Last of Superior Cuisine

In this week, we had the same 3 demonstrations, but only 1 practical. The other 2 practicals were taken up to prepare for, and the final practical exams itself.

Starters:

1) Green asparagus and crab charlotte, verjus sauce. Verjus is actually the juice made from unripe grapes and lends a tangy taste, thus an alternative to citrus or vinegar.

2) Lobster salad with citrus fruits

3) 'Greek style' artichokes with saffroned mussels

Mains:

1) Stuffed guinea fowl breaks cooked 'en cocotte'

2) Crisp wrapped lamb fillet with provencal vegetables

3) Roast rabbit legs tandoori-style with herb salad. The green juice in the shotglass is cucumber juice to reduce the heat of tandoori. Tandoori is normally served as a whole, but this was sliced to for the photo.

Desserts:

1) Warm mascarpone souffle

2) Raspberry souffle, tropical fruit salad with spices

3) Orange and lime sorbet, sweet wine jelly balsamic vinegar dressing

Thus ends our journey with Le Cordon Bleu Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand. I hope you enjoyed the sensory delights of these dishes, desserts, pastries and cakes as much as I did.

Looking back, it was quite a dive into the deep end, but the best part of all is the satisfaction of knowing your level skills have improved by a couple of notches.

Still a long road ahead in this absolutely fantastic journey! Stay tuned for more updates as I take up an internship and September in Paris for Cert IV "Professional Perfecting of Skills".

Soufflés!

One of my earliest memories of pastry was at the old Paragon shopping centre.  When I say old, I mean really old, like about 20 years ago, where the sleepy old building had a spiral walkway-staircase that goes all the way up to to the 4th (5th?) level (there was Pierre Balmain!).  On the ground floor, there's a little path that leads to the back to the one of the first Body Shop in Singapore (I used to spend hours reading their labels and memorising all the said-attributes of each herb and natural extract used in their lotions.  I digress....)  Behind the Body Shop was Temptations (I think that was what the pastry shop was called.)  And one of the heavenly sweets I (rarely) treated myself to, was the Chocolate Soufflé.  Actually, come to think of it now, I don't think it was much of a soufflé.  Sure it was oblong looking, and a raised choc mousse that looked 'soufflé' (for non-French speakers, soufflé means to be blown up, expanded, thus describing the effect of the hot air rising from the pastry base and meringue, giving us the much beloved light and airy texture.)    So, I think what I had was actually a choc mousse cake given the appearance and name of a soufflé.  I used to think to myself, wow, so exotic!  This new language and food.  Maybe it started, sub-conscientiously, my journey into things French.  

What you see here is the classic Chocolate Soufflé, and a Calvados Soufflé - we carved a receptacle into an apple and baked a souffle out of it, it's quite pretty.  Next we prepared a plated Crêpe Soufflé.  Making crêpes is quite easy once you  get the hang of it.   

Have you ever munched on a hot crêpe on a cold wintry Parisian day, its citrus-y Grand Marnier filling up your nose, and your fingers getting sticky from the sugar?  If you had, in the midst of her alluring monuments, you'll soon realise that life indeed can be quite beautiful.

More puffs.......

One of my earliest recollection of French pastry was.... the classic marbled millefeuille!!  Din and Moira had the (good?) fortune to taste it last weekend during they trip over here.  Sorry for the rest of the guys, it should be consumed within a day for better taste!  Another variation is the hazelnut praline type.

Next, chocolate souffle with orange ice-cream, and a type of brioche popular in the south of France in replacement of northern France's King's cake, eaten during Epiphany, which you see here in a golden disc of puff pastry with crème frangipane (almond and pastry cream) -Pithivier.

Tarts, Beef Stroganoff, Duck

In pastry this week, we went back to sweet short pastry - for tarts and such, with different fillings.  Earlier this week, we touched on flan caramel, and creme brulee, sorta desserts.  Tmw, we'll make some millefeuille - puff pastry! - groan!

For cuisine, we made a roast duck, however, I don't blame you if you mistook it for the Chinese soya braised duck.  It tastes quite similar too!  Actually, the color comes from caramelising, and thickened veal stock to make a sauce.  It did come out kinda crispy from the oven, but I guess you have to eat it right away.

Beef stroganoff - I always thought it to be a stew, well, apparently not, it's briefly sauteed tenderloin cubes with a savory spicy paprika cream sauce.  Delicious with pilaf rice.  The other is a picture of a warm souffle with cointreau flavoring.

LCB first week - Cuisine

Ok, here they are!

I finally got my charger back Mac

 shop in BKK, and I've the chance to upload the creations of

 the past 2 days.  I'll come back to add in more details later.

Day 1:  Different cuts.

Classic and modern way of cutting veg.  Very impt to get regular shapes and thickness.  Why, because they will have differen

t cooking time.  

You will burn some whil

e others might be undercooked.

Potage Cultivateur (Rustic Vegetable Soup)

Well, throw in some cut veg and bacon and boil, simple as that!  Maybe not!  

Day 2:  Making brown veal stock and fish stock, out of which, we'll make Filet de Merlan Sauce Bercy, whiting filet with Bercy sauce.

The brown veal stock needs some hours to boil down, so we'll see the end product tmw.  Here's a picture of the finished fish stock.  Stocks are the foundation of French cuisine, instead of using plain old water to cook food, stocks can add a multi layered dimensions to a dish.  A lot of sauces (which French cuisine is famous for) spring from the basic stocks.

Here's the picture of the fish filets, I tasted them, and so fine!  I'll made a replicate of this dish in my practical class and the chef-in-charge tasted it and liked it!   Sorry, my fish looks a little 

Next day, we learnt how to make chicken rice and omelette.  No kidding!  Except it is French Chicken Rice.  It's poached chicken in supreme sauce, rice cooked in chicken stock, and a cheese souffle.  My souffle had too much cheese in it and it's a bit too brown on top (which burns easily in the oven).  This photo was what the chef did.