..........Superior!!

the time has come, i am now, officially, a superior student! Daunting? yes, very much so. the pressure is on now. no more playing around in the kitchen and taking our time... its down to business!!!

haha... that sounds so intense. but in all honestly, its crunch time... in 3 months time, i can officially call myself a chef, but then all that means is i can go into a kitchen, and start from the bottom again. its like going from junior school to high school .... being the big fish in the pond, to being the scum on the on the root of the algee the the tadpoles eat. but before you know it... i will be fish again... i hope!

in my last entry i was was talking about the exams, as it was nearly exam time...
so to let you know, for the exam we had to do the lamb dish, with the tian of artichoke, mushroom, spinach, tomato and i feel like im forgetting something... oh well... and i got through it! thank goodness, even though it didnt go as i had hoped, but the fact of the matter is i passed and i am through to the next round. then for pastry i had to do the fraisier cake.. the one with the strawberries around and the marzipan rose on top.... got through that one too!!! PHEW :)

so now.... superior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

before class started, we had a 3 week break, which was much needed. seriously needed a little bit of a beak and getting out of london to get some sunshine and space!

so i went to PORTUGAL :) and italy (but im not going to talk about that because i got stuck in bed with bad bad flu, thank goodness i had my grandmother to keep me alive!)  fun fun fun! it was just perfection to get away from the business of traffic and tubes to the spacious fresh air of the algarve and porto. 

spent a few days on the beach, catching some sun, drinking freshly squeezed sweet sweet orange juice and caparhinias, soaking up the heat and attempting to catch a tan. we visited wine farms, and drank some absolutely delicious wines.. then eating the most delicious simple things.... piri piri chicken, cooked on the grill, served with tomato salad, portugeuese egg tarts, and egg tarts... oh and did i mention that we had egg tarts??? well we did, and I LOVE THEM!! and port and wine and all things nice :-) all i can say is that is not the last time im going to portugal, there is so much to explore there, and what i love most about it, is it is not the most popular holiday destination in the world, so some of it is almost untouched by the 'tourist'!

we have now been through 2 weeks of superior, and it has been busy busy busy.
almost on day one, we were given our exam dishes and what is expected of us, no more demos on what is our exam, we get given the list, and the rest is up to us!!!So for our cuisine this is is :  a tartlet with spinach, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, and roast crown of pigeon and confit legs, various winter veggies, fondant potatoes and a red wine sauce......
Pastry is a 6 hour exam, where there are various components we have to do, one of which is a plated dessert of our own invention, but there have to be certain components: a mousse or bavarian cream, an anglaise, a coulis, tempered chocolate decoration, a sponge and a few other aspects, but when i get closer to my final decision, i will let you know what ive decided to do!!!

so we started off our first day with a 6 hour patisserie practical, making chocolate truffles... and this went on for tuesday too. so in total we spent 12 hours making chocolate truffles... and when you see the result, you will understand i am not exaggerating when i say that we could have opened up a chocolate shop and run it for a week!! for our exam, we have to make a moulded chocolate truffle, which is just one of the components... but these pracs were just teaching us the different methods and techniques there are to make truffles. we made coffee ones, and spiced ones and lemon ones and caramel ones and coconut ones and marshmallows and and and.... the list is almost endless. but it was such fun, and i think my whites had a seen better day!!!

Cuisine too was excitement:

Our chefs this term are Chef Eric and Chef Franck.. both french and both incredible chefs. it is so inspiration to watch them work, their methods are both very different, Eric being an absolute perfectionist even to the extent that he lines up his knives in size order so they are all perfectly straight, and continues to do so throughout the demonstrations, and chef Franck who walks into the kitchens and you get the feeling he doesnt quite know how he is going to get around the demonstration, and he spends ages telling you stories about his grandmother and yet, still, even if sometimes a bit late, gets the dish out, and with out fail, it is delicious perfection on a plate. 

So our first demo and prac was Roast Duck or Wild Duck ( if in season, which it just so happens to be) with cloves and honey. with a celeriac puree, roast tomatoes and baby veg. i, unfortunately bit into a shot that had been left behind in the bird when i was tasting it. but thats what happens when you eat game birds i guess!

Demo 2: Herb Crusted thick salmon steak, Mushroom Flan and Maderia Jus. this was a salmon steak with a herb burrer crust with parsley, coriander and chervil, with breadcrumbs and ground almonds in it to give it a bit more texture, The mushroom flan was deliciously smooth and soft but packed full of mushroom flavour. it was also served with a salmon mousse... i think the mousse part was just to give us a heads up practice for the mousse we have to make for our exam. and the Maderia Jus was yum!

Next was Grilled Lamb Noisettes, marinated in with herbs,  with a minted hollandaise sauce and served with a lamb jus, blanched asparagus and crispy potatoes.

and so that brought us to the end of week 1 of superior...

in next issue: Chocolate boxes and windmills, Beef wellington, red mullet with potato scales, and open lasagne with lobster.... i but you just cant wait!!!!