H is for Humble Pie

Strawberry Napoleon - handmade puff pastry and
orange scented pastry cream. 

Tomorrow is my last and final day in the kitchens at FCI on Grand and Broadway.
Its bittersweet. I'm thrilled to be leaving for Italy in 5 days but I will miss New York.
This has been such a dream. I have gotten to see the seasons change, I have gotten to see the trees outside my lovely window grow green and light up the room with thier florescent bright color of spring each morning (minus a few rainy ones, but even those were music to my ears). It has been a delight, a pleasure and a total joy to know every day I am in the city of my dreams. My choosing.
Not only that but to be here to do something that is in my bones my blood my sweat. It couldn't be better. Accomplishing this much in 10 weeks, coming this far, having gained so much knowledge in such a short period of time, one might think it would be overkill, but I want more.
In a previous post I spoke possibly prematurely about the food culture here, having only experienced the tip of the ice burg. Because there is an enormous ever evolving culture of food here that has to be experienced to be able to even being to explain.  Although I still have yet to even crack this egg fully wide open, I definitely made a dent.

A friend and I were talking in class about this life we are leading now. We both questioned to each other, "...is this our lives right now? Seriously? How did we get so lucky" as we ate delicious morsels of food we had prepared that day in class. Spooning freshly made Almond Gelato in to our coffee cups, debating the consistency of a strawberry crystalized ginger sauce, rubbing sore shoulders post 30 minutes of zabione whisking, commenting on plating execution, development of flavor in a fig sauce reduction, topping tuna curdo with delicately crunchy Maldon sea salt, getting the correct crispiness on salmon skin, all the while learning and growing, becoming better and stronger forces in the kitchen.

This last week has been one of the best weeks so far. Not only because of what we made, which all the dishes, when executed to perfection, were sublime. But because it really pushed me to a level that, without this environment, I would never have been able to achieve on my own. So, I send an incredibly humble and special thanks to the Chefs that have given all of their knowledge and selves to us for the last 10 weeks. Chef Guido, Chef Haley and Chef Jessica, without whom I can assure you I wouldn't be in the mind set I am today. Thank you for everything.

Pere in Vino Rosso with Hand whipped Moscato Zabione

Speaking about determination, drive and dedication is a bit of a  habit of mine, but to be honest its more a means of me reminding myself to keep it up and stay positive. Even with forces out of your control. But those three chefs really kept me positive. The constructive criticism that each of them had for every single thing I presented, every single element on the plate; for each individual flavor, they let you know what to  tweek,  how to present a specific element on a dish, what to brighten more, what to develop longer and all and all serve up a big slice of humble pie for each of us, because everything can be refined. We are students, everything can get better.

3 Citrus Cannoli - Lime, Lemon and Orange with toasted Pistachios

There is a love and passion that goes into food knowledge and culture. I mean, we all need to eat, and some of us like to more than others. Some of us respect the art of cooking more than others, and others just can't hack it. For those who came to class everyday, ill prepared and for those who straight up didn't come to class at all, I don't know why they are here. There are a handful of us in our class that are truly excited about food, about becoming better, who actually CARE. To those of you I salute you, and you know who you are. The others, they know who they are too.

Sardines with Tagallini pine nuts, rasins and fennel 

Being a student in culinary school is more than just showing up, more than paying the tuition, it's about effort. It's about putting your best foot forward, and really pushing yourself to a different place and mind space. Reading everything you can, diving into a foreign ingredient head first. Asking smart questions of those who will give you smart answers. Going back to being able to take constructive criticism, and I say this humbly, I never received criticism I didn't agree with or couldn't learn from, and I also made an effort to learn from it. Others, well, they sulked, were angry, would pout and argue a point that was mute, because ultimately, they were wrong. That to me is just plain foolish. This whole experience is to learn from mistakes, so you don't make them in the future, thats what the Chef's are there for. They are not to be dismissed or mistreated.

My rant ends here, and I hope for those in my class who need and attitude adjustment that they find it in the next week, because I'm expecting a completely different world in Italy. A tougher world, in which we will be held to an even higher standard, so get ready for that kids.

Pan Seared Red Mullet with Pane Fritto scented with lavender
Asparagus, fava, strawberry panzanella with tarragon and champagne
vinaigrette 

Last night I catered with Nobu 57 at a charity event  for 750 people held at the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art in NYC). First of all, that was exciting in and of itself, but to top it off, Robert Di Nero and Bruce Springsteen quite possible ate food that I plated, among other "celebrities" which were just a wall away seated in the pristinely decorated lobby of the MOMA.

It is nights like that which remind me why I love to cook. People thrive on getting to eat the food of chefs who they respect. People pay great dividends of hard earned money to sample just a little bite of something that has been manipulated by that chef. We are an instrumental part of this world, of parties, of gatherings , of small tables, of dim lighting and ambience. Each day I see a dish or ingredient I have never seen of thought about before I get excited, I learned something new.

Each day I am humbled to know that I have so much more to learn, and I cannot wait to do so.

I also can't wait for you to taste my food.

PS - All of the dishes featured here are what I have made in the past few weeks in class (just one or two of a succession of over 30 different dishes probably. ) Wish you could have tasted them, they were all unbelievably delicious.

G is for Good Grief Girl and Greatness.

Its been a while. I know you're thinking "Good Grief Girl". It's been a while because I have been in school. A school that not only demands greatness, but demands great food and a quality in excellence that can only be described as demanding. In the best way. It is something I have always demanded for myself.

If one is thinking of joining the ranks of my fellow culinary students, you had best be ready for a wake up call. This is no walk in the park. However, for me at least, it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I wake up everyday alive with ideas and raring to go. Get my notes together, throw the most weather appropriate outfit on and head for the train. Upon arrival change as quickly as possible into "the uniform" (which are rather cute) and hurry to my food fate for the day.

   It sounds like a lot of rushing here and there, but the pace is what keeps me going. This lifestyle is not for everyone, which is why culinary school is a career choice, not typical as in college. You can choose if you want to major in pastry, lets say, but you can't choose your schedule. 

I for one, personally recall not taking some classes because they were late at night or really early. So,believe you me, those who haven't gone to college, or for that matter didn't finish, have been struggling with the timetable. Not to say that having gone to college is a measuring stick for everyone who walks in the door, but it is a formidable growth period in which respect is learned as well as organizational skills. 

As for greatness, there are few who achieve it. Artistically speaking you have your Monet, Gauguin, David, Chagall and  then of course Rodin, Picasso, Renoir and DaVinci (tip of the ice burg really). But to achieve greatness in the food world, well, it can be as if one is living up to the ranks of these great artists.I find myself recalling names of chefs like they painted the Mona Lisa. Instead of a brush stroke on a canvas, is a drizzle of some kind of reduction that just ever so delicately beads up on the plate. 

   I may sound silly, but a true chef has to be an artist to some degree. There is balance and harmony in food that is achieved through a very thorough searching of the senses. I am currently reading, among many other things, The Marchesi Co de. Gualtiero Marchesi, the founder of the school I will be attending in Italy, ALMA (and in less than a month!) writes about food the way that I want my inner dialogue to sound. As I am reading it I find myself  agreeing and even wondering if I was channeling him all along. 

For example.  While sitting at the Delancy/Essex JMZ stop over the weekend, sweating profusely, for the first time hating the subway and wishing that humidity was something God left off his list of things to do, I read this passage: 

      "The first duty of a cook is in any case to cook healthy foods, thus satisfying the physical demands of those who eat his food. The purpose of technique in the transformation of a given raw material in the kitchen is to reconcile artistic intention with the maximum digestibility....

       Technique must remain an instrument: when it becomes ostentation, it gets the upper hand and interferes in cuisine...technique must not prevail over art, which is a quest for emotion and beauty."

- Gualtiero Marchesi

 The book is thus far astounding. I devour each word. This man, who I can say in the very near future, I will have some kind of distant connection to, is a genius. I am so proud to have read this book. So, once again, a huge thanks to Chef Haley Stevens. 

 Many tests have come and gone, many a weekend of frolic has flitted away into a distant past. My birthday even went by in the blink of an eye. The city stirs with energy and life everyday, and I'm in it. Corny? Yep. Great. Yep.
But greatness, not quite there yet. Maybe someday.