Meat Cook's Assistant

What? No herbs today? "I want you to assist the meat cook with his mise en place" was the Sous Chef's direction today. That made me happy. I am eager for new things to chop, dice, julienne, batonette, or brunoise. As an intern with no real opportunity to serve on the line yet, I have been like the guy on the assembly line who performs a few tasks which contribute to the production of the final product without really seeing the big picture. However, I saw different pieces of the puzzle today. In fact, each day I have been exposed to something new along the assembly line allowing me to slowly get a glimpse at the big picture. Today the meat cook had my service at his disposal.  The picture above is the prep work I did for him. (the 3 colored batonettes in water are swiss chard stems)I also worked on the veal stock, prepped fruit for tomorrow's day service, and assembled one of the hot app's dishes for the service.

Chop Chop Chop

I've been at the restaurant only 3 times since my last post mostly due to my busy flying schedule at the airlines and a few badly needed days off. Nothing spectacular has happened at the restaurant to really write about. I have not been given any new duties, nor have I been suddenly thrust into a station during service. Actually, it's quite normal for an intern to do a lot of prep work. The status of the restaurant and its hierarchy has a lot to do with how much responsibility an intern is given (as well as the interns abilities of course). A Michelin rated restaurant such as this one is likely to give the intern lots of prep which equates to lots of chopping. Today was no different.

I arrived early for my 5 hours of prep work. I planned to leave just prior to service since I had to get up at 3:45 am tomorrow for my flight to JFK. The Chef pointed me to my usual herb and shallot prep. I headed to the walk-in and found the herbs. I picked the parsley leaves, rinsed them, and laid them out to dry. While drying, I did the same to the chervil. While they were also drying, I finely chopped the chives into paper thin little rings. Tarragon was my next victim. I picked the leaves and finely chopped them. By now, the parsley was dry enough to finely chop, followed by the chervil. Shallots came next. Finely sliced with a mandolin, and then finely chop them. OK...1 1/2 hours gone. My knife skills have really improved.

Chef had been making a salmon rillete while I was doing all of my herbs. I watched him artfully dismantle a huge salmon and portion it with a few swipes of his knife. He took some of the salmon that he had marinated in pernod and chopped it up, added some chopped up smoked salmon, some "mashed" butter, and then reached over and grabbed a little bit of all of my herbs and shallots and added them to the bowl. Salt & pepper. Mixed it all up and then told me he had a job for me. I thought: "All right! Something new".

My job was to roll the rillete in long pieces of cling wrap, and tie up the ends like a 16 inch sausage. The rillete "sausages" were then placed in an ice bath to set the butter. This would be used later for the amuse bouche. A slice of the rillete placed on a toasted brioche disk, with a chervil garnish. Looks easy, sounds easy, but it took a while to get it right. Fat rolls, skinny rolls, air bubbles, etc. I was beginning to feel like a spastic. Finally some repetition allowed me to get it right.

After that I did odd prep work for the Garde Manger and before I knew it 5 hours had elapsed (6pm) and it was time to leave. I said my goodnights and headed out to the fresh air and sunshine. I enjoyed it!

Goodnight Chef!

I went in yesterday and announced that "slave boy is here"! The big Chef and 2 of the Sous Chefs were at work. "What do you have for me today Chef?" I asked the most senior Sous Chef. "Let's start with the herbs" was his reply. I wanted to say "roger", but I remembered that I am in the kitchen and not the cockpit, so I said "ro..I mean yes Chef".

I set up my station at the prep table, knives, cutting board with wet paper towel underneath to anchor it, a rinsing bowl, a hotel pan, my water bottle, and my trusty scraper which I am addicted to. I grabbed the herbs and went to work. This is only my 5th day as an intern, but there is nothing like repetitious cutting to improve knife skills. I have really improved. No cuts yet! although I did slice a piece of my thumbnail and the underlying flesh with a peeler 2 days ago. Ops normal for a kitchen.

Chopping puts me in a zen state. Once I find a rhythm, my mind relaxes and I slip into a meditative state. That's why I've never gone for the kitchen gadgets that chop or dice. I just love to use my knife and chop away. The mood in the kitchen was happy. Almost all of the cooks are under 32, with most in their 20's. Their banter is witty, reflective of their age, and almost always a parody form some movie, commercial, or TV show. This is where I feel a little bit of the grand pa. I have no idea what some of their chatter is about. Pretty funny actually. I have become the guy I used to make fun of when I was younger.  They're well humored about it.

"All finished with the herbs, what's next Chef?" "how about vacuum packing the rhubarb, whip some cream and put it in a 9 pan, and thinly slice some snap peas on a bias and put them in a deli cup ?". About 30 minutes later, "what's next Chef?". "Go help the Grade Manger with his set up". Garde Manger is typically the junior position in the kitchen and is responsible for the amuse bouche, salads, and cold apps. So, I went to help him. The kid working the station put me to work. He asked me to make the amuse bouche which was a shrimp remoulade. I had to finely chop some shrimp, and mix it with herbs, vinegar, mayo, shallots, salt and pepper. This kid displayed a lot of maturity when he told me to mix everything in a ratio that would best balance the flavor! Cool! This 22 year old kid is confident enough to give me some autonomy.

Feeling that I should dispense my slave labor equally around the kitchen, I asked another Sous Chef "what's next?". "Go get the clams that I just baked and use your beak to cut out the clams form the shells, put them in a tall deli, fill with clam juice and put in walk-in". "Roger..damn it..I mean Yes Chef". Guy's thinking I am a total nerd.

45 minutes of clam scraping. By this time, the prep table is empty except for me, as all the cooks are finishing their prep on the line with an hour before service. The senior Sous Chef walks by and says "you can bring the clams on the line and do it there if you want". It was a nice offer to include me  but I was enjoying my quiet space so I politely declined.

The service began. It was to be a very quiet night with only 30 covers. I walked station to station to observe, assist, and take notes. Not much going on. About an hour and a half before end of service I decided that I might leave early. The Sous agreed.."get out of here". I went to the back and changed. As I walked by the line and said goodnight to everyone, the Big Chef who is stoic and quiet said to me: "Goodnight Chef".

WOW. I know that they all call each other Chef, but for THE Chef to say this to me was a real show of recognition and respect. As I walked to my car I couldn't help but have a smile on my face.

Veal Stock

Oh Yeah! After and hour or so of chopping the usual herbs, I was given the assignment of making (or at least set up for day 1) the veal stock. 100 Lbs of bones and knuckles, 15 onions, 25 carrots, 2 bunches of celery, 4 large cans of tomato paste, spices, etc...I first soaked the bones in cold water (degorger) to rid of impurities, then browned them in the oven to get some color and flavor, then I filled up 2 huge stock pots with all the ingredients and topped off with water, and placed on heat. Skim, skim, skim, and more skim. Tomorrow, the stock will be drained, strained, and the juice will be reduced. The bones and mirepoix refilled with water for a second batch. That will also be drained and strained. The 2 liquids will be combined and reduced some more for the eventual veal stock. the restaurant does this every Monday and Tuesday.

It was a slow night, so I received lots of instructional tidbits

from everyone as there was slack time on the line. I have never had pork cheek before. Upon hearing this, the sous had one fired for me to try. I was expecting just a piece of meat as a sample, but the hot app guy prepared me the entire dish and served me the same plate presentation used for service. It was awesome. The cheeks had been browned in a pan, then braised for 2 hours and then sauteed in a pan upon being fired, served on a bed of polenta and Swiss chard, with a veal sauce reduction. NICE!

After that, it was 20 minutes of organization in the walk-in fridge, a little cleanup and the night was over.

The night ended on a high note as the sommelier gave all the cooks a blind taste of a wine to see if anyone of us could guess what it was. No one got it right. I had never even heard of the varietal before. The name was too long to remember but it began with "Franken--------------". It was a sweet desert wine from Austria with flavors of peach and pineapple.

Do You Know How to Turn an Artichoke?

The big Chef was at work today. This being my first day working with him. A quick bio on this Chef is that he is a CIA grad, worked at the French Laundry for 3 years, and is really responsible for this restaurant getting its Michelin Star. He is in his 30's, serious, and runs a taut ship. I walked in and said my hellos and got my cutting board to get ready to dive in to my parsley-chives-tarragon-chervil chopping routine when the Chef asked me if I know how to turn artichokes. "Yes Chef". But since everything is done a little differently in every kitchen, I asked him for a demo. He turned a perfect choke. In school, I would have to turn one or two for my practicals, but today I had to do a whole case. It was slow going, and mine were not as pretty, but the repetition allowed me to improve my speed and technique. I was told that the kitchen record is 20 minutes for a case...uhmm...90 minutes later, I was finally done. No new artichoke records were set today.



I was down for only a 4 hour prep today and would miss the service to allow me to have sufficient rest for my flight

tomorrow. Next I was given a bucket of lobster legs to shell followed by chopping some cooked rhubarb for the  Sous Chef. Next I helped the meat cook with his mis en place by trimming beans, shredding some potatoes and skinning fava beans. That was it. A short day.

My 2nd Day as a Stage

My body was hurting, my fingers felt swollen, and my feet ached from the clogs. I guess I'll get used to it. Today, the most senior Sous Chef was running the kitchen. His leadership style, a little stern and business like, was quite different from yesterday's Sous who was a bit more relaxed.

I began chopping away at the same herbs (parsley, chervil, chives, and tarragon) which are then combined and used as garnish on salads and most of the meat dishes. The number of seating expected was double that of yesterday, so I had to chop twice the amount of herbs. The chopping seemed to last forever. Then I had to brunoise some carrots and celery for the meat cook. Next I made some chicken mousse with creme fraiche, ran it through a tamis, and mixed it in with some duck confit and herbs to make a duck farce. I then made little egg shaped farce wrapped with cooked onion skin. The meat cook uses this for one of his dishes. This took me right up to service time.

The amuse bouche is a dollop of chopped lobster meat and herbs (I think) placed on a toasted brioche disk. I was told to make 20 more of the disks. I pulled out my bread knife and began slicing 1/4" thick slices of brioche. Then using a ring cutter I made 20 disks, sprayed with butter, and headed to the oven to bake them when the meat cook stopped me and told me that my disks were uneven in thickness. "You need to make new ones" he told me. Damn! I went back to my prep station and cut more slices as carefully as I could, made 20 more and went back to the oven. The same meat cook said "hey can you run back and get me ------ from the fridge, I'll watch the brioche". While I was in the back gathering his stuff, he came back and told me that he had forgotten about the brioche and they had burned. Damn! I had to make another 20! By the time it was over, I could cut some nice 1/4" slices.

The line was slammed twice and I did my best to help where needed but mostly stayed out of the way. I fetched items that were needed form the back fridge as stations ran out of their ingredients, chopped some shallots when they ran out, and got a little time at the stove with the hot app cook who let me cook some fois gras.

I got to see the line in full motion. Apparently it was a bit too chaotic because one of the waiters also played the role of expeditor. If an order came in while he was out front, then the ball would be dropped as an expeditor since you really can't do both jobs effectively (that's how it was explained to me anyway).

It was already closing time when I looked at the clock. The service was a big blur of time that had elapsed double time. As I walked to my car I took a mental inventory of lessons learned for the day. This sous chef was reluctant to let me run too freely and kept a little tighter leash on me than yesterday's sous. The kitchen behaves differently depending on the leadership style of the Chef in charge. Fetching items was a great way of learning the whereabouts of items in the kitchen and the walk-in fridge. The brioche fiasco taught me not to present something unless it was done right. I made a few mistakes and learned form them. All in all, another great day of learning in the kitchen.

Stage Day 1

What does a stagiaire do on his first day? For me it was a day full of wonderment, learning, hard physical labor, and a bombardment of information. I showed up 30 minutes early as instructed to get a head start and some acclimation with one of the 3 Sous Chefs. The Chef had told me to wear my Le Cordon Bleu jacket until they could order me a jacket with the restaurant logo. I dreaded appearing as some prima donna strutting around like I am someone special. Luckily, no one seemed to care. The Sous Chef was in charge today since the Chef was off. I was led around and introduced to everyone, then shown to the prep area. It seems that I am a bit of a novelty and a source of curiosity as word had already spread that "some airline pilot" was starting an internship. I did about 4 hours of chopping herbs, shucking peas, de-stemming spinach, etc..During this time, I kept my head down, mouth shut, and my ears open as I settled into the flow of the kitchen and got a feel for the different personalities. The kitchen is immaculate, well organized, and clean. I love it! My body felt the 4 hours of prep. I am definitely out of "kitchen" shape. After the prep, everyone began setting up their stations for dinner. One of the line cooks asked me if I was leaving after the prep, and I replied "I am staying until closing". I had not even considered leaving early as an option on my first day. I think this went a long way toward making a positive first impression.

Next, I was given the opportunity to sit in with the Sous Chef as he briefed the wait staff on the dinner menu, specials, and the amuse bouche. Without a specific assignment, I just hung around the line as the action picked up. I really wanted to observe the flow since this was my first time in a professional kitchen. The Sous Chef was the expeditor for the night so he gave me a little insight into what he was doing. He also allowed me to help with the construction of the amuse bouche. The amuse bouche was being handled by a another intern at the garde manger station, so I didn't want to butt into his turf. I was really just trying to stay out of the way. At one point I looked up and the cook at the hot app station waived me over and started teaching me how he was cooking his sauteed Scallop and lobster dishes. He had made a beurre monte that he was using for the lobster. He showed me his specific browning technique for the scallops. The Sous Chef then allowed me to torch the sugar on one of the custard brûlées. I then got some instruction from the meat station. As I went from station to station, I would take a detour to the veal stock pots and do some skimming (a task that I can do without messing anything up!). All in all it was a whirlwind of information for me.  I was given a taste of almost everything that was prepared. Even the pastry chef made a chocolate plate for me as well as a soufflé for me to try. I felt fortunate that this crew was willing to be so generous with their time for a lowly first day intern.

After the service subsided, I helped with cleanup and helped repack the fish on ice, helped with putting things away, and organizing. As a final task, the Sous Chef pulled me aside and allowed me to help him take inventory for next day's order.

I left there feeling exhausted. After only one day, I have a deeper appreciation for what happens in the kitchen to create that beautiful plate that appears at the table. I was taken by the orchestrated dance I had witnessed on the line. A huge job made to look effortless by some very talented young chefs. Day 2 tomorrow....

Eager Beaver

I arrived at the restaurant to meet the Chef de Cuisine with my knives, jacket, shoes. I was ready for action..whatever that may be! The Chef was nice, cordial, young (32), and spelled out what my duties would be. When he found out that I am an airline pilot his response was "and you want to do this why?" I had to chuckle. I guess it is a very reasonable question. One which I could not really answer without

launching into a diatribe about the demise of the airline profession and the industry's abusive treatment of its employees (see I can't even write about it without going off!) So, I wisely sidestepped it and we discussed his plans for me. He let me know that it is imperative for me to begin my internship by doing the daily prep of vegetables to improve my knife skills. Precision and speed is the goal. Next he would probably move me to garde manger, and then a natural progression after that based on my aptitude. He is completely flexible with my schedule and will work with me on my hours. I couldn't ask for more. I was then introduced to one of the three Sous Chefs who will be my immediate "mentor". A very nice guy as well. I discovered that this kitchen is staffed by a crew of 9 who have all worked together for 3 to 5 years with little turn over. Looks like a happy kitchen.
After another tour of the kitchen I was told to report for my

first day on Monday. Back to the Jekyll and Hyde show .For now, the knives and chef jacket go in the closet and my flight bag and pilot uniform come out for my flight to JFK tomorrow.

Internship (stage)

Today I had an interview for internship at a nearby restaurant. As you may know, since my return from Paris, I have been trying to sort out where I fit in with this whole Chef thing. Should I keep it as fun in my own kitchen, should I explore it as a follow up career, a little of both? Am I too old? Am I being realistic? Upon my return from Paris, with a boundless naiveté, I decided to apply for internship at the French Laundry. Nothing like going for the Gold medal after 2 months of training! A couple months later after some creative letter writing, self-promotion, and anxiety I was denied. I was almost relieved because the thought of working in that kitchen terrified me. What if they would discover that I have absolutely no talent and I am a fraud? The vision of the rest of the kitchen staff constructing cutting edge cuisine in their spotless uniforms while I was hopelessly wrestling with my Hollandaise as food was flying all over the kitchen was my recurring nightmare as I waited for a response. That was 6 weeks ago.

Since then, the nightmares have ceased, I have regrouped

and applied once again to another place...a 1 star Michelin restaurant with an exciting menu of California-French dishes run by a French Chef. I realize that I need to see a professional kitchen before I can go on any further. I may love it, I may hate it, or as a friend said recently "You'll love it and hate it". I need to find out.

Today I met the Executive Chef for an interview and was elated to be accepted for the Stage. I was a bit self conscious as I was given a tour of the kitchen and introduced to everyone as the "new intern". The looks and eyes conveyed "who is this old guy trying to fool" or so it felt anyway. The kitchen was spotless and the facilities are beautiful. Most important for me, the Chef is willing to work around my schedule and essentially allow me to come in when I can. I could not ask for a better kitchen, location, and situation. Tomorrow I'll meet the Chef de Cuisine, a CIA grad ,who incidentally did work at the French Laundry for 3 years, to get the specifics of my job. Time to sharpen my knives!

Le Cordon Bleu Intermediate Cuisine in November

Well, after lots of tormented thought, envy, and the desire to complete the program, I signed up for Intermediate Cuisine for the Intensive session in November. I think talking to my friend Sjoerd who just began Superior and reading my old classmate Will's latest blog entry put me over the hump of making this decision. Unfortunately, all of my friends will be long gone from LCB by then, but there will be new people to meet and maybe some of the old classmates will remain with jobs in Paris. Additionally, I will try to talk a few of my Basic Cuisine classmates (who did not continue) to consider coming as well...if you're reading this Alan! The focus of Intermediates is regional cuisine and a continuation of building on the skills learned in Basic Cuisine. This was a big decision mostly because Intermediates on its own is not the goal. The goal would be to continue on with Superior Cuisine and earn the Diplome de Cuisine. Recently LCB Paris began offering Superior in an intensive format which makes all the difference for me with my full time job. The 5 weeks intensive format works much better for me than the normal 11 week duration.

I wish November 15 was tomorrow, but this time will allow me the chance to save some money, practice my French, and work on my kitchen skills.

My Classmates begin SUPERIOR CUISINE

For those of you who occasionally look at my site in hopes of fresh information from Le Cordon Bleu I have good news! My friend Sjoerd from Amsterdam will begin Superior Cuisine this coming monday March 22. He will join 10 of my former classmates on their combined journeys to attain the Diplome de Cuisine. The real good news is that Sjoerd, as some of you may recall, kept a blog of his time during Basic and Intermediate courses and will continue to do the same during Superior. His site is:


Sjoerd at Le Cordon Bleu Paris - superior cuisine 2010


I am probably as excited for Superior to begin as Sjoerd. I am anxious to follow along in my friends' daily adventures and challenges. Good luck everyone.

3 Months Later

It seems like a foggy mist of an idea that I was actually living in Paris 3 months ago. It's been interesting to see how the experience at Le Cordon Bleu has impacted my life. I have been cooking almost daily experimenting with my new found techniques and melding the French techniques with more modern methods and recipes. I tend to view food in a whole new way since my return.

I have made an attempt to keep ties with some of my classmates. The ones who remained are now almost finished with the Intermediate Cuisine and must be light years ahead of the rest of us with their kitchen skills. How I wish I could have stayed! The classmates who left LCB have scattered back around the globe to their respective lives. I have kept up with a few...Pablo is safe in Santiago after the Earthquake, I have met Julia and Steve a couple of time in NY and San Francisco, Alan is tearing up the slopes in Jackson Hole, Allis is back in her role as a corporate executive, Greg is leaving CA for New Zealand, and Manuel is playing lots of golf.

Potato wrapped orange ruffy with white lemon

sauce and Tabouli

Since my return I have gorged myself on books, blogs, and anything I can find related to cooking and being a Chef. One of my greatest discoveries has been a clarity of the big picture that I didn't quite see while I was a student. I see the method behind the madness of some of the tasks I considered silly or senseless while I was a student. Things were not always perfect at school, and I tended to "whine" a bit about them. I now realize that this is truly a reflection of the real world kitchen where cooks are continuously working around challenges to create the end product. The ability to adapt is KEY.

Mini wild mushroom quiche

Normal size quiche

I have discovered that I now view food from such a different perspective. I seek out higher quality products, I am more reverent toward animal products, and I "attack" my kitchen in a much different manner.

Rainbow trout stuffed with squash and carrot "spagetti"

I am wasting less food by always searching for ways to use the scraps for other recipes or other uses. It's been a nice transformation. I have begun to establish a rapport with my butcher and seafood source, canned chicken or beef broth are no longer acceptable, and I have had a general awakening of my senses with the selection of produce. I have abandoned large supermarkets and am making an effort to support anything locally grown and the local farmers.

Upon my return I was gung-ho to seek an internship with The French Laundry, a 3 star Michellin rated restaurant in nearby Napa Valley. Unfortunately, I was recently denied my request as the competition is fierce. So, where does that leave me? I am truly enjoying my "own" kitchen. I don't know if a professional path is the way to go for me at this age and with me career as an airline pilot, although the challenge would be fun. I may still seek an internship at a "lesser" more relaxed restaurant just to see how it's done in a professional kitchen. As for taking Intermediates? The next opportunity will be November 2010. I'll have to think about that one.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris Review

I have been back home for a few days, school finished 2

weeks ago,and I have had a little time to digest my experience at LCB. I have been asked many of the same questions since my return...What was it like? What did you learn? Would you do it again? Will you continue with the Intermediate course? What is next? How was Paris? I want to try to answer these questions with this Le Cordon Bleu Paris Review, not only for my friends, but for anyone who has stumbled across my site in hopes of finding guidance with their decision of attending LCB. I know that when I was making my decision to enroll, I was hungry for any tidbits of information I could sift through the net. So, here it goes...

For those who followed my blog and kept up with my daily shenanigans, I hope you found my writing to be informative, amusing, and positive. I intentionally viewed my time at LCB through "rose colored" glasses despite the many things I 
found worthy of complaint with the school and the French 
way of doing things. I chose this perspective simply because, like all things in life, our point of view shapes our experiences. I was determined to have a healthy experience, so I chose to suppress the negative and pronounce the positive. I wrote several drafts of this entry and each time it sounded extremely negative when I tried to objectively list the good and bad attributes of the school. I now realize that viewing things from purely an analytical and rigid point of view was the cause of the problem. From a perspective of efficiency and logic, there are some fundamental flaws with the way things are done at the school. This experience is more fully realized if one truly embraces and immerses in the French culture rather than dwelling on its deficiencies. If you just "roll with the punches" and adopt the French attitude toward life, I guarantee a rewarding educational and fun 
experience.

The School:

Facilities: The school is small, outdated, and cramped. I think they have done well with what they have, but improvements would be nice. I took the intensive version which had less students than a typical course, thus making life a little easier. The men's locker room is tiny! They really need to expand this space if at all possible.

Grades: Grading is VERY subjective. Only 14.5% of the total

grade is based on quantitative means, and the rest is 
determined by your chef's opinion of your work. I would just take on an attitude of doing my best for myself and not for the grade. The Chefs tend to be human and have favorites, and they love cute women. Just enjoy the course and forget about the grade.

Intensive vs. Regular: As I mentioned above, one advantage of the Intensive is that less students enroll in the Intensive, so there is more space in the kitchens, demo rooms, lockers, etc...Also, it's efficient use of time with the high cost of living in Paris. Intensive course is 5 weeks versus 10 weeks for the
 normal course. With less people in Intensive, you will receive more individual face time with the chefs. I think Intensive is the way to go.

Administration: This is an area that needs attention. I would like to see a change in how things are processed during admissions to avoid feeling like the school only wanted my money. The school's correspondence during admissions was 
pretty decent right up until they received my money. After 

that, the Admission Department became a black hole. It took numerous emails and calls for me to get a proper response on several issues. Additionally they lost my admissions packet and i had to resend everything a second time. LCB, Please improve your administration. It would make such a difference.

Tuition: Cost of the school tuition is expensive. The current Dollar/Euro conversion also added to the cost of roughly $12,000.  I really do not know how that stacks against other schools. The tuition for the Basic course also includes a Knife/tools kit, kitchen scales, 3 Chef uniform tops, 2 pants, 3 aprons, 3 towels, 2 neck ties, 2 hats, and a class dinner. I came up with a rough estimate of $61/hour as a breakdown for my tuition.

Chefs:  I found the Chefs to be excellent teachers with a

huge passion for the subject. They were very patient given that they have to deal with all levels of maturity and experience and were always willing to take the time to teach a finer point when asked. Most were fun loving and jovial. A couple of them had an abrasive "exterior", but behind the facade they were all passionate and caring. I think this is an area were it takes a little time to understand the French pride and their way of doing things.

Quality of Education: I have no basis of comparison with other schools, but I found the course to be comprehensive. This is not a sip wine while you cook course. It is a course in basic classic French culinary techniques. It is easy to become frustrated with some of the unusual or quirky techniques if one does not keep in mind the goal of this course. The intensive version is a rapidly paced journey through stocks, sauces, forced meats, doughs, fish, meats and poultry. I felt that I received a nicely rounded foundation on the classic French way of cooking. Additionally, knife skills, and task/work space organization are hammered by repetition until they are second nature. I am amazed at how much I learned in only 5 weeks.

Theft: I had been warned about theft at the school, and we were all encouraged to mark our knives and tools. Unfortunately, one student in my class had his entire kit stolen early on when he forgot to lock his locker. Just watch your stuff, and always have a trusted friend watch your things when you have to step away.

Scheduling: The schedule was packed and did not follow any particular rhythm. I think this is due to the space constraints of the school. It could be improved with some effort, but once again, it's easier to just go with the flow versus fighting and complaining about it. The course consists of 30 Demos and 30 Practicals (the last practical is the final exam), and one written exam. Each Demo and practical is 3 hours.

Language: My French language skills are basic at best. I had no problems with comprehension. The demos are all translated. The practical sessions are not translated, but all the Chefs have some English language skills. Between their English, hand gestures, and other student's help they are able to convey their instruction to you. You do not need French proficiency to enjoy this course.

My Goals:

What did I learn: I learned the basic techniques of French cooking. I was really interested in learning more about sauces and I fulfilled that desire. Almost every dish had some associated sauce. Additionally, I improved my knife skills, learned many tricks and methods of doing tasks in the kitchen, and improved my organizational skills. It's now up to me to explore further by practicing and adding to my skills.

Would I do it again: YES! I loved my time in Paris, the school and my classmates. My age and position in life may have colored my experience more than what a kid fresh out of college might experience. It was a gift for me to step out of my normal career and life and become a "kid" again with no worries other than learning more about something I am passionate about.

How was Paris: Beyond the usual comments of being an expensive city, it was an experience of a life time to live in Paris for 2 months. I learned and experienced things that I would never have seen as a tourist. The French zest for life and passion for food will have a profound effect on how I will view my own life. I did not find the Parisians to be rude. It does take time to understand their culture and how things are done. I found the Parisians to be extremely proud of their heritage and willing to share it with anyone if you are willing to show some humility and an interest. I will miss my daily visits to the Boulangerie, and the street food markets.

Will I continue on with Intermediate: I am not sure. Obviously, time and money are a factor. Also, since I am not pursuing a career as a Chef, I have to weigh the cost against benefit. The next Intensive Intermediate is in November 2010, so I have time to think about it. I would say that if money was not a factor, I would go on and complete the entire course for the Diplome de Cuisine and do an internship in Paris.

What is next: I am considering doing an internship at a local restaurant in Napa/Sonoma only to see the professional industrial side of cooking. I realize that working in a professional kitchen is a very physically and time demanding job and not sure if it's for me. However, my mind is open to any opportunities. I feel that I can only gain from an internship.

Wrap up:
I have to say that the most fulfilling aspect of my experience at LCB were the people. All experiences are shaped by the people involved, and this was no different. I had the privilege to meet and become friends with people of all ages and cultures driven with the common passion for food. The rapidly paced program away from home brought the group together from being complete strangers to becoming a tightly knit group in a matter of days. Without my classmates this experience would have been so much less rewarding.

Resources:
For anyone who may have further questions please do not hesitate to post a comment/question on this blog. Additionally, I would like to provide a few other resources for information about LCB.

My friend Sjoerd who attended Basic Cuisine in 2008, and completed Intermediate Cuisine in 2009, kept blogs of both courses. Additionally, Sjoerd will attend the Superior Cuisine in March 2010 and has vowed to continue blogging.

Sjoerd's Links:

Basic Cusinine 2008 cooking with cooking with Sjoerd @ Le Cordon Bleu Paris 2008
Inermediate Cuisine 2009 Sjoerd's adventures @ Le Cordon Bleu Intermediate Cuisine Paris 2009
Superior Cuisine 2010 Sjoerd at Le Cordon Bleu Paris - superior cuisine 2010

Also, Christine who completed the Diplome de Cuisine in 2006 has a blog with a section on FAQ's and a detailed summation of her experience at LCB
Chez Christine The Kitchen: Chez Christine Blogs Le Cordon Bleu | Apartment Therapy
Finally, a great link to a piece written by David Lebovitz for those debating the merits of going to Culinary School Should You Go To Culinary School? - David Lebovitz

One Week After

I am still in Paris and LCB seems like eons ago already. It's a strange phenomenon how suddenly it all came to an end. I am 
assuming most everyone is back home by now for the Holidays with their families. I had an opportunity to see Will and Eduardo for dinner this past Saturday when they Joined me for dinner in the Republique area. I think Will, Eduardo, Manuel, Christos, Kelsey (Maybe), Wen Bo, and Allis are all still here in Paris. I heard from Alan who is having a bit of culture shock adjusting to Texan cuisine after Paris.

Sjoerd and Jayne were able to come by Friday afternoon for drinks before heading back to Amsterdam on Saturday. I didn't realize it before, but Sjoerd will be taking the Superior Cuisine course in March 2010 alongside those of my classmates who will be continuing on with the Diplome de Cuisine. I am thrilled because I will be able to follow everyone on Sjoerd's blog. So, for the classmates who thought that they had lost their blogger, they have now gained a new one for Superior! The following classmates will be going on:

Wen Bo
Jennifer
Kelsey (Pastry)
Yuka
Yolnada
Mateus
Eduardo
Will
Jorge
Christos
Tanya

I packed my knives and uniforms away today in preparation for flying out on Saturday. Oddly enough I have not even had the urge to cook. If I can't do it with a white cutting board, ingredient tray, and having Wen Bo across from me, it hardly seems worth it right now. Oh well, I am sure I'll get over it. It truly was a great opportunity to be a kid once again and play school. Soon I'll have to return to wintry landings at JFK, deicing, and the stresses of the airline profession. I am very lucky to have had this experience.

Happy Holidays everyone!

(Pictured above is Galeries Lafayette)

Graduation Le Cordon Bleu Paris

SNOW in Paris! It was somehow appropriate to have snow in Paris on our Graduation day with the Holiday spirit in the air. I took a stroll on the snow covered walkway along the Seine. It was a serenely beautiful sight as I placed fresh footprints along the river. I walked for about an hour through St Germain, and St Michel areas and finally called it quits when my fingers were numb.


A couple of hours later I took a metro to the school for the Graduation. As I emerged form the Subway, I ran into Tanya who came in to get her Certificate and had to leave immediately to catch her flight to Moscow. Graduation was at 3pm with the ceremony taking place in the already cramped Winter Garden. Four classes had their graduation: Basic and Intermediate Cuisine, and Basic and Intermediate Pastry. I saw Sjoerd and his wife Jayne. It was nice to see Jayne and do a bit of catching up before the chaos of all the students filling up the Winter Garden.

The ceremony kicked off with the presentation of all the Chefs and a brief bio of each presented by the Head Chef Patrick Terriene. They were all smiley faced and Happy. Maybe it's my imagination, but like any teacher at a graduation, these guys seemed proud as they faced the fruits of their labor.

First let me say that EVERYONE passed! My group was the first to be presented one by one in alphabetical order French Style (because for some reason the letter "R" was first to be called). Flanked by our primary Chefs, Chef Strill and Chef Lesourd, we each paraded to the front to receive our Certificate. Unfortunately, not all classmates where present because of personal travel and family/friend commitments.

We were all anxious for the results of our final as well as our total standing in the class. I want to congratulate the top 5 in our group who were then recognized for their excellence. I am proud that my Group B had 2 in the top 5. They are:

1st Tanya
2nd Will
3rd Jennifer
4th Yolanda
5th Kelsey

Only 3 of the above 5 were present at Graduation. Here they are being recognized:

Kelsey, Yolanda, and Will. Congrats!!

Chefs Strill and Lesourd

After the ceremonies, the mob moved upstairs for some Hors D'oeuvres and Champagne for some mingling with fellow students and Chefs.  Sjoerd, the ever jokester, gave me the following graduation gift insuring that I will never miss my plate while eating on the plane.

My Graduation present from Sjoerd

Next stop was the corner Cafe for some drinks. We were also joined by Leanne the translator and Chefs Lesourd and Caals. We all talked about what's next, where everyone would be for the Holidays, etc..For some of us, this was the end and for others it was just a break before the start of Intermediates in January.

In keeping with our ethnic restaurant tradition, it was decided that Christos would guide us through a Greek Culinary experience for dinner. We had already "travelled" to Korea thanks to Julia, and Wen Bo had given us a taste of China, so tonight it was off to Greece.

I headed home for a couple hours of down time before I joined the group at Le Delices D' Aphrodite in the 5th. Christos took charge and ordered a never ending barrage of Grecian goodies and wines. Once again, there were lots of plans for the future and exchange of contact info. It was a nice final dinner with the group, although it was not the same with some of the gang missing.

Grecian Restaurant

It's officially over. It was a fantastic journey. I elevated my cooking skills to a new level, met some wonderful people, and had the opportunity to live in Paris for 2 months. It will take some time to absorb and digest it all. One thing that is certain is that I will miss ALL of my classmates. I wish them all Bon Chance and Bon Voyage.

Day 25 The Final Day Le Cordon Bleu Paris

As I left my apartment, I paused to get the full effect of what this day would hold. I am one of those "I can't wait for...." guys. It's one of my problems. Maybe it's the conditioning we are all taught in the U.S. to always aspire and look ahead to the next step. So today, I wanted to live in the moment and enjoy this last day of school to its fullest.

Arriving at school early I was happy to see Julia and Alan already there and dressed. Alan had some cell phone time glitch that caused him to begin his day and arrive an hour earlier than he had planned. Rumors were rampant with anticipation of the exam dishes. It was not only our exam day, but also the pastry, and the Intermediate Cuisine classes' exam day as well. Spies, moles, double agents, private detectives had all been activated to get the scoop on the produce and meat deliveries to the school to get a hint at what the dishes would be. But first we would have to sit through our final demo #30.

Chef Strill was the Chef responsible for teaching us a Rack of Lamb with parsley crust, Potato Gratin, and Baked Alaska. This demo is truly useless since we were all so consumed with our upcoming Exam. I tried to follow along, but my mind drifted from thoughts of the exam, to glancing around the room at my soon to be scattered classmates, to thoughts of my girlfriend Beth coming tomorrow. The demo did end with a bang as we feasted on the Chef's delicious creations along with a glass of Champagne. Here are some pictures of the event.

Baked Alaskan

translator Leanne and Jorge doing the honors

Social after the final Demo

Following the demo we had a couple of hours before the exam. The 3 practical groups were scheduled to start the exam staggered in 30 minute intervals with my group going last. This left almost 3 hours of nervous anticipation before we could prove our Iron Chef skills. Alan and I headed to the corner cafe for some espressos and a strategy session. We ran into Sjoerd who had his recipes spread out at the bar as he drained his --th espresso. Julia soon joined us. We then headed back to school to hangout in the winter garden for more nervous chatter. As time whittled away, our group was the only group left in the winter garden. I am so glad that we took the picture below because, not fully realizing it at the time, this would be the last picture of our group all together.

My Group B's Final Gathering

We then went up to our kitchen 10 minutes early as instructed and were met by our supervising Chef Strill. At this point we each drew a colored chip. Yellow chips would cook the "Veal Stew" and the Blue chips would cook the "Beef Stroganoff". Those were the dishes. I drew the Veal Stew...Yes! NO Sweat.

just before drawing chips to receive our recipe assignments

We were given 2 1/2 hours to complete our tasks. We were presented with our ingredients and an ingredient list for our dish. I took 5 minutes to inventory my produce to insure that I had all the correct stuff. Then I took a few minutes to write an outline for my plan of attack. For those who care about the nitty gritty of cooking here is what I did: (Otherwise, skip down to next section)

-preheat oven to 180
-put some pearl onions in water on heat to soften for peeling later
-Trim the veal into bite sized pieces and trim off all fat
-Blanch the veal in cold water, bring to boil
-While waiting to boil, wash and prep 2 onion, leek, celery, 2 bouquet garnis, and 2 carrots
-drain and rinse veal, clean pot
-put veal, all the above aromatics plus cloves, peppercorn, salt, and water to cover...bring to boil
-cook veal for 1.5 hours
-prep 12 pearl onions, put in sauce pan with water, salt, and butter, cover with parchment and glaze
-wash a bunch of button mushrooms, trim off stems and make them all the same size
-put mushrooms in sauce pan with a little water, salt, butter and a few drops of lemon and bring to boil. cook for 3-4 mins, drain and keep warm
-Finely chop 1/2 onion for rice pilaf. measure out rice and water. sweat onion in butter, add rice, water, put in oven
-make a roux for sauce and put in fridge.
-after veal cooking for 1 hour, scoop out 500 ml of "veal stock" and add to the cold roux on heat and whisk
-add some cream, remove from heat and add a liaison of cream and eggs to thicken. Strain w/ chinois. set aside warm
-drain veal and keep warm
-bring it all together and place on a platter.

This is considered a rustic French stew and not meant to look fancy. I tried to present it as such. I had to create a platter for 4 people. There were 3 outside judges that would judge our platters after our departure. This is my platter on the right. The design of this dish is that it must all be white. The rice, onions, mushroom, meat...none of them can be browned in any way. I was happy with my end result.

Afterward, there were a flurry of "how did you do's" in the winter garden. We all decided to meet up at Alan's for drinks and dinner later. I emptied my locker and ran home to unload the uniforms, knife set, and all my gadgets. Phewwwww. It's actually over!

Alan and Chef Lesourd trade hats

I ran back out and headed to Alan's place. Initially the group was as pictured below and later Allis, and Christos joined us.

Bernie joined with Julia, Kelsey, and Allis. After graduation, Bernie andhis wife will head to Morocco for a 2 week cooking course

Julia and Wen Bo

We left Alan's and went to the same Chinese restaurant that he and I had visited last week. Alan thought it would be a great idea to have Wen Bo and E (who is an assistant) who are both Chinese, order for the entire group of us. What a great idea! It was an awesome meal with food coming at us every few minutes.

Piling in to the restaurant

Bernie and Wen Bo peaking into the kitchen

It was a whirlwind day. I am tired and relieved that classes are finished. It'll be nice to be a casual tourist again as I resume our exploration of Paris. I hugged Julia goodbye after dinner since she will not be at the graduation, and I never had a chance to say goodbye to Jennifer since she's leaving for Taiwan tomorrow. Two good friends that I hope I can keep for the long term. Sadly, the class is already dispersing as suddenly as it had originally come together.