Domo arigato, Chef Masa. Our last week of this shift in the Garde Manger took on a wild and creative flavor as Chef Masa basically gave us free hand in what we wanted to cook and put together. Thursday saw the class free styling, as each of us got to raid the kitchen and make the most of what we could find. The lunch was large and varied, as Enju made us some kimchee and papaya rolls, Sandy rocked a delicious mango chutney to go with our pan-fried mahi-mahi, Jessica wowed us with a spicy frittata, and I helped out by tossing together a papaya/cucumber salsa and faux Thai peanut sauce. We also had leftovers from the week, so we sort of porked out. Since Thursday marked the end of our Garde phase in this, the second of three rotations, we had to clear out the fridge and freezer, clean the kitchen, and say goodbye to Chef Masa. It was sort of a sad afternoon, since we are all very fond of Chef's good humor and free reign in the kitchen. With Chef Otto still off the radar screen in either Thailand or Myanmar (nobody seems to know for sure), Chef Masa will be working in the Garde for the foreseeable future, so we'll check in on him now and then.
Today we began our second rotation in Chef Klaus' Hot Kitchen I, and I have to admit that I'm sort of happy to be back into a more controlled and cerebral kitchen, even though he told me I was dicing an onion like an old housewife. We eased into our cooking with an day of lentil soup, glazed potatoes, mahi-mahi en papillote, and poached pears with raspberry Melba sauce. I call it a lightly masked compliment that Chef asked if we'd be happy doing slightly more complex foods than normal for second rotation, and that made me feel as though he has confidence in us.
His exact words were "I'm tired of making the same old sh*t in second rotation, we're going to do some new things if you're willing." To which we agreed and Jessica voiced "Bring it on!"
We had an extended discussion with Chef Klaus about aspic and it's former and current uses. He agreed that it is not much used now except to (lightly) gloss or highlight display foods. The most interesting information he gave us was about the use of extremely heavy aspics in the 1970s for buffet competitions. Seems back in the day cooking competitions weren't judged by taste at all, just appearance. Teams would put together huge tables of amazing food art to be judged, and not a single thing was eaten or even tasted. Blows the mind. These days, while the appearance is still important, you'd better have flavors that match or outshine your presentation if you want to have any chance to compete. Thank goodness.
Wendy hosted her fifth wine tasting party and all went swimmingly. Great friends, excellent food, and some pretty decent wines made for a mighty sweet evening in the park. Sandy and Enju made the trip to Hickam to be with us, and Enju's husband John and sister En-something were great fun to have join us. A highlight of the party was a very difficult quiz on wines that most of us had trouble with (of the 20 questions, the best score was 10 right.) On a whim I posed a few of the tougher wine questions to Chef Klaus today, and he answered each correctly and in fact added commentary about the various flavors, colors, and growing locations of the wines in question, including clarifying an answer about the beverage Perry (Poire fr) that I found extremely interesting. It seems they hang bottles in the pear trees in certain areas of France and Switzerland with the pear buds inside. The pear (the variety known as Bartlett here in the US) grows to maturity in the bottle, is harvested, and the bottle is then filled with pear brandy. Expensive, but pretty cool.
The announcement has been made that the next Grande Buffet will take place in late August with a theme of Pacific Fusion. Our one day of mandatory participation has already been set, but most of us plan to work the entire week of the Buffet. I was able to score a couple tickets so that Wendy can come and enjoy the fancy-shmancy chow, finally getting a chance to taste some of the food I've been talking about these last four months. I got two tickets, but the kitchen schedule may keep me tied up, so you can all start kissing up to her in hopes of being able to join her for this most elegant event.
We were able to watch the Bram Stoker Awards (sort of like the Oscars for horror writers) streamed on the Internet last week. Wendy's brother Jeff Strand was not only the MC for the show, but a finalist in the competition, which he lost to Peter Straub. His previous two losses in the finals were to Stephen King, so he's in pretty heady company and I've absolutely no doubt that he will bring home the award in years to come. And Jeff...it IS an honor just to be nominated. Congrats.
Last week's viewings have put The Innocent over 1,000 views...That's about 900 more than I ever expected to get, so thank you all so much for your continued interest. I'll try not to let you down.
So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being. Franz Kafka
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