SP Special Lesson: Fruit Carving (Part 2)

Here are the photos of the fruit carvings I did today. I basically just tried to copy what Chef A taught us in the demo. I have to say I am really happy with my creations. I feel much encouraged now.











The good thing about having Chef A for the practical class is he can show you the precise technique for doing something. For instance, I had some trouble carving the watermelon at the beginning, and Chef stopped by (twice) to show me exactly how it is done. You see, I was making the cuts at the wrong angle, and when it was pointed out to me the second time, I finally understood and was able to correct my technique after that. To me, that's the real value of having a chef instructor present in a practical class.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this learning experience.

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PS. Here is a photo of the set of fruit carving tools I purchased from the LCB Ottawa boutique for under $10:



I found these tools to be quite useful during my practical class.

SP Special Lesson: Fruit Carving (Part 1)

This afternoon Chef A showed us how to use fruits as garnish/decorations and how to do fruit carvings.

With his incredible skills and expertise, Chef A took less than 2 hours to make all the items he wanted to show us. We saw a toucan with a sombrero hat made from some fruits and vegetables, then we saw a swan, a turtle and some butterflies magically appear from pieces of apples. There was a lovely swan carving on honey dew melon, and also a trio of dolphins made from bananas and cantaloupe, and carvings of flowers on honey dew and watermelon, plus a variety of pineapple fans, etc. I'd never thought you could do so much with fruits with just a few simple techniques. I was truly inspired by the end of the demo.

Below are simply several examples of what Chef A showed us in the demo:

Ingredients: Orange, grapefruit, zucchini, carrot, strawberry and grape.


Ingredients: Cantaloupe, carrot, zucchini, potato and grapes


Ingredients: Honey dew, grapes and strawberries


Ingredients: Honey dew and strawberry


Ingredient: Watermelon


Ingredient: Watermelon

I have to say we were all so amazed by Chef A's techniques, skills and creativity that we were silent (or rather, mesmerized) for most of the demo. Chef kept checking to see if we were asleep (because we are never this quiet in class), but we were all wide awake... :D

My practical isn't until later tonight, so I'll continue this blog post after I'd completed my practical.

A Cute Cat on Wilbrod Street

This afternoon, when I was walking to Loblaws with a housemate to do some grocery shopping, we came across this very friendly cat a few doors down from Wilbrod House. I'd never seen this cat before, but it came running up to us, as if it was really glad to see us. :)

Of course, I whipped out the camera and took a few photos of it. It didn't enjoy that sort of attention and soon began to ignore me. See photos below.





I couldn't help thinking this cat reminds me of the cartoon character Garfield. Looks cute, doesn't it? It is obviously someone's pet, because it sure looked well-fed and it had a pretty collar around its neck.

Anyway, I took these photos to show some of my relatives, who are cat lovers, an example of cats around my neighbourhood. I personally prefer dogs any day.

Canadian Museum of Civilization (Part 2)

(continued from last week's blog post)

I went back to the Canadian Museum of Civilization today. Here are more photos from my trip to the Museum. Please click on the photos for larger images.


Tulips blooming outside the Museum. Seeing the lovely tulips really made my day.


A display outside the Museum. It provides information regarding the layout of the Museum buildings and surrounding areas.


View of the exterior of the Museum from inside the building.



A nice view of the Grand Hall. I love the sense of space here.


This is a magnificent painting (titled Morning Star) on the museum ceiling by Alex Janvier. It took the artist 4 months to complete, and it was nine stories above where I was standing. It wasn't exactly the Sistine Chapel, but this was truly something to behold. This is my favorite photo of the day.


Some basic information about Quebec.


Some basic information about Ontario.


A museum exhibit showing what life used to be like way back when cod-fishing was a major industry.


Kitchen tools in the 1800s (during the timber era).


Interesting-looking potteries. I found the blue colour on the potteries quite attractive, so I decided to take a photo.


A Ukranian bookseller and music shop (in Winnipeg, some years ago). When you walk through the door, it is like going back in time...


I like this quote. You may or may not agree with it, but it makes sense to me.


I found this rather quirky. It is a picture made entirely of postage stamps (just like a mosaic).

By the way, I went to the information desk and asked for a guided tour of parts of the museum today. It is truly worthwhile to have a museum guide provide more detailed information and context for many of the exhibits, especially if one is not a local here. It certainly made the visit to the museum so much more meaningful to me. Best of all, the one-to-one guided tour cost me just a token sum of $3. So, if you do go to the Museum, see if you can utilise this service.

Oh yes, I asked about the music with the Innu Drum (mentioned in my blog post last week), but the museum guide could not provide me with any information. All he said was, the Museum was in the process of compiling more information about the recordings. Fortunately, I managed to capture a segment of the music with my digital voice recorder, that way I can have it identified one day.

SP Lesson 4: Nid d'abeille & Feuille d'automne (Part 2)

(Continued from the other day's blog post)

The photo below shows what I managed to make in the 5-hour workshop that was supervised by Chef H (because Chef CF is away) today:


These are my Feuille d'automne (chocolate mousse cake) and Nid d'abeille (honey chiboust & dacquoise cake).

I have to say these cakes were not easy to make at all, but I am generally satisfied with what I managed to produce today. I know it wasn't meant to be easy, and I know there's room for improvement. I didn't have enough time to make chocolate decorations for the sides of my Nid d'abeille, so I left it as it was. I managed to serve everything on time, and that's at least a consolation.

My plated dessert was still a problem for me. I find it extremely difficult to plate a dessert without any fruits... We had no strawberries today because they were so awful that they had to be returned to the suppliers. I guess sometimes things like that happen, and it is simply beyond our (or the School's) control.

Anyway, I am glad Chef H gave me some good suggestions during the feedback session, because I now know how to do it better if I get one of these cakes in the exam. Basically, I need to practise the things I've learnt in Intermediate Pastry and be able to apply the techniques better.

You know, I am relieved these are the last two cakes we are making in our practicals this term. I think I have figured out I am not exactly a "cake person". More specifically, I dislike making cakes that are overly complicated or tricky.

I have a lot of patience for chocolate work, but very little for complicated mousse cakes. The main reason is, I struggle to make these complicated cakes look neat and nice (well, as nice as some of my Group B classmates can make them). And until I get really comfortable with the mousse cakes I learnt to make in Intermediate Pastry, I feel the ones we make in Superior Pastry are a touch beyond my capabilities. If I had a choice between tarts and mousse cakes, I would rather make tarts (especially the ones with fruits in them).

Besides, I don't understand why people are so keen on mousse cakes these days. Maybe I am just old-fashioned -- I like my cakes to have more flour (be it wheat flour or nut flour) than cream. If I wanted more cream than flour in my dessert, I would have gone straight for ice creams. Note that this is in no way a criticism of the LCB Ottawa syllabus -- I know they have to teach us all the techniques they think we will need in order to work as pastry chefs in the future... I just have my own personal preferences, that's all.

Next week we do fruit carving, which I am really looking forward to. You might recall I enjoyed carving pumpkins during Halloween. Now we get to learn some really cool carving techniques from Chef A. :)

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PS. Happy ANZAC Day to all Aussies and Kiwis!

Another Stage (Internship)

Today I didn't have any classes at School, but I managed to arrange it so that I started another stage (internship). This time at Buttercream Bakery.

Bus No. 5, which stops outside Wilbrod House, stops near the Buttercream Bakery (on Bank Street in the downtown area), so it is very convenient for me.

I pretty much spent my entire day making gum paste flowers, which are usually used on special cakes and wedding cakes. I asked to do it because I wanted to learn to make something pretty out of gum paste.

I think I was quite slow today, but I enjoyed myself immensely. I have a lot of patience for things like that (i.e. delicate work). I want to do pastry with great love, not with great haste. My philosophy is: I am not in this business for the money (I've been told you need to be able to work fast to make money); I am in it for the artistry.

Yes, I understand they are not mutually exclusive, but at this stage, I cannot even work at 60% of the speed that the chefs at School can do things, so I must bide my time and keep practising. I am realistic.

Anyway, the flowers I made were laid out to dry, and then I can paint them next week. Hopefully, with more practice, I will be able to make nice gum paste flowers more quickly and easily.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day to everyone reading this blog!

I have to admit Earth Day is not something we hear a lot about in Australia. It doesn't mean Australians aren't conscious of environmental issues; it just means Earth Day is not promoted widely enough to reach public consciousness (unlike Clean Up Australia Day).

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My sister sent me this photo that she took yesterday:


I miss Australia! This photo makes me happy, because it means there's enough moisture in the atmosphere for a rainbow to appear. I'm glad they are getting more rain now -- it was desperately dry before; they really needed the rain badly.

Random Reflections XIII: An Inspirational Story

A friend at School told me about this book she was reading recently, called The Last Lecture. Since I am a former academic who once stood in front of students and presented lectures, the book title naturally piqued my curiosity, and so I decided to look it up on the Internet. What I found were links to videos of a few inspirational lectures given by the late Professor Randy Pausch in the last few months of his life.

After viewing the online videos, I felt truly inspired. I think it is good to be reminded every now and again how to live our lives better, to know what the real priorities in life are, to find the strength and courage to do what is difficult, and to persevere when things get tough.

Here is the URL to the videos:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

Should you find yourself in need of inspiration or courage, check it out. I guarantee it will at least make you think about your goals in life and, perhaps, even force you to reflect on your existence.

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Update on 26 April 2009: I finished reading the book The Last Lecture this weekend. I found it quite similar to the lecture (i.e. the video), but it has extra background information about Randy Pausch... The final few chapters of the book made me cry. So, if you're planning to read it, have a box of kleenex ready.

SP Lesson 4: Nid d'abeille & Feuille d'automne (Part 1)

This afternoon Chef CF showed us how to make the Nid d'abeille and the Feuille d'automne. I was surprised he did not show us any plated desserts with these cakes, but I assumed he decided there wasn't enough time for that (maybe there were other reasons, but I didn't think to ask at the time).

These are apparently the last two cakes we will make in our Superior Pastry practical class. After this, it is basically chocolate work (in particular, a chocolate showpiece) and also sugar work (specifically, a sugar showpiece).

Here are the two cakes Chef made in the demo:

The Nid d'abeille is a honey and fruit dacquoise. It has a base of dacquoise, a layer of jellified strawberry coulis, sandwiched between honey mousse. The top is decorated with a "florentine" decoration (i.e. a dacquoise disc coated with some "florentine" mixture, which is baked in the oven and then sliced into segments). I found the jellified strawberry coulis inside the cake quite refreshing, but I couldn't really taste the honey in the chiboust mousse. Not that I mind, because I am not a big fan of the honey found in Canada; in the past, I have only liked a couple of types of honey from Australia (e.g. from trees like the Blue Gum and the Brown Barrel, which have really strong and intensely rich flavours).



I like the presentation of this one. The Feuille d'automne is a cake with layers of almond meringue and chocolate mousse. It is covered with chocolate fans, and dusted with icing sugar (to resemble snow, I guess). Chef CF showed us this new technique (new for us) of using a warm baking tray for making chocolate fans, but I think it is rather complicated. It looked quite a complicated technique even for the chef, imagine what it would be like for us beginners. He said this technique was tricky -- it works sometimes, and it doesn't at other times. If I had a choice, I would use the cold marble board instead...

Anyway, our group will not have our practical class until Friday, so I will continue this blog post after the 5-hour workshop on Friday afternoon.

Canadian Museum of Civilization (Part 1)

Today I went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, located in Gatineau (just across the river from Ottawa). I walked there from Rideau Street, where I normally go to do my shopping. It was a leisurely 15-minute stroll for me.

Here are some photos I took along the way (click on photo for larger image):

View of Parliament Hill from the lookout point adjacent to the Ottawa River


View of Ottawa city and Ottawa River


The Canadian Museum of Civilization (in Gatineau), from the lookout point in Ottawa


This is Pont Alexandra (Alexandra Bridge) which connects Ottawa and Gatineau. I walked across this bridge to get to the museum.

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The Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) is huge, and the collections in the museum really reminded me of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra (as they mainly cover the social history, rather than the natural history, of the nation). I spent the whole day at the CMC and only saw half of the exhibits. I am planning to go back there again to see the rest, hence this is only Part 1 of my blog post.

Today I started from the bottom level of the museum, which includes the Grand Hall and the First Peoples Hall.


The Grand Hall. Impressive, isn't it?


Entrance to the First Peoples Hall


This is a Button Blanket made by Canadian aborigines. It was one of the numerous exhibits that captured my attention today. Because it sort of reminded me of the amateur mosaic artwork I used to make as a hobby. I thought it was a neat idea to sew buttons in this way to make a gorgeous pattern on a blanket; I even thought, wouldn't it be amazing to do a design like this on a mousse cake or a plated dessert? (I know, I can't help having mousse cakes on my mind, seeing as we've made so many at School in the last few weeks.)


The thing I like about Canadian aboriginal art is the vibrant colours used (and also the stylish designs, of course).


I took this photo because I just love the beautiful designs and colours on traditional aboriginal garments and footwear. The colour combinations are simply aesthetically pleasing to me. I am actually quite inspired now, to the point that I am considering incorporating some of the designs into my pastries in the future.

In the First Peoples Hall, I heard a piece of music with Innu drums (with singing in an aboriginal language) that I found mesmerising, and I went to the Museum boutique (i.e. souvenir/gift shop) to ask if they sell any CDs with that particular piece of music, but they didn't. It was such a pity! I left somewhat disappointed. I will try and find out more about it the next time I go. I would love to know who the performers are. I like native and folk music in general, because of the harmony, melody and rhythm. The singers/performers convey such a lot of emotions in it -- to me, it is as if they have put all their heart and soul into the music. Be it a joyful expression of their existence, or the melancholic strains of a lament.

Oh yes, I also went to the special Glenn Gould: The Sounds of Genius exhibition at the Museum. It was an interesting look at a famous and talented Canadian pianist. The best part of the exhibition was the fact visitors to the museum could listen to some of his recordings.


This is the Steinway grand piano that Gould often used for his recordings.

Towards the end of the Glenn Gould exhibition area, there was a small area for museum visitors to listen to some of Glenn Gould's recordings (i.e. excerpts). Having been raised on Classical Music, I couldn't resist the opportunity to listen to quite a few of them, and I enjoyed his recordings of Bach's works (for which Gould is known). But the recording that I found most thought-provoking was his performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 (third movement). I'd listened to a number of other international pianists play this piece (aka the Emperor Concerto) before, but none were like Gould's interpretation. It was unique.

By about 4pm today (an hour before closing time), I was able to get to the Canadian Postal Museum exhibition on Level 2 of the Museum. It has a complete display of all the stamps ever issued in Canada. Despite having less than an hour to view the Canadian stamps and the associated collection, I learnt quite a lot of interesting facts about philately and human communication (and I can see stamp-collecting is a good way to educate children about other cultures, and to broaden their horizons). I really liked this part of the museum, and I am hoping to view the stamps again. I am not a serious collector of stamps, but I do have some interest in stamp-collecting, purely because I think of stamps as miniature pieces of art, and markers of particular moments in the social history of a nation.

Entry to the Museum costs $10 for students and $12 for adults. I can tell you it was well worth it.

Anyway, it was truly an inspiring day for me. This blog post is to be continued; I will go back to the Museum again soon.

Bistro Bleu

Yesterday and today I did my official Bistro Bleu shift in the pastry kitchen, from 8am to 2pm. There were altogether 9 students involved in this week's Bistro Bleu: 4 for service, 3 for cuisine and 2 for pastry. Each group of students was supervised by at least one chef. We used the Signatures restaurant kitchen to prepare the dishes on the set menu, and Salle Cointreau was used as the dining room (photos below).


Salle Cointreau dining room


Table setting for four (Everything was prepared on the day by the students who were working as servers)

The menu for 16 & 17 April was as follows:
Bressan Menu
Appetiser: Chicken Liver Salad with Sherry Vinegar
Main Course: Roasted Chicken Supreme, with the Leg prepared Parmentier style
Dessert: Galette Bressane (Regional Buttery Pastry) served with a Dark Chocolate Cream
[It costs $25 per person for just the 3-course meal; but $32 per person for the meal with a glass of wine. The boutique bread/baguette served at the start of a meal is made in-house and is complimentary.]

Students were given an opportunity to learn how to prepare, cook and plate the food. It was exactly the same menu for both days, but the plating designs varied slightly (because the cuisiniers had two different supervising chefs on Thursday and Friday, and they had the chance to see and learn how each chef would plate the food).

Here's what the 3-courses looked like, for Day 1/Thursday and Day 2/Friday (click on photo for a larger image):


Day 1 plating of the appetiser: Chicken Liver Salad



Day 2 plating of the appetiser: Chicken Liver Salad (The garnish on top of the salad was made with pâte à choux -- I made the pâte à choux, the cuisiniers piped it in a crosshatch pattern onto a silicon mat and baked in the oven until golden brown, and it came out crispy like a pretzel)



Day 1 plating of the main course: Roasted Chicken Supreme, with the Chicken Leg prepared Parmentier style (Basically, it was a piece of beautifully-roasted chicken breast, served with vegetables and a delicious sauce. And the confit chicken leg was served with mashed potatoes in a glass, topped with a parmesan chip)



Day 2 plating of the main course: Roasted Chicken Supreme, with the Chicken Leg prepared Parmentier style (Here, the confit chicken leg was wrapped in crispy spring roll wrapper, and also served with mashed potatoes in a shot glass, topped with a parmesan chip)



Day 1 plating of the dessert: Galette Bressane with Dark Chocolate Cream (Note: the orange-coloured fruit is the physallis or ground cherry, aka cape gooseberry)



Day 2 plating of the dessert: Galette Bressane with Dark Chocolate Cream (Galette Bressane is a disc of brioche dough, topped with a sweet cream mixture, and baked until golden brown)

So, would you pay $25 for this 3-course meal?

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A classmate and I had the opportunity to work in the pastry kitchen under the supervision of Chef T, who is a really good mentor (even if he does not speak a great deal of English). Chef T was so patient with us, and he showed us a number of really good/smart techniques for doing things (those which make you think "why didn't I think of that?" when you see him doing it). He talked us through how to prepare the individual components for the dessert. We made brioche dough and a cream filling for the galette bressane, and we also made a smooth and silky dark chocolate cream to be served on the side. This dark chocolate cream was so good that even the cuisine chefs, who came over to have a look at what was going on in the pastry kitchen and were given a taste of the cream, thought it was amazing. And I have the recipe for it now. ;-)

On top of that, we had time to practise making chocolate decorations for the plated dessert. I finally got the hang of making chocolate fans using the cold marble board. Yesterday, I could not make any chocolate fans that were good enough to be served (so the failed chocolate fans were melted down and re-used), but today I was able to make quite a few nice ones. As I have always said, practice makes perfect.

I just love working with chocolate - I don't mind practising making chocolate decorations again and again because I find it quite meditative. Also, I was glad to learn how to make brioche using a large mixer -- it was so much easier than doing it by hand (which we had to do in Basic Pastry).

On Day 1 our plating design of the dessert was somewhat simple, and even then it took us quite a few minutes to present each plate; but on Day 2 we were more familiar with the routine, so we enhanced our plating design slightly and were still able to plate the dessert really quickly. Not only did we learn to plate desserts, we learnt how to work as a team in a kitchen as well.

Overall, it was a most satisfying learning experience. I felt I learnt a lot of practical skills that will help me greatly in my future career. I have to say the highlight was seeing the plated desserts go out to the patrons and then receiving compliments from them (one of the servers came back and told us some customers loved the dark chocolate cream and sent their compliments). It really felt good. This Bistro shift did my self-confidence a lot of good.

Work-Study Program

Today everyone received an e-mail from School about the Work-Study program at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. I have briefly discussed this program before, but if you would like a better explanation for what it is, please see the following. It is a copy of the e-mail I received.

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The Work Study program is a scholarship that you can apply for once you have completed your Basic level course. If you are awarded this scholarship, you will put your studies on-hold for 24 weeks; work full-time during this period in the production kitchen as a student assistant under the direction of Chef Christopher.

Following the completion of the 24-week work period you will enter your next course with the tuition waived. During your Work Study Program you will abide by all the rules and regulations of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa.

The scholarship program is demanding and intensive, requiring great attention to detail. It is also expected that your experience while in the program will provide you with the practical and theoretical tools to act as a mentor for other students.

Being in the Work Study Program in the Production Kitchen will provide you with numerous practical skills that will only multiply and allow you to excel during your work study contribution. This program is a vital component of our operation and those who qualify contribute tremendously to the smooth running of our school program.

The skills you will acquire will be invaluable when you return to your regular studies. The program will also provide you with added confidence to make you excel in school.

We are currently in the process of accepting applications for students who wish to be considered for the Work Study Scholarship. This study program will commence before Session III (June 15, 2009) and finish after Session IV (December 1, 2009).

If you are interested in applying for the Work Study Program please submit a personal document describing:
* Why you should be awarded the scholarship
* What will be your contribution to LCB Ottawa
* What do you hope to learn (objectives) while participating in the work study program?

Should you have additional questions, please contact Chef Christopher in the Production Kitchen.

(Note: I have deliberately deleted Chef's email address here, for this blog post)

Please note that only one student will be accepted for each Session.

SP Lesson 3: Entremet Vanessa & Apricot Tart

In Lesson 3, we were shown how to make the Entremet Vanessa and Pistachio-Apricot Tart by Chef CF.

Here's what Chef CF made in the demo class yesterday:

The Apricot Tart has a pâte sucrée tart shell, which is filled with almond cream and canned apricots, then topped with streussel (or crumble) and a disc of jellified pistachio crème brûlée mixture.


The Entremet Vanessa consists of a bottom layer of Biscuit Viennois (a kind of sponge cake), followed by a disc of jellified crème brûlée mixture that is sandwiched between two layers of dark chocolate mousse. The whole cake is then coated with a dark glaze and decorated. See photo below.



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Today we had our workshop from 3:30pm to 8:30pm. I felt exhausted by 7pm. The tart just took so long to make...

Anyway, the photo below shows what I managed to make. I think my tart and mousse cake were OK. I would pass myself, but only just. There's definitely room for improvement.



In my haste, I actually made a stupid mistake with my dark glaze (-> not hot enough, and wrong consistency), and was in a lot of trouble until Chef CF saved the day. Thank goodness for that! I was so mad at myself. There was no excuse for my sloppiness; I should be really careful next time.

Chef gave the whole group a pep talk at the end of the workshop. I think we were all a bit disorganized towards the end, and he warned us to be more organized and to work cleanly for next time (we made a real mess in the kitchen today). And he wanted us to pick up our acts too. He felt we could have done better with the Easter theme for our decorations. I did the Easter theme in my plated dessert, but it was not satisfactory. Back to the drawing board I go, I guess.

Some days are just tougher than others. Today was one of them. But we live and learn.

Tomorrow and Friday I have my Bistro Bleu shifts, starting at 8am. I must get to bed now ...