@Shelovescake

The final week of Intermediate term before our exams! No tapering down for us; the week was as full, stretching and inspiring as every other this term.

Monday started with a guest dem from Noble Rot Executive Chef, Adam Wood. This is a chef you would want to work for: focused on creating a positive environment in his kitchen; and teaching and nurturing new chefs, encouraging and inviting their creativity. He wowed us with two classic Noble Rot recipes: stuffed squid with chorizo sauce and roast chicken, morels and vin jaune. We googled vin jaune with our newly acquired wine knowledge interest and found that it is similar to a Fino sherry in that it is matured under a film of yeast but dissimilar in that it is not a fortified wine and is considerably more expensive at around £7,500 a bottle. Expensive seasoning! The chicken is such a comforting and elegant dish – like being wrapped up in an extremely expensive cashmere blanket. The quantity of cream and butter used left us agog, which is saying something given we have already been desensitised to the indulgent use of those ingredients from two terms at Leith’s. Our afternoon kitchen session was an opportunity to practice skills we had learnt during the term. I picked ruff puff pastry in my continued quest to be as proficient as my mum; and sweet soufflé in preparation for our intermediate practical exam.

Blood orange granita kicked off Tuesday morning’s ice cream and sorbet dem. A refreshingly icy palate cleanser that focused our minds on our final teaching session of the term. Caz walked us through methods and theory for granitas, sorbets, and ice creams both stabiliser and custard-based. She showed us different churning methods, including the one we are most likely to come across in a professional kitchen: the eye-wateringly expensive and fiercely effective, Pacojet. We learnt about curing ice cream, of which I was previously unaware, but makes total sense. It’s the stage of leaving the cooled ice cream base in the fridge overnight to allow the flavours and textures to develop their full potential. A very necessary part of the teaching was to taste Caz’s pre-made examples of apricot sorbet, pineapple sorbet, mint choc ice cream and banana caramel and lime ice cream. The latter of which we were to make ourselves that afternoon. The kitchen session was a prep afternoon with a considerable list of tasks: prepare, sear and braise ox cheeks in an aromatic liquor flavoured with garlic, chilli, bay, star anise, stout and stock; make rough puff pastry pastry; prepare a chocolate truffle mix; and make the aforementioned custard-based ice cream. The session was long and the washing up considerable.

Wednesday morning I chose to skip the session about being a yacht chef, given that I considered the chances of this being a future role for me are vanishingly small. Instead, I made revision notes for the theory exam, cooked a curry and took a weights class. In the afternoon we continued to braise our ox cheeks whilst using our pre-made puff pastry to create a tarte tatin to serve with the banana ice cream. Low, slow caramelisation of the apples is key to success, plus holding your nerve to ensure they achieve a deep colour. A quick tuck of the apples into their cold pastry blanket, into the oven and a patient 25-30 minute wait. Mine was the first to come out of the oven and for some reason a gathering of people had collected at my bench, making the flipping out of the tarte considerably more stressful than required. Thankfully, she was a beauty: golden layers of crisp pastry topped with deeply caramelised soft apples. The round of applause, whilst embarrassing, was appreciated. The rest of the session was spent tending to our ox cheek, shredding it and compacting it, and reducing the braising liquid to a syrupy glaze to coat the cheek. Sneaky slithers of tarte kept me going to the end of another long session.

Thursday began with an inspiring and thought-provoking session with Chefs in Schools. Ensuring children are eating well and learning about, and how to cook, food is something about which I feel passionate. Chefs in Schools support existing catering teams to update their methods and menus to improve the quality of food served to children and encourage a more inquisitive and adventurous attitude about what we eat and where it comes from. I began our final kitchen session somewhat weary from a full week and packed term. Thankfully, the prep we had done during the week allowed the focus to be on assembly and elevated plating. We started by making a simple dough for our beef dripping flatbreads, before making a crumb, and prepping a parsley salad. We measured our bone marrow and cut a slice of ox cheek to fit neatly on top. The result was a deeply savoury and rich dish balanced by the freshness and piquancy of the parsley salad. Our final task was to shape and coat our chocolate truffles to present a pretty plate of petit fours. And that was it. Ten weeks done in the blink of an eye. A weekend of revision of fish filleting/souffle practice beckons.