Day 1, week 6

Hello, and happy Monday everyone!

This past week has been a thrill, beginning with my exams on monday, stir-frying and pot-roasting practical classes, and ending with a tour of a couple wineries. I have a lot write about, so I will start with where I left off last.
Body moves began my Wednesday last week, and we learned more service drills, how to serve tables, and specifically this class, how to use a fork and spoon like tongs to grab bread, and place it on to the bread plates at a table. I was very very frustrated by the end of this class, as this is next to impossible to do! The day however went on to nutrition class second, where I learned that no one really worries about underweight people. I get to the class, and we learn about body mass index. The weight that someone should be at such a height, and activity level. I, however, am quite underweight, even though I eat quite a bit of food, as you can all imagine. I learned, (or was told, because I already knew this) that my metabolic rate is just higher than most people. So with this confirmation of knowledge, I went on to, yet again, ask what I can do about this. I should weigh around 155-160 lb, I however, (after losing about 5 lb due to stress recently) only weigh about 130. So... after receiving no real answer as to how I can do this, I went through the class, found out that other than my under-weightness, I am a pretty healthy person. We went into stats about obesity, why it's dangerous, and that's good to know and all... but how can I fix being underweight without sitting and eating fat all day long? I went to ask the instructor after class, and after a slight topic change after the question was asked, I realized that I will probably never know, and so I have deemed this class completely useless, and that's where I stand until someone can explain to me how to gain weight in a healthy manner.
    Culinary management followed, and exams came back.  I didn't understand a good portion of it as well as I thought I did, and although I didn't fail, I will be re-writing this test to improve my mark, as I am a little disappointed in myself with it. I am learning though, and I have gotten the opportunity for a re-write, so I will gladly take it, and improve on my mark.
The next day, we did some more stir-frying, and more burning of the only two cloths I have left. Just building some character in them I guess, but one has a defined chunk burnt out of the side now. Wine followed, and it was a pretty exciting class.   Wine is one of those things, that can be really hard to understand, or completely life changing once you do understand it. In order that we, as students, can begin to understand wine a little bit better, we got to taste some very raw products that make up the different tastes and feelings associated with wine. A very sweet product to start off, and then a very bitter product after that. The 3rd was absolutely horrible, but it represented tannin, and then an acid to go along with everything. On their own, they tasted horrible, but after a bit of mixing, we could get them all to combine to a somewhat drinkable level. However, we moved over to wine tastings after these products, and the wines were pretty good, although I can't remember what they were at the moment. Wine class was followed by commodities, where we learned about different types of oils and fats. We then, got to taste olive oils after class, just as we would taste wine. Most of my classmates did not really enjoy this, but I found it pretty fantastic. We tasted four types of olive oil, from different bottles, different methods of producing, and different quality levels. My favourite was, I believe, a Spanish olive oil, and it had a very very peppery taste after you swallowed it. It was quite an eye opener to how much something like a clear bottle can change, and ruin this fantastic product.
Day 5, we began the day with practical cookery, where we learned how to pot-roast. There were only 3 recipes for the class of 11, but once we finished cooking them, I realized that if there were any more, none of us would be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day, as it was quite a bit of food. We cooked four whole chickens, and a huge slab of bacon, basically just a large pork roast. I will upload pictures later on in the week, and answer any questions anyone has about the dishes during this time as well. Culinary management followed, and we are now beginning a new chapter in the world of culinary management. Restaurant design, concept statements, and quite a bit of interesting history into how certain restaurant types have evolved from the "Escoffier" type meals, to something more modern. I am interested to see where this class goes, and I'm very excited for the future classes that will be taking place every wednesday and friday.
Our commodities test followed culinary management, and was on fats and oils. Other than two simple questions, that I really should have known the answers to, I think I did very very well. I will get my results back this Friday, so I am hoping that I get a good mark on it.

My first shift running dishes took place Friday night.  After scrambling around to find some nice shoes, and to try to find a decent belt, I ended up wearing my scottish ghillies as footwear, and going without a belt. Luckily this wasn't a problem, but my night began as the coat person. I would take people's coats as they entered the dining area, and hang them up on the hanger that corresponded with their table. After a few people came in, and two tables at once, I was worried that I may had gotten a couple coats mixed up, but luckily everything worked out pretty well.  We were short staffed, but we performed a nearly flawless service. Running dishes to tables, presenting the menu after trying everything I could to memorize the names of the dishes, and the night went on to be one of the best nights of the week. I received quite a few compliments, which was very nice, especially considering I have never served on the floor before in my life. I am looking forward to my next service and considering applying for a position as a server some day, just to gain a little bit more experience in this part of the restaurant. Whether this will ever happen or not is uncertain, but I'm keeping it open, as it is a lot more enjoyable that I thought it would be.
 
This post is one of my longer ones, however I have not yet included the wine tour, as this will probably take up an entire post on its own. I will try to post while I upload last week's pictures, however I need to get a few assignments done, as is always the case here at the Stratford Chefs School. Enjoy the rest of your week, and feel free to comment, critique, or ask any questions either here on my post, or on facebook. Thank you for reading.

Paul

Week 5, day 2

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday.  My Exam on Monday went pretty well in pastry, although my bread didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to. I'm not sure if it wasn't proofed enough, or if we all screwed up, because both exam classes, everyone had the same problem. The bottom had a bunch of dough explode out of it, even though we cut slits in the top to allow for expansion. Hmm,... anyhow, I'll have my mark on Friday, and I'll let everyone know how that went. My pastry turned out well, although I should have cooked it for about 2 more minutes, so I almost got perfect on it, but it was just slightly undercooked... I should have known better, but I'll learn, and hopefully won't make mistakes like this again.

This week we are learning how to Pot-Roast, beginning on Thursday, and for the first half of the week, I have been learning how to Stir-Fry. I never believed that stir-frying would be as exciting as I find it!  The amount of heat involved is insane, and the industrial stoves don't quite have what we need, but it's a really good representation of what stir-frying is. It is an extremely fast cooking method, and the flavours involved, the half cooked veggies, and the tenderness of the meats is just fantastic!  As you can tell, it has been a very exciting few days this week in practical cookery. I have found such an appreciation for this cooking method, and I am changing my views cooking in general because of it, at least in one aspect. I hope to learn a lot more in the near future, and hopefully I can use a stove with the proper temperature for this method in the future.

Exams are finished, but all the projects are coming up, and homework keeps building, so my posts are going to be relatively short for now. Saturday is the wine tour, so I will try to post on Sunday in the evening explaining how the tour goes. I will be eating at the Stone Road Grill there as well, so I will add my experience at this restaurant into the blog that follows the trip. Until then though, I will be learning pot-roasting, and I will try to add my pictures at the end of the week. I forgot to take my camera to class these past few days, but luckily, I have some awesome classmates that have offered to let me use their pictures, so I give credit to Cecelia, and Jeff for whenever I get around to adding the pictures. Off to finish the rest of this week's SPEC, or at least the beginning of it, and to finish a couple other assignments for tomorrow. I'll post whenever I have time again, hope everyone has an awesome week!

Week 4, day 6

Ok, I know I haven't posted in the last week, so there is quite a bit for me to catch any readers up on. This past week was exam week, probably up there, in one of the most stressful weeks of my life. Last weekend was studying, studying, studying, and then not sleeping well at night, because of all the projects due in the next few days, and exams to worry about.  Monday morning came, and after dreaming of messing up my dish horribly, I then woke, to have to make it for real. Two soft boiled eggs, sauce andalouse, hollandaise sauce, fettuccine, and a french folded omelet. The omelet went up first, and although the colour was very good, I found it very difficult to make it look perfect. No folds on the top, just a perfect looking omelet....  Impossible! I did a decent job, but it is definitely a skill I will have to work on for the future. If I had a flat top, maybe it would have been easier, but then again, if I had a flat top, I wouldn't be learning, now would I? Anyhow, the next dish, was all of the others at the same time!  I made my pasta in advance, earlier that morning, and it seemed very good. It had great gluten structure, and was pretty much perfect... except I cut it about 2 times too wide, and didn't realize until after it was time to plate it. It overcooked, so that was my epic failure of the exam. The emulsified sauces did save me though. My sauce andalouse, was a slow process that I put a lot of care into making. The tomato cancasse was perfect, nice even sized dices, all even cuts, and the same with all my other ingredients. Being emulsified, the hardest part is adding oil to the egg, as these ingredients shouldn't mix nicely. Whisking has to be constant, and your arm, after one minute, feels like it's going to fall right off. Adding tiny tiny amounts with your left hand of the oil ensures that it won't separate as you add it, but it is such a tiring tedious process.  After making it, the flavour was awesome though, and it was definitely the best part of my presentation, or exam. The hollandaise, on the other hand, was a different story. I did a decent job in the end, but it shouldn't have worked out.  As I looked up at the clock, with two minutes before my put up time, I realized, I hadn't even started it yet! I grabbed my cold, solid, clarified butter, threw it in a saucepan, and let it melt over high heat to start the sauce. Whisked my eggs like my exam mark depended on it... (because it did) and then began the emulsification, add the clarified butter to the eggs. I didn't think it was possible for me to get that entire amount of butter into the mixture without it separating in less than a minute, but somehow I managed. Seasoned, and cooked to perfection, and into the bowl at the last second... just like on all those TV shows! The only negative comment on my hollandaise was that I overcooked the butter just a little bit, adding a nutty flavour to it. This was because I was trying to melt it all in less than a minute, so providing the circumstances, and that it shouldn't be possible to make hollandaise that quickly, I think I did pretty well.
The second exam went much better, I was much more prepared, and I was making dishes that are very similar to the style of cooking I do at home. Breaded veal cutlet, just dredged in flour, egg, and bread crumbs, flattened, and fried in a hot cast iron skillet. Basically the same method as pan frying fish, which I do quite a bit on my own. The was served with a mushroom gravy sauce of sorts, and it turned out fantastic! absolutely perfect presentation, the only mistake, I started my gravy sauce early, and it simmered down almost to a gelatinous consistency. I didn't think to add water, but have to learn something from everything I do. The second dish was a oyster mushroom ragout. It turned out quite awesome as well, but I, again, reduced the stock a little too much, and should have added water. The stock was a bit overpowering for a light dish, but the flavour was still pretty amazing. On top of good dishes, and good presentation, I got two comments that made my whole day. Brian Steele, my chef instructor, is probably the hardest marking chef here at the school. He commented on my veal, being absolutely perfectly cooked, as if I couldn't have done a better job frying it up. The gravy sauce, as well, had "killer flavour", so despite it being thick, I have an absolutely amazing dish that I feel very confident with, and I finally feel a lot of confidence with my cooking here at the Stratford Chefs School.

Yesterday, we had wine class. Learned all about the way vines are pruned, and taken care of, and how wine is made. The whole process, from picking, to how to get colour in the wine, to the fermentation process and bottling, and everything in between. Next weekend is the wine tour in the niagara region, so I am very much looking forward to this opportunity. After wine class, it was our third exam of the week. Culinary management exam, which consisted of basic sauces, classical and modern menu structure, and a ton of french words, and culinary words, matching with definitions. I hope I did well, but I won't know until next week I imagine. I seem to be keeping up with everything, though it's all starting to add up really fast. This weekend is super homework weekend, as I need to start everything and get it done, so that I can focus on group projects all week. I will hopefully be posting all week, as the stress of exams isn't there, other than my pastry exam. I will keep you updated to how everything is going, and hope to keep writing good news about my assignments and exam marks. Thank you for reading, and enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Week 3, day 5

Hello everyone, so sorry for the posts I have been missing, it has been one of the most stressful weeks so far this year for me and I have been up studying really late the past few nights.
I woke this morning to a chilly room, and then to snow as I left the house for body moves.  The snow is terrible, I hate snow. Anyhow, the past few days have been interesting. Warm weather, lots of classes, lots of projects that have been adding up, but since staying up from 4:30 until 11:00 last night with only a break to make a risotto for dinner, (which turned out fantastic) I believe I am 90% caught up. The last of the catching up will be for tonight or tomorrow. I have only my spec assignment for this week, and to study for my exam. My gastronomic writer in residence assignment, basically just an assignment on my favourite food, what it is, and why, was the first that I completed finally last night. There is a test today, so I studied for it. The test is on the effects of grains, and I chose the negative effects regarding cattle in particular and how it is very negatively affecting the health of cattle worldwide, but more importantly, how it is effecting our health. I will answer any questions about such topics if anyone has any, or just wants to know more. I do have strong opinions, specifically with the food industry, and with my faith, so I won't argue with anyone over what is right or wrong, or force anything down anyones throat, but if you ask, don't argue with me, just accept that my views may be extremely strong regarding situations and I will respect your views as well. Anyhow... on to the rest of the week.
Practical cookery has been more and more interesting as the days go on, and I am learning a lot about pan frying and sauteing. I have pictures below of the dishes we cooked the past few days. I will be adding some more of the dishes that I will be preparing today. Unlike previous posts, I won't be listing of the dishes here in the blog... honestly because I don't want to dig through stacks of papers to try to find the french names at the moment, but if anyone has questions about what the dishes are, how we made them, or any other inquiries, I will be happy to answer them if you leave me a comment or question via facebook, or the comment section below.
I have a project regarding the renaissance period that needs to be completed this weekend, as well as some reading from our literature circle project book, 'wine and war' for wine class. During the tasting in wine class yesterday, I found that sickly sweet wines such as ice wines seem to be appreciated by most people, however I found it to be overpowering with a taste of..  how to describe it...   basically, a glass full of fermented sugar and wine.  The other wine we tasted was much dryer and subtle, and I really enjoyed it, although I can't remember what it was.

Practical cookery tonight, after culinary management, where I'm told we will be watching a short film, and then a test to follow from commodities on the effects of corn on cattle. Please wish me luck next week in my exams, as I am beginning to really worry, and I hope that I can present these dishes fantastically. Off to the study cave again for my test and to study my dishes for my exams, and for practical tonight. Pictures will be added on the weekend from tonight's practical class.