365 days later ...

It's been a year since I started writing this blog... And what a stimulating year it has been!

A year ago, I knew virtually nothing about baking or French pastry (except I like eating French pastries), and I had no idea what it was like to live with 15 housemates... Up until then, I had basically stayed within my comfort zone (i.e. academic environment). After becoming disillusioned with that work environment, I decided to do something totally different (or crazy, as some might say), just to experience other possibilities in life.

I do not consider myself artistic (well, "artistic" in the traditional sense of the word), since I can neither paint nor draw (art was perhaps my worst subject at school), and I wondered how well I would cope with a pastry program that required artistic skills. In my mind, French pastries and cakes = food art... I was intimidated by the thought, but I was determined to learn.

When I first arrived in Canada, I felt overwhelmed. I remember feeling so out of my depth and out of my comfort zone that I was somewhat withdrawn during my first month at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa and in Wilbrod House. Writing this blog was a way to anchor my (new) chaotic life to what I was familiar with, and a way to remain positive/optimistic.

I soon grew to love my new way of life (I became used to the noisiness and activities of 15 housemates), and began to look forward to attending classes at LCB Ottawa and volunteering in Production Kitchen. Though I struggled in many of my practical classes (and sometimes ended up close to tears from frustration and/or disappointment with my own "handiwork"), I don't regret my decision to study Pastry at LCB Ottawa. I am very glad I hung in there until I finished Superior Pastry, because I enjoyed fruit-carving, bread-making, chocolate work and sugar work, and these are only taught during Intermediate and Superior Pastry.

I am winding up my blog here, because my Canadian sojourn (including a short trip to Europe on my way home to Australia, using my round-the-world air ticket) is over now. I have to say I really miss the life and the things I had grown used to in the past year, especially the snow and the squirrels in Canada. Now it is a matter of re-adjusting to life in Australia. I can see things from a new perspective now, and that's one of the most valuable things I got from my Canadian experience.

I hope this blog has inspired you to try something new, to take a risk, to visit Canada (or another country), or even to learn to make French pastries and desserts.

If I find the time and energy to do more blogging in the future, I will start a new blog. In the meantime, I shall continue to practise the skills I'd learned in Ottawa... I'd already started to read more books about professional baking (particularly, the science of baking), and it is just so fascinating. I remember browsing such books in the bookshops just before I went to Canada, but found it difficult to understand the concepts. But now that I have had some actual training in baking (and know many of the key concepts), I can understand the explanations quite easily.

PS. Here are some of the things I've made in the two weeks I've been home:

My homemade creme caramel. I love this recipe, and I was craving it, so I made some.


My homemade pain soleil (sun-bread). I managed to buy some fresh yeast the day before yesterday, so I decided to make bread, and one of my favourite bread recipes is this one. :)

I will practise more LCB Ottawa recipes when I can get hold of more ingredients. (Some ingredients are simply harder to find in the supermarket, and will need to be sourced from elsewhere.)

For the Sake of Completeness (Re: Practical Exam)

As I have done in previous terms, I will include some information about the final exam and my exam results here.

The cakes and chocolate bonbons for our Superior Pastry exam were:

Group A
* Apricot Tart, Rum (molded chocolate) and Pâte Amande Cafe (dipped chocolate)
* Entremet Vanessa, Tea (molded chocolate) and Rochers (dipped chocolate)
* Bûche de Noel, Honey (molded chocolate) and Caramel Chocolate (dipped chocolate)

Group B
* Apricot Tart, Rum (molded chocolate) and Pâte Amande Cafe (dipped chocolate)
* Entremet Fruit des Champs, Praliné (molded chocolate) and Palets Or (dipped chocolate)
* Bûche de Noel, Honey (molded chocolate) and Caramel Chocolate (dipped chocolate)

Each student only had to present one of the combinations above (--> one cake + one plated dessert, 10 molded chocolates and 10 dipped chocolates). Five hours to complete the tasks, including tempering chocolate.

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The exam was worth 30% of overall marks. The other assessment components of the course were the exam sugar showpiece (worth 25%), the written exam (worth 10%, and the student transcript indicates I scored over 9% on that), and the regular practicals (worth 35%).

My student transcript for Superior Pastry (photo below) shows I was pretty weak in my organisation and presentation on exam day, and that's no surprise to me.



I think the chefs were fair in their assessment of my skills. They had a set of marking criteria, and I did not fulfill the criteria as well as my classmates (I know that in my own heart).

Having said that, my organisation may not have been the best in the eyes of the chefs (and in comparison with my classmates), but it was how I wanted to do things, e.g. I deliberately left the Praliné filling to the last because I wanted to pipe the Palets Or first, before I got too tired and had to pipe with shaky hands (I have shaky hands even at the best of times, and it just gets worse as I get tired). I was aware I was slower than I could have been, but it was the only way I could keep from getting too nervous (or too panicky) in an exam situation. Like everyone else, I tried to cope the best I could. I didn't want to stress out like I did in the Intermediate Pastry exam.

This exam was the first exam I had enough confidence to do things my way, and that, for me, was a breakthrough. When I presented my cakes and chocolates, I felt I had done enough to satisfy the minimum criteria. In my mind, my Entremet Fruits des Champs for the exam was better than the one I made in the Lesson 2 practical, and my Palets Or dipped chocolate were more even in size. I was glad about this because it meant I was making progress. And I am happy my exam cake and chocolates tasted good enough to score 22 out of 30.

As I look back, I'm pretty amazed I managed to learn so many (sophisticated) skills in pastry in the nine months at LCB Ottawa. If I had just gone to a TAFE college (vocational skills college) in Australia, I reckon I wouldn't have seen and learned French pastry techniques at such a sophisticated level and in such a systematic way.

Yes, the chefs at LCB Ottawa do have high expectations (and they push the students hard), but they also teach techniques systematically. The program was designed to introduce more challenging techniques as we go along, and that was what I liked about it. In educational terms, we were provided some "scaffolding" each step of the way, and it gave us a better chance of succeeding overall.

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A special thank-you to all the kitchen stewards (aka dishwashers) for their assistance in our practicals. Without their help in washing the pots and bowls during our practicals, life would have been tough. As it was, they saved us time and made sure we had clean utensils to work with. For that, I am most grateful.

[Aside: We use many pots and mixing bowls (and the mixer a number of times) in each of our practicals, and if we had to wash everything ourselves, we would not have had as much time to concentrate on our cakes or chocolates.

By the way, I recall I actually washed some pots, bowls, dishes and other kitchen utensils in Production Kitchen while volunteering there one day (just out of sheer curiosity), and found that it wasn't as easy as I thought. It takes some skill and quite a lot of experience not to splash water everywhere. When I first tried "doing the dishes" in Production Kitchen, I ended up soaking wet and I nearly gave everyone around me a shower... :D Washing up in a commercial kitchen is nothing like washing up at home. Hence my respect for dishwashers now.]

The Best Thing about Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa...

I attended the LCB Ottawa graduation ceremony yesterday. It was such a surreal feeling to finally graduate with a Pastry Diploma. Everyone is asking me how I feel now. Am I sad or happy to be leaving? The truth is, it hasn't quite sunk in yet.

Pastry is one of the most challenging things I have ever tried to learn, and I would even say a little more challenging than earning my PhD degree -- because even though it is not easy to complete a PhD degree, I felt it came to me more easily than learning to bake. You see, by the time I got into the PhD program at university, I could read and write quite well. But when I enrolled in the Pastry program here, I could hardly bake. In Basic Pastry, I struggled with piping, with making a genoise sponge cake, with Italian meringue, with chantilly cream, with everything... Literally. Then the struggle continued in Intermediate and Superior Pastry. Nothing related to baking came easily to me. I guess I just need a lot of practice to become comfortable with it.

However, I have absolutely no regrets. It was good to learn a new skill and experience the discipline required to become a pastry chef. I believed it was possible to learn to bake well even if you didn't have the natural flair for it that some people are fortunate enough to possess. It is like learning a new language or playing the piano. Not everyone can excel at it (because it depends on so many factors), but everyone can achieve some level of competency, if they practised, persevered and found some coping strategies whenever they encountered problems or difficulties.

If you asked me what was the best thing about Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, I would say without any hesitation: The Chefs.

For me, it was wonderful to be taught by the best of the best. The chefs taught us many things -- techniques and skills (both macro- and micro-skills), aesthetics, problem-solving and coping strategies... And they had high standards and expectations, which spurred us on to achieve more than we thought we could.

Furthermore, I appreciated their patience with me, even though I sometimes did stupid or crazy things in class or in production kitchen. For instance, the first time I made pâte à choux in Basic Pastry, I put all the ingredients (except the eggs) in a pot, thinking I had to cook everything together. Chef T had to tell me to discard everything and start again, which I did... I burnt caramel at least once, stuffed up the pastry cream and Italian meringue a few times, forgot to put whipped cream in the white chocolate bavarian cream, made "lifeless" marzipan leaves (just to name a few things) ... I am glad the chefs weren't exasperated. Well, maybe they were, but they did well not to show it. :D

I was always grateful for their feedback and critique of my creations, even if I didn't always agree with their opinions (note: ninety-nine percent of the time, I agreed with their assessment). I am glad they continued to give me constructive criticisms. As a former academic, I can tell you the worst thing for a student is to receive no meaningful feedback. It doesn't matter if the feedback is sometimes a bit hard to swallow, as long as it is ultimately a worthwhile learning experience. Being classified as a "Lost Cause" would be the saddest thing that could happen to a student.

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To all the chef instructors,

I owe you a debt of gratitude for all that you have taught me, for inspiring me, for being patient with me. Thank you!

Dinner at Signatures Restaurant

Last night, as an end-of-term celebration, the School treated the Intermediate and Superior students to dinner at Signatures restaurant, with a set menu as follows:


Amuse-bouche: Lobster and crab soup with peas and cilantro, served in a shot glass (I don't normally like cilantro -- better-known as "coriander" to Aussies -- but the cilantro in this amuse-bouche was really subtle. The texture of the soup was just the way I like it, and the flavour was sooooo good.)


Appetizer: Smoked salmon gourmandise, Provencal vegetables with basil (I nominate this as my favorite dish for the evening, and those who know me would be surprised by this statement because smoked salmon is not my favorite thing in the world. However, I have to say the smoked salmon gourmandise was absolutely delicious! And I would have gone for seconds too, if I had been offered. What I also loved about this dish was the unusual flavour combination -- I was especially surprised by the sweet tuile in the midst of the savoury elements in the dish. Quite an education for my palette indeed.)


Main Course: Roasted veal filet, grilled leek cream, canneloni with herb ricotta, served with Fairy Ring mushroom sauce (A lovely main course. The canneloni was the focus of much attention -- many of us tried hard to analyse and deconstruct all the complex flavours in it. I went into the kitchen later to ask the chef what was in it. He told me the combination of ingredients, which I won't divulge here, and I thought it was interesting...)


Dessert: Chocolate Flower (It was essentially a beautifully-plated Douceur Chocolat, something we had learnt to make in Intermediate Pastry, but the plating here was really nice. It made me realize how elegant a simple plating could look, if well-designed and well-executed. It's something I can aim for in the future.)

I spent much of the evening taking photos of the food and my classmates (as I normally do), and observing the servers. Now that I have done my service and kitchen shifts in Bistro Bleu, I have a better appreciation for the amount of work (and skills) that went into preparing and serving a meal like this. My sincere thanks to all who were involved in preparing and serving the meal last night.

Not only was it an enjoyable evening spent with classmates and friends, it was also an education for the palette. I would like to thank the School for organizing this event, because it was a meaningful and fitting way to round off our education here.

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. :)

Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa: Through the Seasons (Photo Gallery)

When I first came to study in LCB Ottawa, I decided I would take a series of photos of the School building from one particular position just outside the School, and that would allow me to record the visible changes to the landscape through the seasons. I decided to take photos of the Student Entrance Area by the side of the LCB Ottawa building at 453 Laurier Avenue East.

Here is my photo gallery. Enjoy! (I will add a few more photos later, if necessary.)


02 September 2008 (the day I arrived in Ottawa)


10 September 2008 (First day of classes for me)


06 October 2008 (A month into my studies here)


29 October 2008 (First snowfall for the season)


06 November 2008 (First fog I saw here in Ottawa; snow from the first snowfall has melted)


10 December 2008 (Start of the 51-day bus strike in Ottawa)


18 December 2008 (Snowing)


18 December 2008 (When it stopped snowing ten minutes after the last photo)


30 December 2008 (End of the year -- the holiday season)


07 January 2009 (Second day back at school for Intermediate Pastry, walking in the snow)


12 January 2009 (A sunny winter's day, around midday)


21 February 2009 (A sunny morning in winter -- I went to school to watch a demo on Spanish cuisine)


27 March 2009 (A lot of the snow has melted)


14 April 2009 (The start of spring; there's still patches of snow on the ground)


17 April 2009 (An overcast day in Ottawa)


06 May 2009 (Around 8am on a typical spring day)


22 May 2009 (Everything is looking nice and green now)

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Updates:


26 May 2009 (Late afternoon on a lovely spring day)


06 June 2009 (After 7:30pm in early summer)


09 July 2009 (Around 2pm on a summer's day)

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.

Student Lounge

Here are photos of one of the places LCB Ottawa students spend quite a lot of their time in -- the Student Lounge (i.e. the student common room), next to the locker rooms.

By the way, the photos were taken one morning in early March, 2009.


Students have access to a phone, bus timetables, and some very comfortable sofas.




There are computer terminals for students to access their emails and surf the internet. There is even a laser printer (with paper supplied) available.


There's also an iron and ironing board (no excuse for unpressed uniforms, I guess), a microwave oven and a refrigerator. There is a water cooler (with paper cups) just outside the locker rooms (the water cooler is not shown here).

Personally, I find the Student Lounge pretty comfortable - there is a homely feel about it. There's room for 20 to 25 students to relax and hang out there. And you'll find students in the Student Lounge mostly in between classes. It is relatively quiet at other times.

The Student Lounge is always very clean first thing in the morning; but by late afternoon, you can tell lots of students have been through there... Oh well, students will always be students -- just not inclined to keep a place neat and tidy.

On the whole, I like the decor in the LCB Ottawa building. The building is well-maintained and kept very clean (fortunately, not to the point of having a sterilised feel to it, which you sometimes find in a hospital).

Graduation Photos

The graduation photos for Session 1, 2009 have also been made available by the School's photographer at this site:

http://jackrabbit0777.smugmug.com/gallery/7684055_3a46m#496348232_QaQ98

Many thanks to the School's photographer Marc Phillion for taking such good photos of us and the chefs. I certainly will treasure these memories.

Sugarbush

On 14 March 2009, I went along on the field trip to the Proulx Sugarbush Farm that LCB Ottawa organised. It was most informative, and best of all, a lot of fun!

I have always loved maple syrup. In fact, I prefer the taste of it to honey. Back in Australia, I used to buy imported maple syrup all the time. This time, I was glad to have had the opportunity to visit a sugarbush farm and to see how maple syrup was produced.

Fact: It takes 40 litres of raw maple sap collected from the maple trees to be boiled and made into 1 litre of maple syrup that you can buy from the supermarket. It is no wonder maple syrup is not cheap, but I don't mind paying the price at all.

Here is the link to some really nice photos taken by the LCB Ottawa photographer.
http://jackrabbit0777.smugmug.com/gallery/7623642_PDxX9#493032011_Gg6DC

I am in a couple of the photos. If you know who I am, you'd be able to spot me.

Random Reflections X: Attention to Detail and High Standards

I was volunteering in Production Kitchen yesterday, and I was sent upstairs to deliver some supplies (e.g. flour and other baking ingredients) to the pastry kitchen. It was early in the morning (around 7:15am, one hour before class starts), and there was no one around, so I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the practical kitchens (see photos below). I seldom see the kitchens in this state -- so quiet that you can hear a pin drop, so I couldn't resist it (by the way, I always have my camera in my pocket).


Room 2C: The Pastry Practical Kitchen


Room 2B: The Cuisine Practical Kitchen


One of the things that struck me as special about Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa is how clean the practical kitchens are. I know firsthand just how messy the kitchens can get after a practical class -- trust me, a practical kitchen can look as if a cyclone or tornado has just been through; you might find melted chocolate where you wouldn't normally expect to find chocolate -- but each morning the kitchens are immaculately clean again.

Of course, the chefs train us to clean really well after each practical class -- you will incur the wrath of the chefs if you don't do your part in the clean-up after a practical class. But the School also has commercial cleaners come in to clean the kitchens several times a week. I think it is important to stop and consider what we take for granted at School; it occurred to me that commercial kitchens in the real-world are seldom as clean.

It is the attention to detail and high standards that I really like about this School. We are supplied with good tools and equipment to practise with, and we work in clean kitchens. After we graduate and we go out to work in a commercial kitchen, it is up to us to pay attention to such details and to apply those same high standards.

Here's another example of paying attention to detail: During my practical class a couple of weeks ago, I was scaling (measuring out) the ingredients for making caramel. As is my habit now, in order to save time, I would scale the sugar and water directly in the same pot (instead of measuring the water and sugar in two different containers and then putting the ingredients into the pot). My mistake was to scale the sugar first, and then add water on top of the sugar. This is apparently a no-no here at LCB because the sugar could burn more easily when it is in direct contact with the pot. You should have seen the reaction from the chef when he witnessed me doing that (sorry, Chef!) ... The chefs here insist on the proper way to do things, because that little detail could be the difference between a great result or a mediocre result for the cake (or whatever). This is more so for pastry than for cuisine, I believe.

These are just some of the really valuable lessons I am learning, even though I am not always aware of them. When I reflect on what I have learned at School (which I do at least once a week), I realize this is all part of the rigorous training I wanted and expected from LCB, and that is why I know I will miss it when I finish my courses here.

However, the learning continues...

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.

Volunteer Event (RCMP)

Yesterday I spent over 13 hours at School (before 10am till after 11pm) helping out with the special event that LCB Ottawa was running. Frankly, it was an interesting experience for me!

You see, sometimes LCB Ottawa runs team-building events for corporate groups or people outside of the School, which means these people (who may be from the same company or organization, but who don't know each other) come into the LCB kitchens to learn to cook a special menu, just as a team-building/networking exercise. When LCB Ottawa conducts these events, student volunteers are needed to assist in the kitchen. And that's what I volunteered for.

Yesterday it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who were doing their team-building exercise. About two dozen of their senior executives from different parts of Canada were here, and they were asked to prepare all the dishes on a menu created by a consultant (they were given recipes to follow). My classmates and I had assembled all the necessary ingredients beforehand, and we were on hand to assist if they needed help with the cooking. But the participants, divided into teams, basically had to work out how they were to tackle the task of making a five-course fine-dining meal.

I was assigned to assist in the pastry kitchen, while a couple of my classmates were in the cuisine kitchen next door. By the way, here are some photos of the pastry kitchen (where I normally have my practicals):

That station at the end (where my classmate is standing) is my favourite station. If I am lucky (i.e. I get into the kitchen first when Chef opens the door at the start of a practical), I go for that station. It is nearest to all the ingredients we need (sugar, flour, butter, etc.), so that is why everyone likes that station.



This is the other side of the pastry kitchen. Marble kitchen bench with refrigerators and freezers underneath, and stoves/ovens across from the kitchen bench.



The stoves, ovens and pots we work with, along with racks on the side for baking trays.


We assembled ingredients and did the mise en place from 10am to 12noon, then we had a break for lunch. From 1pm to 3pm, the consultant briefed us on what needed to be done (the schedule, procedures and protocols), and then the event began at 3pm.

The photo below shows the simple but tasty lunch that Chef JM (the supervising chef for the event, and LCB Ottawa cuisine chef) made for us - it was French omelette with salad and crusty bread. It was so good!




Anyway, back to the event... As a former educator, I found it fascinating to observe the event participants working in the pastry kitchen. These senior police officers were very good at following instructions - they read the recipes and they followed the steps closely (more so than us students would have, I reckon). They started out working on small tasks as individuals, but by the end of two hours they were communicating and negotiating the tasks as teams (as you can see in the photo below).


The participants working in teams.


Below are some of the dishes the participants had to prepare in the afternoon (3pm-5:30pm). The participants prepared the food for the appetiser and dessert, the volunteers cooked the main course and plated all the dishes, then the restaurant servers took the dishes downstairs to the restaurant below the pastry and cuisine kitchens to serve to the participants at dinnertime (6:30pm), when all of the participants had changed into formal attire and gathered in Salle Cointreau.


Heart of palm cucumber soup, served chilled with sliced ham in a shot glass



Asian beef carpaccio on sushi rice, sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds and served on oriental porcelain spoons



Spicy shrimps sautéed in herb garlic butter, served with zesty ginger mayonnaise



Smoked salmon stack with mâche, avocado and mango, drizzled with a mustard herb vinaigrette and served with a bouquet of sprouts



Strawberries (dressed with Cointreau orange liqueur) and cognac chantilly cream sandwiched in kataifi discs, served with caramel sauce and fresh fruit (the orange fruit on top of the dessert is known as "physallis" or "cape gooseberry")


I didn't get a photo of the main course (lamb medallions, served with seared pâté, fruit-and-nut buckwheat pilaf and garlic butter glazed baby vegetables) because I was busy helping with the plating and it was quite hectic. The main course had to be served hot, so there was no time to waste. As soon as it was plated, it was served.

At the end of the evening (i.e. after service and after the clean-up), Chef JM and all the volunteers each had a glass of red wine in the pastry kitchen to debrief and unwind. Yes, I had a glass, even though I don't normally drink alcohol (I just used to prefer to cook with alcohol, rather than drink it).

In under six months, studying at LCB Ottawa has taught me to appreciate fine food (including the unusual ones, e.g. veal sweetbread) and food I didn't used to enjoy (e.g. lamb, pumpkin), to drink alcohol, and to make some pretty nice cakes and desserts by hand ... I think my friends and relatives back home would be amazed by the transformation. :D