Thursday, May 17, 2012

Day 2:Institut Paul Bocuse

Monday, May 7
12PM- Institut Paul Bocuse
      Coming into this program, I had no idea what to expect. I had my suspicions, my fantasies, but one thing for certain was that I was not expecting to be cooking in a castle! It honestly reminded me of Disney in Lyon, France. It was gorgeous at the IPB. In the front of Castle de IPB there was open grass that families brought their children to play at. This warmed my heart! It seemed so welcoming, so jovial, so surreal! My thoughts were that the Frenchies love to live in the lap of luxury!
I started my morning off with a very very little cup of espresso. Coming to France, I always heard these europeans love their espresso, but I didn't know how much! They love it so much, it's nearly impossible to find a cup of coffee! The little coffee, although very strong, upset me because I love starting my mornings with a big cup of coffee I can snuggle with. Unfortunately, I was not going to be able to find such, so the little espresso (3 times a day) really had impressed me! I was just imagining how the French act when they come to America and ask for coffee and get a huge cup- they probably are so confused!
                        
2PM- Let the cooking begin 
          I was so excited to get down to business in the kitchen ! Today's theme seemed to be seafood, because we made this shrimp custard and fish sausage- both of which seemed so extraordinary! Never did it occur to me that a custard could become an entree or appetizer, and a sausage to be fish! Another thing that astonished me was that no food went to waste- so much so the skeletons of the prawns were used to make a fresh seafood stock! Back at home, I usually make homemade vegetable stock with leftover veggies, but this fish stock was outrageous and made such a difference in the custard! And who would've thought to make a custard into an appetizer? AMAZING! Chef Patrick (the greatest chef in the world) definitely was impressing me on the first day of class and I was ready for more!
PS- everything here was gluten free :]

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