Not at all Blue Spending the Afternoon Indoors – Monday, 5 October

Full house! Glad to see that LCB
is packing them in.

On this afternoon’s agenda was my first Le Cordon Bleu class for this trip!  For 45 euro, members of the public can sit in on the regular lecture/demonstrations that the fulltime students attend (there are 90 of these classes in their full curriculum) – they last about 2.5 hours, during which Chef prepares three courses, for which the students are given only the ingredients and quantities in advance. Chef explains the what, why, how, history, geographic origin, ingredient-sourcing, alternatives, special techniques, safety, etc. of the dishes as he is preparing them, then he presents them in individual-serving style, then everyone takes photos and the food is divided up among the students & visitors.  Classes are taught in French, but translated into English. The fulltime students then have a “practical” session later that day or the next day, in which they each make the same thing, are graded, and then take the food home or toss it in the garbage (horrors!).

The recipes

This was lesson #16 (of 30) in the Intermediate series of classes.  There were about 40 students, almost maximum capacity (yaay Cordon Bleu!), and three visitors. 

As I was standing in the staircase with the students waiting to get into the classroom,  I chatted with a young student from Japan. He asked if there were any French restaurants in Minneapolis, and I described the glories of places like La Belle Vie and Vincent (and a few others). Sure hope I didn't jinks things! Both of those restos are closing before the end of the year.

Anyhoo, on to the lesson of the day.

First course: Blanched, then sautéed green and white asparagus in a puff pastry case with a mushroom custard and an intensely-flavored sauce made from chicken stock, onions, leeks, lemon, cream and milk. Yum!

Main course:  Braised double lamb chops (from the 2^nd set of ribs, which aren’t as tender as the 1^st set, so they lend themselves to braising rather than sautéing) with potato medallions and leek “cannelloni” (very clever – the leeks are cut into long sections & cooked in chicken stock, then the outer rings are stuffed with very buttery mashed potatoes). Chef also demonstrated how to “French” the rack of lamb – quite an involved process – no wonder most of us leave it to the butcher (but then we don’t get to have all of the trimmings for a stock!).

Dessert: Individual chocolate cakes with a warm center and pistachio ice cream. Tasty! I particularly loved the ice cream, and it’s real easy to make (it's a crème anglaise base) if you can just get your hands on some pistachio paste.

Chef Fabrice Bruto taught this class.

This is a great way to spend half a day in Paris! I attend at least one class each trip, and haven’t been disappointed yet – I always learn something new and get a taste (albeit a tiny one) of some deeeelicious things.

http://cordonbleu.edu/paris/home/en

So I became a little more "Bleu" this afternoon but not at all blue at spending the afternoon indoors. Besides, it was raining!