I think I'll try to forget all my unhappiness by updating on my so long forgotten days in school..
Day 40. 2nd day 2nd week of baking and pastry..
Can't really recall much.. Even though I'm refering to my notebook.. 2 very important things: I having my dining experience at top table with C.L and J. Then we also have a demo on plain biscuits, how to make them using the folding method to create layers and how to plate it..
Since my little experience of the fine? dining starts at 11.30am and the demo of the biscuits end at 11.20am, my little plated biscuits filled with cream, strawberry and something else will being reserved till I'm back..
This week menu consists of:
Appetizer
Mesclun Salad Tossed with Lemon Parsley Vinaigrette Egg Yolk And Chapon
OR
Soup
Onion Soup Gratineé
Main Course
Braised Veal Cheek in Madeira Sauce with
Whipped Potato & Roasted Root Vegetable
OR
Pan Seared Cod with Ratatouille, Beurre Blanc and Pilaf Rice
Dessert of the Day
Hazelnut Nougatine Parfait Served with Apricot Vanilla Compote
I had the onion soup, pan seared cod and mocktail of the day, the dessert and english breakfast tea.. As I have prepared some of the dishes before like the onion soup, parfait etc, I have an idea of how they taste like..
The food are good, but the service is a little unstable.. But who can blame them? The service staff are only here once a week unlike us who are in the kitchen every single day.. Okay, I shall now evaluate the food better.. Haha.
Just like any other fine dining restaurant, bread are served before the start of a meal.. The bread are made by us, the baking and pastry people.. Haha. Foccacia is nice, I like the taste.. Its a savory bread with onions and some other ingredients on top of the bread.. Kinda taste like pizza.. Actually all bread are good, the only thing I don't like about them is that its cold.. When it supposed to be at least warm..
Amuse bouche for the day is vichychoise, which is also known as the potato and leek (cold soup). I've tried this during the buffet we had the other time and I don't really like the taste but this time round, the flavour is very good. I can really taste the potato and the leeks, yeah I know its potato and leeks soup but the flavours will tend to be different when its cold compare to hot.
The onion soup however is a little disappointing.. I had fallen in love with onion soup since the first time we made it in the skills camp, so naturally I had a little higher expectation of the soup.. It wasn't seasoned enough and the flavour of the onions didn't come out enough..
The main course, cod was slightly undercooked.. Chef L's is cooked just nice, mine is slightly under then J's is almost raw.. Then he had to reject his to get it done right.. The fish is good with the sauce but my sauce is kinda little so by the time I get to the end of the fish, it didn't taste that well.. The pilaf rice served with the fish required more salt, otherwise it tasted just like any rice? Haha.. Maybe with more butter flavour compared to the usual plain rice..
Parfait, there's only one word to describe it, PERFECT! Simply loved it ^^ It wasn't too sweet, the texture is very smooth and creamy, melts in the mouth.. So sad that the portion is so small.. Well, I bet the chefs will say too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing~ But still.. I WANT MORE!!! Haha.
My tea, I saw the packet says black tea, so i assumed that the tea will turned out to be black.. =.= So silly.. When I add the sachet to the hot water and it didn't turn black, I was a little surprised.. Then chef saw that blank looked on my face and asked, then I realised there's no such thing as a BLACK tea, you know, the tea is black in colour.. Haha.
Did I mention that throughout the whole experience my file, my pen, my hat and everything else that was on my lap kept dropping to the floor? -.-" So irritating.. Anyway, in conclusion, I had a great time at the dining experience, especially since I get to escaped from the canteen food for a change..
When I'm back to the kitchen, I made brownies.. At the end of the day during debrief, we were told that we will be having a test on the 12 steps of bread making.. We also have homework, we have to research on how to make carrot cake, mooncake, history of mooncake etc.. Haha. Then I ate my biscuits :)
