stock (or "fumet"). And not one big pot, either. We all had to make our own. This is, you'll recall, white mirepoix (leek, onion, celery, garlic), sweated with no color, white wine, fish bones, and water. It cooks fast, 25 minutes max from when you get it to a simmer. The resulting flavor is quite intense, and not really all that "fishy." But if you really hate fish, you will surely hate this.

The parchment recipe takes a great deal of filling. It was all stuff we have done before. Mushroom duxelles (mushrooms cut into small dice, sweated with shallots in butter, then cooked with a parchment lid until their liquid evaporates). Tomato fondue (tomato concasse sweated with onions and shallots until mushy). Julienne of carrot, celery and leek cooked etuve.

When all that is ready, you take large piece of parchment paper, fold it in half, and cut it in the shape of an apple. That is, like a heart, but with a stem. Lay it out flat. First, rub some butter in the center of one side, and then season that with salt and pepper. Put the tomato and mushrooms on that spot. For a nice look (which, alas, most diners will never see) use a ring mold and fill it half and half with each. Rub a little oil on the fish, season with S&P and some chopped thyme, and place on top of the tomatoes and mushrooms. Then put the vegetables on top of the fish. You should keep them separate, with carrots in the middle, because the color of the leeks and the celery is so close. Sprinkle with lemon juice, the cooking liquid from the veg, and a little white wine, then add a thyme sprig and a lemon slice on top.

Time to close the papillote. Beat one egg and use a brush to spread some egg around the edge of the paper. Fold the top over and press the edges together. The egg will hold it weakly, but not seal it. You need to brush some more egg and make a series of folds all the way around the edge. Then repeat. Three egg applications plus two layers of folds should hold it. Paint the entire top of the paper with egg. This prevents burning and also gives a the paper a nice color. It also helps you recognize when the fish is done. Another trick is to take the "stem" of your apple and twist it tightly. As the fish cooks, the air inside will expand and puff the paper. As it puffs, the stem will unwind. If you check and the stem is still moving, the fish is not done. If it is stopped, the fish is probably done.

Here it is ready to begin cooking:

There is no foolproof way to know when your fish is done. And no way to test. Once you cut the paper, that's it. Cooking stops. The fish cooks in the air and steam inside. When that escapes, you had better be done. If not, the dish is a loss.

It takes 8-12 minutes, according to Chef. To get it going, you should start it in a lightly oiled pan, on low heat. That's just so you don't put it in the oven cold. If you do that, then you really have no idea when the cooking process starts, and you are really guessing about when it is done. Just let it heat in the pan until the paper starts to puff ever so slightly. Then into a 450 oven it goes.

You serve it in the paper, cut open, the tops peeled back. Sort of like one of the eggs from Alien.

Mine was good. Cooked correctly, and tasty. It's a fun technique to do, if a bit much on the prep side.

The other dish was easier. You take the filets and pound them out thin. Not incidentally, it also makes them wider. Season, then roll the filet up. The ends will be uneven because of the uneven edges. Trim just enough with a knife to make a perfect cylinder. Then unroll, and re-roll with the trimmings inside. No waste! Butterfly the roll, that is, cut not quite in half, but barely attached so that you have two cylinders side by side, still connected.

Take a cold sautoir and rub the bottom with whole butter. Add a layer of ciseler shallot, then thinly sliced mushrooms. Put in the filet. Add some white wine and a parchment lid. Cook until the wine is boiling. Add some fish fumet, about halfway up the side of the fish. Cook until fish is white all over; you will have to turn it several times with your tongs to ensure even cooking. When it's done, remove and place a wet paper towel on top (this helps prevent the fish from drying out).

Then you turn up the heat and cook that liquid down until it is syrupy. This is important. If you don't do that, your sauce will lack color and be too runny. Once it is syrupy, add reduced heavy cream (reduced on the stove) and whisk. The color should be a deep tan. If not, cook a little bit until it is. Add chopped parsley once it is off heat.

Plate the dish with the fish in the middle, potato cocottes (cooked separately) arranged around, and spoon the sauce all over. Then put it under a salamander to add some more color.

Here is Chef's:

Mine was not a success. The fish was cooked correctly and everything tasted fine, but I did not cook the liquid long enough to make it syrupy, hence my sauce did not thicken or darken enough.

Purely a bone-headed mistake, as Chef had explained and demonstrated this clearly. Live and learn.

 

[Manton]

Oh, as for our pickled stuff: Apparently, all the refrigerators on our floor failed earlier in the week, and the stuff spoiled. Chef tasted it and said it was beyond saving, so he threw it out. Too bad.

 

[kwilkinson]

Good weekend. I love fish en papillote. Putting that bag on the plate and letting your guest pop it open, with all that steam and aroma rushing into their nose.... just beautiful.

We actually never butchered a fish completely, so I envy you for that. We never had to scale or de-gut a fish. Ours came cleaned and we just had to filet them.

 

[GQgeek]

Slight hijack... I found a cooking school in Toronto that offers a program similar to Manton's and seems much more comprehensive than the one I had been looking at in Montreal which was only 24 or 40 hours(forget which). Toronto doesn't have any big name schools like the CIA or LCB, but this one seems to be the most mentionned on eGullet. It seems appropriate for serious home cooks. There are 3 mandatory courses that cover fundamental techniques common to all cooking. The electives focus mostly on various regional cusine. CA I is the prereq to all the other courses, but they recommend doing CA I&II and knife skills before any of the others. The cost is also reasonable, but you do have to clean your own pots & pans & workstation.

Part of me thinks that you get what you pay for, and I wonder why it's so cheap, but the classes are hands-on, and they are 4 hours per week, so I dunno... I'll have to go to an information session before I fork over any money.

\thrs\t$
Mandatory\t\t
Culinary Arts I\t48\t609
Culinary Arts II\t40\t470
Knife Skills\t12\t210
\t\t
Electives \t\t
French Cuisine\t40\t500
Italy Northern\t24\t337
Italy Southern\t24\t342
Sauces and Marinades\t24\t312
Creative Plate Presentations\t24\t261
Mediterranean Cuisine\t24\t509
\t260\t3550

 

[kwilkinson]

What's the school? Pm if you like.

BTW, cleaning your own pots and pans is really not a big deal at all. When we're all done cooking, it takes us 30 minutes to do the entire cleaning.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

What's the school? Pm if you like.

BTW, cleaning your own pots and pans is really not a big deal at all. When we're all done cooking, it takes us 30 minutes to do the entire cleaning.

Damn, you pay all that money and still have to clean pots?

I guess it's just nice if you don't have to do them, since this is supposed to be a fun weekend activity. I'm used to it though. I usually clean as I go while i am cooking at home b/c the kitchen is small and I hate working in a dirty area.

http://coned.georgebrown.ca/owa_prod...rt_code=CE0043

The course descriptions are terse but I got what I needed from a forum post on egullet.