Sun Bread (Pain Soleil)

One of my favorite breads to make is the Sun Bread (Pain Soleil). Here is one that I made in Production Kitchen yesterday:


I decorated the Sun Bread with slices of apricots and chopped pistachios. I reckon this looks more like a gerbera than a sun, but it doesn't matter.

I really enjoyed the experience of making the Sun Bread from scratch. I was in Production Kitchen at 6am to make the dough, then I rested the dough while I made other bread doughs, then I came back to the Sun Bread dough and did all the steps to make the final product (i.e. what you see in the photo).

Chef CP was also kind enough to teach me how to make a decorative wheatsheaf bread. It was a variation on the traditional design, and it was interesting.


This was what the dough looked like after we finished making the decoration, and dusted it with flour. This photo was taken while we were waiting for the dough to proof before baking.

Making the wheatsheaf bread was time-consuming, but I didn't mind, because I enjoyed learning the techniques for making it.

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My gratitude to Chef CP for giving me the chance to volunteer in Production Kitchen one last time this term, and for teaching me more bread-making techniques. I have many happy memories in the Production Kitchen because it was where I gradually built my confidence in baking.

An Interesting Version of the Eiffel Tower (Photos)

Today, while I was volunteering in Production Kitchen, I watched Chef A make an edible (and, might I add, healthy) version of the Eiffel Tower for tonight's function at LCB Ottawa (Apéritif à la française). I took the opportunity to snap a few photos.






I reckon even if you're a meatlover, you would find the vegetables on this platter most appealing. :)

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.

Practice Makes Perfect

Yesterday I did my stage at Stubbe Chocolates again, and this time I dipped and decorated over 750 chocolate truffles (various flavours). The first few I made were not that neat and nice, but by the 700th I was getting good at it. :)


These are the beer truffles I dipped and sprinkled with white chocolate shavings. The shavings had to be sprinkled before the dark chocolate coating dried, so that meant I had to dip 5 or 6 chocolates at a time, sprinkle the shavings, then dip another 5 or 6, and so on.


These are some of the chocolate boxes I made and decorated. I am slowly getting the hang of making chocolate boxes with molds, and of tempering chocolate with the seeding method (we mainly do the tabling method at School).

On Monday, I made my second Pain Soleil in Production Kitchen. It was similar to the first one I made, but I added some apricot pieces in the middle (as you can see in the photo), and I brushed the bread with apricot glaze after baking. The bread turned out well, and was served to the staff at LCB Ottawa at lunch.


Practice makes perfect indeed. I actually noticed a significant improvement in my performance, even in the space of a few hours doing the same task. That is why stage (or even volunteering in Production Kitchen) means so much to me.

My Creations in Production Kitchen

I volunteered in Production Kitchen a couple of times this week, and here are some of the things I made.

Today I made a pistachio and cinnamon sugar Pain Soleil (Sun Bread) for staff meal. You might remember I was interested in making it after seeing a demo by Chef CP the other day. So when I had the chance today, I asked to make a Pain Soleil, and Chef CP said OK.

The Pain Soleil I made was made from a sweet dough (that is similar to brioche or panettone). I cannot provide the recipe here because I do not have permission to do so, but I can show you what I made, so that you can imagine all the possibilities with different flavours (both sweet ones and savoury ones).


This is the Pain Soleil I made. The sweet dough was rolled out to a large circular shape, and placed on a baking tray lined with parchment paper (baking paper). Then I put a small upturned bowl in the middle of the dough before cutting the "rays of the sun" around the upturned bowl. After that, I lifted the small bowl off, egg-washed the whole dough, sprinkled some cinnamon sugar (i.e. ground cinnamon mixed with fine sugar), then I twisted the "rays of the sun". Finally, I sprinkled some chopped pistachios in the middle of the dough.

After proofing the dough for about 30 minutes, I baked the bread at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When it was golden brown, I took it out of the oven. Voila!

Everyone who saw the Pain Soleil (Sun Bread) I made said it was beautiful. I loved it too. It is a simple pattern, but makes the bread look so pretty. I will be making more of these when I get another chance.

This morning, a classmate and I (both of us are regular volunteers for Production Kitchen) were in charge of making two large pizzas for staff meal as well, so we set about making a thick crust pizza, and preparing the tasty toppings. We used (1) duck confit, sliced potatoes, smoked bacon, anchovies, onions, and mozzarella, parmesan and feta cheese, and (2) smoked meats, garlic, onions, egg plants, zucchinis, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and gruyere and feta cheese for the topping. Both pizzas turned out well.

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The following was what I made for staff meal (dessert) on Monday. I used the leftover Kataifi dough (which are very thin threads of phyllo/filo dough) to make Pistachio Kataifi, based on several online recipes that I found.



I'm happy I got the chance to do something other than LCB Ottawa recipes. That is one of the reasons why I volunteer in Production Kitchen.

This batch of Kataifi tasted fine. I wish I had seen the bottle of orange blossom water sitting on a shelf in Production Kitchen, because it would have been good to have it in the simple syrup that I poured over the Kataifi.

I've had a great week. Monday and Friday in Production Kitchen. Tuesday and Thursday at Stubbe Chocolates (where I learnt to make chocolate Easter eggs); Wednesday was the inspiring Bread Workshop at LCB Ottawa.

One more week to go before my final exam. I will be spending most of that time studying, so I won't have much time for blogging. But I promise to resume blogging after my final exam on 16 March 2009.

Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Open House

Today was LCB Ottawa's Open House, where visitors and potential students (and their families) were invited for a tour around the school and to experience what it is like to be a student at LCB.

I was in Production Kitchen at 7:30am, because I volunteered to bake the pastries and muffins to be served to visitors. See the photo immediately below for the pastry platter that another student and I prepared.


A pastry platter with croissants, cinnamon twists, apricot danishes, chocolate croissants, chocolate & pear croissants.



This is one of two fruit platters that Chef A prepared for the Open House. Beautiful, isn't it? (Click on photo to see a larger image.)



This is the other fruit platter that Chef A prepared.



This is Salle Cointreau, which is one of the demo rooms. Here, you see LCB Ottawa staff talking about the history of the School, just before Chef D (cuisine chef, he is standing on the left) came on to do his demo. This brought back memories of what I experienced on Orientation Day in September last year.


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After the baking was done at 9:30am, I went upstairs to Salle Cointreau to help and to watch one of the cuisine chefs and one of the pastry chefs present a short demo. It was an interesting morning. It is always fun to assist the chefs in events like that, because you get to work with the chefs, rather than have them watch you work (and critique your creations) in the practical kitchen. They seem so much more human when you are working for them. :-)

I think I will really miss LCB Ottawa when I finish my courses.

How time flies! Two more weeks to the Intermediate Pastry final exam. I can feel my stress levels going up now, but I have to stay focused and do what I have to do... One day at a time.

My Week in Review

I've been quite busy this week, so I haven't really had time to write about all the new things I learnt. But today is my rest day, so here is my week in review:

Monday: I had trouble with my Marquise au Chocolat (mousse cake), and ran out of time to plate my mini-Marquise. Then I spent the late-afternoon and evening watching Chef H do a demo on the croquembouche. A long day ...

Tuesday: I did my stage (internship) at Stubbe. I learnt to make the centre of the praliné-marzipan chocolate truffle, lemon cream, white wine cream and hazelnut pound cakes, and I practised making marzipan roses and leaves.

Wednesday: I spent 5 hours at School making the croquembouche (French wedding cake). I was pleased with the results, even if my croquembouche was not the prettiest in my class.

Thursday: I did my stage at Stubbe again. This time, I was taught to make a special blend of hot chocolate that Stubbe sells at the shop. I made some dark chocolate glaze for covering cakes. I also learnt to layer and mask the lemon cakes with lemon buttercream (I did about 9 cakes) and to cover some of them with marzipan, to glaze the cakes with dark chocolate glaze, and decorate them with piped rosettes and so on. The tricky part was to get the cakes to all end up the same size (even layering and same height), which I could not do at first, but by the end of the day, I managed fine. I have to say I learnt so much about the techniques for mass producing cakes (unlike at School, where we only make one cake at a time)... In mass production, one learns to be very organised and much more efficient indeed.

Friday: I volunteered in Production Kitchen, starting at 6am. As usual, I made and baked three kinds of baguettes for Bistro Cordon Bleu -- 1. plain baguettes with egg wash and sesame seeds, 2. baguettes with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts, 3. baguettes with chopped kalamata olives. Later I helped with the assembly of some demo boxes, and mentored a couple of Basic Pastry students (on Chef CP's orders). In the afternoon, I went to the Canadian War Museum with some classmates.

Saturday: I went to School to watch Chef B (Cuisine chef) do a demo on Spanish food. I love Spanish food, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to watch the demo. (Aside: LCB students who volunteer to assist the chef are allowed to watch demos when the chefs present short courses to the public on Saturdays. But because I used to attend French language classes on Saturdays, I missed out on those opportunities.) Anyway, I now know how to make Gazpacho, Horchata, Paella and Churros. It was such a stimulating class!!! I really like the way Chef B presented the techniques for preparing and cooking the ingredients. Like Chef H (from Pastry), he too is a methodical teacher! Now I wish I were taking French cuisine courses ... I hope the pastry chefs at school don't see this, or I would end up in their bad books. Heheheh!

[Aside: There's a bit of friendly rivalry between the cuisine and pastry chefs, and pastry students who are interested in cuisine (like me) get teased mercilessly by the pastry chefs about being tempted by "the dark side". :D]

Next week promises to be exhausting too. We have to make 3 different cakes at School (the Pacific cake, the Opera cake, and the Triple Chocolate Bavarois cake), as well as sitting for a written exam on Tuesday morning. I am giving stage a miss for a week, just because things are so hectic right now.

Stay tuned for pictures of the cakes I make next week!

No Rest for the Wicked

Well, I haven't had internet connection for a couple of days now, hence I'm a bit behind with my blogging. Besides, this has been a really busy week - when I'm not in class, I'm volunteering in Production Kitchen (and that means being there from 6am). Today I was in Production Kitchen from 6am, and I had a demo class in the afternoon (3:30pm), which meant I didn't get home until after 6:30pm... A long day at School.

Tomorrow (Saturday, and Valentine's Day) I am volunteering for an event at School, which starts at 10am, and goes on till late evening. So, as they say, "no rest for the wicked." (I do want to learn as much as I can while I am here at LCB Ottawa, so I am grateful for all the opportunities we get to volunteer for events.)

This week in Production Kitchen, apart from doing the usual pastry-for-staff-breakfast tasks, I learnt to make, shape and bake different kinds of baguettes (for staff lunches and for Bistro Cordon Bleu). It took me a while to master the techniques for rolling out the baguettes by hand, but I'm getting there.

Chef CP also asked me to make a batch of orange-pumpkin loaves, and they turned out quite well (even though this is the first time I'm making it). Chef CP said that he has had many students make this recipe before, but mine had one of the best textures he's ever tasted (it was moist like a banana cake/bread). That is high praise indeed.

Of course, I didn't tell him that I modified the recipe slightly as I was making it. :) What happened was, the recipe (from the Internet) required something like one-and-two-thirds large oranges (ground to a pulp with the food processor). I simply rounded it to two oranges, because the oranges we have in Production Kitchen are not all that big. Then I added almost an extra egg, because the recipe called for three-and-a-quarter eggs (which, in my opinion, is a ridiculous figure anyway). After rounding the figures up, I figured I'm adding extra moisture into the recipe, so I had better reduce it somewhere else in the recipe. And I reduced the amount of water. Anyway, the end result was quite good. I think I am slowly getting a feel for the science/art of baking.

In the afternoon, before my demo class, I helped a couple of my classmates assemble ingredients for tomorrow's event, but because we didn't get to complete the task before our demo class, we decided we would have to go back to school tomorrow morning to finish it (i.e. the mise en place), and that's how I ended up volunteering for tomorrow's event...

Anyway, I had nothing planned for tomorrow, so it was fine to volunteer for this event. I'll update my blog with details later.

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PS. Happy Birthday to T!

Savoury Muffins

Yesterday and today I was back volunteering in Production Kitchen. I had a great time! One of the highlights for me was making some savoury muffins for staff breakfast, using a basic recipe Chef CP asked me to modify and experiment with. Last week I had created a muffin mixture that still wasn't quite right, but this week the chef and I changed the ratio of certain ingredients and added other ingredients, and it worked.

I created the basic muffin batter, then mixed it with several flavours, and it was the smoked bacon and mushroom that proved popular with staff. This was essentially the recipe I ended up with:

Smoked Bacon and Mushroom Muffins
Step 1 - Mix all of the following together to create the basic savoury muffin batter (combine all dry ingredients first, then add in the wet ingredients):
270g plain flour
90g corn meal (polenta)
13g baking powder
3g salt
40g sugar
2 eggs
240g milk
220g vegetable oil
a pinch of coarse pepper
10g finely chopped fresh french shallots
2g finely chopped garlic

Step 2 - Add the following into the basic batter for flavour (you can also use other flavours like parmesan and chives):
30g chopped mushrooms, sautéed in a little oil (to remove excessive moisture in the mushroom)
20g lightly pan-fried smoked bacon (to remove excessive fat in the bacon and to intensify the flavour)

Step 3 - Spoon the muffin batter into lightly-greased muffin trays (I used shallow trays for small muffins 6cm in diameter), and bake in the oven at 170 degrees Celsius until the muffins are golden brown and done. Test by inserting a skewer into the centre of a muffin - if it comes out clean, it is done.

(Aside: At LCB, we are never told how long to bake something because every oven is different; we simply have to know how to tell if something is cooked, either by measuring internal temperature or by sight/touch.)

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Here are some photos of winter scenes outside LCB Ottawa that I took this afternoon, when I left Production Kitchen:

Lots of snow fell overnight, and this is what the park across from LCB Ottawa looks like now.


Snow in the Student Entrance Area of LCB Ottawa. This is how much snow fell in 24 hours, because this area was cleared of snow yesterday afternoon.

"Learning How to Move in a Kitchen..."

Today, when I was volunteering in production kitchen, Chef CP mentioned this ("learning how to move in a kitchen...") in a group conversation about what people learn in production kitchen, and it was a thought-provoking comment. For me, anyway.

Indeed, some of the tasks in production kitchen may seem tedious (or boring, to some), but for me (someone without prior experience in a commercial kitchen) working in production kitchen affords me the opportunity to work alongside others, to develop my manual dexterity, and to improve my spatial awareness of objects and people in the kitchen.

Through practice, one learns to move around in a kitchen gracefully, to work in close proximity with others (without constantly bumping into them or knocking things over), to have a feel for the tools and ingredients one uses, to know where things are located, and how ingredients and objects are arranged in a kitchen. Whether one is aware or not, all of these are part of the training.

I still enjoy volunteering in production kitchen, as I am learning so many things each time I go there.

Anyway, this is my reflection for today.

Random Reflections V: Production Kitchen (Photos)

Here are some pictures of the production kitchen at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. The production kitchen is one of my favourite places; I can work calmly and quietly here.

Production Kitchen: 11 Weekdays of Fun and Learning

I was volunteering in production kitchen for the last 11 weekdays in a row, hence I didn't have as much time or energy to tend to this blog. Now I am making up for it.

The last 11 weekdays in production kitchen have been fun. The American chefs were in town for training by LCB Ottawa chef instructors (cuisine), and I was one of those who volunteered to prepare the demo boxes for that. I am getting much more efficient at assembling the demo boxes now, because I know where to go to get the different types of ingredients, how much to include, and how to prepare things. I consider it good practice for keeping up MEP (mise en place) skills.

I still got to help out with some pastry stuff early in the morning, as per usual. The last few days, instead of making cinnamon twists for staff breakfast, I asked if I could make papillions out of the puff pastry (just for a change), and Chef CP said OK. Chef N had shown us how to make papillions (butterflies) in the puff pastry lesson in Basic Pastry, and I'd always wanted to try making that. Well, the papillions I made sort of look more like bow-ties, but that's ok. They're cute enough!

I also learnt to make some chocolate truffles in production kitchen. The ganache was flavored with orange zest, cognac and grand marnier, cayenne powder, and finely-chopped prunes (for texture). It was a really nice flavour. I'd always loved orange flavored chocolates, but this one had a twist - you can taste a spicy aftertaste in it (because of the cayenne). I loved it so much that I came home and made something similar.

The last couple of days, I volunteered for Bistro, because things were quieter in production kitchen (as it is almost holiday time for the chefs now). At Bistro, I had the chance to learn many new techniques from various chefs, just by watching them, talking to them and also by practising the techniques when the opportunity arose. For instance, I now know a fast way to peel an apple in a few seconds. Chef M (from cuisine) showed me the technique, and I was grateful for that, because I had to peel lots of apples in a hurry for Bistro on Thursday. The way I was taught to peel an apple by Chef T (from pastry) was good (because it makes the apples look nice and presentable), but it was not as useful a technique in this situation.

(Aside: "Bistro" refers to "Bistro Cordon Bleu", a "new application restaurant which is the school's full-service, fine-dining restaurant, run and staffed by students". This is the official description of Bistro Cordon Bleu from the LCB Ottawa website.

Since I volunteered for the pastry station, Chef CF came and talked me through how to make the dessert on the day's menu Prunes with Armagnac in Crispy Phyllo, served with Vanilla Ice Cream. I had learnt how to make creme anglaise (to make ice cream) in Basic Pastry, but when asked to make 2 litres of it, I suddenly had a mental block. So Chef CF patiently took me through the whole process again. Now I won't forget how to make vanilla ice cream from scratch.

[FYI: Creme Anglaise for Vanilla Ice Cream --> Boil 2 litres of milk in a pot, with 2 vanilla beans. Prepare 24 egg yolks in a bowl, and then mix 300g of sugar into the egg yolks. When the milk is boiling, sacrifice some milk into the egg mixture, stirring the mixture to homogenise everything, then pour all of the homogenised egg mixture into the remainder of the boiling milk. Cook (stirring with a wooden spoon the whole time) the mixture for a couple of minutes over medium heat until "a la nappe", to pasteurise the mixture and to get the right consistency. Pour the cooked creme anglaise into a chinois to sieve it (eliminating any lumps in the mixture). Take out the vanilla beans, cut them open and scrape the seeds into the creme anglaise mixture. Then pour the finished creme anglaise into the ice cream machine. Churn for 15 minutes. Done!]

Chef M was most patient when he showed me how to plate up the dessert for the lunch service. I'd never ever worked in a restaurant kitchen before, so I had to ask how to do this and that - I took nothing for granted. He showed me how to pipe the sauce and garnish the dessert, how to place the plated dessert on the pass for the servers...

I enjoyed myself so much that I volunteered for next week's Bistro, which is the last one for the year.

Yesterday afternoon I went with my housemate to Carlingwood Mall, to help him with the third gingerbread house. He was being interviewed by a local radio station's afternoon program (All in A Day, with host Adrian Harewood, CBC 91.5FM), and they'd asked him to demonstrate to a live audience (of shoppers) how he would build a gingerbread house. He was able to turn an ordinary gingerbread house kit into something extraordinary. I was just there as his assistant, helping out with a few things when required. It was lovely to see how well all the elements of the gingerbread house came together. So many kids (and their parents) came over to the table to look at it and we hope they were all inspired by it. I will post some pictures of the third gingerbread house soon.

Production Kitchen 10

This was my last production kitchen shift for this term. It didn't start well this morning. I accidentally locked the chef's set of keys inside the dry store, and we had to wait until another staff member turned up with their spare set of keys an hour later to get the chef's keys back.

Things got better after that. I didn't have to assemble any boxes. Instead, I learnt some more basic cuisine skills: e.g. devein foie gras (for the chefs to make torchon out of it), peel a large bowl of taro (for staff meals), prepare fish cakes (shaping the mixture into patties), portion a side of salmon and vacuum-seal the portions, and so forth. I enjoyed these activities a lot.

At the end of my shift, Chef CP showed me how to make chantilly cream properly. I had told him I'd been having problems with it in my practical classes, and he was kind enough to show me what to do. I now realise I had gone from one extreme to another: I used to under-whip the cream, so it was runny; then I over-whipped it, so it was lumpy. That's what been making my life so difficult -- not whipping the cream just right.

Anyway, now I have to concentrate on my upcoming practical exam. More details about that later.

Production Kitchen 9

I am only volunteering in Production Kitchen for one day a week in November. That's because it is now getting close to the exam date (which is 17 November) and I feel I really need extra time to study for it (which basically means memorising recipes and baking processes, plus some extra baking practice).

Today I spent nearly all of my time in production kitchen assembling demo and prac boxes. Nothing special there. Towards the end of my shift, I did get to learn some cuisine basics - I learnt to make bechamel sauce. Milk and cream, infused with onion, cloves and bay leaves, then cooked with the roux, which is butter and plain flour, then seasoned with salt and white pepper at the end. It was not hard at all.

I really enjoy learning about French cuisine in the production kitchen, but I don't think I would want to do the Cuisine courses here at LCB Ottawa, because I cannot see how I could cope with the pressure of a cuisine kitchen. I have seen what things are like for the cuisine students (e.g. chefs yelling at students in the cuisine practical kitchen to simulate what happens in a real-life cuisine kitchen), and I simply prefer the gentler pace of the pastry kitchen, where the chefs don't really yell at anyone. :)

Production Kitchen 7 & 8 (and Happy Halloween)

I am feeling much more at ease in the production kitchen these days, so I'm working more confidently. But that does not mean I don't make silly mistakes. Last Wednesday I was making a batch of Italian Bread dough and I forgot to give the yeast (which I had put into a bowl of water) a good stir before mixing it with the bread flour, and the result was a little lumpy. Fortunately, Chef CP told me to use the large mixer to knead the dough for a bit longer and the dough eventually turned out fine.

These are just little things you pick up when you volunteer for production kitchen. It is good that you have a chef and a couple of work-study students to guide you as you learn from experience (or learn by doing things).

(Aside: The production kitchen usually has two work-study students, who work under the guidance of Chef CP, and they help to run the kitchen and supervise students who volunteer for production kitchen shifts. Work-study students are those who have completed at least one course at LCB Ottawa -- usually Basic/Intermediate Cuisine -- and they apply to work in the production kitchen for no pay for six months, in return for the School paying for their next course, e.g. Intermediate/Superior Cuisine. This only applies to those who have not paid their tuition fees in full yet. In other words, if you have already paid for your tuition fees in the next course, then the School does not refund you, even if you are lucky enough to get into the work-study programme, which (as you can imagine) is quite competitive. Disclaimer: The above is based on what I have heard from other students about the work-study programme. It is not from any official LCB Ottawa source.)

Anyway, I then made a batch of Ale dough (a dough with smaller quantities of yeast, but has a fair amount of beer in it). This time I knew what to pay attention to, so the dough turned out well.

On Friday (Halloween), I helped with the pastries again -- the usual tasks for staff meals, e.g. baking the muffins, making cinnamon twists, egg-washing the croissant, and so on.

After that, I assembled some demo and prac boxes (i.e. gather all the ingredients required by the chef and students for a particular demo or prac class). This is usually the most time-consuming part of the shift, and I know a lot of students dislike doing this because they consider it boring.

When I do "the boxes" (as everyone here refers to the demo & prac boxes), I try to focus on improving my skills in the following (just to name a few):
* estimating the weights and volumes of various products (e.g. I can now tell roughly how full to fill a particular syrofoam container for 50ml of olive oil or 200ml of madeira wine, for instance -- of course we still have to use our kitchen scales to check for exact measurements)
* mentally calculate the quantities required for 19 (or whatever the number happens to be) portions (e.g. 19 portions of 70g butter is about 1400g, and that requires 3 slabs of butter from the walk-in fridge)
* how best to preserve a product (e.g. put liquids in a styrofoam container and label it, wrap peeled shallots with cling wrap, wrap herbs in wet paper towels to keep them from drying out in the walk-in fridge)
* how to prepare the products for the chef who is doing the demo in a couple of days' time (e.g. when a recipe calls for 50g mirepoix, we know we must roughly chop 20g of carrots, 20g onions and 10g of celery and put all of these into a container; or when a recipe says "bouquet garni", we gather leek leaves, put some thyme, parsley stalks, black peppercorns and bay leaves inside the leaf and tie it with string, then we wrap the bouquet garni in cling wrap; and any peeled potatoes/turnips or dried beans or mushrooms must be soaked in water inside a container)

When "the boxes" were done, I peeled a large bowl of shallots and garlic for staff meals. In the meantime, Chef A was working in the station across from where I was, and I could see him carving some pumpkins for Halloween. When he finished (in a matter of minutes), I quietly asked to take a few photos of his carvings, and he acceded. He said I could show everyone the photos.

Chef A, with his amazing pumpkin carvings

On Friday night, the housemates from Wilbrod House invited friends from School over to the Halloween costume party. It was a lot of fun to see all the different characters! Even I got into the spirit of things (I wore an outfit I would not have dreamed of wearing in my previous career), and I giggled and laughed until I was near hysterical...

The highlight of the evening would have to be seeing a male (caucasian) housemate dressed up as a geisha. He looked pretty good in the costume (made of bedsheets and pillow cases) too. :) That's the thing about LCB Ottawa students: They work hard, they play hard (and they are very creative and resourceful indeed). I love being around my fellow students because they inspire me to be more spontaneous and creative (the opposite of what I am usually like).

Production Kitchen 5 & 6

On Wednesday, I had a shorter production kitchen shift because I had a practical class at noon. I basically helped put together some ingredients for the demo and practical of a superior cuisine class. It took me a long time to gather all the ingredients and prepare them as the chef wants them to be prepared. I ended up messing up my apron and jacket (with grease, dirt and food stains), so I had to run home to get changed into my other set of (clean) uniform before heading to my practical class, where I made the failed miroir cassis (well, "failed" in the sense that the meringue in my mousse collapsed, as I mentioned in an earlier post).

On Friday, I did the full 6am-to-2pm shift in the production kitchen, where I learnt some catering skills. A classmate and I made 40 sandwiches with rustic bread. The fillings were either chicken salad or ham & cheese. Chef CP showed us how to organise things so that the sandwich-making was like an assembly line. He also taught me how to get all the ingredients ready and to estimate the quantity required for 40 portions, as well as some safe food-handling techniques. He told us we should only have enough cold ingredients (or meat/dairy products) on the benchtop (i.e. outside of the fridge) to complete 20 minutes of sandwich-making, everything else should be in the fridge or wrapped tightly to prevent contamination -- and that was an important HACCP (i.e. hazard analysis and critical control points) lesson for me.

I also learnt how to remove all the meat off a roasted ham, to sort through some air-dried herbes de Provence and put them in a container, and to peel and turn turnips (this is what Basic Cuisine students learn, and I get a chance to learn it in the Production Kitchen). I think this was one of the most interesting production kitchen shifts I had ever done. I came home happy that I had the chance to learn so many things.

Production Kitchen 3 & 4

This week I volunteered in production kitchen on Wednesday and Friday (today). On Wednesday I learnt to make a fruit platter for staff and to vacuum-seal meat products, cut and marinade some chicken, and so on. But the highlight was watching the chefs make a beautiful and tasty sandwich platter at short notice for Monsieur A. Cointreau (President of Le Cordon Bleu), who was in town for meetings. I know the sandwiches (made with freshly baked bread, french cheeses, roast chicken and vegetables) were tasty because I got to taste some "offcuts". Lucky me!

This morning I was mainly involved with rolling the bread dough into baguettes (for baking later in the morning), and preparing/assembling all the ingredients required for a Superior Cuisine demonstration class next week, plus a weekend workshop this week. It meant I got a chance to see and touch a range of ingredients, some of which I had never heard of before (e.g. pastis, vermouth, fish fumet, chervil). I spent quite a bit of time rummaging in the walk-in fridge for various ingredients, and it was cold. After all that hard work (a 6am-to-2pm shift), I was rewarded with a slice of pizza fresh from the oven, that was made by the chef this morning. It was simply divine. Best pizza I have ever tasted. Quality ingredients with first-class know-how - you just cannot beat that. Lucky me again! :)

Production Kitchen 2

Yesterday I volunteered for a production kitchen shift again (from 6am to 2pm). It was fun!

I helped to bake some brownies for a function (a wedding reception, I believe). I also strained veal stock (from a huge stock pot), cleaned up the kitchen workspaces, worked with a classmate to arrange some petit-fours on large presentation platters, egg-washed various pastries, washed the salad greens for staff meals, labelled the bags of Italian Bread dough another student had prepared, and so on.

I learnt a lot from Chef CP, who runs the production kitchen. He gives very good explanations for why things are done in a particular way in a commercial kitchen. I know I learn better when I know the reasons for various actions and techniques. I really enjoy working in the production kitchen. The tasks may be simple and repetitive, but they build confidence.

I decided to volunteer for two shifts per week in the next few weeks.

Production Kitchen 1

This morning I volunteered in the Production Kitchen. I got to School at 6am (just as well I live behind the School, and it is approximately 300 steps from Wilbrod House to LCB, door-to-door). Chef CP immediately got me to do the cinnamon twists (made from puff pastry). Then I put egg wash on other pastries that had just come out of the proofer, and I made a cornmeal bread (for staff meals) from a simple recipe Chef CP gave me. On the chef's request, I also made half a litre of simple syrup (I learned how to calculate the amount of water and sugar needed to produce half a litre of simple syrup).

(Aside: Every term, Basic and Intermediate students have to spend one morning in the production kitchen as production assistants so that they know what is involved in the preparation of large volume meals, and understand the practical applications of what they have learned in class. If students are interested, they can volunteer for more hours. My designated production assistant shift is at the end of October, but I was keen to learn more about a real-life kitchen, so I volunteered for a few hours today. Today is a free day for me. No classes at all.)

As I was washing up the knives from my knife kit, I accidentally cut my thumb. Ouch! Those knives are sharp! Fortunately, it was only a superficial wound. And the good news is, a cut from a sharp knife heals quickly. A band-aid over the thumb and back to work I went...

Towards the end of the shift (the shift ends at around 11am), I was asked to dice a tub of potatoes (not something a pastry student would be required to learn, but it was good experience anyway). I found I quite enjoyed cuisine mise en place (cuisine preparations). There's something meditative (or calming) about chopping up potatoes for an hour or so. I'd definitely do it again.

Overall, today's production kitchen shift was a positive experience for me - it was interesting to see how a kitchen is run. I think I will volunteer for more hours next week.