Taking this intensive 20 week course in Gaithersburg with L’Academie de Cuisine has been a dream of mine for two years. I cannot justify the time, the expense, or anything else about this commitment except to say that cooking is my creative outlet and I crave more technique and knowledge about the foundations of classic cooking. I also wanted a real chef’s jacket, a set of knives and an apron.
Fresh veggies waiting to be sliced and diced
Last night was our first class and I was a bit nervous, excited and overwhelmed by the prospect of embarking on this 5 month journey. I wondered what my classmates would be like (I still don’t know much beyond the fact that there are 2 nutritionists in class) and how the instructor would be.
I am a vocal student, choosing to sit in the back and then be very engaged, asking questions, making comments. In my college career, this has both earned me friends who wanted to study with me and the resentment of others who perceive me as a know-it-all suck up. I will cop to both but the bottom line is that when I’m learning something new and am excited, I can’t contain the enthusiasm for the subject and if I were to keep a lid on it, I wouldn’t be doing all I could to ensure I get the full experience of potential learning. I’m sure paying my way through school formed this opinion as I wanted to extract every dollar of value from my education and to suppress my natural inclination would be diminishing my experience.
What I learned: cooking is fun and I’m amongst kindred spirits.
During the demonstration portion, whereby Chef Brian Patterson and his assistants were joking about the pastry students, I asked if there was a competition between the two sides to the school. His response was that the cooking side is “a bunch of scallywags and pirates” whereas the pastry side has all the engineers and precision nerds. Awesome answer. I was reassured that I had made the right decision.
Knife skills. Nails down, knuckles out.
In our first class, we covered basics of creating three staple stocks: Chicken stock (white stock), Veal stock (brown stock) and Fish stock (fumet). I will never again purchase pre-made stock. I will likely be making stock and giving it as presents in the near future (you cooks out there, let me know if you want some and I’ll put aside some in a mason jar). I see a few trips to Union Market and the Fish Market for bones and herbs. I’ll also need to stock up on giant carrots.
We also practiced our knife skills. I’m fairly comfortable around large sharp knives but everyone can always learn more, right? I’m having trouble with the “nails down, knuckles forward” technique as I can’t see what I’m doing. Chef Brian, like Yoda, says “use the force” you don’t need to see. I’ll get it after some practice. The large carrots are for practicing my cuts: baton, large dice, batonet, small dice, julienne, branoise. It’s super cool to see such precision coming from my knife. Another skill to master is to keep my cutting board free of clutter. That’s a tough one for me. Work to the bowl. Anything excess should be out of the way and off the board. I took lots of notes. Yes, I’m a dork and I love to learn. This will be a fun experience, to say the least.
Chicks on Bikes 