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Things are hotting up, literally. For the last 3 days we have been pushed much harder, and my pleasant vegetable chopping days seem far behind me. We've been focussing on bread and pastry this week, but a day's work isn't just singing a little song rolling out a shortcrust. Oh no. Today we made mushroom soup, bread, lemon tart, profiteroles (started yesterday), apple crumble, chocolate roulade (shown below) and pizza. Lunch was somewhat overwhelming! And at 2.30!
I had my first culinery disaster yesterday. Stepan and I made a Victoria sponge, which looked fantastic as it emerged from the oven, and the application of the skewer led us to believe all was OK. However when we sliced into it some time later, it resembled a giant Werther's Original, sticky goo oozing out all over the place from the centre. Mortified! However, the profiteroles soon put a smile back on my face. They came out perfect, unlike other people's whose efforts looked like a cross between a designer naan bread and a bit of old shoe leather.
Because we are baking a lot, the ovens are on more or less all the time. We switch them on as soon as we come in. So that's 4 double ovens going full blast, plus the Aga, which is on all the time. And we are wearing full clown outfits, with a compulsory hat, don't forget. What is it they say? If you can't stand the heat... Now I know why.
Hervé has been imparting more of his wisdom. "When you walk on pastry, if your fingerprints are very 'ot..." he tells us, then shrugs, "...is problem." Meat, apparently, must be killed in the laboratory. And once you are an experienced chef "you get to know ze gymnastics in your 'ed".
The gymnastics in my head are performing triple somersaults at the moment. Tomorrow we have our first pressure test. At least 3 dishes to be made in a time-boxed period. Presumably we then have to eat the resultant cack for lunch, as usual. That's an incentive. Given the volume of perspiration we've produced over the last few days, by tomorrow evening I should weigh about 7 stone.
We had Sky News in the other day, interviewing the school owner Iain about his change of career (he used to work for a major financial organisation - sound familiar?) as part of an item on how people are coping with the recession. They filmed us eating lunch, gathered round Lizzie as she demonstrated to us, and even mixing dough at our stations. Five o'clock today it will be on, we were promised. No sign of it as yet...
Katherine is a very nice American lady, living in Edinburgh and one of the students on the course. Being American, from Boston, she is loud, brash, louder, bold, and loudest. She is also very funny, it has to be said. Heading home from a friend's on Monday night, she called in for a Chinese takeaway. She then spent the next 2 days in bed unable to move, other than heading for whatever the American for bathroom is at frequent intervals. A cautionary tale, especially in relation to the hygiene course last week. Good to have you back Katherine.
I had my first culinery disaster yesterday. Stepan and I made a Victoria sponge, which looked fantastic as it emerged from the oven, and the application of the skewer led us to believe all was OK. However when we sliced into it some time later, it resembled a giant Werther's Original, sticky goo oozing out all over the place from the centre. Mortified! However, the profiteroles soon put a smile back on my face. They came out perfect, unlike other people's whose efforts looked like a cross between a designer naan bread and a bit of old shoe leather.
Because we are baking a lot, the ovens are on more or less all the time. We switch them on as soon as we come in. So that's 4 double ovens going full blast, plus the Aga, which is on all the time. And we are wearing full clown outfits, with a compulsory hat, don't forget. What is it they say? If you can't stand the heat... Now I know why.Hervé has been imparting more of his wisdom. "When you walk on pastry, if your fingerprints are very 'ot..." he tells us, then shrugs, "...is problem." Meat, apparently, must be killed in the laboratory. And once you are an experienced chef "you get to know ze gymnastics in your 'ed".
The gymnastics in my head are performing triple somersaults at the moment. Tomorrow we have our first pressure test. At least 3 dishes to be made in a time-boxed period. Presumably we then have to eat the resultant cack for lunch, as usual. That's an incentive. Given the volume of perspiration we've produced over the last few days, by tomorrow evening I should weigh about 7 stone.
We had Sky News in the other day, interviewing the school owner Iain about his change of career (he used to work for a major financial organisation - sound familiar?) as part of an item on how people are coping with the recession. They filmed us eating lunch, gathered round Lizzie as she demonstrated to us, and even mixing dough at our stations. Five o'clock today it will be on, we were promised. No sign of it as yet...
Katherine is a very nice American lady, living in Edinburgh and one of the students on the course. Being American, from Boston, she is loud, brash, louder, bold, and loudest. She is also very funny, it has to be said. Heading home from a friend's on Monday night, she called in for a Chinese takeaway. She then spent the next 2 days in bed unable to move, other than heading for whatever the American for bathroom is at frequent intervals. A cautionary tale, especially in relation to the hygiene course last week. Good to have you back Katherine.
Its all food, food, food innit!!
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