Rekindling

The first day of July marked the 143 year since her birth. Everyone was dressed in red and white. The only red and white on me were my eyes. I was less than enthusiastic about the celebration. I headed down to parliament hill to try to get a glimpse of the Queen, by request of Ma. But all I could capture was a bullet proof black clad van that sped past my way. For the first time I thought the Queen to be rude. I left for Loblaws to get fruits.

After so long, I had my first pastry lesson. Chef Christian is amazing. The sheer experience of his many years of work shone so bright during the practical. He finished all the recipes in 1 hour 40 minutes. We were doing tarts and some creams today. The one above shows chef's strawberry black current tart, and the one below is mine. I see what chef meant when he said to show less cream and angle the fruits more. If I angled, I'd cover more cream and it'll look more modern. Right now, it looks like some miniature version of Carème's dessert presentation. Very old school.

The next one was the passion fruit and raspberry tart. This is probably my favourite of the lot. The tart of the fruit with the lightness of the delicate cream was enriched by butter to take it to the next level. The first is chef's and the second is mine. The passion fruit cream was such a fragile cream. I should have soften my butter more to prevent from over mixing. I should have emulsified the mixture with the butter before cooling it to a nice consistency. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, but it's just for me to mention so I will remember for future references.

A rustic tart. Pear flan tart. Caramelised pastry cream in a shortcake shell and pears in syrup. Simple and excellent. The vital thing to get right is the caramel. A degree too high and it will be too bitter. I might just try this some day. I was hoping to keep my dough scraps to make my own tarts at home. But later I realised I have more than enough tarts to go around for a week. There's no need for more sugar in my blood.

These are the works of my classmates.

What I want to touch on now is the lesson we had with Chef Christian. The MOF chef deserves nothing less of that title. He is truly inspirational. A rekindling to my already burning flame. He is a wealth of experience waiting to my tapped into. I'm so glad that after the first lesson, he is now more approachable. He is an exceptional pastry chef, a passionate lover and an eloquent businessman.

During the 3 hours that he shared his experience with us humbled me to where I stand in this industry. I've been wanting to share my cuisine with people. I wanted to make people happy with what I want to give them. But after that day, I realised how arrogant and blind I was. It's not about me. It's about what people want. It's about what people like. And what people want is more than just food. It's more than just sustenance. It's an experience deeper than the palate. What's on the plate should be an emotion. A purpose driven pairing of taste, texture, smell, colour and presentation. What I learnt that day will stick to me for more than just pastry. That day I rediscovered passion. I rediscovered reality. I rediscovered shameful ignorance.

Never stop learning. Never stop thinking.