About Eclipse Theme
Volunteering to promote whole animal cookery at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park with The Whole Beast and the Michael Mina group who roasted whole lambs for their concession booth, cleverly dubbed Outside Lambs.
Demonstrating the one strand braid. (Taken with Instagram at Culinary Institute of America at Greystone)
Challah! We’re in Baking and Pastry class —> Challah bread with two, three, and four strand braids. (Taken with Instagram at Culinary Institute of America at Greystone)
A Napa Valley Fourth — BBQ at my dear friends’, Jackie (in the overalls,) JB (in the orange shorts and ruffle apron,) Ryoko, Steve, and Steph’s, house complete with Carly Rae Jepsen, boxer puppies, layered jiggler jello shots, and Louis A. Martini fireworks over the vines.
WINE CLASS - DAY 1
(Taken with Instagram at Rudd Center For Professional Wine Studies)
IL GRAN FINALE
Zabaglione, Sugared Cherries, & Cornmeal Cookies for our Euro/Med final.
Zabaglione, or zabione, is a traditional Italian dessert of frothed eggs, sugar, and dessert wine – traditionally Marsala. As an egg and liquid mixture, zabaglione falls into the category of custards and creams which utilize the protein of eggs to thicken the liquid in the mixture at the standard ratio of 4 parts liquid to 1 part egg (1 c liquid : 1-2 eggs.) Though the term custard is often used to describe both custards and creams, the term creams actually describes the subcategory to which zabaglione belongs. Unlike custards, which are baked and therefore undisturbed by stirring allowing them to set into solid gels, creams are constantly stirred on the stove-top to create a pourable sauce. More specifically, Zabaglione classifies as an egg foam which requires the addition of a liquid (such as Marsala) to the yolks to provide sufficient free water with which to create bubbles. Heat must be applied while the mixture is whisked to allow the yolk proteins to unfold and bond with each other to form a stable network of bubbles, which would otherwise rapidly dissolve. The protein in aerated yolks thickens around 120 degrees F but will coagulate and separate at higher temperatures. For this reason, many cooks opt to control the temperature of their zabaglione by preparing the cream over a hot water bath. To that end, the standard method for creating zabaglione involves beating together equal parts egg yolk and sugar, incorporating wine at a ratio of four times the amount of wine to egg yolk, and then whipping the mixture for several minutes over a hot water bath to create a frothy egg foam. Perfect zabaglione should be a thick, light, smooth, barely pourable emulsion, slightly frothy and balancing wine with the richness of egg yolk and a mellow sweetness.
Other Dessert Creams:
CRÈME ANGLAISE — The French term for a rich custard sauce served hot or cold over cake, fruit or other desserts. Crème anglais requires gentle cooking only to the point at which the sauce begins to thicken, far below the boil.
CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE — The French term for “pastry cream,” a thick, starch-based egg custard used for tarts, cakes and to fill pastries such as cream puffs, éclairs and napoleons. The addition of starch to this sauce creates a thick substantial cream which will hold its shape. Unlike with crème anglaise, which will curdle if boiled, pastry cream must be boiled to deactivate the starch-digesting enzyme, amylase, present in egg yolks. Conveniently, the starch protects the egg yolks from curdling.
The Zabaglione recipe I used can be found at:
BROWN TOWN —> German, Austrian, Czech dishes presented for grading.
(Taken with Instagram at Culinary Institute of America at Greystone)
ESTAMOS EN ESPANA! (Taken with Instagram at CIA, Greystone)
Mussels con Vino Blanco y Chorizo
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz Chorizo, quartered lengthwise, 1/3” slices
1 lb Mussels
½ T garlic, minced
¼ c sofregit**
1 T parsley, chopped
1 T shallots, sliced
½ c white wine
½ c chicken stock
salt + pepper to taste
sherry vinegar to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. Make sorfegit (recipe follows.)
2. Cook the chorizo to render the fat. Add the garlic and shallots — sauté.
3. As the garlic and shallots begin to color, add the sofregit, parsley, white wine, and stock.
4. Season broth with salt, pepper, and splash of vinegar.
5. Add the mussels. Cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid. Steam the mussels until they are just opened —> 5-7 mins.
————————————————-
**SOFREGIT (Yield: 1½ quarts)
INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
3 onions, chopped
6 tomatoes, seeded and grated
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cover bottom of skillet with a thin layer of oil, heat for several minutes. Add the onions. Reduce the heat and cook uncovered until the onions have turned golden brown and are lightly caramelized.
2. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Continue cooking until all liquid has evaporated, and the tomatoes have begun to “melt” into the onions.
— Cuisine’s of Europe and the Mediterranean - CIA Course Guide
12 PITAS PUFFING.
(Taken with Instagram at Culinary Institute of America at Greystone)
Yippee! We’re back in the kitchen for Cuisine’s of Europe and the Mediterranean (or Euro/Med in CIAtalk.) Now is our chance to show off the fancy tricks they taught us on externship as we cook our way though North Africa, Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Russia. Oh and the best part - our instructor is Chef Dieter, a white haired, elfish German who is as irreverently witty as he is skilled and knowledgeable.
Chef Dieter quotes:
“Ve had a little shnufoo but don’t vorry, big boy, ve’ll fix it”
“Ven you are making dee aioooli, ven your guhrlfriend or boyfriend comes to dinnar, you make dee aioli with your mortar and pestle. But ven your mothar-in-law comes for dinnar, you use da machine.”
EXTERN LIFE 4
Cifton Su polishes off our Extern Life series with tales of blood, sweat, and pork belly from the Momofuku Samm Bar kitchen of NYC food darling, David Chang.
December:
“Day two and I already got my first screaming after Chef Matt put me on a station for lunch rush BY MYSELF with no guidance/instruction. Needless to say, I crashed and burned. The one saving grace of the day was that I managed to pick up the entire station for the last two hours of lunch which I felt great about - until I found out that tomorrow Chef’s putting me on another crazy ass station by myself for dinner (no prep, guidance, or advice!) I hope I make it…”
January:
“Work has been going a lot smoother now. Getting the hang of things and the day to day routine of my station. Getting yelled at less and given more responsibility and with that, a lot more shit from my coworkers (they call me Eddie, the name of the only other Asian in the kitchen.) I am in charge of filling out orders for what I need, prepping everything for each of my dishes, and then cooking during service.”
February:
“So, I got absolutely destroyed today. New Year’s Day was bad enough when we are one of the few restaurants open and every New Yorker seemed to want a pork belly bun. Did about 480 orders by myself in the span of 5 hours - it was holy shitballs nuts. Today I had to work that same station, in addition to my hot apps station. Got absolutely destroyed in doing so as we had double the New Years Day amount of people come in. I almost didn’t make it home because in the last block of my walk my leg started to spaz out uncontrollably.”
February:
“Let it be known that today, February 21st, after 3 months of screaming, terrorizing, and trying to make me quit, Chef Matt said “Good Job,” shook hands with me, and let me leave early. This shit’s going in the extern manual fo’ sho’.”
March:
“Moved up to garde manger for the rest of my externship! Yes!! It was foretold that no extern could reach that station, but I did it!”
April:
“Leaving NYC with not a single souvenir from the four months I spent at Ssam Bar to my name. On my last day, Chef Matt grabbed my Momofuku hat - my most prized Ssam Bar memorabilia - dunked it into a vat of liquid nitrogen, and proceeded to smash it with a hammer while laughing maniacally.” Sad trombone…
EXTERN LIFE 3
Not every externship is Christmas presents and whiskey shots. This week’s installment of Extern Life peeks into the rotten underbelly of the extern system in which long stressful hours of sweating stove-side beget a savagery in chefs that gives new meaning to the adage “from adversity comes strength.” Thus, I introduce to you Galen Drace — tall, affable, type A — elected AOS 19 class leader and former Bourbon Steak extern in San Francisco.
December:
“By day two my nickname has officially become “school girl.”. Sometimes “pretty school girl,” sometimes “the f’ing school girl” but always school girl. Getting bounced from station to station. Really like the place after three days.”
January:
“I actually got a compliment today! Granted I spent the day before being yelled at for 4 hours straight with the question ” you going to cry?” being repeated over and over and over and you get the idea. I officially kinda hate my externship. “
February:
“Last night the Executive Sous Chef “Bully” decided to fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray people in the face each time they made a mistake or pissed him off. The entire kitchen smelled like Easter. Today is his last day at the restaurant before taking a new job! I am sure tonight with be an extra special time with him but then it is done…until his replacement is found.”
March:
“In my restaurant today are the following chefs, all prepping for La Paulee: Thomas Keller, Michael Mina, Chris Kostow, Romain Chapel and Daniel Boulud. Most other days my time spent in the elevator getting supplies during service is the best part of my day.”
April:
“So the final day of my externship was supposed to be a week ago today but instead was spent in the hospital. I decided to get in a bike wreck last Monday night and smash up my shoulder. I’m ok and nothing is broken just going to be in a sling for a few weeks. Not the ending I thought I would have but the externship is done!”
EXTERN LIFE 2
Next up on the SoRicey Extern Tour of America: Elaine Lau on the happy experience of working the amuse station at Manresa in Los Gatos, CA.
December:
“I started at Manresa about two weeks ago and its going pretty well. They have a ton of stages/ interns /new workers so I am constantly battling for the opportunity to work in that kitchen. On Sundays Chef holds project days in which two cooks compete head-to-head making six portions of a ‘Manresa worthy’ dish to be tried, then discussed, by the entire kitchen staff. I almost had a heart attack when my turn came around but I held my own against the fellow frosh I was matched with. I’ve also made family meal already and man, those cooks eat a lot - especially if you make them Asian food.”
January:
“At present I am being trained on the amuse station. I think chef plans on having me take it over soon when the menu becomes a full tasting menu. For the moment I make arpege eggs, a mandarin orange dish, garden beignets, abalone panna cotta, and foi gras flan.”
February:
“Work was a blast today. Amuse is always the first station done so tonight my amuse buddy and I made funnel cake for the rest of the staff and Chef Kinch until the end of service. After close we went out for a drink with the entire front and back of house crew. Chef was joking around and giving the cooks a hard time. I really like him — he is hella fun but also a great guy to work for.”
March:
“Made about 50lbs of boudin sausage today. The final product really smelled good but I ended up looking like I’d just walked off the set of a horror flick with pig’s blood smeared all over the belly of my apron from leaning up against the table to use the restaurant’s old school sausage horn all day.”
April:
“Manresa was really cool. I feel like I learned a lot and met great new people along the way. We even got Christmas presents from the chef – that’s how nice they are there.”
EXTERN LIFE
**My apologies for the lagging posts in the past few months. As it turns out, life as an extern is not particularly conducive to the creation of culinary school updates for the blogosphere.**
My externship at Sushi Ran in Sausalito, CA was much as I expected it to be - a difficult, often uncomfortable, but invaluable opportunity for growth. I learned loads, saw (and tasted) beautifully crafted dishes, and got yelled at. a lot. I was not unhappy to return to my CIA cocoon in Napa where spilling an entire baine marie of toffee sauce all over a high traffic area of the kitchen minutes before service results in a wagged finger rather than panicked scrubbing under the tear-inducing screams of a furious sous chef.
Napa greeted our homecoming with sunshine, freshly budding grape vines, and roses in full bloom. Alas, we must endure nine weeks of classroom time fidgeting through Nutrition, Food Costing, Restaurant Law and such before our true triumphant return to the Teaching Kitchen. In the mean time, a few of my classmates have kindly agreed to share their extern experiences, inscribed via Facebook update, to fill the void.
First up is Logan who spent 18 weeks loving life as a linecook at Herbsaint/charcutier at Cochon Butcher in New Orleans.
December:
“Sure feels good to not have to put on a dorky hat or miniskirt aprons for the time being amirite?
NOLA is pretty awesome. The food is tasty, the buildings down here are f*ing gorgeous and the option to buy booze laden slushies at any hour of the day or night is absolutely the best idea I’ve ever heard.
The restaurant is great, they’ve got me on saute and prep so far. Typical pirate crew, nothing but dick jokes and ass grabbing. I’m starting to feel at home.”
Januray:
“Held my own on a record breaking lunch shift without going down in the weeds once. Was offered a full time position with the company after I graduate. Made my month.”
February:
“Chef Lars didn’t mention a damn thing about how much I’d need to drink as a full time charcutier. Sure he gave us a good foundation and covered the basics in great detail… but damn… it takes a lot of whiskey to do this much butchery.”
March:
“My last night at Cochon Butcher was met with shots of whiskey, pats on the back and firm handshakes. My extern manual is done. I got a copy of Real Cajun signed by Chef Donald Link himself, and a free 4 course dinner at Herbsaint. I feel like my brain has been eaten by a Nutria. I don’t think I can top yesterday… ever.”
April:
“Woke up and was strongly considering having an Irish coffee at the Holy Ground, but was thwarted by the reality that I’m back in St. Helena… not New Orleans.”
The Bain of My Extern Existence. (Taken with Instagram at Sushi Ran)
