Mid Trip Update

Previous Locations: Budapest, Hungary and Salzburg, Austria

Current Location: Zell Am See, Austria (a ski resort)

What I learned today:
- Mountains should be beheld for their beauty and not skied.
- Skiing (or Sky-ing as Chef pronounces it) is not my forte.
- I am not a fan of snowboarders or other skiers in fact.
- Ski Boots are unduly tight.
- European "easy" ski slopes are without a doubt equivalent to double blacks in the States (ok - at least double blue/basically black diamonds).  This difference without a doubt has something to do with that pesky metric system.
- Bunny slopes are my strong point.  I dominate those.
- Dominating bunny slopes gives you a false sense of skiing ability.
- The phrase death trap popped into my head more times today than it should in a lifetime.
- Deep yoga breaths, a few prayers, and an extremely patient husband can get you through ANYTHING.

Demo

After the final exam, we showed up to the kitchen one last time to see a Michelin starred Chef give a demo.  He did four different recipes - a starter, a foie gras, a fish and a dessert.  It was nice to watch someone else do all the work for once!

First demo started with putting caviar into sea urchin shells.

He then added scallop tartare.

Next came an oyster (yes, oyster) ice cream.  Followed by the meat from the sea urchin (the orangish looking thing).

Tim for tasting!  It was really good.  A great balance of flavor and texture.

Second demo started with sauteeing foie gras.

The Chef checking his sauce for the foie gras plate.

The inner leaves of brussels sprouts were blanched and then quickly sauteed.

And the plate was put together.  Voila!

It was delicious.  I admit that over the past several months I have had so much foie gras that I don't even like to hear the name anymore.  However, this was different.  I gladly ate as much as possible and enjoyed it immensely.

Moving on to the next dish - he started with sauteed squid.

He marinated and cooked the fish inside squid ink which is why you see black ink around the fish. 

The sauteed squid looked almost like noodles.  So, that became the base of the dish.  The fish went on top of that and then more squid (the one with all the tentacles).

He then topped with the really small amount of espuma.  It was quite good, especially once you found the fish under the tent of cream.

Finally, he demoed a dessert - a nut cake made entirely out of walnuts, a caramel nut candy, and a vanilla and truffle ice cream.  LOVED the ice cream.  It looked like cookies and cream and tasted a bit like it too.

Afterwards, we headed out to the courtyard to take a picture of Anglo A and B with the Chef.  This wouldn't be our last encounter with this chef, though.  The very next week we would be eating at his Michelin starred restaurant outside Bordeaux.

Graduation Trip

Well, I can't believe it, but we graduated on Friday from Ferrandi.  I seriously feel like I just started yesterday.  Hopefully, my skills in the kitchen show that is not the case!

In order to celebrate the feat of enduring various French chefs' scrutiny over the past 5 months, B has whisked me away to Hungary and Austria.  So, the Pink Slip Gourmet may only be posting every once in a while over the next week.  However, whenever I can find a computer, I promise to finish updating you on the end of school at Ferrandi.

P.S. It's REALLY cold in Budapest!

Always Wash Ze Veg

Chef is always telling us to "wash ze veg" or asking "did you wash ze veg?"  So much so that sometimes you want to rebel like a teenager and just not wash the vegetable to see what will happen.  Well, I'll tell you what could happen.  You could find this in your leek...

Yep.  It was moving.  It was a worm of some sort. So you might want to take Chef's advice and always wash "ze veg."

Le Grand Ouest

Our last regional menu was a feast from what the French call "the Great West," which essentially encompasses Brittany, lower Normandy and any location in that general area of France.  Since we already had a regional meal devoted to Normandy, the menu mainly consisted of recipes stemming from Bretagne (Brittany).  This meant TONS of seafood, which being from Louisiana is quite welcomed.  Check out the photos of Le Grand Ouest.  We certainly lived it up for our last regional menu.

Langoustines.

Cason and Sonja working to shell the langoustines.

That's me with my trusty lobster, which I would soon have to murder.  I spent a while bonding with it.  Not really, but I did notice that it had some freakishly different sized claws.

See what I mean?

Carleta lamenting what she was about to do.

Lobster, meet the court bouillon.

Once cooked, we broke into the head and put the lobster in a bowl upside down to capture the juices that came out.

Then we went about getting out the meat.  It's a messy job, but someone has to do it.

Moving on to Estee who has to make a pate feuillete (puff pastry).

And Kyoko who made the most delicious dessert ever - a millefeuille of crepes and creme anglaise.  Awesome!

Oops.  Estee wasn't supposed to throw out those scallop shells.

Marinating the fish.

Estee's retrieved and cleaned scallop shells being wrapped in puff pastry.

The table is set.

Carpaccio de Langoutsines a L'Avugra (Langoustine Carpaccio with Caviar)

Saint-Jacques en Coques Lutes Avec Foie Gras (Scallops in the Shell with Puff Pastry and Foie Gras)

This is the inside of the scallop.  Yum!

Palourdes en Coquillage (Clams in their shell baked with butted and herbs)

Bar et Sabayon (Bass with baby leek, fennel and a sabayon)

Ragout Homard aux Haricots (Lobster ragout with beans)

A close up of the lobster without the shell decoration.

Cheese course.

Waiting for the ice cream to melt a bit so we could actually scoop it, we just enjoyed ourselves.

And of course the wine.

My favorite dessert so far.  The layers of crepes and creme anglaise went perfectly with the salted butter caramel ice cream.  The creamy caramel sauce brought it all together and was a favorite around the table.

So much so that we asked for the pot with it and passed it around.  Can you tell I liked it a little?

Ok, so I didn't actually pour it straight from the pot into my mouth, but I did pour it on a spoon that I put directly into my mouth.  Who can blame me?

Time for the requisite cafe.

Could we do anymore damage to this kitchen?

Apparently so!

Final Exam

I had promised by the end of the weekend to update you on everything about our last week at Ferrandi.  Well, there is just too much to update!  I can't just give it all to you at once.  You would be on Pink Slip Gourmet overload.  However, I will stay true to my word and give you a rundown on the final exam.

The morning of the final exam, I was pumped.  I knew all the recipes and was ready to take on whatever the Chefs threw my way.  I woke up early, reviewed the recipes one more time, ate a filling breakfast and was on my way.  Walking out the door, I was surprised to find this...

Snow!  Again.  Not just tiny flurries, but huge, blizzard-like snowflakes.  Off to the metro I went since walking 20 minutes in a snowstorm is not my way of starting out on the right foot.

I arrived early, thanks to the metro, and was quickly shooed away from the kitchen where we would have our test.  Many people have been asking me if it was a written test.  No, this is Ferrandi; it was all about skill.  The test was purely practical.  Chef Sebastian came in at 8 am on the dot and handed us our assignments: quiche lorraine and blanquette de veau.  A huge sigh of relief escaped from me.  I had no questions about either recipe and quickly got to work on writing out a game plan.  Unfortunately, I had chosen the last space; I would be sixth to start the test and sixth to plate. Being last ended up working out fine, though.  For the most part, the group (Leo and Carleta from group B and three others from Group A) taking the test was calm, worked clean, and exuded confidence.  The judges walking around inspecting our work and asking us questions didn't even ruffle out feathers too much (ok, maybe a little, but like I said not too much). 

The judges being presented a dish.  In my next life, I'd like to be them.  They were given good food (for the most part) and bottomless wine and baguettes.  Not a bad gig.

At 12:25 pm, I plated and presented my two quiche lorraine. At 12:45, I did the same for my blanquette de veau, accompanied by rice pilaf. I felt good about all my dishes except the rice. It  was too sticky, but at least the flavor was ok. Overall, I was very happy with my work and know that I did my best that day.

In the Garde Manger after finishing the test with all the dishes from that day.  Woo hoo!  See how relaxed I am?  There was only one thing left to do...

Imbibe with fellow test takers from Group B.