Hello everyone, and happy Friday! Just before I begin talking about my day, an issue has come up with comments. Unless you have a google account, you can't post comments on here, so in order to save you some trouble with this issue, I will be checking facebook every day for comments. As you may have noticed, I have been posting my blog on facebook each day after I finishing writing it. If you don't have facebook, or this doesn't work and you have questions or comments, feel free as well to message me at paul.r.arsenault@pcmessenger.ca . However, please don't give this e-mail to a bunch of people that will send me spam, as this would be very inconvenient to myself as this is my school e-mail as well. Thank you again for the support, and for those that are reading, it really means a lot. And now on to today, the last day of boiling.
Today there was no practical cookery class, as I had the pastry class and a practical cookery class on Tuesday. I got to sleep in a little bit, which was nice for once, but then a long walk to Body Moves. It's about a thirty minute walk, and we left twenty eight minutes before class, thinking it was a bit shorter. Needless to say, we were quite tired after speed walking a good kilometre or two to get there just in time. Body moves is an interesting class, that you either hate, or you love. Basically, we began by doing drills in order to form correct posture in order to look very presentable while serving dishes. It was very similar to standing at attention, so this was no struggle for me, but then we got trays, and plates and such, and set up tables around the room. There was a lesson in there on how to walk correctly, and efficiently, and then walking with plates. how to hold multiple plates at once without dirtying the edges, how to remove plates from the table, how to place them on the table, how to set a table, and how to serve a guest and remove again and again until we could do it perfectly. It was a very interesting class, and I have learned a lot already after just the first day. We, as level 1 students, will be running tables in the near future, so this knowledge is very helpful. After this class, I was on dish duty for the level 2 students at Rundles Restaurant through the lunch service. Again, this could be a very unwanted position, however, I took what I could from it, as I watched the level 2 students perform one of their first lunch services. Lots of scallops, garnishes, salads, and some amazing looking pork that was cooked over the grill. It was interesting to see what I'll be learning next year, providing I make it through this year. Lots of motivation is arising in order that I will hopefully be the one next year that a new level 1 student is looking up to. After dishes were caught up and lunch was over, we still had 45 minutes until our next class. This allowed myself and the other dishwasher, a lady from Holland, to eat the leftover lunch. No scallops were left, however the salad on the plate was pretty tasty, I actually ate most of the green weeds. Amazingly fresh, and the dressing was subtle, and had a small amount of heat, much like a mild sauce. No idea what it actually was, and I didn't think to ask so I guess I'll have to wait and see if I get the opportunity to make it one of these days. Also for lunch, were dutch croquettes, which were FANTASTIC. I really enjoy dutch food, and for the lady from holland to have food from where she lives, for the first time in months made her very happy. A puff pastry with thyme ice cream was for desert, and it was pretty amazing as well. Last class of the day after lunch was Culinary Management. We learned all about the french hierarchy of cooking a full course dinner. From the soup, to the Remove, to Entree, Roast, First and second entremets, and finally the desert. We learned about the way it must be thought out from a menu standpoint, to what meats and fishes go together in what order, and the whole theory behind a french menu. We were then given an opportunity to see what we had retained about these ingredients, and where they fit on the menu. Match ABC... etc (the commodities, or meals, eg. Caviar frais, or Becassines Chasser Salade) with 123.. etc which are the courses of the meal. Only problem, as you may have noticed by the description above, is that the meal names are all, of course, in French. Anyone that knows me will be laughing histerically by now, especially Tricia I'm sure, as my basis of knowledge in the language of the french language is very mediocre, at an extreme best. I did however get 8 out of 14 correct, (this was just a quick quiz that is not marked, so I'm not failing yet!) however, there are now 175 french terms I must be studying in the next few weeks. 70 for next Wednesday.
After class, my housemates and I went to the grocery store and picked up a couple live lobsters for dinner. They turned out pretty well, so we may do them again in the future, but most excitingly, we will be making lobster stock relatively soon with the help of Jeff who has done it many times before. What we will use it for, I have no idea, but I'm sure it will be fantastic.
This has been my Friday. The weekend will be a homework filled one, so school isn't over for the weekend, it is just beginning! but I'm looking forward to finishing up my SPEC this evening, and then reading about the french menu, about food costing, and about bread. The information available is amazing, and I'm taking in everything I can as I won't have the opportunity again after school, well, the motivation won't be there at least. I may or may not post tomorrow, so if I don't, then you'll be able to read again on Monday for certain, and probably Sunday evening. Thank you again for those that are following and supporting me.
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