A blog about my culinary experiences in Paris and around the world.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"They must have a bar in Champagne that serves Champagne!"

Today, the Anglo program (both Cuisine and Pastry) were treated to a school trip to Reims (in the region of Champagne). It was absolutely freezing (-5 and in white snow) but we were warmed up with glasses of Champagne (obviously!). 



Like a white Christmas!





We got to visit the Taittinger Museum and Champagne cave. It's one of the only ones left with underground stairs and original abbeys from the time monks handled the vineyards and caves.



Can't touch this :)
Some of the first bottles we saw fermenting...the 10 out of 1 million or more bottles in the cave!


Someone turns these bottles by hand every single day...


Taittinger bottle from the ceiling


Ready for drinking...and buying...


But first, degustation...


Latinos of Anglo B :)


Group Photo time! Anglo A...with Chef Sebastien (3rd from left) and Agnes (our Wine teacher - 4th from left)


Now our turn...Anglo B represent! :) with Chef Stephane (4th from right)
- Maniko we missed you!





We were then treated to a buffet lunch with more of Taittinger's Champagne. 



The boys...drinking...


Eating...with no chairs


Roberto de-shelling Kery's shrimp as demanded


Finally a stroll through the city and Reims Cathedral...


With a pose or two...from Marysol of course.


Roberto carrying Isabel's champagne...again...as demanded


A final good deed for the day...helping Carolina back on the bus.


A freezing but good day overall. Hectic end of the week coming up with restaurant service and regional menu, let's get ready!








Monday, November 29, 2010

3 more pounds and counting...

Today in pastry, it was all about tarts...simple yet delicious!
The dough was the same for all three but we made: Tarte au citron, Tarte au chocolat and Tarte caramel aux noix.


Tarte au chocolat (Chocolate tart) with a chocolat glacé


Tarte au citron (Lemon tart) and Swiss meringue


Tarte caramel aux noix (Caramel tart with walnuts)


The whole gang...






Sunday, November 28, 2010

Home Creations

Winter in Paris is a great time for food as shops sell very flavorful meat. As a lover of meat, I'm first in line.

At home, the duck breast was seasoned, fried, fat side down until caramelization, then turned and 'arroser' from its own oil. The inside has to be rose-colored. 

Magret de Canard avec Salade de Saumon et Oeuf.



Fall is also a good season for mushrooms, so decided to try out this recipe. On the bottom is corn covered with an Espuma of mushrooms and topped with crayfish and spinach leaf.


This next dish is a duo of salmon and tuna grilled with a wasabi puree and oven-baked cherry tomatoes with a reduction of soya sauce and honey.





Daffy Duck vs. Bugs Bunny

As a child, everyone had their favorite animated character in Looney Tunes and watched the rivalry between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. I, for one, loved Bugs Bunny. We ended the poultry sessions with 2 very interesting yet simple recipes. One was with roast duck while the other was rabbit (yes, rabbit is part of the poultry family). Though I'm a big fan of Bugs Bunny, in this occasion, I'll have to side with its arch enemy, Daffy....one will understand why as you read on and see the lovely picture of the rabbit we cooked.


Canard à l'orange, pommes gaufrettes


The duck was fried in a pan for color then finished off in the oven; accompanied by orange slices and a reduction of brown stock, a little orange juice and Grand Marnier.



These chips were cut with a mandoline (cooking utensil for specific slices). One always knows to be careful, unfortunately for me, my palm went through this lovely machine...I will forever remember this day when I look at my palm and see 5 'teeth' marks.


The other recipe was a bit scary at first. Not because it was cooking rabbit but I guess it was the state it came in. No fur but with huge eyeballs. It kind of looks like that rodent in Ice Age that always tries but fails to open the nut. 


The end result is much better looking...Roast rabbit with baby onions, mushrooms and bacon bits and a reduction of brown stock.


Accompanied by a potato purée.


As a sign of winter coming, it snowed that day too! Awesome!!






Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A Visit to Rungis

On a cold winter morning, the Anglophone program (both Cuisine and Pastry) headed to Rungis market at 4am because this is when the trading/buying/selling period begins for most produce, apart from fish and seafood which ends around this time (and started at 10pm the previous night). Rungis market is the largest wholesale food market in the world used by most of the restaurants in Paris and the country, with about 2000 companies and 15 000 employees working there. Apparently, there are at least 20 000 visitors to the market each year. It is so big that we even took buses to get to different pavillions of the market: fish and seafood, organs, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables and finally cheese. Unfortunately, the market is not open to the public and you cannot buy the produce there unless you're interested in buying 400 kg of potatoes at a time! 



In our winter jackets and all (it's colder in the pavillion than outside!) covered with 'sanitary' jackets and matching hat



If you're a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, he shot an episode in Paris and went to Rungis too. 
I took a lot of pictures of produce so the pictures are pretty-self-explanatory.

1. Poissons et Fruits de Mer (Fish and Seafood)


Beautiful coquilles St-Jacques (Scallops)


Crab claws


Swordfish


Some of the fish


Looking chirpy in the early morning


Though it's 5 am in the morning, some of us were wide awake (hum, hum Marysol and Carolina)


Love the mussels


2. Triperie (Tripe pavillion)


Looks almost like clay...



3. Viandes (Meat)

Totally wanted to take this home with me...


So did Marysol...star of today's blog entry :)




Suckling pig anyone?


On the job...


3. Volaille (Poultry)

The best chicken (poulet) from Bresse


This could have been a great Turkey for Thanksgiving..unfortunately we can't purchase anything


4. Fruits et Legumes (Fruits and Vegetables)

I found a lot of them to have been imported from Chile, parts of Africa and the Caribbean compared to meat, poultry and fish.

Some herbs


Citrus fruits


All the colors...of the tomato



5. Fromages (Cheese)

Huge bloc of Parmeggiano




The day, or should I say morning ended with breakfast in the Rungis restaurant. Pork belly and fries with table wine...sounds good, especially for me but unfortunately the horrible flu made me lose my appetite, and it was made worse with the switch from cold air (outside), freezing temperatures (inside the pavillion) and super hot air (from the bus)...yes even for pork I had to sit this one out...