Trying Harder at Presentation

Today was a challenging day for presentation.  Recently, my presentation has been lacking.  I have either made it sloppy and uninteresting or tried too hard and created something to corny.  Today we had 2 back to back practicals; the first being raspberry anise macaroons in pastry class.  This was one of the first desserts we have plated.  I thought about it ahead of time, something I've learned is very necessary with plating.  We were to make medium sized macaroons and I made a few minis to plate along with it.  I think the chef really appreciated my efforts, although he said that I needed to add more sauce to the plate.  

In cuisine, we made duck leg pot-a-feu, a stew like creation that is very tough to plate well.  Not only were we presenting a stew like, monotonous dish on a plate (rather than a bowl) but we also boiled marrow bones that we were supposed to plate AND making a tartar sauce to go along with it.  I plotted ahead of time with my friend and she lent me a small porcelain dish to hold the tartar sauce.  We also decided to run out to the delicious local bakery and get a baguette.  With that, I made wonderfully buttery croutons and spread the marrow onto those; MUCH prettier than plating a clunky bone.  Chef Thivet didn't have much to say, but I was definitely pleased with myself.  I also talked to the new chef about ways to improve my plating.  He mentioned making sure that the main part of the dish (usually the meat) is on the lower right hand side, making easier to eat.  He also said to look at cookbooks for inspiration and then to try to find my own personal style.  

Off to oooh and aahhh over some Thomas Keller cookbook photos...

Last Week's Pretty Cakes and a Cuisine Catastrophe

After completing basic cuisine and pastry, I thought I had a good idea about what I would be learning in intermediate.  Boy was I wrong.  The cakes are so much prettier than the more rustic desserts we made in basic pastry!  This past week we made 2 beautiful cakes, one Jamaique and one Fraiser.  The Jamaique combined chocolate cake, mango-passionfruit mousse, coconut mousse, and a delicious topping of fresh tropical fruit.  The Fraiser was a bit more traditional, with genoise cake, vanilla pastry cream, loads of strawberries and a meringue topping.  

Every day in cuisine demonstration, we are taught 3 recipes, one of which is always a dessert.  I find this convenient and it definitely makes for a more well-rounded meal, giving everyone a better idea of what desserts might pair well with what entrees.  Of course, in practical classes we don't have to make all 3 recip

es, just the main course along with the appropriate garnishes.  

We have one new chef, who speaks perfect english.  He is also teaching us a lot about keeping our work areas tidy and well organized, a lesson I desperately needed.  I have had him supervise 2 of my practicals so far, one of which I completely bombed.  We were making potato gnocchi with a basil cream sauce and I decided NOT to dry my potatoes after boiling them and before running them through a food mill.  Because of this small error, the gnocchi fell apart upon cooking and turned into a runny, floury paste.  Needless to say, I was very disappointed.  At least my duck "salmis" turned out well.  It was one of the more confusing poultry recipes we have used.  After browning the duck, we roasting it for a very short time, then removed the breasts, thighs, legs and wings, cooking them all completely differently.  

Until next time... Bon Appetit!