Going International

I was checking Nuffnang's analysis on my blog's visitors. This week I have readers from 6 countries. Shocking. I never expected more than a few readers a day. This blog was created for my friends, just in case I don't get to catch up with them. But it's becoming a form of free advertisement for Le Cordon Bleu. Which I entirely don't mind! I think if anyone has a chance to pursue their dreams, there is no other place you should go.

Today I had a creamy lunch. I ate what I made for practical. I was worried that I was going to be the only one at practical today, Christian was almost late. Thank goodness he came in the end. It's already depressing for the class to be so small, one down with the sniffles. Today I made Filet de sole de Douvres Dieppoise. Result? My sauce was too thin. (Failure...) And my mushrooms took too much colour, I forgot to include some acidity while cooking to preserve the colour. I envisioned a very different plating last night before sleeping. The filets shrunk quite a lot after cooking, so I couldn't plate the way I wanted. Also, I wanted to include lemon zest for flavour in the cream sauce. Big mistake when I grated the zest directly into the sauce. The tiny bit of zest had so much bitterness. It masked the wine flavour completely. Fortunately I had time to restart my sauce, but I didn't reduce it enough. That will stick with me for a long, long time. (Hopefully I can have decent sleep tonight.)

I finished the madeleines from Tuesday. I can't believe I finished all the petits fours I made... But the recipe for the madeleine was good, and decent execution made it very edible. Addictive to a certain extent. I feel less guilty knowing that I gave some to Mr. Dee. Still doesn't change the fact that I ate at least 1.5kgs of petits fours.

I felt a little sleepy during demo. I think I should stop relying on energy drinks and have good sleep. Not for tomorrow though, I'll have one last can for Friday, then I'll have proper rest. Yesterday's carrot tournage, mushroom tournage plus posting on the blog, plus reviewing my recipes really took a toll on me today.

I felt lethargic during the demo. Usually energy drinks can sustain me till about 7pm. I guess I really need more than 6 hours of sleep a day.

So, les potages, which ones Chef did today? Cream of mussels with saffron, Crème de moule au safran. Lentil soup, Potage Conti. Potato soup, Potage Julienne d'Arblay. And the slut's soup, Velouté Angès Sorel. Angès Sorel was King Charles VII's mistress. Mistress is a nice way of saying concubines. I'm sure he had more than one. She was the favourite, the bottom bitch. But she did good in employing the best chef's for the king. Still, she's the mistress...

Today, it's also a day of many firsts. It was the first time I filleted a fish, ripping the skin off the dover sole was so fun. Hearing it come off the flesh cleanly, it's exhilarating. I also saw what chervil was, it's taste and it's smell and flavour. And I tried pickled ox tongue. Yes, tongue. In some way, I frenched a cow. It was succulent, and had a similar flavour to luncheon meat. A succulent texture accompanied my acidity (from pickling I think), then a creamy saltiness to finish once my saliva broke down the morsel. It's surprisingly good.

When I came home, I saw the Canada Post ticket. I'm was so excited to receive my first package! From Kun Jie! Thank you so so so so much for the Muji bag! I'm going to use it from now on, it's so nice! Simplistic clean elegance. My binder and my tupperwear fits just right. I'm all ready for school now. I can keep the army utility bag at home now.

I hope I can finish writing the letters in time to send my parcel back home too. I've been so tired when I come home everyday. I wanted to blog in the early evening, but I knocked out on the bed. I couldn't fight the sleepiness. So I had a nap, I feel so great now!

I've just embedded a translator on my blog. It's meant more for my chefs to read, for your reading convenience. The past month, I had 6 people asking me about Le Cordon Bleu. I think I should be entitled to something... But it's more than worth it to see more people take up the Le Grande Diplome Professional the next intake. 3 in a class isn't that exciting, but it's really intimate. I get a lot of attention. Today, in practical, Chef and I were just talking about my camera and his antique classic cannon. I don't know when was the last time I heard of a 4 megapixel camera. Then we talked about his daughter, somehow we always have her in our conversations. I think he has a lot of pride in his daughter. Ironically, I think she's more Asian than I am. She teaches korean, speaks japanese, mandarin. Oh boy... I feel so ashamed of myself. I should do something about my mandarin.

I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon. I'll be taking the bus down to Toronto, and it's King's Noodles straight away. I can't hold back my craving for roast duck any longer. Christian and I mentioned ducks while talking, and I can't stand it any longer. I need to eat duck! More to come tomorrow! Practical: Potage Julienne d'Arblay. Should be quite quick. I hope my soup isn't too thin. I'll just kill myself if it is. I can't afford to embarrass my Cantonese heritage by making a horrible soup.

Kun Jie, thank you so much for the bag again :)