Green Days

Days 81 and 82

Arugula. Frisee. Mache. Greens are taking over my life.

The first (official) two days of Level 5 I spent making salads at the garde manger station. Monday it was a chicken salad, today it was a seasonal salad. Too bad the orders weren't flying in—I spent more time prepping for the dishes than actually making them for customers.

It's OK, though. I know the time will come when I'm completely overwhelmed with dishes. Tomorrow is a start: I'm on escargot duty, which is one of the more popular appetizers. I'm crossing my fingers for at least a handful of orders.

I'm just hoping the day doesn't move at a snail's pace.

I was awoken from the slow day—ahem, days—post-class when I attended my second demo with Jacques Torres. He showed the students how to make croissants, pain au

chocolat and rum cream-filled brioche doughnuts. Amazing. Seriously, his movements are so fluid, you can tell he's been doing this for years.

When I arrived in the culinary theater, a camera crew was camped out. Apparently, they were filming a Jacques Torres iPhone app and the audience was part of it. Now that's a first for me.

Just wish there was an app that would magically write my menu project...

Sweet Deal

Day 54

One of the coolest things about culinary school, in my opinion, is the caliber of people that are brought in to conduct demos. Whether you're into baking, molecular gastronomy, sustainability or mixology, there's somebody for everyone.

Even though I'm in the classic culinary arts program, I find most demos entertaining. I love learning new techniques and familiarizing myself with a category about which I know nothing.

Today, I was fortunate to watch Mr. Chocolate himself—Chef Jacques Torres—in action. He showed the audience how he makes sweets other than his famous chocolates, such as shortbread cookies, apple tarts and beignets.

Chef Torres is a riot. He's entertaining (he repeatedly sang a riff from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" as he was working), but he's also a master at pastry. He doesn't come across as pompous like other prominent chefs I've met, even though he was the youngest to acquire the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Pastry Chef of France), was a James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year, and had his own show on Food Network. It's always nice to see that genuine people still exist despite overwhelming success.

There's nothing worse than when somebody sweet turns sour.