28th April 2008…my son’s 5th birthday, and of course, an opportunity to do some more cooking, though this time more like good ole’ home baking. So, the birthday cake this year was a chocolate version of the classic “fraisier”.
All the usual stuff – sponge cake (square), crème patissière with butter added, butter softened (en pommade), strawberries, syrup (for soaking into the sponge cake – I did orange flower syrup, but whatever you like I guess…couldn’t really taste it anyway !!!).
The different stuff – raspberries (for in between the 2 sponge layers), dark chocolate (70% – grated into chips and sprinkled liberally on top of the raspberries), cocoa powder (for putting in the crème patissière and for mixing with icing sugar and then dusting on top of the finished fraisier).
So…..the end product ??!?
…..any problems ?? Well, since I dusted the cake with so much cocoa powder and icing sugar, the writing (it’s meant to say “Noé, Happy Birthday 5″) simply didn’t stay put, and thus had a tendancy to “slip”……but what the hell, I think that the end result is almost “arty”….anyway, my client was happy, which the important thing (and there’s none left as I write – 1 day later !!).
Ceci est une synthèse d’une journée typique au restaurant La Fontaine Gaillon. Vous verrez le début de la journée avec bcp de préparation (notamment des poissons, bien sûr….ici les merlans, les merlus, les St Pierres et le Cabillaud), puis le repas du personnel (souvent préparé par moi, et pas toujours la plus belle production du monde !!), suivi par la période où l’équipe attend le service et finalement…..le service !!
En l’occurrence, les images du service (au tour de 13h) ne démontrent pas la véritable énergie et intensité que nous avons connu 10 minutes plus tard (c’est pour cela que j’ai dû arrêter d’enregistrer le film !!!).
Yep, I’m nearly there….the end of my CAP Cuisine will be upon me in 3 weeks exactly !! That’ll be the end of the first step towards my own restaurant.
Well the first bit of news is that I’m not stopping there. The overriding aim of me spending 8 months doing this CAP was to give myself a “test run” to see if professional cook was my “thing”. I have to say that the CAP has totally lived up to my expectations – the school has allowed me to build up the basic skills and to meet other people embarking upon a new cuisine career (my fellow students), whilst the stage (Fontaine) has given me a good feeling for what life as a cuisinier in Parisian kitchens is about…..and I like what I see.
In order to take the next step, I have to postpone my return to Capgemini…which I have managed to do this week since I have been given the go-ahead by my boss at Capgemini to take 11 months off on sabbatical (thus my contract remains intact should I ever want to go back to work, which is a great form of security).
So where am I at with my plans for life after my training and how is my current work in Parisian kitchens ?
Well, first off, the Parisian restaurants that I work in….I am still at La Fontaine Gaillon where I finish my “stage” in just over 1 week. My overall feeling is that this is a great place to spend the 1st 4 months of my cuisinier career, but the underlying frustration of not actually “cooking” during the service never goes away. I’ve loved working with the fish and some of the fantastic other products, such as some beautiful green asparagus, the very fresh “italian purple” artichokes and the magical flavour of the sea urchins (oursins). I feel more confident amongst the other cuisiniers, and I’m taking part a lot more in the general “banter” within the kitchen…..but I’ve never been able to become indispensible for doing one particular thing in the team (that said, the whole ethos of the team is that if one person isn’t there, others absorb his work). When I leave I will miss the team, their unassuming expertise and the “buzz” during the service. I would have liked to stay to get to the point where I feel in “control” during the service….that I know follow all of the orders coming in and anticipate all of the moves necessary to complete those orders. When I left today there were 150+ reservations for tonight’s service….I would have liked to be there.
The new thing is me working in a restaurant in the 13th arrondissement of Paris – La Zygothèque, and the chef / owner M. Noel. For an idea of what dishes are concocted in M. Noel’s cuisine, his menu is available on-line. We’ll see what happens here…..the idea is to work in a small restaurant (30+ covers) have more opportunities to work on the hot plate / stove. I’ll be there tomorrow night (my 3rd time), so fingers crossed that I continue to work my way towards cooking the main dishes. What I can say is that M. Noel has a good attitude to food, products and the customers, and he likes to share….so, if I stay it should be a good learning experience.
As for my life after the training course, there are 2 things which have happened this week,
visit to temping agencies (boîtes d’intérim) in Paris to get myself signed up in anticipation of me looking for work from mid May onwards. Met 3 agencies yesterday, of which 2 were fine (Manpower and Adaptel) and 1 was an impersonal, unprofessional little lady. I’m not always great at selling myself (I’m always trying to improve this) and I’m certainly not good at being forcefull and pushy…so yesterday was an uncomfortable affair for me. But very worthwhile and I am now on the books of 2 agencies (of which 1 may be able to get me onto a 5 day training course with the famous traiteur / caterer “Le Nôtre”).
finalising the details of my 3 months work in Newcastle, working in one of Terry Laybourne’s flagship restaurants “Jesmond Dene House”. I’ll be paid approx. 1300€ per month for a 48 hour week, and I’ll have plenty of opportunities to work more hours if I want. A really great opportunity which will enable me to add another 3 months experience to my already 5 months (La Fontaine, Le Zephyr and La Zygothèque) from the CAP Cuisine. I’m thoroughly looking forward to getting over there, work in an English kitchen (with a French chef, though, who seems very good). The aim is to go to Newcastle in July, after having spent 6 weeks or so doing temp work in Paris.
So, all in all, I feel as though I’m making progress and that this desire to create my own restaurant in 3 years time is getting stronger and stronger in my mind and in my heart…..and what’s more, my family are becoming more and more involved in this whole cooking conversion !! The implications for me and my family of what I am doing and what I am trying to set in place are enormous…..
As I said in the title, one step for me and a giant step for the Family Quirke !!!!
Enfin je commence à “jouer” avec les produits de la cuisine moléculaire, commençant avec le phénomène le mieux connu – celui de la sphérification. Je voulais allier mon essai (merci à “G Detout” à Paris pour les produits dont je rève depuis un bon moment – Algin et chlorure de calcium) à un plat très traditionnel, sans oublier un petit clin d’oeil à l’Angleterre.
Donc, ci-dessous qqs images de ma tarte tatin à la rhubarbe et aux pommes, avec une salade de caviar de thé à la rose, menthe, mangue et coriandre.
Une réussite pour l’ensemble – surtout le mélange de coriandre (les branches, et donc bien croquantes, coupées en brunoise), menthe, mangue et les sphères de thé à la rose. Pas mal ! La tarte (et sa pâte) était sublime….vraiement ! Je ne suis pas sur que la combinaison de tarte et salade de caviar était une véritable réussite, mais, enfin,…..c’était “fun”.
J’écrirai plus sur la partie cuisine moléculaire dès que je commence à mieux maîtriser les techniques, par contre, la création de caviar est très, très facile.
Vu que nous (moi et mes collègues à l’école) commençons à sérieusement se projèter aux mois à venir après la fin de notre formation, je me suis dit que cela serait intéressant de consulter qqs statistques sur l’utilisation / la consultation de mon blog….chefsdiary.
D’abord, il ne faut pas oublier que je suis là (c’est à dire, présent sur la toile / le web) grâce à mon pôte Rob Gowans qui a géré tout le côté technique de la mise en place de ce blog…..au début “j’existais” dans mon espace “facebook”. Donc, merci d’abord à Mr Gowans en Suède !
Alors, comment ça va jusqu’à présent ? Eh ben, pas mal, j’ai l’impression……venez voir, d’abord, notre rapport analytique (merci à Google Analytics) pour la période octobre 24 2007 – avril 1 2008…..ci-dessous
nombre de pays : 95 (France 62% visites, UK 8%, US 5%, canada 4%, Suisse 4%, Belgique 4%, Australie / Esp / Inde / Allemagne tous 1%)
nombre de visites plus élevées : 158 (nov 21 2007), 120 (mars 26 2008), 105 (fév 29 2008)
Page le plus visitée : article sur le CAP de Cuisine (5% des visites)
Source des visites : le site blog-appetit m’envoie 45% de mes “clients”…..merci à blog-appetit !!
Nombre d’Articles / Billets : 69, dont 44 (64%) en anglais, et 25 (36%) en français….et vu que ce sont les Français qui consultent le plus souvent ce blog….peut-être je devrais écrire plus souvent en Français !!!!!??!
Ok, en tout cas, malgré le manque de commentaires (ce serait quand même bien de mieux connaître ceux qui consultent !! ), ça me fait bcp de plaisir à partager ma vie avec vous……alors, l’heure d’aller chercher les enfants !!! ciao, ciao…..
Dom – 9:22 pm 
), ça me fait bcp de plaisir à partager ma vie avec vous……alors, l’heure d’aller chercher les enfants !!! ciao, ciao…..