The last 2 weeks in the Cordeillan Bages kitchen have been fantastic! Ive changed posts and im now in the patisserie which for me is a different experience for me as i have only spent a few months in pastry at press club, and is something i definently doing some more work in a pastry kitchen in the not too distant future.
This pastry section is made up of 4 chefs, Jerome, Aurelien and Pierre are all of equal rank, and all are very skilled and unique in their own way. Aurelien makes beautiful macaroons, Pierre is a champion at hand made chocolate which I put togethor the chocolate trolley before every service, Jerome is so skilled that he makes some very intricate tuiles look like he can do them in his sleep. The 4th member is an apprentice named Clement, here like other apprentices on a stahje that will conclude in the next week where he will head back to his hometown near Paris.
I have been working on pre desserts with Clement recently and I have learnt quite a bit both about techniques and styles, but also my own tolerance for some things that i find are very intricate. Watching the works of Ian and Darren, the pattisiere's at Press Club I always knew that Pastry requires more than just cooking and understanding temperatures and conditions of the effect of a product (ex reactions of sugar, trying to temper chocolate in a hot kitchen), as Ive seen it takes a lot of skill, being articulate and of course, attention to detail.
Im changing post again and I look forward to my last week doing entrees and completing this experience with even more knowledge than i did when i arrived in this country. Im not looking forward to leaving France, but then again I am really looking forward to coming home so I can share my experience.
Ive just realised, that this experience is not about how many recipes we can get, budgeting a aussie dollar to a Euro, nor is it how many things we can learn practically from completing mise en place, its about understanding surroundings, environment, cultures, and the sacrifice to achieving a dream...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
getting started...
I knew I had to make a good first impression, so saying hello... sorry bonjour to everyone was essential to show the kitchen that us australians are very hospitable people. This is protocal amongst all chefs in this kitchen, as Jean-Luc the head chef setting the example. Once i met everyone i made acquaintance with the apprentices...
1st job, putting away deliveries - as the restaurant is closed monday and tuesday, wednesday is a big delivery day, I noticed that all the apprentices were taking the ingredients that werent that large, so I looked for the 2 biggest things I could see... 20 litre drums of oil, one in each hand and I was off to the dry store. It was good fun barging through doors and showing the french that we have what it takes to survive in this kitchen. The fruit and vegetable delivery blew me away... I have never seen produce be packed so perfectly before! There was only 1 type of ingredient in each box, nothing was squashed or cramped or even touching each other.
The kitchen setup is unlike any kitchen that I have seen or worked in. The cold entrees section is far away from a stove so temperature will not effect the product. Viande(meat section) and Poisson(fish section) are on opposite sides of the kitchen seperated by the flat top stoves. The pastry is secluded into its own room. There is a Mise en Place coolroom complete with benches, cryovac machine, thermomix's, robo coupes, juicers etc. Poisson has its own bench and sink also. This coolroom is where most mise en place is done and allows staff to do preparation during service as the kitchen this time of year is quite overstaffed.
Most chefs in this kitchen are here like us, doing work experience. EVERY chef in this kitchen is here for the honor of working for Thierry Marx. Some have waited up to 2 years to be able to enter the kitchen, some have come as far as Asia and most are paying Chateau Cordeillan Bages to work here. This is the norm across Europe. All chefs are provided with accomodation, and staff meal is served everyday at 1130 and 1830. I admire the apprentices the most, none of these 3 boys are older than 17, they are living away from home(usually bankrolled by their parents), working extremely hard as they are doing every job that all the more experienced chefs dont want to do, for example passing farces and purees, cleaning, and not being even near a stove or oven. However, they are living their dream and realise that their stay at the Chateau is life changing and wouldnt give back their sacrifice for anything. This is their mindset that is taught to these apprentices so early in their careers. Everyone in this kitchen is very passionate and committed towards the cause of working for Marx in his 2 michelin starred restaurant. I have seen this at Press Club but not to this degree.
The language barrier this week has been a challenge, ive had to call upon my training over the course of my apprenticeship in acknowledging french terms, the french language classes i participated in were handy before coming to europe, but mostly Brian the American commis chef who is fluent in french has been a massive help to me. Im not sure which is harder, trying to understand a frenchman who can hardly speak english attempt to speak it, or me, an australian trying to speak french with my aussie accent. The inevitable is I have to watch very closely when mise en place is being demonstrated to me, and try to pick out words that i know when the french are speaking.
The typical meet and greet, Q&A has been going on all week. I have told the french that kangaroos live in our backyards, and that koala's are drug addicts addicted to gum leaves. Something really interesting ive noticed is that i have never realised how international music is, the french hear english speaking music alot, so they memorise it... but dont understand what they are singing. Brian assures me that I shouldnt be alarmed when the kitchen breaks out into a rendition of ' i believe i can fly' by R Kelly. Apparently that song was a big hit over here...
My time this week has been eye opening towards the rest of our stay as well as the rest of my career. I have acknowledged and understood the emphasis on perfection in this kitchen but it is a long road to produce that level consistantly. But im not scared of that challenge i welcome it...
1st job, putting away deliveries - as the restaurant is closed monday and tuesday, wednesday is a big delivery day, I noticed that all the apprentices were taking the ingredients that werent that large, so I looked for the 2 biggest things I could see... 20 litre drums of oil, one in each hand and I was off to the dry store. It was good fun barging through doors and showing the french that we have what it takes to survive in this kitchen. The fruit and vegetable delivery blew me away... I have never seen produce be packed so perfectly before! There was only 1 type of ingredient in each box, nothing was squashed or cramped or even touching each other.
The kitchen setup is unlike any kitchen that I have seen or worked in. The cold entrees section is far away from a stove so temperature will not effect the product. Viande(meat section) and Poisson(fish section) are on opposite sides of the kitchen seperated by the flat top stoves. The pastry is secluded into its own room. There is a Mise en Place coolroom complete with benches, cryovac machine, thermomix's, robo coupes, juicers etc. Poisson has its own bench and sink also. This coolroom is where most mise en place is done and allows staff to do preparation during service as the kitchen this time of year is quite overstaffed.
Most chefs in this kitchen are here like us, doing work experience. EVERY chef in this kitchen is here for the honor of working for Thierry Marx. Some have waited up to 2 years to be able to enter the kitchen, some have come as far as Asia and most are paying Chateau Cordeillan Bages to work here. This is the norm across Europe. All chefs are provided with accomodation, and staff meal is served everyday at 1130 and 1830. I admire the apprentices the most, none of these 3 boys are older than 17, they are living away from home(usually bankrolled by their parents), working extremely hard as they are doing every job that all the more experienced chefs dont want to do, for example passing farces and purees, cleaning, and not being even near a stove or oven. However, they are living their dream and realise that their stay at the Chateau is life changing and wouldnt give back their sacrifice for anything. This is their mindset that is taught to these apprentices so early in their careers. Everyone in this kitchen is very passionate and committed towards the cause of working for Marx in his 2 michelin starred restaurant. I have seen this at Press Club but not to this degree.
The language barrier this week has been a challenge, ive had to call upon my training over the course of my apprenticeship in acknowledging french terms, the french language classes i participated in were handy before coming to europe, but mostly Brian the American commis chef who is fluent in french has been a massive help to me. Im not sure which is harder, trying to understand a frenchman who can hardly speak english attempt to speak it, or me, an australian trying to speak french with my aussie accent. The inevitable is I have to watch very closely when mise en place is being demonstrated to me, and try to pick out words that i know when the french are speaking.
The typical meet and greet, Q&A has been going on all week. I have told the french that kangaroos live in our backyards, and that koala's are drug addicts addicted to gum leaves. Something really interesting ive noticed is that i have never realised how international music is, the french hear english speaking music alot, so they memorise it... but dont understand what they are singing. Brian assures me that I shouldnt be alarmed when the kitchen breaks out into a rendition of ' i believe i can fly' by R Kelly. Apparently that song was a big hit over here...
My time this week has been eye opening towards the rest of our stay as well as the rest of my career. I have acknowledged and understood the emphasis on perfection in this kitchen but it is a long road to produce that level consistantly. But im not scared of that challenge i welcome it...
Monday, August 4, 2008
TOUCHDOWN PLANET MARX
We have arrived in Pauillac, Bordeaux safe and sound.
We are staying at Hotel de Paris which is 1km from Chateau Coredillan Bages.
Its a 15minute walk to the chateau and all you can see is vineyards on the side of the road. Pauillac is a beautiful little town, locals are really friendly and helpful but we do need to get used to business hours over here, except for cafe's/restaurants everything is closed between 12 and 2pm, but everything is open until 7:30pm.
We arrived at the chateau on sunday and met Jean Luc Rocha - head chef and the rest of the brigade. The brigade cooked dinner for Kate and I - a 14 course degustation in which we were quite full by the end of it...
I cant rememba every single course so il talk about the ones that im still salivating ova...
Our first rendezvous with foie gras - a combination with passionfruit and chocolate -this is my favourite dish and was absolutely amazing! the garnish was a passionfruit crisp with cocoa nibs on it, it was like eating passionfruit wizz fizz!!!
green apple and smoked herring - green apple sphere with smoked herring suspended in it was a fantastic cleanser - fresh, acidic, smokey...
pidgeon,rocket,fennel ravioli - beautifully cooked pidgeon sous vide, rocket puree made in the thermomix, it is so smooth that it was painted onto the plate, beautiful dish that married all the flavours well.
truffle,soya risotto - one of marx' signature dishes, chopped bean shoots in the bottom of a bowl, poached oyster, a slice of black truffle, and truffle air all ova the bowl. the spoon had been dipped in white truffle oil also. this one was one of theose dishes that you didnt want to end, and i usually dont eat oysters. Jean luc called it 'italy meets asia'
eggplant, star anise, basil - this dessert course was absolutely fantastic! Eggplant crisps, quenelles of star anise cream,and a lovely basil sorbet. Balsamic reduction on the plate just brought everything togethor.
The most sensational bread is made in this pastry section, we tried a sundried tomato facaccia, sourdough, and olive and oregano bread that almost felt like brioche(really buttery). The pastry also loves using liquid nitrogen!!! Something i will look into - all the glassware and cutlery were all incredibly light, crockery was heavy, and their were fantastic uses of little jars, glass bowls etc which all had a purpose and brought something different to each dish.
We where then in the kitchen watching the remainder of service... The dining room holds 25 people and it was booked out for the night. Watching the kitchen was a really good experience of what we where to expect in the weeks to come. All that was heard was the bamix(handblender), opening/closing of oven doors, Jean Luc calling orders and Mikhale the soux chef who was plating up. There was no dragging of the feet by anyone, the control and discipline of everyone was unprecedented to what i have seen before. There where no raising of voices, no bullockings, no smart ass comments, no one having a laugh or taking the mickey out of somebody else... it was strictly business. Mikhail was amazing to watch plate up, no hesitations, if he didnt like something he just re plated it. You could recognise very easily the emphasis on prefection and teamwork. If something was dropped the chef behind them would pick it up, no hassles, no questions asked, no scoffs or remarks either. Everyone was moving but service ran smoothly.
At this stage we havnt asked any questions, just watched and took photos werever we could get a good shot.
I promise i will find out what a GASTROVAC is used for in the kitchen... its this statinless steel pot with handles and a lid with a hose attachment attached to rest of the apparatus... i figure it either sucks or blows... il keep u posted
Looking forward to meet Thierry, we start in the kitchen on wednesday... im starting on the meat section and il be revising my french until then.
A Bien tot!
We are staying at Hotel de Paris which is 1km from Chateau Coredillan Bages.
Its a 15minute walk to the chateau and all you can see is vineyards on the side of the road. Pauillac is a beautiful little town, locals are really friendly and helpful but we do need to get used to business hours over here, except for cafe's/restaurants everything is closed between 12 and 2pm, but everything is open until 7:30pm.
We arrived at the chateau on sunday and met Jean Luc Rocha - head chef and the rest of the brigade. The brigade cooked dinner for Kate and I - a 14 course degustation in which we were quite full by the end of it...
I cant rememba every single course so il talk about the ones that im still salivating ova...
Our first rendezvous with foie gras - a combination with passionfruit and chocolate -this is my favourite dish and was absolutely amazing! the garnish was a passionfruit crisp with cocoa nibs on it, it was like eating passionfruit wizz fizz!!!
green apple and smoked herring - green apple sphere with smoked herring suspended in it was a fantastic cleanser - fresh, acidic, smokey...
pidgeon,rocket,fennel ravioli - beautifully cooked pidgeon sous vide, rocket puree made in the thermomix, it is so smooth that it was painted onto the plate, beautiful dish that married all the flavours well.
truffle,soya risotto - one of marx' signature dishes, chopped bean shoots in the bottom of a bowl, poached oyster, a slice of black truffle, and truffle air all ova the bowl. the spoon had been dipped in white truffle oil also. this one was one of theose dishes that you didnt want to end, and i usually dont eat oysters. Jean luc called it 'italy meets asia'
eggplant, star anise, basil - this dessert course was absolutely fantastic! Eggplant crisps, quenelles of star anise cream,and a lovely basil sorbet. Balsamic reduction on the plate just brought everything togethor.
The most sensational bread is made in this pastry section, we tried a sundried tomato facaccia, sourdough, and olive and oregano bread that almost felt like brioche(really buttery). The pastry also loves using liquid nitrogen!!! Something i will look into - all the glassware and cutlery were all incredibly light, crockery was heavy, and their were fantastic uses of little jars, glass bowls etc which all had a purpose and brought something different to each dish.
We where then in the kitchen watching the remainder of service... The dining room holds 25 people and it was booked out for the night. Watching the kitchen was a really good experience of what we where to expect in the weeks to come. All that was heard was the bamix(handblender), opening/closing of oven doors, Jean Luc calling orders and Mikhale the soux chef who was plating up. There was no dragging of the feet by anyone, the control and discipline of everyone was unprecedented to what i have seen before. There where no raising of voices, no bullockings, no smart ass comments, no one having a laugh or taking the mickey out of somebody else... it was strictly business. Mikhail was amazing to watch plate up, no hesitations, if he didnt like something he just re plated it. You could recognise very easily the emphasis on prefection and teamwork. If something was dropped the chef behind them would pick it up, no hassles, no questions asked, no scoffs or remarks either. Everyone was moving but service ran smoothly.
At this stage we havnt asked any questions, just watched and took photos werever we could get a good shot.
I promise i will find out what a GASTROVAC is used for in the kitchen... its this statinless steel pot with handles and a lid with a hose attachment attached to rest of the apparatus... i figure it either sucks or blows... il keep u posted
Looking forward to meet Thierry, we start in the kitchen on wednesday... im starting on the meat section and il be revising my french until then.
A Bien tot!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
+(164x93).jpg)
