Hi Everyone,
Last night we had our first written quiz. I walk into the locker room only to find my classmates with pages of written notes, spewing terms I hadn’t ever heard of. Apparently they took they review sheet Chef had given us and ran with it, viewing it as a bare bones analysis of what we needed to know. I took it as gospel. As it turns out, I was safe with my limited knowledge and the quiz went well enough. Chef gave us 45 minutes to complete it, but it only took us about a half hour. As of yet, laziness hasn’t defeated me.
We dove into the world of Gelatin last night, making Marshmallows, Panna cotta and Gelee. Gelatin comes in two forms, powdered and sheets. Powdered gelatin is stronger and more commonly used in pastry kitchens. Leaf gelatin is just weird- thin, translucent rectangular sheets that need to be soaked in ice water before using. How do you know when your gelatin is ready for use? “When it looks and feels like what you would wear on a Saturday night” says Chef, referring to Lycra or spandex. I can’t make this stuff up.
As we were watching Chef do his demo, we picked his brain for what cooking shows he likes to watch. He thinks everything is crap, basically, and says they are just doing it for drama, not teaching anything. I beg to differ. Ina, Anthony, Alton and Bobby have taught me much. But, the show he says, that used to be really good? TWO FAT LADIES (yes, that’s actually the title). I don’t know of many of you are familiar with Two Fat Ladies, but you should acquaint yourselves if you’re not (now it’s on the Cooking Network, not the Food Channel). The show follows two middle aged/older fat English women as they cook in their English Country kitchen and drive around in their motor bike visiting different sites on the English countryside. So English. So wonderful.
Back to gelatin. First we made marshmallows. My teammate and I made vanilla flavored ones, others made rosewater or orange. They are a mixture of egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, flavoring, gelatin and water, heated and then beaten until impossibly fluffy and sticky. Spread onto a baking sheet and let stand for two hours. At the end of the class, we sliced them and coated them with corn starch (to prevent sticking and moisture) and decorated some with chocolate. The texture- springy, light, chewy-looked marvelous, though I can’t swear by the flavor- I was told they tasted a wee bit “off”, but that they were “extremely marshmallow-ey.” I’ll take what I can get.
The Panna Cotta (think of milky, thin Jello) and Gelee (kind of like Jello- we made Caramel flavor) need to set up over night, so I can’t report on those as finished products. The marshmallows and panna cotta used powdered gelatin, the Gelee used leaves/sheets, which don’t set up as quickly.
Tonight we have our field trip to fancy patisseries and chocolate shops in lower Manhattan. Sure, it’s supposed to pour and be really hot, but I won’t let my lack of umbrella, frizzy hair or inability to sample any of the baked goods stop me from having a great, educational field trip. That and the fact that I will have to write a paper about the experience- otherwise I would cut.
- Food Network Lover and Proud
