![]() ![]() We spent a whole day on savory egg dishes such as omelettes, scrambled eggs and poached eggs, and in the process learned about the science of egg protein coagulation, a perfect segue into sweet egg-based desserts like custards, meringues and cakes that we were going to make in the coming days. Note to self: never, ever rummage around in a bag of knives and then look away.Įggs marked the transition from our regular culinary study into pastry, which makes a lot of sense from a theory perspective. The pain and blood are one thing, but really it’s just humiliating wearing a bright blue condom on your hand (sorry, “finger cot”) around the kitchen for days. I was reaching into my kit to grab a microplane for grating nutmeg when my giant serrated knife took off a chunk of skin at the base of my right ring finger. Ironically, the week when we were using our knives the least was the exact moment when I got my first bad cut. It's way more intuitive than using all those French words!īut not everything is fun and games. We were also told to be careful to not let our buttercream frosting “ plotz” onto our sponge cake while icing it, aiming for a thin even layer instead. I really love the onomatopoetic approach to instruction. In fact, it’s quite helpful to have such a specific visual to avoid a certain end outcome - how would you describe a poop emoji otherwise? And when piping out lady fingers, which are the eclair-shaped little cakes used in tiramisu, it was important to check that the batter didn’t “ bloop” out of the pastry bag - it had to be thick enough to come out of the bag slowly and evenly, not fall out into a sad ploppy mess when you pressed it. For example, when we were learning how to make rosettes, which are little decorative floral designs you make with a pastry bag, we were taught how to use pressure and movement to not create " poop emojis” (actual instructions). I also encountered some amusing, highly technical terminology being thrown around the kitchen. You also learn that meat glue is a thing, and a thing that you will soon be using in your charcuterie module coming up in a few weeks. We just about died laughing! You learn from your just-barely-averted disasters, or your instructor’s, in this case. We watched as his expression turned from placid to puzzled to disgusted as he sputtered, “well that wasn’t powdered sugar.” He did not elaborate, so someone asked, “Chef, what was it?” A two word response: “ meat glue.” Not the ideal garnish for your afternoon éclair. Well, our instructor was about to dust some profiteroles with powdered sugar from an unmarked container when it occurred to him to give it a taste first, just in case. Mixing any of those up would be disastrous to a recipe, especially a pastry recipe that requires precision and accuracy to work, so if you aren’t sure what it is, you should probably give it a taste. ![]() ![]() Anyway, at the very least, you have a few flours (e.g., all purpose, 00, cake, and bread), powdered sugar, cornstarch, sugar and salt. In a professional kitchen, there are many types of white powders and crystals floating around - no, not that kind.at least not in our school…that I know of. Beyond the overall amazingness of cooking all day every day and eating fabulous things all the time, there are moments of hilarity that make my day even brighter.įor example, take this useful lesson we learned the hard (and funny) way: I will now never forget that you should ALWAYS label things in the kitchen if they’re not in their original containers. Backtracking for a minute, in the unlikely case that anyone was unsure at this point, I am continuing to love school. ![]()
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