Days Sixteen and Seventeen

Our first written and practical tests have arrived.

Pages and pages of short answer questions such as "Describe the method to make Pate Choux" and "List the Ingredients in Frangipane," composed the written exam. For me, the written test exposed exactly how much I had learned over the last three weeks - lots! Physically creating something, over and over and over again, brands it into your brain (or my brain anyway). I admit I studied very little for the written exam, but breezed through it. One down, five to go.

The practical exam was much harder than I anticipated. We had to make Cream Puffs, Hollandaise, Vinaigrette, Rice Pilaf, Tourner Potatoes and craft perfect julienne, brunoise, macedoine and batonnet from carrots. When the test menu was exposed, everyone smiled in satisfaction. Hollandaise? Been there, done that - fifteen times in the last week to be exact. Rice Pilaf? My grandmother makes rice pilaf. We discovered, however, each of these items was deceptively simple. So simple, that an itty bitty mistake became a conspicuous error. There was no way to hide bad flavor behind fresh herbs or crappy knife skills under sauce.

The judges, Mama and Chef, were channeling Gordon Ramsey, minus all the F-bombs. They offered zero positive feedback, only nonconstructive criticism. All in all, I'm pleased with my performance although everything I made needed more salt, and my rice was "thirty seconds undercooked." 30 seconds? Whatever.

Quite frankly, our entire class did pretty well, even the Numero Uno Dummy. Everyone finished on time and no one's Hollandaise broke. Its nice to work with people who are equally motivated, dedicated and generally, capable. This one was a win for The Cornichons (the new loving nickname I've heard the advanced students call our class).