Dy 23: Lard, Mixed With Fat, Soaked In Oil & Topped With Butter!

The day in photos...

Duck gelatin, it was stirred directly into our duck stock today. 

Tomorrow the whole thing becomes consomme. Duck is extremely greasy, I avoid it due to my poultry allergy. This week, I'll be glad to pack my lunches!

A French-Canadian pork pie that turned out successful even though we were riding the rails of failure. The crust is made with pork lard. The inside is pork, cooked in the same pork lard. Oh and there's some butter in there too.

Our sausages getting smoked in the back alley. 

We also did scallops and leg of pork.

No one has ever stolen the pork while class was going on, (we asked.)

I like this picture because you can instantly recognise who it is, as he's the only chef who wears his wedding ring all the time. He's showing us how to take out all the bones from a cornish game hen, while leaving the outside intact.

Black truffles. 

How can you remember where you were 4 weeks ago, when you've been rushing ahead at breakneck speed, only looking forward and never back? Well, you help out with one of the weekly after hours "foodie" classes. 

Twenty-four "foodies" came to learn something about cooking. Older, well-heeled clients. Mostly women. I took a position near two stoves and watched people with expensive knives use them incorrectly, they were afraid of the heat, they were afraid of the pan getting too hot, they couldn't figure out which dial went with which burner and consistently used the wrong tools for the job at hand. They weren't patient enough to let the pans heat properly, or let the food cook properly, or knead their dough long enough. In short, they were exactly how I was four weeks ago. 

Watching them, I clearly remember the mistakes I made, the fear I felt holding my knife for the first time, how unsure I was controlling heat. In the first week, Chef I came in and told us how we should hold on to the feelings we had and remember them in week 2 and 3, like walking around in shoes 3 times too big. 

Now, midway through week 4 in the foodie class, I can see how far I've come. Suggesting the ladies switch tools, or knowing exactly when and how they went wrong, even when they don't, I realise I'm quickly gaining new skills. 

At the end of class, they thanked me for keeping an eye on them and asked if I'd be there next week. I will be! (Unless my arteries harden into solid lumps and I keel over beforehand!)