Total Immersion

Days 47 and 48

To sous-vide or not to sous-vide: That is the question.

During the past two days, our class has been learning about the cooking method that uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below the boiling point. Meaning "under vacuum" in French, sous-vide maintains the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at low temperatures.

Although the technology has been used overseas for years, it is relatively new to the U.S. Most restaurants don't have the machines because of their cost and regulations. (Botulism can result if not used carefully—probably something a business doesn't want associated with its name.)

Restaurants can, however, participate in low temperature cooking without worrying about rules. The chef showed us food prepared by both low temperature and sous-vide cooking.

Our class won't be doing much with these methods until Level 5, but it was a good introduction to something with which I haven't had much—if any—experience.

Besides the cooking methods, we stuck to our regular schedule and each prepared a different dish on our respective teams. Yesterday, I made the chicken grandmother-style (a roasted bird accompanied by bacon lardons, pommes rissole, caramelized pearl onions and sauteed mushrooms); today I was in charge of the lemon tart. Both dishes turned out well, with minor adjustments here and there.

No big fixes necessary this week. Then again, I haven't had to make consomme.