What Kwilk Learned At Culinary School Today.

[kwilkinson]

In this thread I will share with you all of the many things I learn each day in culinary school. I'll try to provide you with pictures too. I also am doing this because I'm very bored.

Anyway, today was one of the final days of my Introduction to Baking & Pastry class. I'm a culinary arts major, so this is one of only 2 required baking classes. I really hate baking, and as a result, hate every minute in this class. So today we made Pate Sucre. It's one of 4 classic pastry doughs, the other three being pate brisee, pate sablee, and pate a choux. Sucre means sugar, so this is a very sugary dough. It is used mainly for tarts, as it is a very sturdy dough which can hold the tart shape.

Today we had to make two tarts in groups. I was partners with my usual PIC. We made our Pate Sucre dough first and let it chill. The two tarts we had to make was a frangipane and pear tart, and then one chocolate cream tart. Frangipane is basically just an almond filling. So my partner and I made the frangipane and then we poached the pears. For this tart, we used a raw tart shell--meaning just the dough shaped into the pan. The reason we didn't prebake the tart shell was because the frangipane and pear all had to cook together, and in the 40 minutes that it would cook, the tart would have been burnt badly had we prebaked it.

As that was baking, we also baked our other tart shell. For the chocolate cream tart, the chocolate doesn't need cooked, so we prebake the tart shell and then fill it w/ the pastry cream. While the shell cooked, we made the pastry cream, which is basically a chocolate custard. We also made whipped cream and it all ended up coming together pretty well.

Neither my partner or I like sweet stuff that much, and I'm trying to eat better, so we decided to trade away our tarts (which we got As on). Our pear/frangipane tart we took over to the school's President's office and let him and his secretary eat it. They really loved it, which was a nice compliment from the President. Then, we took the chocolate cream tart over to the International Cuisine class. They were making sushi and sashimi today. So for our tart we got a roll of sushi and some wasabi, and some sashimi. It was all excellent.

 

[goodlife]

I look forward to reading and learning. I am actually becoming kind of bored with my own cooking, but I don't think anyone else has noticed yet. If they have they have been polite enough not to say anything.

 

[unexpected]

kwiilk,

You're a culinary arts major? Explains the weight-loss woes. I feel ya bro. I'm still jealous of your high school 5k time.

Any recommended reading material for a wannabe gourmet chef? Fave books/blogs/magazines? I'm trying to up the ante a little bit.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by goodlife

I look forward to reading and learning. I am actually becoming kind of bored with my own cooking, but I don't think anyone else has noticed yet. If they have they have been polite enough not to say anything.
Best of luck. Don't expect to be amazed w/ anything I say

. You could always check out some cooking classes around the city. Sur La Table normally has some, some of the nicer grocery stores or butchers also offer them, and I believe Kendall has some Saturday morning stuff every now and then. Might be able to give you some new ideas to change things up.

Originally Posted by unexpected

kwiilk,

You're a culinary arts major? Explains the weight-loss woes. I feel ya bro. I'm still jealous of your high school 5k time.

Any recommended reading material for a wannabe gourmet chef? Fave books/blogs/magazines? I'm trying to up the ante a little bit.

I read Bon Apetit and I just subscribed to Cook's Illustrated. For blogs, I enjoy slashfood.com and it's hard to beat the eGullet forum when it comes to sheer knowledge. It's the SF of food. Really great site.

There are people on this board who know a hell of a lot more about food and cooking and fine dining than I do. Maybe they can chime in here too.

 

[Go Surface]

What are you making me?

 

[Nouveau Pauvre]

Originally Posted by GoSurface

What are you making me?

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=89856

 

[Go Surface]

Originally Posted by Magician

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=89856

 

[danyllau]

Making proper dessert is not easy. Frankly I do not like to eat dessert at most places. I always feel that most ppl think that just b/c something it's sweet it'll be at least acceptable. I find most dessert a complete disaster.


btw Tards? lol

 

[thekunk07]

i feel for you man. i can cook the **** out of virtually anything but cannot bake a betty crocker cake even.

 

[acidboy]

I <3 Tarts

 

[crazyquik]

Are there cooking cuties in your classes?

 

[kwilkinson]

^I wish.

I've seen one absolutely gorgeous woman at the school as a student since I got there, but other than that it's been below average. Especially in culinary. The pastry students get some hotties.

 

[Tarmac]

are you the guy who didn't know what prime rib was?

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Magician

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=89856

Don't even need to click to know what that was.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

are you the guy who didn't know what prime rib was?

I certainly don't think so.



Anyway, today was a good, if boring, day at school. We took the written portion of the final, which encompassed all we've done throughout this class. Bread, lean doughs, yeast, rich doughs, laminated doughs, types of flours, quick breads, leavening agents and styles, cookies, fats, sugar, muffins, pie doughs, tart doughs, pastry emulsions, and the function of eggs. I got a 93/100, A- on this.

We also made pizza for fun today after the written portion. I didn't want pizza, so I made pitas for everybody, we traded some pizza for some gyros meat, made tatziki, and we had gyros. Good stuff. Then, we prepped our dough for the third practical tomorrow, which is a chocolate cream tart, scones, biscuits, and pie dough.

Tonight I have to do a stupid "Notes Journal" which is due tomorrow as part of the final. I had taken really good notes all through the class, but I lost my notebook somehow this weekend, so I had to make copies of a friend's poorer notes.