Week One at the FCI

I know this is a bit behind gang...




Tuesday 08/14

-DAY 1-
Basically when we got there, we were assigned a locker. From there we changed into our uniforms, then headed straight to the classroom. Chef Cynthia was going over some policies as it relates to dress, etc. I can't wear my labret stud, but
i'm ok with that. Just a health hazard and I guess they don't allow any facial jewelery at the school overall. SO i can do without it. We got explanations that we can start coming in the room 1/2 an hour before class actually starts, so for us that's 3pm Tuesday and Thursday and 8:30am on Saturday. Depending on our cleaning/organizing duties for that particular day or how long it takes us to get our things in place, we might need that whole 1/2 hour. Because we start PROMPTLY at the class scheduled start time.

So we went around and got to know the kitchen a bit, weekly duty descriptions, table numbers, etc. Went over our tool kits, which has just about everything we're going to be needing. Actually, most of the things I already have at home, so it was nice to see things that I was already familiar with. I've already marked mine with green and white stripes. teehee.

A quick bathroom break and tour of the school (including where we pick up family meals if we want) and we went straight into demo/lessons. There's a demo part of the class, where the instructor actually makes what we're making. Then we split off and make it either individually or in teams of 2.She talked about the flours we use and why we use them (ie: 'bread flour breaks and cake flour cakes' - relating to gluten content) She made her Pate Sucree and then we had a couple minutes to get our Mis en Place (things in place) and make a batch of our own. Its like reading and regurgitating with cooking really.

After clean up from Pate Sucree, she demo'd the apple compote. Every day when we come in they'll outline the day on the marker board. Just so we know which recipes we need to have studied and what tools we'll be needing so we aren't digging for things constantly. Another huge factor in the kitchen is organization. So once her demo was done, we got out MeP and did it ourselves. Clean up was after that and before I knew it, it was 9pm. Whew.

I really like our Chef instructors. The Sous (Chef Toni) learned everything she knew about pastry after she got her classic culinary degree at the school. She learned under Jacques Torres and the woman who is the main pastry chef at Bobby Flay's restaurants. She reminds me ALOT ALOT ALOT of Dr. Bailey on Grey's Anatomy. Super intense, but teaches insanely well.

Chef Cynthia after years of bouncing around in restaurants, taking time off to have a family, doing catering and cakes for Caroline Kennedy's wedding and all her children's christenings...then starting her own custom cake business, started teaching at the school 3 years ago. She's a bit more passive than Chef Toni in demeanor, but will also be such a great person to learn from. Her website is http://www.cakeline.com

Thursday 08/16:

-DAY 2-
Thursday's class ran over time as well, but it was well worth it. We started off class rolling out the pate sucree dough into tart shells and then left them to chill in the fridges. That day was also heavy on the lecture, because we had one of the Italian studies instructors (Chef Guido...yes that's his real name) come in to start in on the Serv-Safe training. This is different than the Food Protection course for NY State, so thankfully I'm working my way through that as well. Its really interesting learning the biology behind food borne illnesses and that the biggest disease carrier is the human body itself. More importantly I'm glad to learn how to prevent things like those from occuring. Kind of like the method behind the sanitation madness. So that lasted from about 4 till 6. When the lecture was done, we had a demo of Pate Brisee (Broken Dough). This is really a shortbread, really crumbly texture when its mixed together. We actually made it by hand, no mixers or anything, which was super fun. I like being able to watch things come together. Cold butter is cut into cake flour, sugar, and salt until the crumbs are the size of small lentils or peas. Then a minimal amount of water is added just to bring the dough together. It looks like damp sand, but when it it refrigerated, the crumbly flour is absorbed by the butter and it will turn out a workable dough.

I noticed that it took me longer than just about everyone else to do my dough, but I think that the time I took really helped me understand what its supposed to look like. Baking is not a race and the people that were hurrying when they are just learning ended up with horrible product.

After our dough was made and chilling, we did a demo for filling the apple tart. We took the shell, put the apple compote in the bottom of it then thinly sliced apples for the top and center. After they were placed, which was a task in itself (like stacking a house of cards) we sprinkled vanilla sugar on it then it was ready for baking.

After the tarts were ready to be baked, we demo'd the Creme Patissierie. Its really not a difficult thing to do, but it takes
perfect timing and speed to do it right. We had to boil whole milk, sugar, and vanilla on the stove, then combine our other ingredients (sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and pastry cream powder) well JUST BEFORE the milk came to boil. Now the cold mixture had to be added with the hot...but because there was eggs in it, we had to temper it. Meaning part of the hot liquid had to be added to the cold mix while whisking constantly. once the cold was brought up to temperature, it can be added to the hot and put back on the stove. I finished the cream by bringing the mix to a boil and whisking constantly for 2 straight minutes on the stove. When the 2 minutes were up, the creme, which looked just like fresh vanilla pudding, was put to cool on a sheet pan in plastic wrap.

So by that time and after clean up, it was time for the apple tarts to come out and then they were finished with an apricot nappage, or apricot preserve glaze. The final product is
Its a little smashed on one side because I'm clumsy. BUT still not too bad for a novice first try.

I didn't get home till around 11pm, but it was totally worth it. That's how I've felt each time I leave school. I know its the best
thing for me. AND i'm having a blast.

Saturday 08/18:

-DAY 3-
Saturday I was up at 5am to workout and get ready because I had to be ready for class at 8:30..meaning I had to leave my apartment around 7 to make it to the building by 8 and then change and get my stuff together.

Before things started 'officially' at 9, I had one more Pate Sucree dough to roll out and chill because we would be using it later on. It was more sanitation lecture for the first couple hours...then we went straight into baking the shells we rolled out. After those were in the oven, we demo'd and then made dough for Gingersnaps. So the gingersnap cookie dough was made..then it was straight into the filling for our banana cream tarts. Nothing like whipping cream by hand to strengthen your forearms, lol. Once again, I was the last one to finish BUT my banana cream tart looks great:

Someone on the street addressed me as 'chef' when I was carrying it home...i giggled.


Up next....Week TWO!!!!!!