Sunday, January 24, 2010

January 22nd, 2010 - Emulsified Sauces

So the first test was ok. I say ok, because I’ve now learned that water is not the same as cold water, and I have now memorized the derivates of béchamel. I did pretty well, don’t know my exact score yet but Chef Phil said that real chefs get a B+. So I’m feeling better about my mediocrity.

We made emulsified sauces in class, which include mayonnaise, hollandaise and béarnaise, the naise-s I guess. It takes a lot of manpower, pure upper arm muscle, to whip these babies into place and by the end of class I was hurting. That’s pretty sad, but I’m alright with admitting it. I may or may not get winded walking up the subway stairs. Whipping egg yolks for 4 minutes left my muscles on fire and my spirit feeling used.

Warm emulsified sauces require the use of a bain-marie, or a sort of home-made double boiler. On our industrial stoves we boil the water, turn the flame off, cover the pot with a hand towel and place our working bowls on top and begin the frantic whipping. With the stove’s pilot lights being dangerously close to our hand towels, it became commonplace, every 10 minutes or so, for half the class to start yelling “SOMETHING’S BURNING!” followed by a distant response, “IT’S ME, I’VE GOT IT.” Little brushfires were popping up around the kitchen, small wisps of smoke floating up from makeshift bain-maries, followed by frantic smothering and the smell of singed cotton. While it’s embarrassing to catch your station on fire, I feel worse for Chef, who had to taste spoonfuls of 24 different mayonnaises, and then 24 different hollandaises, plus another 24 béarnaises. Yuck. I felt like I should get him some shaved turkey on wheat and charge him $5.49.

At the end of the night, we rewarded ourselves with a yummy orange-liquor dessert, which involved pouring a sugary hand-whipped concoction on top of 6 perfect slices of orange, and then flaming the whole thing under the broiler. Due to a sliigghhtt oversight by D and I, we had to abandon our efforts and start from scratch, 15 minutes into the operation. Assistant Chef Cheyenne had already brought the ingredients down to the basement storeroom, and as the reality set in that we no longer had any ingredients to work with, the scene was unfolding before our eyes like some sort of war documentary. “Grab the Grand Marnier…get down!!” “Thereeee’s noooo tiiimmeee!!!” Near me, an orange peel explodes and I am dodging puddles of egg whites. I look down, and there is a crimson Grenadine stain slowly forming on my stark white uniform...I yell, “It’s too late!!!” Alas, we weren’t ready to give up, so we had to scrounge up some orphaned oranges and frantically juice them, use scraps of sugar and forget the whole liquor part entirely. We were so fast and precise that, considering we were very far behind the other groups, still managed to get our dessert in the broiler just in time! Victory tastes good.

RANDOM TIP OF THE DAY

Peeling your own tomatoes is easy and economical! Start with a pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice water. Using a paring knife, carefully core out the top stem, removing the small cone-like shape. Then, make a small ‘X’ on the opposite end of the tomato. Drop the tomato in the boiling water - after about 15 seconds, you will notice that the ‘X’ you created is starting to peel away, and the skin looks loose. Scoop it out and immediately drop it into the bowl of ice water. Don’t leave it in there too long, though! You can then take the tomato out and the skin will practically fall off for you, leaving a beautiful red flesh, ready to be sliced and thrown into your favorite dish.

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