pardon my french

Sweetbreads, cigars & chocolate...oh my!

I am going to make this post brief because this coming week at school is jam-packed, including our written exam for pastry. I don't write about pastry as often, but I can't forget I have to design a chocolate sculpture for our exam! More on that later…

Atelier #2 was a great success. The chef really liked my menu and plating. We had adorable Chef Bean, who can be a tough critic. There is always a dramatic pause when he tastes your dish. He tastes every element without saying anything. Just tastes, thinks. Nods. Every now and then there's a "hmmm…" He picks up a spoonful of sauce and watches it stream down onto the plate to check the consistency. The anticipation builds…and then…he delivers his verdict:

"I like this because your mind, it is out of zee box. And, I know it is out of zee box…because I made zee box!" He said as he chuckled, I think because he wrote the list of ingredients. I felt my face flush and couldn't help but smile. He loved my appetizer, said it was "parfait." The main course was well done, there was just one area he wanted me to develop further. I made a "white asparagus cigar": white asparagus rolled in a sea bream-cauliflower-parsley farce, wrapped in phyllo dough. He loved the concept, but there wasn't enough contrast in the flavors of the asparagus and the farce. I agreed, and struggled with the same thing while I was preparing the dish. The only problem was they were all required ingredients. I tried to add confit garlic to help, but there just wasn't enough oomph. The only spices around were cumin, curry, coriander or anise seeds...nothing that would have worked. Nonetheless, I had a good day. He said to keep the same approach and style for the final exam, so that made me feel like all the preparation helped and was worth it. 

My dishes...

Appetizer: Duo of sweetbreads. Obviously, sweetbreads were the scary thing on the ingredient list. I figured, why fight it...let's showcase this maligned offal. So, on the left are veal sweetbreads braised in port and veal stock. On the right: deep fried sweetbreads in a batter with parsley and brunoised pancetta topped with fleur de sel and lemon pulp. (It took me forever to pull apart all of those little pieces of pulp with tweezers!) The middle is a section of plum tomato on a bed of rocket leaves topped with squares of basil vinaigrette and lemon cream jelly finished with a few drops of reduced port. 

Main dish: I think it's a sin to do anything to veal tenderloin except cook it in beaucoup butter. The main dish was built around that: veal tenderloin, marinated in ginger, soy, Dijon mustard, honey and oil, wrapped in caul fat and sautéed in clarified butter. Ginger-soy veal jus. White asparagus cigar. New spring onion flan with spinach topped with beetroot and artichoke brunoise that were tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar. 

The veal was pretty darn yummy. 

Now it's time to brainstorm for the chocolate sculpture exam. We have to make a box with a lid, a flower and petals and some way to adorn the top of the box. Until living in Paris, I had no idea what a huge deal chocolate is. This video shows some of the incredible work people do…clearly nothing like I will be doing, but you'll get the gist.

Off to study!