Week 4

This week we actually didn't do much cooking as it seemed, as the first two days we didn't do any cooking.  But as the week went on we did more cooking and prepping for either the day after or for next week like making the cake base, fillings, and pastry.  So hoping that will make the following week a bit easier.

 

october 10th Day 14: food safety and hygiene course

TOday was our food safety and hygiene course.  it started with food hygiene and understanding why and what needs to be done to keep food safe.  Then we talked about the different types of bacteria and more specifically pathogens, food bacteria such as salmonella, Staphylococous aureus, ecoli 0157, etc...  We also learned about what bacteria needs to grow, which foods are high risk and which foods are low risk for bacteria.  Another important aspect of food hygiene is temperature control, at what temperature is bacteria destroyed, minimum temperature for hot holding, at what temperatures bacteria can MULTIPLY, and also what temperatures to keep frozen foods.  We also covered physical hazards, contamination hazards and we finished off with different types of food allergies.  it was a very informative day but also made us rethink about how we prepare food, that we are preparing food for other people to eat and we need to make sure or at least try our best to avoid any types of bacteria to spread onto our food that we will then give to our costumers.


october 11th Day 15 am: demonstration (afternoon tea)

  • asparagus rolls

  • Egg and cress sandwiches

  • Herb scones with smoked salmon

  • Bouchees au chocolat

  • Biscuit a la cuillere (Sponge finger biscuits)

  • Creem patissiere (Confectioners custard)

  • Chocolate glace icing

  • Country fruitcake

  • Frankfurter kranz

  • Tartelettes aux fraises au fromage

THE BRITISH SURE KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR AFTERNOON TEAS, THE SCONES WITH CLOTTED CREAM AND JAM, THE MANY VARIETIES OF LITTLE SANDWICHES, AND YOU CAN'T FORGET ABOUT THE CAKES, TARTS, AND ALL THE DESSERTS.  NOT ONLY ARE THERE LITTLE TREATS ON THE STAND BUT USUALLY THERE IS A SEPARATE CAKE TABLE WHERE YOU CAN GET SLICES OF MORE CAKE.

Bouchees au chocolat

Bouchees au chocolat

Country fruitcake

Country fruitcake

Frankfurter kranz

Frankfurter kranz

day 15 pm: cake

today we put fondant over our cakes and started to make the elements for our cakes. mixing colors, molding and shaping.


october 12th Day 16 am: cooking

TURBAN D'AGEN SURPRISING A NICE CREAMY DESSERT, BUT DOES TAKE SOME TIME TO MAKE, SO WOULD BE BEST TO MADE A DAY IN ADVANCE AS WE USED THE BLAST CHILLER IN ORDER FOR THEM TO SET WITHIN OUR CLASS TIME.  THE PLIE DISH NOT PARTICULARLY A DISH PEOPLE DIDN'T ENJOY AS PLAICE IS QUITE A LIGHT AND DELICATE FISH, THEN WITH THIS DISH YOU ADD TWO TYPES OF CREAMY BECHAMEL SAUCE AND CHEESE WHICH DOESN'T REALLY GO AND OVERPOWER THE TASTE OF THE DELICATE FISH.

  • filets de plie cubat

  • Rosemary potatoes

  • Turban d'Agen

  • Vegetable stock

 

Day 16 pm: demonstration

  • Filet de porc roule dans d'epinards

  • Mini potato gratins

  • Profiteroles au chocolat

  • Pate a choux (choux pastry)

  • Sauce chocolat

  • Eclairs au chocolat

  • Dansk wienerbrod

Filet de porc

Filet de porc

Eclairs

Eclairs

Profiteroles

Profiteroles

Dansk wienerbrod

Dansk wienerbrod


october 13th Day 17 am: cooking

FANCY FISH AND CHIPS AS I WOULD COULD CALL IT BUT MAYBE IT'S JUST BECAUSE WE MADE IT AT SCHOOL.  IT WAS QUITE GOOD, I MEAN ANYTHING FRIED DOES TASTE GOOD.  BUT ALSO LIKE THE TARTARE SAUCE WHICH WAS QUITE EASY TO MAKE, SAME BASE AS MAYONNAISE.  REALLY ENJOYED THE TOMATOES, FAIRLY SIMPLE AND EASY TO MAKE BUT VERY TASTY BUT I WOULD DEFINITELY ADD LESS GARLIC NEXT TIME AS THE GARLIC FLAVOR THEN BECAME A BIT TOO OVERPOWERING.  WELL THE SOUP IS DEFINITELY NOT MY FAVORITE AND NOT A FAVORITE AMONG OTHERS, IT DEFINITELY LACKS A BIT OF DEPTH AND FLAVOR.  I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE WITH SOME CHICKEN OR BACON IN IT.

  • Kitchen garden soup (creme jardiniere)

  • Sole Goujons

  • Potato chips (Pommes de terre Pont-Neuf)

  • Provencal style tomatoes (Tomates a la Provencale)

  • Sauce tartare

  • Pavlova

 

Day 17 PM: cooking

A POSSIBLE EXAM SCENARIO AS THESE ARE POSSIBLE EXAM DISHES.  A BIT NERVE RACKING AS WE THEN NEEDED TO DO EVERYTHING ON OUR OWN, LIKE MEASURE OUT ALL OUR INGREDIENTS AND PREP ALL THE FOOD ON OUR OWN.  USUALLY IF WE DO ONE QUANTITY OF A DISH, WE WILL WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO GET COMPONENTS OF THE DISH DONE TOGETHER OR HELP EACH OTHER WEIGHT SIMILAR INGREDIENTS IF WE ARE EACH DOING A DISH.  SO THERE WAS STILL A LOT OF SCRAMBLING AROUND.

  • Beef and Guinness pie (rough puff pastry)

  • Bread rolls

  • Gateau au chocolat (pate a genoise commune)


October 14th Day 18 AM: Theory

Today's theory class was about freezing, thawing, and different cooking methods.  we discussed how freezing affects different foods and what is the best way to freeze and store different foods.  what is the best way to thaw for certain foods.  and finally learning about all the different types of cooking methods, as well as different types of hobs, ovens, and grills.  

 

day 18 pm: cooking

  • Gateau au chocolat (creme au berre mousseline)

  • Pate sucree

Gateau au chocolat is definitely not an easy cake to make.  the whisked sponge can be a bit tricky, i did overwhip mine a bit therefore it sank a bit in the middle once it cooled.  the icing is also a bit difficult as you want the ice and sugar to form a thread (107 degrees) but you dont want it to cook beyond that as it will then become solid and crystalize when added to the egg yolks, which is what i did this time.  Therefore there were a few solid bits in the frosting but it was still ok to pipe along the cake.  Stars, shells, line thats the pattern that needed to be followed.  A lot easier said than done, definitely will need to practice my piping skills.