Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I am feeling better and so went to class this morning. Chef Martial is a very charming man, as is his assistant chef, Chef Eric. We all worked at a very large table, with cutting boards set up just like at Cook Street. Today we made Ratatouille, Bouillabaisse and Deconstructed Apple tarts. We spent quite a bit of time chopping celery, fennel, eggplant, onions, leeks and garlic. The Ratatouille was served as a cold appetizer. All the vegetables were sauteed separately then together, chilled and then put inside a rectangular mold to form a type of structure, then a poached egg was placed on top of it as well as a Rouille sauce. Great presentation! The Bouillabaisse was not what were used to, it was not really tomato based. A fumet was made, then the various fish to be put in the dish was cooked (separately) in the stock. There was monkfish, langoustines, very large eel and another kind of mild fish that remains unnamed at this time. We got to filet the fish and clean them. We had little bite to eat before we sat down to eat of sliced baguette topped with the meat terrine from yesterday. Very tasty. The only addition was the apple compote that was made yesterday. The compote really added to the taste of the terrine. Yum! Dessert base was a Pate Sable (a nut crust) baked in little round rings, topped with roasted apple (no sugar or spices added), with the apples being topped with sauce that was somewhat like a nougat, with almonds and pistachios.

The kitchen itself is quite large and I found out that almost everything including cabinets and appliances came from Ikea! Who would have thought you could get such a beautiful kitchen with stock materials? It is all very modern looking and Chef Martial uses induction cooktops and has a double oven as well as a blast freezer. We all sat down to eat at a very long table that seats at least 24 people. Interestingly enough, the chairs are aluminum! Tres bien!

After class was a wine tasting with a female sommelier by the name of Odile Pontillo. She talked all about French wines and food pairing. Alta and I walked home together but got lost on the way (we walked to the school each day, which is about a 15 minute walk) and it took almost an hour to get back to our hotel. The streets in Paris are not all well marked.