Poaching (We're French, F#ck You!)

Today was the first day of Chef C, as Chef M had to attend to a personal matter for the next few weeks. In comparison to Chef M, my first impression is not favorable. Maybe he's a bit nervous about going into a class mid-way through, but he's not focused on the work at hand, he demonstrates his passion for cleanliness by going around sweeping and cleaning people's stations when he should be telling them to do it themselves and spending that energy teaching us, he gave out printed notes to accompany his lecture rather than make us take our own notes (which makes it harder to learn things), he had each group assign leaders rather than let them develop naturally....any way, I don't mean to be boring, but his style is definitely different than Chef M's. Hopefully after today, we'll all settle into a groove.

My group consisted of Chef Junior, Speedy, Round Head, and 2nd Language Girl. Speedy volunteered to be leader, and being that Chef C is an X factor, decided it would be better to lay back a little and see where the class going under his tutelage. One thing that annoyed me off the bat is that Chef C gave out a thick ream of copies of his own recipes, which diverge from the syllabus. That in itself was fine, but we were all geared up for different recipes on our cards and in our own personal organizational modes. During lecture, I found myself confused by the changes he was making, despite his repeating himself for clarity.

Once we started, Sp had me make the Court Bouillon for the Poached Salmon and the Poached Whole Lobster, which is basically water and wine in a big pot simmered with uncooked mirepoix, aromatics, and salt for 30 minutes. Then I took on the Mushrooms à la Greque and Cauliflower à la Greque, which involved wine and vinegar marinades that the veg was poached in; then the veg was removed, the sauce strained then reduced; then all cooled together with a bit of salt.

While I took care of that stuff, the others killed two lobsters by first jabbing a knife in their heads. One positive for Chef C is that he does not expect anyone who does not want to kill a lobster does not have to. On the other hand, I liked that Chef M was direct and hard-core about it, despite my own queasiness at the possibility.

The salmon tranches and lobster, which involved immersion blending of the sauce, reminded me a bit of the lobster bisque -- all were delicious. The whole fish, which was a branzino, looked unremarkable in its muddled pale blue wine butter sauce, and tasted pretty unremarkable, too.

Finally, after cleaning the room more thoroughly than we ever did with Chef M, it turns out we never got to knife skills. Chef C expects us to take home carrots to tourne. Between my volunteer shift this afternoon and working some graphics stuff from home tonight, that ain't gonna happen. My responsibility is to give my all in class and be prepared, it's Chef's responsibility to direct us to get done what is supposed to get done in our 4 hours.

ADDENDA:
I volunteered at an event at Rockefeller Center this evening for Citymeals-On-Wheels, featuring all sorts of crazed French chefs. I got to work with a famous French chef who spoke almost no English, Jacques Maximin (though his 2nd in command, Joaquin, was an Austrian who spoke both French and English). For the first part of the day I assisted assembling the Lobster Gratin -- a layer of pasta in a gratin dish, topped with a layer of poached chopped lobster, some parmesan, then a creamy lobster sauce poured over the top, which had whipped cream folded into it at the last minute. Quickly browned in a broiler, this was some decadent mac n' cheese.

Some fellow students and I were matched up with a small team of young French dudes who did the cooking while we assisted with lugging the whipped cream and the like. During service we ran the platters of hot gratin to Maximin's table, where the rich people grazed. Once it slowed, we were released to go eat...and eat I did. The food was much better than the James Beard Awards. There, the theme was 'artisenal' and unfussy and 'pure'. Here, the theme was, "We're French, F@ck You!" Heavy cream and red meat ruled the roost, with decadent dairy-intense pastries a close second.

Going from table to table gorging, it was odd to be handed a plate of foie gras by Laurent Tourondel himself, asked to borrow my pen by Jacques Torres, and have my classmate winked at by Daniel Boulud. Todd English and Tom Collicchio were at their restaurants' tables as well, talking to whomever walked by.

I have to say, it was a thrill working as a grunt for this Maximin fellow. He's no bigger than five feet, a big nose and droopy eyes, smoking Gitanes, looking a bit like Serge Gainsbourg. He had nothing to say to me other than, "Fast fast quick quick!" and literally body-checked me as a way to tell me to get a move on, despite me out weighing him by a solid 100 lbs. They need to make a Jacques Maximin doll that curses in French.

This morning, 224 again. I thought I ate a bit too much over the weekend, but I guess the bike riding helped. Then again, I do find it easier to stop eating when I think I've had enough, then sit for a few minutes to let my stomach tell my brain that yes, indeed I had enough. How'd that happen?!

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good yogurt, honey, vanilla, raw cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
The fridge is empty and the cupboard bare. Going away for the weekend saw the milk turn and the salad go bad.

AM TASTINGS: 11am, poached salmon with a butter wine sauce, lobster with a cream sauce, a few pieces of poached mushroom, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1pm, 1 beef taco and a Welch's grape soda, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Bought from a cart near Rock Center. Taco was surprisingly good and fresh. The soda was weird, hadn't had an industrial grape soda in a while. The biggest surprise was how almost painfully acidy it was, second was how flatly sweet the corn syrup made it, which I guess why they amp up the citric acid. The Boylans grape just rules over it, hand over fist.

DINNER: 8pm, assorted gourmet small plates, including (but not limited to): lobster gratin, veal pate, kobe beef over 24-hour tomato, mini crepe with foi gras and caviar, truffled lobster salad, peanut butter chocolate pie in a graham cracker crust, braised beef with wild leek potatoes, peanut butter mouse pie with a cappuccino cream, pickled duck tongue crostini (better than you'd think)