(Sur Le Pont d'Avignon)
Intermediate Lesson 21- Provence
We've arrived at Provence, with a ice-cold bottle of Côtes de Provence rosé in our hand and surrounded by lavender fields. In my opinion, Provence is the most beautiful region of france. Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Nîmes..... I've always said that if I ever make it big in life, one of the thing I would do is to drive a convertible sports car to the Verdon Gorge and then para-glide down the canyon.... One day.
We made pretty incredibly annoying dish. A fish stew with a Mediterranean scorpion fish and a John Dory, with a fish stew flavored by a conger eel. In other words, we had to fillet three different types of fish, marinate the fish, and then cook the damn thing. The dish wouldn't be so annoying if it actually tasted good. Sadly, it tasted rather bland. The sauce was not flavorful enough to be delicious, yet we've added so many things that one could not taste the fish anymore.
Dun-dun-dun!
The sauce is flavored by a bunch of aromatic garnishes. But we also added some saffron and espelette pepper for flavor. There's also basil involved. For the thickener, we used a potato, egg yolk and garlic. All in all, I think the dish was too busy.
I must say though, this is the first time that I thought my fish fillets came out pretty good.All the practices I had from the past really paid off, because I THINK I'm finally grasping the skills necessary to fillet a fish. Finally, my fillets came out looking respectable. I'm very proud of myself.
We had Chef Bogen for practical today, who has been MIA since Basic Cuisine ended. This man knows how to keep the pressure up, although I have to admit he's eased down a lot today relative to the man I remembered from before. Perhaps it's because we are in intermediate, or perhaps he has changed. I don't know. I have to admit that he would pretty good advice every time he saw me doing something very wrong.
Quote of the class:
Demo Chef Poupard: Pop quiz, what is the base of a Sauce Américaine?
Student 1: Is it ketchup?
Chef: WHAT? No.....! You want to make a sauce with Heniz?
Student 1: Doesn't the American sauce contain ketchup? Or mayonnaise or something?
Chef: No madam! We might as well mix in some Tobasco Sauce! I think you're confusing it with cocktail sauce.
Student 1: Geee.... then I have never heard of Sauce Américaine!
Chef: We just did it last week!
Student 2: It's a sauce made with a lobster base.
Chef: Thank you! At least someone is still awake.
Chef: Thank you! At least someone is still awake.
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