Well, I can say I made it through the first day of Level 3, but I can't say I walked away unscathed.
Here's how this level works: Every week comprises four recipes from a different station in the classic French kitchen brigade (poissonnier, saucier, patissier and garde manger), which are rotated among a four-person team. Each person is responsible for one dish—for now, at least.
I was assigned poissonnier, which meant I handled all fish preparations. The dish was sauteed skate wing with brown butter, capers, lemon and croutons. If you're not familiar with skate, it's a cartilaginous fish that looks similar to a stingray. It's filleted much like a flat fish (i.e. flounder) but I found it to be trickier—and definitely disgusting. A layer of sticky slime coats its body, and barbs run the perimeter of the fish. Even after wearing gloves for protection, a barb went right through my finger and ripped off the top of the latex.
Ouch.
After a trip to the first aid box, I moved on and finished the job. The sauce turned out well, as did the potato accompaniment (a vapeur-size tournage). However, my fish could have definitely been more golden. Overall, not too bad, though—especially considering all the stress of the unexpected.
In addition to the four main dishes, each team is also required to make an amuse bouche (a bite-size hors d'oeuvre also known as a canape). A list of available ingredients is written on the dry-erase board in the morning, and we can use those plus whatever else is in the room. We presented a poached quail egg on a bed of amaranth, topped with hollandaise, parsley and fish roe. That's what I call love on an Asian spoon.
Post-class, I headed to the Park Avenue Armory to volunteer for the StarChefs International Chefs Congress. There wasn't much work to be done since the event ended by 5 p.m., but it was well worth the trip: I was able to meet one of my idols and fellow Clevelander, Michael Ruhlman.
It was a ray of light to a helluva day.
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