Day 27

Wednesday Day 27

Worn little to no makeup so points aren't deducted. Carried 3 bags with me: 12 pound knife set, bag of studying papers, and purse. Looking forward to hulling things from the locker today. I'm being sarcastic. 

I'm leaning and trusting on doing my best. The recipes are still floating around in my head, like why is there cream in the sauce and thickening agent in the blanquette de veau (veal stew). I'm on metro now.

Our team listened to Eye of the Tiger Rocky theme outside of the practical room. I was the last one to enter, so the Chef drew out my chip, the last in the envelope. Sure enough, veal stew. I walked to my station, apparently not fully knowing where I was supposed to be. A team member moved my carving board over, another team member said that I'm not there, that she was in fact there. So first off, confusion. It was a station I had not cooked on. Different burners, different knobs, and different oven. I was frustrated when I realized that the knobs to my burners had no numbers, no heat settings because they have been rubbed off. The numbers usually goes from 1 to 6. 1 being the lowest, 6 being the highest. 3 out of the 4 knobs were like this so I had to depend on the one and only one knob with the numbers to help guide me. Because of the inability to identify the heat settings on the burners, I let my stew sit there for at least 20 minutes without boiling. You see, it's supposed to boil first, then simmer for an hour or more. The 10 glazed onions (our technical dish, one that we had to do regardless of our chosen exam dish) were looking very grim. I guess I had placed too much water in it, so 2 fell apart. I thought the most logical thing was to use a couple of pearl onions from my stew and glaze them. UNTIL, I realized I had absolutely burned them. I was unaware that my burner was so hot. Charred. Ok, so my next thought was still to add the better looking onions in with my glazed onion dish. I didn't think that the burnt ones really weren't cooked thoroughly, just burnt on the outside. Regardless, I thought I had created a solution. My 200 grams of pearl onions for my stew was ruined so instead of 200 grams, I peeled and cooked 50 grams. It was all I had time for. Stupid stove knobs without numbers. Crap practical exam. I almost cried, imagining me quitting, setting down my utensils, and leaving. I got composure somehow, and cooked my stew. 

Goofing off after the exam!

Graduation tomorrow hopefully. And awaiting any message from school that I did not pass. 

I also placed myself on waiting list for intermediate. I can't believe I want more of this stuff. 

Went to the Pantheon, Place des Vosges, home, dinner at the Le Dome du Marais restaurant, then home. I love my new friends. 

Good, no email from school.