My first term is done. Jumping into the middle of Year 1 was not an ideal way to approach the Culinary Arts program, so it has definitely been an interesting few months. I had no idea what the future had in store when I started back at the beginning of January, but I think I'll call this term a success. I took five program courses plus a certification course and here were the final marks:
Entremetier: 90
Cold Cuisine I: 93
Stocks, Soups, & Sauces: 94
Food Production & Service: 97
Nutrition for the Culinary Professional: 95
ServSafe Certification: 96
I maintained an average of 94, while the class average usually hovered around 70 to 75. They don't give us class rankings, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my 97 in Food Production & Service was probably top mark in the class. w00t!
Since the first few months went so well, my chef instructors recommended to the program director that I do my internship this summer instead of next. The program director has also ok'd a plan for me to do the first year courses I missed (from starting late) concurrently with my second year courses this fall. It will be challenging, but it will mean that I will graduate with my current class, as if I started in the fall of 2010!
So I am heading to Vancouver soon to do my internship. I don't have anything lined up yet since it is difficult to secure work 4000+ kms away. Everyone I have spoken to (chef instructors, internship co-ordinator) all agree that the best approach will be to actually go to Vancouver and line something up once in town.
I should note that I've had one offer....a "true" internship of $0/hr...experience only. I've been told that internships pay upwards to $10 or $12/hr, so $0/hr is a little on the low side. Technically, I need to have a paying internship because I need to be able to log my hours towards my apprenticeship and the ultimate prize.....the Red Seal. This engineer is gonna be a journeyman! (In 3 to 5 years.)
That's the wrap up. I plan to update once I have the internship lined up, so check back through the summer, or better yet, get Blogger to send you an email when I update.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Slow but sure....
I've resigned myself to the fact that this blog will not be as regular as I had hoped. There has been lots of exciting stuff happening lately, but so little time to write about it. (Culinary happenings and life-happenings....all good.)
Chefs Gala 2011:
This was an awesome experience. I helped Chef Jeff prepare one of his signature dishes on Friday.....Parsnip, Vanilla and Apple Soup with Rosemary Walnut Bread Pudding and Wild Rice Fritters. I thought that there may be a handful of students helping out, but was surprised when it was just the two of us. I confess...I was proud to be chopping, cooking, and prepping next to the 2010 PEI Chef of the Year.
On Saturday I arrived at the Culinary Institute around 3pm. Since Saturday was "the day", there were 16 other student volunteers for the Gala. I was still with Chef Jeff on the soup station, and while other students were helping prep, on Saturday I was helping cook. As far as I can tell (in my infancy in this profession), in the kitchen, there are three places to be: prepping, cold line, and hot line...the level of prestige is in that order. Once again, I was pretty proud to be the only student from my group to be trusted with cooking off the items required for this $150 per ticket meal.
The meal was scheduled be served at 7pm. The time spent prepping on Friday and cooking on Saturday was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush at 6:30pm when you hear the emcee at the microphone talking about the evening's schedule and when all of a sudden there are 150 fancy gold-rimmed plates covering every flat surface of the kitchen being plated with the first course of the evening.....that's when the realization hits that there are 150 people sitting just outside the kitchen doors that have paid a lotta money to eat food that you've helped prepare. Simply awesome.
Of course by this time, I was keeping the two 11-litre rondeaus of soup hot enough for service, but not so hot that it burned....it was a cream soup, so one mis-step and it could have burned. I remember thinking, "If I burn this soup after putting about six hours of labour into it, I might as well go home, lock the doors, and choose another career path.....if I live to see the sunrise."
That's when things got interesting. I had no idea, but four students were going to be chosen, by drawing out of a chef's hat, to be excused from service and join the people out in the dining room for the evening's meal. I was one of the four that won!
The meal was amazing. Seven courses, five of which had wine pairings. Here is the menu from the evening:
I was seated a table with the three other students, the 2010 Atlantic Chef of the Year and the 2011 Atlantic Chef of the Year. Pretty neat conversations through the evening.
After the gala, I discovered another neat aspect of the culinary world....the chef's afterparty. After eating for 3 hours, I went upstairs and had (free) drinks and appetizers for another 2 hours. I met some interesting people, one of which was a second year student from Vancouver who gave me some tips on the Vancouver market.
All in all, an experience I won't soon forget....regardless of the fact that I had to take a cab home and pick up the car the next day.
As for course work, I scored 96% on my ServSafe Certification, a certification course administered by the US National Restaurant Association, accepted world-wide and valid for 5 years. (A pass is 75% and there is a 35% failure rate for applicants.)
In my Entremetier/Cold Cuisine course, I scored a 93% on my Entremetier final exam (class average = 70%).
I had my black box practical exam today. For this black box, you are paired in groups of two and asked to design a sandwich, then two weeks later prepare 24 sandwiches to be sold on the cafeteria cold line.
Being a late addition to the program in January, I was the 17th person in a 16 person class, so Chef Linda asked if I was ok doing the sandwich black box on my own. I accepted and came up with:
A Cilantro Lime Chicken and Avocado Sandwich on Chipotle Pepper Focaccia with Roasted Cumin Mayonnaise & Monterey Jack Cheese
I tested the focaccia, mayo, and chicken marinade at home over a period of 2 weeks, but in separate taste tests, so didn't actually taste it all together until today.
Once again, the adrenaline rush you get minutes before the Chef calls you over to have your black box preparation graded is quite something......a recipe you designed and assembled is about to be scrutinized.
I was shocked by my mark: 51.5 out of 51! I lost a half point for seasoning (I never salt things enough), but gained a bonus point for not having a partner. Chef Linda was pleased by the used of textures and commented that every bite was full of various flavours that could be tasted separately.
Bonus: All the sandwiches were sold out in less than an hour. This was unfortunate for Kim who arrived for lunch at 12:10pm, for the sole purpose of trying my sandwich. I guess I'll have to replicate the sandwich at home.
Assignments and tests upcoming, so this will have to suffice as an update for now.
Chefs Gala 2011:
This was an awesome experience. I helped Chef Jeff prepare one of his signature dishes on Friday.....Parsnip, Vanilla and Apple Soup with Rosemary Walnut Bread Pudding and Wild Rice Fritters. I thought that there may be a handful of students helping out, but was surprised when it was just the two of us. I confess...I was proud to be chopping, cooking, and prepping next to the 2010 PEI Chef of the Year.
On Saturday I arrived at the Culinary Institute around 3pm. Since Saturday was "the day", there were 16 other student volunteers for the Gala. I was still with Chef Jeff on the soup station, and while other students were helping prep, on Saturday I was helping cook. As far as I can tell (in my infancy in this profession), in the kitchen, there are three places to be: prepping, cold line, and hot line...the level of prestige is in that order. Once again, I was pretty proud to be the only student from my group to be trusted with cooking off the items required for this $150 per ticket meal.
The meal was scheduled be served at 7pm. The time spent prepping on Friday and cooking on Saturday was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush at 6:30pm when you hear the emcee at the microphone talking about the evening's schedule and when all of a sudden there are 150 fancy gold-rimmed plates covering every flat surface of the kitchen being plated with the first course of the evening.....that's when the realization hits that there are 150 people sitting just outside the kitchen doors that have paid a lotta money to eat food that you've helped prepare. Simply awesome.
Of course by this time, I was keeping the two 11-litre rondeaus of soup hot enough for service, but not so hot that it burned....it was a cream soup, so one mis-step and it could have burned. I remember thinking, "If I burn this soup after putting about six hours of labour into it, I might as well go home, lock the doors, and choose another career path.....if I live to see the sunrise."
That's when things got interesting. I had no idea, but four students were going to be chosen, by drawing out of a chef's hat, to be excused from service and join the people out in the dining room for the evening's meal. I was one of the four that won!
The meal was amazing. Seven courses, five of which had wine pairings. Here is the menu from the evening:
I was seated a table with the three other students, the 2010 Atlantic Chef of the Year and the 2011 Atlantic Chef of the Year. Pretty neat conversations through the evening.
After the gala, I discovered another neat aspect of the culinary world....the chef's afterparty. After eating for 3 hours, I went upstairs and had (free) drinks and appetizers for another 2 hours. I met some interesting people, one of which was a second year student from Vancouver who gave me some tips on the Vancouver market.
All in all, an experience I won't soon forget....regardless of the fact that I had to take a cab home and pick up the car the next day.
As for course work, I scored 96% on my ServSafe Certification, a certification course administered by the US National Restaurant Association, accepted world-wide and valid for 5 years. (A pass is 75% and there is a 35% failure rate for applicants.)
In my Entremetier/Cold Cuisine course, I scored a 93% on my Entremetier final exam (class average = 70%).
I had my black box practical exam today. For this black box, you are paired in groups of two and asked to design a sandwich, then two weeks later prepare 24 sandwiches to be sold on the cafeteria cold line.
Being a late addition to the program in January, I was the 17th person in a 16 person class, so Chef Linda asked if I was ok doing the sandwich black box on my own. I accepted and came up with:
A Cilantro Lime Chicken and Avocado Sandwich on Chipotle Pepper Focaccia with Roasted Cumin Mayonnaise & Monterey Jack Cheese
I tested the focaccia, mayo, and chicken marinade at home over a period of 2 weeks, but in separate taste tests, so didn't actually taste it all together until today.
Once again, the adrenaline rush you get minutes before the Chef calls you over to have your black box preparation graded is quite something......a recipe you designed and assembled is about to be scrutinized.
I was shocked by my mark: 51.5 out of 51! I lost a half point for seasoning (I never salt things enough), but gained a bonus point for not having a partner. Chef Linda was pleased by the used of textures and commented that every bite was full of various flavours that could be tasted separately.
Bonus: All the sandwiches were sold out in less than an hour. This was unfortunate for Kim who arrived for lunch at 12:10pm, for the sole purpose of trying my sandwich. I guess I'll have to replicate the sandwich at home.
Assignments and tests upcoming, so this will have to suffice as an update for now.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Dear Blog....
Dear Blog,
I'm sorry I've been neglecting you for over a month. I haven't been seeing other blogs, but I just haven't had time for you. Between my family and my course-load, you unfortunately are the one that has to suffer. Although I'd like to say I'll pay more attention to you in the future, we both know that might be an empty promise.
Now that I have that apology out of the way, now I have to sum up the last month:
The final two weeks of Food Production & Service went well.....really well.....final mark of 97% well. The class average for the course was 77%, and I'm pretty sure I had the highest mark in the class. I hope I didn't peak too soon....too many courses remaining.
I just finished week #2 of my final rotation for this term. I am currently in Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I. It is two courses in one, taught by the same instructor, so they are taken concurrently....not exactly sure how that works, but by the end of April, I'll have two more courses under my belt. In this course I rotate through four stations:
Entremetier, 2 stations, vegetable prep and starch prep
Cold Cuisine, 2 stations, sandwich and salad
I still have 7am class, so that part hasn't changed. Benefit: traffic is very light at 6:30am. Drawback: I'm up at 5am everyday, even on weekends when I don't need to be.
My instructor for this course is Chef Linda Hellingman. She is a very interesting instructor; very sarcastic, very knowledgeable, and wants us to taste as many different things as possible. We have tasting sessions during class time. In the past two weeks, (on various days), this is what I've eaten at 7am:
Dragon fruit, passion fruit, key limes, regular limes, pineapple, starfruit, cape gooseberries, tamarillos, asian pear, medjool dates, lychees, papaya, plantains, pomelo, jerusalem artichoke, shittake mushrooms, chantrelle mushrooms, morel mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, waxy potatoes, mealy potatoes, dill, cilantro, basil, tarragon, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary.
During kitchen time, I've tasted many more things...way too many to list. In addition, we work out of one of the second year kitchens, so the Charcuturie class often has things for us to try, such as:
Elk, rabbit, horse, pheasant, quail, beaver, moose, duck, fois gras, various pates/terrines/forcemeats, and other mammals and birds that I didn't identify before having a taste.
More about Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I some other time (maybe).
This week has been interesting. I was asked by my instructor from Food Production & Service (Chef Jeff McCourt) if I would help him out for an event Saturday night.
The event? The 2011 PEI Chefs Association Gala Dinner.
This is a seven course meal where the 2011 PEI Chef of the Year award will be announced. Chef Jeff is responsible for the soup course (Parsnip-Apple-Vanilla cream soup with a walnut bread pudding) , so I helped him prep today and will be helping him at the Gala. I was pretty flattered to have been asked. Tickets to this event are $150 each and needless to say, there will be lots of chefs present. This will be quite an experience. With any luck, I may even write about it in the next few days.
I'm sorry I've been neglecting you for over a month. I haven't been seeing other blogs, but I just haven't had time for you. Between my family and my course-load, you unfortunately are the one that has to suffer. Although I'd like to say I'll pay more attention to you in the future, we both know that might be an empty promise.
Now that I have that apology out of the way, now I have to sum up the last month:
The final two weeks of Food Production & Service went well.....really well.....final mark of 97% well. The class average for the course was 77%, and I'm pretty sure I had the highest mark in the class. I hope I didn't peak too soon....too many courses remaining.
I just finished week #2 of my final rotation for this term. I am currently in Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I. It is two courses in one, taught by the same instructor, so they are taken concurrently....not exactly sure how that works, but by the end of April, I'll have two more courses under my belt. In this course I rotate through four stations:
Entremetier, 2 stations, vegetable prep and starch prep
Cold Cuisine, 2 stations, sandwich and salad
I still have 7am class, so that part hasn't changed. Benefit: traffic is very light at 6:30am. Drawback: I'm up at 5am everyday, even on weekends when I don't need to be.
My instructor for this course is Chef Linda Hellingman. She is a very interesting instructor; very sarcastic, very knowledgeable, and wants us to taste as many different things as possible. We have tasting sessions during class time. In the past two weeks, (on various days), this is what I've eaten at 7am:
Dragon fruit, passion fruit, key limes, regular limes, pineapple, starfruit, cape gooseberries, tamarillos, asian pear, medjool dates, lychees, papaya, plantains, pomelo, jerusalem artichoke, shittake mushrooms, chantrelle mushrooms, morel mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, waxy potatoes, mealy potatoes, dill, cilantro, basil, tarragon, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary.
During kitchen time, I've tasted many more things...way too many to list. In addition, we work out of one of the second year kitchens, so the Charcuturie class often has things for us to try, such as:
Elk, rabbit, horse, pheasant, quail, beaver, moose, duck, fois gras, various pates/terrines/forcemeats, and other mammals and birds that I didn't identify before having a taste.
More about Entremetier/Cold Cuisine I some other time (maybe).
This week has been interesting. I was asked by my instructor from Food Production & Service (Chef Jeff McCourt) if I would help him out for an event Saturday night.
The event? The 2011 PEI Chefs Association Gala Dinner.
This is a seven course meal where the 2011 PEI Chef of the Year award will be announced. Chef Jeff is responsible for the soup course (Parsnip-Apple-Vanilla cream soup with a walnut bread pudding) , so I helped him prep today and will be helping him at the Gala. I was pretty flattered to have been asked. Tickets to this event are $150 each and needless to say, there will be lots of chefs present. This will be quite an experience. With any luck, I may even write about it in the next few days.
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