Exams might have snuck up on us, but it doesn't mean the adventures stopped!
The Basic Cuisine class of January-March 2024! This was after our final demonstration class and we went over some of the impending exam expectations.
This was the result of our final practical lesson, and it was definitely the most challenging. I don't think we've ever flown through a timed lesson so quickly. Paupiette de veau! Kind of like a meatball.
Packed up my paupiette to take home!
And we went out to our local hangout for a celebratory happy-successful-final-class drink! I even managed to convince the server to sneak me a fork so I could try my paupiette.
On our way to find some dinner.
Have you ever tried French Burger King? Mine came with a dessert.
The following day presented a new quest: find pinto beans. My friend came with me and we stopped for a ramen lunch. Mine was a "curry" flavored special of the day and it was excellent.
Unrelated to the quest for pinto beans, we had to stop in this chocolate shop for a few gifts, and I couldn't help but purchase a pack of three mini bars for myself. It was definitely noteworthy- my favorite was dark chocolate with bits of cacao in it to give it some crunch. Way too expensive for everyday shopping, but a fun experience nonetheless!
Re: beans. Our quest was a success because the week continued with a different sort of educational experience. I took a break from studying that evening and made tacos for my French friends! In keeping on trend with the difficulties in procuring beans in France that aren't kidney, I had scoured the city until I found a singular "Mexican" bodega the size of my closet. (For future reference it's up near the Moulin Rouge.) She definitely had corn chips and cans of refried beans, as well as real salsas and tortillas, but as for sour cream she could only advise me the closest thing in France she's found is "Crème d'Isigny". Can confirm, it's pretty close.
This was the spread:
Verdict? Positive. Their favorite things were the beans, which I had to explain as a sort of "bean paste with some added cream" (forget explaining what a pinto bean is, and my mom's recipe for pico de gallo (tomato, onion, fresh cilantro, lime, salt). Very mild, no spice. Everyone did try the store-bought salsas though, which had varying degrees of spiciness and those were generally well received too.
Never fear, the next day was back to studying. One of my classmates invited us to her home and everyone chipped into an international potluck!
Let's pause for a moment to zoom in on these two in the back. This became the groupchat photo for the rest of the semester. It's probably still there.
And after lunch we actually studied, I promise.
A final family photo of everyone!
The next day, my classmate and I buckled down to do some serious studying. We woke up early and caught a metro up to the Richelieu Library.
This was the entrance, but if you thought this was impressive, wait until you see the inside.
Even early in the morning it was already crowded. Luckily we found a couple of desks next to each other and studied with headphones on and heads bent for several hours until the call of lunch could not be ignored any longer.
Found a cute place still open for lunch nearby the library. (A lot of French restaurants stop serving lunch after 2pm).
And then deciding we'd had enough time indoors, we walked home.
Stopping for some river-side refreshments (along with most of Paris trying to take advantage of the warm spring sunshine. It was very breezy though.)
EXAM DAY!
Where we discovered our exam was "sea bream stuffed with sea bream" (I forget the official French title, because this is what my family referred to it as and it stuck).
We showed up, dressed in clean and ironed uniforms, with nothing but our knife kits. Chef assigned us random numbers (my kitchen partner and I were bummed we wouldn't be able to tag-team this one) and handed us a sheet with a photo of the dish, how we were to present it, and a list of measured ingredients. This was the final result!
I made one error and therefore mine didn't hold its shape as well when I plated it, but otherwise it was a success!
Happy little chefs!
My classmate brought flowers to celebrate everyone's victory.
And we went to lunch! I promise we had food in addition to those beverages.
And then some of us went back to my classmate's apartment to have an aperitif of cheeses and saussicon.
We didn't get our results until a couple weeks later. So we all got back together again to make the trek back to school, this time without our uniforms or knives.
We had to sign the book to confirm we received our certificates.
And just like that, I am a certified French chef!
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