We’re back! The summer break is over and I hope everyone who has been following the blog from last spring is ready for more action. My normal schedule is a little upside down this week. I can’t make my regular Thursday ‘day’ class, so to avoid missing the material I attended the Monday night class (4:30p until about midnight).
I’m using cool picture galleries now. If you click on the maps above, you can see a mini slide shows of French maps.
Chef J, an executive chef at a local hotel, teaches this night class and she was great. The topic: the first of a series on Classical French. For our extensive French education, we’ll have 3 weeks of classical, 3 weeks of Haute (“high”) cuisine, 2 weeks of garde manger, 2 weeks of Nouvelle and 2 weeks of fusion. This is all in addition to the weeks of provincial studies (see tomorrow’s notes).
Classical cooking is more demanding and precise. Sauces are the hallmark of the food. It is rarely subtle, but food is not smothered in sauce. Sweet and sour are never put together. Raw foods (like salads) are not common.
Remember to season food separately, then combine. Wine pairing is important. Portions are small and never piled on. This discipline honors the food. The cooking is so precise that if you name a recipe, any chef can make it because there is just one way to classically make a given dish. It’s about elegance and the flavors are never powerful (i.e. never lots of garlic).
The food is about perfection, delicate and meticulous.
Buzz words/phrases to know about classical:
> sauces are the hallmark
> sweet and sour never combined
> demanding, precise and elegant
> flavor, color and texture are important
> food never piled high
> plate temp should match the food ( hot food on hot plates, cold food on cold plates)
The French imported wines from Romans before they grew their own grapes.
In medieval times:
> 2 meals a day were the norm
> drinks: milk in the north, wine in the south
> salt, sugar and spices for the aristocracy
> monks and clergy got the best food
> salt and spices kept under lock and key
> birds stuffed with other birds (look of food more important than taste)
Food was eaten in barbaric ways until the 15th century when Catherine deMedici of Florence, who married a French king, brought ‘civilization’ to France. She brought educate and rules of dining from Italy. Fork, silverware and utensils, plus ballet, crystal and ice cream. Also, foie gras, puff pastry.
The end of the 14th century brought advancement of cuisine.
Taillevent: his book, Le Viandier was the 1st French cookbook. Almonds and almond milk used alot. Viande meant all food. Today, usually means meat.
Seafood and fish not common. Milk, eggs, cheese very important. Spiced heavily to disguise the fact that food was often stale.
They would boil meat before roasting, sugar fish, chopped and mashed foods. Looks more important than taste. They’d use swans, peacocks and pigs for food. Hardly any vegetables.
Taillevent tried to record what we do with food. Certain rules. His food was primitive and not very good. Barbaric.
Clarification: turns stock into consumme.
Steps to make duck stock:
bone out duck
caramelize bones (veal bones can be added, good due to their high gelatin content)
cut carcass into pieces
roast until brown (not burnt)
transfer to stock pot
deglaze roast pan with H2O
add deglazings to pot
tomato paste for color
bouquet garni
boil a few minutes and reduce to simmer
skim skum
simmer a long time
when skum stops, add veggies
7-8 hours
strain
thoroughly chill and defatten
A consumme with gelatin = aspic.
Consumme: clarified stock, well flavored, fat free.
Albumin in egg whites and shells gather fats/impurities to clarify. Brings impurities together into raft. Remove the raft. The raft removes some flavor, so add meat/flavorings.
For the raft, be sure to cut the veggies small (brunoise or robo coup) so they’re light enough to float up.
For consumme, the whites are not beaten, just broken up. Whites coagulate at 145 degrees.
When stock added to raft, it should be luke warm (not hot and not cold). The raft is added to a dry pot (no fat).
Pour the warm stock over it.
Stir.
Heat to medium.
Constantly stir to avoid whites sticking to bottom.
When you reach a fast simmer, the bubbles drive the raft to the surface
Do not hard boil or the raft will break
Use a tall narrow stock pot as opposed to a short wide pot.
The raft may need to cook for as long as 45-60 minutes.
Break the raft and ladle out the consumme through 4 layers of cheesecloth in a chinoise.
1 egg white and shell for every 4 cups of stock.
Double consumme is extra strong and is double clarified.
Sauces add flavor to dishes and are the mother sauces are:
ROUX BASED: EGG BASED:
Bechemel: mil or cream Hollandaise: butter with acidic reduction
Veloute: chick or fish stock egg is cooked/warmed
Espagnole: veal or beef stock Mayo: egg is raw, with oil and vinegar or lemon j.
** Palloise = mint hollandaise
Mayo: aioli = garlic, remolade = mustard, capers, onions, herbs (similar to tarter sauce)
See sheet for entire list of small sauces.
Harold McGee is a food chemist and writes interesting books on the topic.
I made an orange genoise dessert. Looks cool, though it falls apart when cut to be served. Quite tasty.