(The Wanted- Glad you came)
Intermediate Lesson 26- Roast lamb + Sauce Béarnaise review + Butchering(!)
We entered the demonstration room today with a huge surprise in the demo room. Literally. There was a giant piece of dead animal on the chef's table, with an old man sporting the most incredible mustache I've seen since I last watched Casablanca or the old Pink Panther movies. Seriously, he even wore thick round classes and a a tri-color collared shirt. (I think that makes him a MOF, which means he is one of the very best in France) How much more stereotypically French can he look? I bet he rides his vélo to work every day with a baguette in his basket and wears a beret while drinking café as he reads Le Figaro in the morning. Probably owns a dog called Fido or Milou.
His name's Thierry Michaud, which at first I thought he said Tiramisu.
Monsieur Thierry Michaud
That's a big cleaver.
That's a big cleaver.
M. Michaud subsequently meticulously and systematically dismembered the baby lamb (only 5 months old!) into perfectly cut pieces of heavenly lamb meat. That was really cool and I'm glad the school organized this. Thanks for coming!
Students taking photos of the pieces of lamb.
While M. Michaud demonstrated how to butcher a lamb, Grandpa Bear Chef Stril quietly demonstrated the dish for today, but it was clear that nobody was watching him. The translator even complained that he was blocking the video camera, so Stril had to move all his stuff and quietly work in a corner of his own classroom. Don't worry Chef, I was paying attention.
Stril demonstrated how to make a creme Crème Catalane, which we didn't get to make, and began our practical dish, lamb fillet, with dates and dried apricots wrapped inside, served with couscous.
Boom!
We also reviewed how to make a sauce béarnaise in both demonstration and practical. We've theoretically made the sauce before in basic, but I skipped that class to go to my sister's wedding that time. The sauce wasn't that hard to make, but just like hollandaise and mayonnaise, making this sauce almost broke my arm.
We had Grandpa Bear for our practical class too. Honestly I love this chef, and every practical I had with him just felt great. I went into practical totally organized and in control. Fillet the lamb and start cooking the jus, bam. Start cutting the vegetables for the jus, bam. Prep the reduction for the sauce béarnaise, bam. Gather the garnishes for the couscouse, bam. Everything just flowed. My only hiccup was when my water bath for the béarnaise sauce was too hot and I left the sauce on the bath while I walked to the trash can to throw stuff away. Big mistake. My egg yolks almost became scramble eggs. Good thing it was still early in the process and I could save the sauce. All in all the day went well.
Oh our written exam grades are up already. I have to give it to the school for such a fast turnaround. It's true that there's not that many students in the intensive program, but still props to the school. More importantly, I passed. That's all I care anout. Shout out to my friend and old section-mate Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe, who got A HUNDRED in his basic cuisine written exam. Did you know he just graduated from HARVARD?? What a smart guy.
Quote of the day:
"Oh.... nobody is paying attention to me anymore. It's so sad."
-Demo Chef Stril
preparing the Crème Catalane while everyone
was mesmerized by the butcher cutting up the lamb
Demo Chef Stril: Although we are flambéing the sugar on the surface, this is a crème catalane, which is totally different than a crème brûlée. The two dishes are different in the following ways.....*goes on for another minute or two*
Demo Chef Stril: Bon, so now we burn the sugar on the dessert.
Student: Oh, so this is dessert just like a crème brûlée?
Chef Stril gave the student an "Are-you-f-ing-serious??" look...
If you really want to know the difference: crème brûlée is made with a crème anglaise base, and has to go into the oven to solidify. Crème catalane, though has similar ingredients, contains flour and cornstarch, and only needs to be cooled to solidify.
