Week 1 (Basic Patisserie)

What a first week!

We started out on Wednesday morning with a lecture on Health and Safety in the kitchen and then in the evening a wine lecture followed, with a couple of wines to taste. Not a bad start!

Thursday we finally got into the kitchen, but not before the demo class. It introduced us to how things work, what was in our knife kits (they are amazing...and razor sharp!), told us horror stories of other students' first attempts at using the knives and them promptly showed us how to make a spice infused sugar syrup. We were also told of the 11 stages of sugar syrup and their corresponding temperatures (think we're expected to remember about 5/6 if not more!), but most worryingly we were shown how to test the stages of the syrup without a thermometer...by plunging our fingers into the boiling syrup and seeing whether it made a thread, soft ball, hard ball or had a crack. Needless to say we were all feeling a bit apprehensive about that bit! We were also shown how to cut up fruit and assemble a fruit salad. I can honestly say that I've never written so many notes on how to make a fruit salad in my whole life - it's like I'd never cut an apple before!
The practical came around in the evening and we FINALLY got into the kitchen. Making fruit salad has never been as stressful! it came out well though, even though the syrup was slightly too sweet. This lesson was mostly about getting used to our knives and avoiding cutting ourselves - which luckily I've managed to do so far! The best part about the lesson though was dipping our fingers in the sugar syrup - which was boiling at over 100 degrees C! We had to hold our fingers in iced water until they started to go a bit numb and then very quickly grab some of the syrup and back into the iced water, and see whether we could roll it, pull it or crack it! We managed to feel 4 of the stages - thread, soft ball, hard ball and crack, and didn't feel anything or get a single burn. The kitchen is going to take some major getting used to, not only do we have to make everything, but also clean down (no problem there), but also set up for the next class - however we don't know where anything is!

I forgot to take a picture before boxing it up, but there's only so much you can do with a fruit salad!

Friday was a bit of a change of pace, we had our demo and were shown three different types of meringue (French, Italian and Swiss) and creme patissiere, followed by three further pastry creams (creme mousseline, creme chibouste and creme diplomat) you make with creme pat as the base, and finally creme chantilly! We were then told we had to reproduce the swiss meringue, the creme patisserie and then (working in pairs) one each of the three pastry creams, and the creme chantilly. Quite a lot! especially considering some of us have never been in a professional kitchen before! That said, the point of the lesson was to get us used to recipes that will form the base of lots of dishes going forward, and also different techniques and piping. It's so nerve-wracking in the kitchens, getting used to how everything works and where everything is, and remembering to tidy your station (must get better at that!). Not only that but trying to remember everything you'd seen in the demo and how to do everything. I'm sure I could do better at home, but at the same time a few more practicals should hopefully get me a lot more comfortable in the kitchen and used to how everything works (which should see an improvement to where I want to be...hopefully!).

Swiss meringues on the left and creme chantilly on the right. I made the creme diplomat which ended up being a little loose, but nothing a bit of practice won't improve on...much like the piping!

We've been working together in pairs on various dishes during the practical lessons, and I've been really lucky to be put in a group with some great people. It really helps make the practicals that bit more enjoyable. The staff at the school have all been great - especially the guys that wash the pots and pans as you finish with them and grab more to dirty, they must have a lot of patience, and I'm sure everyone is extremely grateful for the brilliant work they do. The chefs have all been great as well, they've eased us in and been really helpful...although that still doesn't take the pressure off wanting to please them!

It was a lot of information to take in, it feels like a tidal wave has hit and we're expected to memorise it all - I have to confess to feeling a little overwhelmed going home on the bus and wondering what I'd let myself in for over the next couple of months in Basic Patisserie itself, let alone the other 6 months after it. Luckily though when I started to go through it in my mind Saturday morning, on the early bus into London, I realised I'd absorbed and remembered more than I thought!

Saturday saw us in the classroom all day learning about food safety and how things get contaminated and various types of bacteria gets spread - ultimately culminating in us doing a test so we could all get the food handling safety certificate. A test in week one was a bit of a shock but luckily it was on everything we learned that morning so when the papers were in front of us it was fairly simple - with a fair few of the questions relying on common sense - not wishing to tempt fate! We'll find out in 10 days or so if we passed or need to retake. It was a good day, and I left feeling like I'd really enjoyed the first week overall. I know where I need to improve and practice, and on the bus home I even managed to cram in the last few stages of sugar syrup and their corresponding temperatures!

Getting the coach too and from London isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm slowly getting used to the alarm going off at 4am (on days where our first lesson is at 8am!), and then not getting to bed until nearly midnight on the days when our last classes finish at 9:30pm!

It been a full on first week, but very much ready for the second one now, can't wait for Wednesday to come round again and get back there!