MYFP

LCB - Lesson Three

2009-07-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

"Playing with fire"

Today we had a different demonstration teacher and every students in the class seemed to like her class. She made 4 dishes so fast but when you see her, she looked as if she was just walking in a park. There was no sign of urgency in her face, now I think this comes from many years of experience on the cooking line. Another thing was that she was so tidy and organised, we could not see any mess on her work-top.

Today's main learning outcome was to handle the stove (direct heat) by sauteing vegetables and learning how to 'turn' the vegetables making a barrel shape.

When you're dealing with fire, it's all about Time, Temperature, Quantity of ingredients, so if you concentrate on that it's not that difficult. But turning the vegetables is a knife skill that you cannot perform perfectly over-night. This kind of skill has to be practiced day after day. If I had a sack full of potatos I would be happy to peel and do a various cuts to practise my skill which I'm currently learning from LCB.

Well meantime, I'm image-training how to turn the parsnip with my egg.

LCB - Lesson Two

2009-07-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

"FOND" Do you want it brown or clear?

The classes of Basic cuisine students are like this:
1. Theory lessons
2. Demonstration lessons
3. Practical

Today in theory class, we've looked at the trends of hospitality industry and discussed about the tangible & intangible elements of the hospitality business.
Our lecturer is a lady who has been working in this industry for more than 20 years. Actually she was the one who suppose to give demonstration lessons but she had an accident and hurt her leg so she couldn't move around very well. Anyway after the lesson I stayed behind and asked few questions about few things that I always wanted to know about french restaurants in Australia. Well, she gave very useful advices, informations and answers~!

We made fond!
Yes~
The foundation of our food, the STOCK~!
It's a time-consuming job, especially with brown veal stock. So instead of making one stock at a time, we made 4 different types of stocks... Fish, Chicken, Veal and Vegetable.
The room was first filled with veal shanks and pig trotters roasting on the convection oven also tingling our hearing senses with its sizzling sound. When there were Vegetable, fish, chicken stock was simmering above the stove the aroma inside the room was just felt like so comfotable like home.

Today the lesson wasn't that hard because you just need to do rough cuts of ingredients and wait.
The only difficult part was chopping fish. Even with the cleaver my fish was a bit hard to handle. Most of the classmates ended up with bloody apron.

Like yesterday I was to see the dark sky when the day was over at LCB. It was like losing the track of time. The only thing that I want now is to have more opportunity to implement the skills that I'm learning in the cooking school.

LCB - Lesson ONE

2009-07-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

"Knife drills, general hygiene procedures"

New students were like chicken without its head.
All of us were like trapped in a maze, the school is HUGE!

When everyone was in the demonstration class, the chef introduced himself with a light German accent. Chef Werner with a greyish mustache kindly explained the basic knife skills such as cuts of Julienne, Brunoise, Jardiere and many more... then showed us how to make bouquet garni.

After the demo class we all headed downstairs to have a go.
Some guys were really fast with their knives but not all of them were fast and accurate. But there were one or two who were fast and precise with their cuts.
Unfortunately several people cut his/her fingers, but for them it really did not matter at all, they quickly washed and covered their wounds and went right back to their chopping block as if they went to the toilet during watching a movie and came back to the lounge as soon as possible not to miss any part of the movie.

Well, the Demo class was like watching a cooking show, it was pure entertainment!

Tomorrow we're gonna make FONDS (stocks) which means foundation in French. Yes Stock is foundation for many types of Western & Eastern foods!
All these tasty and hearty soup was born thanks to fond!

LCB Chef's Kit

2009-07-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Le Cordon Bleu - Orientation

2009-07-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

8 o' clock in the morning new students from all over the world are gathered for their orientation day. Students from China, Malaysia, Mexico, Korea, Brazil, Australia, USA, India... and many more nationalities were all kind of anxious to start a new chapter of their lives and some to refine their culinary skills at le cordon bleu.
There were very young guys who just finished high school, late 20s, many people who are over 30s and 40s who made a big decision to change their stable career to go after a dream of being a chef.

Chefs, lecturers, staffs introduced themselves and the school. While the lecturers were giving speeches in the auditorium all the students were so concentrated and focused. I was sitting in the front seat of auditorium and when I turn my head around to look at the back seats, everyone seemed to have eagerness to start the course right away. If you really like something (food) and know that you're now going to be surrounded by many others who share the same interest for around 2 years (and more after graduation). Oh boy! Time will fly fast~!

We had a tour around the demonstration room, practical kitchen and student facilities. the demonstration room was highly equipped with state-of-the-art tools and machines with a huge plasma screens showing all the small movements of the chef.

After the tour, we had a guest speaker who graduated LCB and opened her own Pastry shop called Sweetness. Her name is Gena and she is another person who's crazy about food (in her case, sweet foods). She was telling us about her unforgettable experiences at LCB days and how she loved this industry. Actually before I came to sydney I read an article in SMH about her pastry shop at epping and I wanted to visit her store, so it was a very good surprise to see her on the Orientation day.

In the hallway it was full of trophies and the pictures of celebrity chefs who visited or gave classes to students.

How do I feel right now?
I feel very glad that I made the right choice of going to le cordon bleu.

Land of the south

2009-07-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Terra Australis:

After flying 2.5hours to Buenos Aires and another 13 hours flight finally arrived at Sydney Australia. Sydney is situated one degree below to Sao Paulo, so even it is winter in Sao Paulo as well there was a bit more shiverness to the skin in Australia.

Sydney is truly a multi-cultural nation. If you sit outside of a coffee shop and see people passing by in fron of you, 4 or 5 out of 10 people are Chinese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean people. But what really fascinates me is that many of them are Australian citizens.

Sao Paulo's eating out culture is very rich especially in Italian, Spanish and Japanese thanks to the immigrants and of course the Brazilian regional cuisine is a true mix of history, culture and its originality.

Well in Sydney>>> Many great modern French restaurants starting to get huge attention from world wide. Also very diverse in Asian cuisine. Ooh~ Yes! Vietnamese rice noodles, Indian prawn madras, Thai Laksa, Korean yuk-ge-jang and last but not least Amazing Japanese sushis~!
I'm absolutely lost! Where should I start?
I came here to do a culinary course and learn how to cook! not just to develop my taste pallette!

Right now, I'm excited, thrilled, surprised about this country.
2 years and 3 months!
I'm sure that the time will fly with lots of food related activities, new friends and new culture.

The Ten Commandments of a Chef

2009-06-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Something to remember...

The Ten Commandments of a Chef
By Daniel Boulud

1. Keep Your Knives sharp
Your most basic tool is your knife. To cut well, all of your knives must be sharp. Make sharpening a daily ritual at the very least. A knife is not like a car that breaks down. If it does not perform, you have not kept it sharp. Remember, it is never the knife’s fault.

2. Work with the best people
To become a great chef you do not need to work with twenty top chefs. You need to experience three or four very good chefs. The best is not necessarily the most popular or most famous, it can just as easily be a chef in a small place who is simply very organized and very good. Focus on a few chefs for your foundation, then for specialties- for example, charcuterie, pastry and so on- you can do internships.

3. Keep Your Station Orderly
From the storage of vegetables to the finishing of mise-en-place, everything needs to be marked, labeled and in the proper containers, taking up the minimum of room. Then, during service, you will be able to fill orders with maximum efficiency. A well-organised station also gets respect from the rest of the kitchen.

4. Purchase Wisely
The profitable restaurant runs on the same principle as the frugal housewife’s kitchen: Use everything, because everything you do not use is potential profit that goes straight into the garbage. Any underutilized food items will affect your food costs. Pay attention to the price of ingredients and keep them in line with what a customer will pay for a dish. The more you utilize everything, the more you will be able to afford the best ingredients. A great chef respects the culinary value of every ingredient- from truffle to turnip.

5. Season with Precision
The taste of every ingredient is elevated by proper seasoning. There is an exact point at which ingredients are seasoned correctly. More is not always better.
Learning the peculiarities of your palate and attuning it to finished results requires precision and endless practice.

6. Master the Heat
From 120*F to 800*F- there is an enormous range for heat to affect ingredients. A truly great cook has such an intimate knowledge of heat that he or she develops a sixth sense of timing for the moment of doneness. Learn the basics of heat in the classical repertoire.

7. Learn the world of Food
Experience different cuisines whenever you can. Do it when you are young, before you are building your career. Learning other cuisines will broaden your foundation as a chef. Even when you have begun to progress through the ranks of the kitchen, use your time off to go places, try new restaurants, buy books. In other words, immerse yourself in the world of food.

8. Know the Classics
No matter what cuisine you concentrate on, the classic dishes will cover the spectrum of techniques and ingredients needed to master a cuisine. The fundamentals of stocks, sauces and seasoning are all there in the classics… whether that classic is clam chowder in Cape Cod or bouillabaisse in Marseilles.

9. Accept Criticism
As a young chef, you spend your days and nights being criticized and analyzed by the chefs for whom you work. It is important to learn from criticism. It is equally important to learn from criticism. It is equally important to learn how to criticize usefully when you become a full fledged chef. And finally, you must learn from the criticism of the public. Recognise that to keep yourself interested you are constantly varying, innovating and reinventing, succeeding at times and needing more work at others. Criticism is the public’s way of telling you how to improve on the results of your creative impulses.

10. Keep a Journal of your Recipes
You cannot remember everything you see cooked, or even have cooked, but with a journal, a computer, a digital camera, you can bring those taste memories to life to guide you for the rest of your professional life.

Fruit juice in Sao Paulo's open market

2009-06-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Every weekend near the Japanese town called Liberdade (Sao Paulo, Brazil), there's an open market called Feira Oriental meaning Oriental Market. They sell toys, accessories, souvenirs but the majority sell Japanese street foods such as fried gyoza, tempura, karepan and so on.

(Japanese kimono dolls)

(selling puppets and fridge magnets)

(Japanese man trying to sell his street foods)

Having decided to quit drinking fizzy soft drinks this year (except for beer, coz beer is not a soft drink ^^) I decided to drink fresh and natural juices after eating fried gyoza (it's always very tempting to drink a can of icy cold coke after eating fried stuffs).

(Fresh fruits chopped and ready to be juiced)

(Mixers from Bahia)

Opposite to lotus cake maker, there are Baianos (ppl who are born in the state of Bahia) who happily sing and shout out the juice orders taken by customers. There were so many fresh tropical fruits like guava, passionfruit, papaya and pineapple. The juice making procedure was very simple, 1. choose the fruit(s); 2. select the base: mineral water or milk or 100% fruit extract? 3. pour into a plastic cup and it's ready to drink.

Sometimes I add a little bit of sweetner or sugar to make it sweet but here I really don't need to do that because the natural sweetness in the fruit was just perfect.

The sharper your knife, the less you cry

2009-05-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

The sharper your knife, the less you cry
by Kathleen Flinn.

I received this book from Amazon.com last week and it was quite nice to read about someone who’s done the same thing that I’m going to do in Sydney.
Kathleen Flinn, at the age of 36, had put an end to her corporate life and went to Paris to pursue her long kept fantasy of learning French culinary at Le Cordon Bleu. It must have been a difficult decision to let go of her job and do something new at 36. I really value her courage! Personally, I could have a little peek on Le Cordon Bleu’s student life through this book; hence I strongly recommend this book to people who are planning to study French culinary in LCB.

Bécasse 'Inspirations and Flavours" by Justin North

2009-05-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

Winner – 2007 Restaurant of the Year – Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide
Two Hats Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide
3 Stars Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
2007 Restaurant Magazine – Voted 96th best restaurant in the world

Bécasse 'Inspirations and Flavours" by Justin North!!!

Last Saturday, after a long wait (just about 2 weeks) I have finally received this wonderful book, my very first Australian cookbook! I was just going out to get some chocolate croissants from a pastry shop called ‘Monte Libano’ in front of my apartment, and then the porter calls me that I have a parcel from Australia. YES! It was the book that I was waiting – BECASSE COOKBOOK!

The chef of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Raymond Blanc describes this book 'The best in Australia just got better with Justin North', and after reading this book I have to agree with the chef.

When I opened the hard-cover book, I was surprised to see the signature of Justin North. After this orange coloured page it had very inspiring message about cooking:

“Where are the traditional craftsmen, the skilled and passionate individuals? They are vanishing in a world of fast, overly simplified foods. Good food takes time. Technique is a means, and culinary artistry visually appetizing, but flavor is the only true hand to guide you.”

By reading these phrases, I could have a little glimpse on what Chef Justin North focuses on his dishes. This phrase might seem quite obvious but sometimes these obvious things get easily forgotten.

Anyway, the book is full of information about local produce and their method in producing them. Another beautiful thing about this book is that it has beautiful pictures of Australian farms and nature where Justin North gets his ingredients.

Among many other Australian cookbooks I chose this particular cookbook, because I wanted to know how the chefs in Australia find and utilize the Australia’s finest ingredients. I thought and still think that if I want to work as a chef or run a restaurant in Australia, I have to know and respect Australia’s natural ingredients.

This book not only have recipes, it also has the behind story of his suppliers and detailed descriptions of each ingredients. The book is divided into 14 different produce of Australia, such as salt, mushroom, truffle, pork, lamb, beef, tuna and so on… Each chapter explains about the ingredient and how suppliers or farmers develop their techniques to gain the high-quality products. At the end of each chapter Justin teaches us how these natural ingredients can turn into one of his haute-cuisine dishes in his restaurant Bécasse.

When I go to sydney, I'll definately go to Bécasse and try some of his dishes...

Read...read...read..!

2009-04-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

I've been buying a lot of books regarding foods and chefs, such as becoming a chef, culinary artistry, couple of Gordon Ramsay's biographies, kitchen confidential by Bourdain, and so on...
I read all of these books and I have to say that my favorite one is the’ Becoming a Chef’ by Dornenburg & Page. This book gives you a clear insight of chef's career. The good thing about this book is that it’s not solely covered by how wonderful the cooking career is, on the other hand, it also explains how hard to be a good chef. Dornenburg & Page explains that chefs have to work long hours, sacrifice weekends, and most of all, the culinary world is not financially rewarding. Now, based on this information do you still strive to be a chef?

After reading ‘becoming a chef’ it showed how those famous chefs have been persevering under difficult circumstances in kitchen and in life. In this book, it contains small interviews of many great chefs mostly from America. They tell you what has inspired them to be a chef, how they opened their restaurant, and how to balance their life between inside and outside of the restaurant.

I also had fun reading G.Ramsay’s biography and Anthony Bourdain’s kitchen confidential. Especially the kitchen confidential was a pleasure to read, because the author who is the head chef of Les Halles describes the reality of kitchen life in such a hilarious way.

I think by reading these books helped me to broaden my views about restaurant business, as a result I’m feeling that the reading will take a crucial part in my culinary career.

Learning food is a never-ending process

2009-04-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

The good thing about learning cuisine is that you always have to evolve yourself.
Whether by travelling, reading, dining, learning at cooking school... you ALWAYS have to be in a position to learn new things.
Isn't this great???
I mean, there will be certain ppl who doesn't like food, but for someone who really enjoy eating and making food, it's just a pure pleasure when it comes to creating and inventing new dishes...

You might have to work long hours in a small kitchen, when you move two steps you might hit the oven or bump into your colleague, but the fact that you are a craftsman or maybe an artist (I know.... some of the chefs don't like to use the word 'artist') will drive you to evolve.

Let's see how it goes

2009-04-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

I'm going to write my daily stuffs on this blog...
Maybe it will serve as to reflect myself?
Maybe to improve my writing skills?
Maybe to use it as a record for the future use?