Day Ten: Garnish

What we Did: Played With Our Food (Some Would Call It Garnish).

Garnish is all about looks. But, if indeed we do eat with our eyes, then garnish has a roll to play in our world of culinary delights.

Of course, I am not sure that making a zucchini look like a flower makes me more hungry. As Jean-Jacques Paimblanc said, "less is better." That is all I am going to say on that topic.

If my attempts today are an accurate reflection of my skills in the field, I will not being doing much garnishing in the future. I am not sad about this.

In the afternoon we shared four hours with the health inspector. And, well, the less said about this the better.

Quote of the Day: "Think like the vermin!" (On what your approach should be in tackling the problem of pests in the commercial kitchen.)

Day Nine: My Hard Head and Fat

It sucks being sick. It feels like my head is full of cement.

So, since I am home sick I have been catching up on some reading. I am in the process of reading two books: Eat Fat by Richard Klein and Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

Fascinating stuff, I highly recommend both books.

Each takes on, what can only be described as, the current obsession (both good and bad) with fat in this country. Klein's book is more of a philosophical venture, ruminating on the social and historical meanings of fat.

Taubes' book, on the other hand, takes on the actual science behind the current thinking about fat (dietary and bodily) and its relation to heart disease. Taubes effectively refutes the current (and seemingly irrefutable) thinking that high dietary fat is linked to heart disease and the commonly accepted rise in obesity. It is really eye opening. The fact is that the data is simply not there to support the politically and culturally accepted idea that dietary fat is bad. At least, any reasonable mind looking at the data can only conclude one thing: the evidence, taken in its totality, is inconclusive.

Moreover, he argues that the low fat/high carb diet may be doing more harm than good and may be what is really behind the rise in obesity and diabetes. The real dietary evil? The "the whites." That is, refined carbohydrates such as white sugar, white flour and white rice.

The fact is, as much we would like to think that we are rational beings, we are more likely prone to illogical thought. We all too often simply believe what we want to believe no matter what the data might tell us.

So, the question becomes, if the data is, at best, inconclusive to support the conclusion that dietary fat is directly linked to heart disease and other illnesses such as diabetes, why has this idea taken such a firm hold on our beliefs?

I can only come to one conclusion: we have a deep seeded culturally ingrained need to see fat (in all of its forms including dietary and bodily) as bad. We want to believe that fat is bad, so we make it so. We seem to have a perverse relationship with fat. We love it and we hate it. Fat has become our dietary bête noire and our fall guy. And yet, we love it as well.

Eat fat, indeed.

Day Eight: Stewing & Braising

What we did: Braised and Stewed (but not in our own juices).

Today was the first day we worked with Jean-Jacques Paimblanc and we made four dished designed to teach us about cooking with liquid. They were, Beef Daube, Lamb Curry, Ratatouille, and Braised Endive. The essential difference between stewing and braising is that with a stew, the ingredients are entirely covered with liquid. With a braise, liquid (water, stock, wine) is present, but does not cover the ingredients. In some cases, a braise may only use steam. So, if you cover beef with enough wine and then slowly reduce the liquid to cook the meat and thicken the liquid, you are producing a stew. If, on the the other hand, you brown some endive halves, then add a small bit of liquid to the pan, cover it and then put it in the oven for 30 minutes, you are braising the endive.

Today was humbling for me. We were given the option of adding poached eggs to our ratatouille. Which we did and I was charged with this task. I have poached maybe a 100 eggs in my lifetime. It is definitely something I feel like I can do with sure success. Not this time. Not only did I not put enough vinegar in the poaching water (it helps to keep the whites from dispersing), but without me realizing it, the flame under to pot went out. So, when I went to put the eggs in the water, it was cold and not acidic enough and the result was a cloudy mess. Sigh. I had too start over.

It just goes to show, when it comes to food and cooking, you can't take anything for granted. Maybe this is why I enjoy cooking so much, it is a continual challenge and there is always something new to be learned.

All ended well though, as you can see, and I guess that is what is most important.

Quote of the day: "Cooking is being able to control the fire. Master the fire." - jj paimblanc

Day Seven: Grillin' & Roastin'

What we did: Grilling and Roasting

Today we cooked a lot of meat (as you can see to the left there). The idea behind today's lesson was two-fold. First, we learned about grilling and roasting foods. And second, we had the experience of what it is like to be a line chef in a restaurant.

Our charge was the following:

First, prepare the foods for the grill (cut them, trim them, flatten them, season them and so forth).

Then, we had to grill a steak, a hamburger, a salmon steak and a chicken breast while roasting a piece of flounder and a tomato. Oh, and the hamburger bun needed to be toasted. All of the foods had to be ready at the same time, as if they were ordered by one table.

We have been told again and again that cooking is about managing heat and at no time was this truer than today. Timing and judgment were the order of the day: when do should I start the chicken breast? Is the steak done enough? Should I rotate it or flip it over? Is the flame under the salmon too high? Why is the tomato burning in spots? Etc.

Know your food and know your equipment. Manage the heat!

The best part was, after we were done, we got to eat what we cooked. Mmmm, steak!

Coolest Thing I Learned Today: The system for classifying meat in the US.

The meat we eat in America is graded based on its quality (marbling, tenderness, age, ratio of fat to meat, grain, etc). I think most of us have heard terms like, prime, choice and select. But I'm not sure these terms mean much to most of us. So, here is the breakdown:

Prime is the top of the line. It should be tender and nicely marbled. Only about 2-5% of the meat produced is classified as prime. This means that you and I almost never see prime beef unless we can get it at a top restaurant. Even then, we are going to pay a steep price for it.

Choice is the next classification and constitutes the largest percentage of consumer meat (around 35%). Most of the meat we buy in fancier markets and most of the meat we are served at better restaurants is choice. There is such a thing as "hand-picked" choice which can be just as good prime. But how can this be? Well, it seems that on any given day, only a certain percentage of the meat processes at any one facility can be labeled prime. So, even if seven percent of the meat is of prime quality, only five percent of it gets labeled as such. The rest is labeled as choice. But, a good purveyor of meat will often "hand-pick" the best of the choice and give it to his/her best customers. Be nice to your butcher.

Select is the next classification and is the grade of meat found at most grocery stores and fast food joints.

Standard is the next grade and is mainly used as institutional food (yes this what they are feeding to our prisoners and our kids and grandparents.)

Then comes a grade called Canner which is used in canned meats and the like. Mmmm, Spam.

The final classification is called Cutter, but is not for human consumption, instead we feed it to Fido and Mittens.

Day Six: A Day at the Vineyard

What We Did: Learned About Food Safety and Visited A Vineyard

In the morning we learned about food safety. This is an important topic, but probably not the most scintilating reading for a Blog. At least know this: wash your hands a lot and don't cross contaminate. Oh, and time and temperature are not your friends.

In the afternoon we visited the Turtle Creek Winery in Lincoln, Mass. They are a small winery (most of the work is done by two people) that has only been in the wine business for eight years.

We took a tour of their vineyards and the wine making facility and then we tasted some of their wines. It was actually very interesting to hear them talk about what they have learned and what both their successes and failures have been. Growing wine grapes in the northeastern US is certainly a challenge because of the weather (a short growing season with a harsh winter). But, it sounded like they are pretty passionate about it and enjoy the challenge.

Quote of the day: "To make sense more common." (Stated goal of the food safety session.)

Day Five: Butchering

Today's topic is butchering.

In the morning we visited Kinnealey's Quality Meats. I won't go into too much detail here, but man there was a lot of meat and it was cold (they work in 38 degrees to preserve the meat). In many regards it was comforting, the place was clean and very well regulated.

In the afternoon we did butchering with Charles Grandon, who is the Executive Chef at the Winchester Country Club. We cut up a whole lamb, and we worked with a primal beef rib section and some chickens.

As a devout carnivore, I have worked with a lot of meat in my life, but I have never butchered a whole animal before. I must say it was at once informative, exciting and a little off-putting. But, not enough of the latter to make me stop eating or even working with meat. It was simply a new experience. I tried going vegetarian once in my life after seeing a whole pig on a spit and I lasted all of a week. Nope, I am a meat eater.

The most interesting part of it all for me was seeing just how difficult and complex it is to cut up an animal for consumption. Our juicy little steaks come all neatly prepared and ready to cook, but it takes a lot of work and skill to breakdown and fabricate all of that meat. Moreover, it takes a lot of skill to know where to cut and where not to cut, and what to trim and even if you can see what needs to be trimmed, it doesn't mean that you can easily figure out how to do it. I have a lot more appreciation for the work that butchers do.

So, thanks. Because I don't know what I would do without my Sunday night grilled steak. Which I do even in the dead of winter.

Day Four: Sauces

What we did: Made Sauces (French Classic).

Is it possible to over-stress the importance of sauces to good cuisine? Especially to French cuisine? Probably not. There are whole books that do nothing but discuss the history and importance of the classic French sauces. As Jacques Pépin himself states in his biography, to be considered a great saucier is the highest accolade a chef can receive. Today we made sauces.

In classic French cuisine there are five Grand (or mother) sauces:

1. Demi-glace (a stock that has been thickened through reduction)
2. Velouté (a stock that has been thickened with an agent, usually with a roux)
3. Tomato
   
4. Béchamel (cream based)
5. Hollandaise (butter emulsification)

From these grand sauces, hundreds of other sauces can be made. For example, add tomato paste (and a little butter) to a velouté and you have sauce aurore.

In the contemporary culinary world, you can add the following to the list:

1. Purées or coulis (usually fruit)
   
2. Compound butter (chilled butter to which herbs and other flavorings have been added)
3. Pan sauces

In this day and age, the classic sauces are made less-and-less, with more sauces made from a simple pan reduction. For example, sauté a piece of meat in a pan, remove the meat, add a liquid (wine, stock, etc.) to deglaze the pan (get all of the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan). Then add flavorings (salt, herbs, lemon juice, mustard, etc.) and finish it off with a little butter. Unlike the classics, these sauces are made to order.

The importance of a sauce goes beyond adding flavor (or hiding flavor in some cases), it can also serve to add moisture and visual and olfactory appeal to a dish.

Today we made three sauces: A demi-glace (or brown sauce), a Hollandaise sauce, and a Beurre Blanc (a butter emulsification made in the pan).

Single Coolest Thing I Learned: Sauce makes the Chef.

Day Three: Soups

What we did today: Made Soups.

So, what do you do with gallons and gallons of stock? Why, you make gallons and gallons of soup. We made: French onion soup, beef consumée and squash soup. French onion soup, now there is a funny story. But that is for another... What's that? Oh all right, I'll tell it.

At the age of fifteen I decided to cook my first fancy meal. One of the dishes I decided to make was French onion soup. I followed the recipe closely, caramelizing the onions and everything. Problem was that I didn’t make enough, so when I dropped the toasted baguette slices in, they just sopped up all of the liquid. To this day, my dad describes– with too much glee – my first attempt at French Onion soup as “the best tasting croutons he has ever had.” Thanks Dad! Well, at least it tasted good.

So, while this was not my first attempt at French onion soup, it was, at least, more successful than some past attempts. Like most soups, the quality of the broth or the stock used is of tantamount importance. In this case, the stock was really good, so as long as the onions were caramelized enough, the soup was going to be good. And it was, I gobbled up all of my soup. Mmmmmm, melted cheese!

One of the funner things we did today was clarify brown stock to make beef consumée. Basically you mix together chopped veggies (a mix of onions, carrots and celery called a mirepoix) , ground beef, and egg whites which you then add to the stock. As the liquid comes to a simmer, the egg whites congeal to form a sort of filter that floats on top of the stock. As the stock simmers, it passes through the egg whites which acts as a "filter" to captures all of the stuff that makes the stock cloudy. When you are done, you have a beautifully clear consumée.

The Single Most Important Thing I Learned: Don't get too excited when you are clarifying your stock to make consumée. Let the little bugger sit and do its thing. Otherwise you will break it apart, and then it can't do its job.

Day Two: Stocks

What we did: Made Stocks.

Today, we made stocks with John Vyhnanek. Stocks are the foundation of cooking. They are the basis for most, if not all, soups, are necessary for many classic sauces, and generally flavor much of what we eat. A good (or bad) stock can make or break a dish. French food could not exist without stocks (at least not classic French food).

What is a stock? Basically a stock is a flavored liquid made from simmering bones, vegetables and other aromatics (pepper, thyme, parsley, etc.) in water. The type of stock you are making will determine the aromatics and how long you simmer the stock. In general, the thicker and denser the bones, the longer the stock needs to simmer (beef stock takes longer than chicken stock takes longer than fish stock.)

How does a stock differ from a broth? A stock is made from bones and is simmered for an extended period of time. A broth is made from bones and meat and is simmered for as long as it takes to cook the meat.

With a broth, the resultant liquid is used as a base for a soup and the cooked meat is often added back into the broth. So, for example, Vietnamese pho is made from cooking a whole chicken in enough water to cover it, along with other aromatics (blackened onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, etc.) When the chicken is cooked, it is removed and the broth is strained and serves as the basis of the soup. The chicken meat has flavored the broth, but can also then be used in the soup.

With a stock, the bones, and any meat that might be on those bones, will be so cooked out after being simmered for 3-6 hours that there will be no flavor left. But that is sort of the point. The idea is to leach the flavor out of the ingredients into the stock and use the stock as a base for other dishes. Simmering the bones for so long also serves to break down the gelatins which produces a thicker liquid.

Today we made three types of stock: brown stock (made from a combination of roasted beef and veal bones) , white or chicken stock and fish stock.

I realized at the end of the day, that somehow my entire contribution to the stock was washing a bunch of chicken bones and cutting some mushrooms. Not sure how this happened, but I need to get more involved.

The Single Coolest Thing I Learned: How to rapidly cool down a hot stock using an ice bath and why it is important to do so (prevents rampant bacterial growth).

Kitchen Term: To do something in the Shoemaker's Way is to do something in your own way or in a manner that is considered to be non-standard.

Day One: Introduction

Today was the first day of what I will be doing for the next four months of my life: participating in the Culinary Arts program at Boston University's Gastronomy program.

I'm pretty excited about being able to do nothing but cook day-in and day-out for over four months. Even more, I am excited about cooking while learning as well.

I did study cooking in Paris for four months, so I think some of what we will be learning will already be comfortable for me. But that was a long time ago (late 80s) and I was a different person then. And, you should never stop learning. Moreover, the people who will be doing the teaching are either great chefs, experts in their field, or both. I am eager to see how they work in the kitchen and how the style of cooking and working may differ from chef to chef.

Today was a simple day: introduction to the course, met the chefs and the other students, went over the schedule, etc.

We did prepare some bones to make brown stock. But that was the extent of the cooking for today. Back at it tomorrow.