School is done, and what a different feeling it is to be completely finished, rather than just completing part one of a sequel.  I admit, the past few weeks were so intense and demanding, my frustrations got the better of me – I was snapping at people, grumpy…miserable.  I think what kept me sane enough to function was talking with friends that were alumni…they just kept reminding me “Enjoy it while your in it, you’ll never get it back” and “When your finished, it will take a bit, but it’ll all start to sink in and you’ll be amazed when you look back at everything you’ve learned.”  I pfffed it all…but you know, they were right.  

Most of my grumpy disposition can now be attributed to my catching a bad flu bug that was going around – yep, sick as a dog just in time for the last week of school, when ALL the big projects and assignments are due, not to mention my last lab!  But still less than a week out, and reflecting what I was exposed to and absorbed over the last two years…it’s all pretty incredible and just sinking in.

Beyond cooking, there’s this secondary set of skills you just happen to develop (is it by chance, or was it masterminded?) that are actually crucial in an intense and fast paced kitchen environment.  Sometimes I think these secondary skills are just as important as learning to wield a chef’s knife.  Time management, multi-tasking, efficiency, perseverance, organisation…there’s a myriad of skills that every course requires you to develop some proficiency at, or you will not succeed.  Some of us already had these skills and they just needed some honing and others had to develop them from scratch.  But the point is, if you’ve made it through the Stratford Chefs School, you have developed the skill set required to make it out there, not just as a cook in the kitchen, but as a budding Chef. 

The enthusiasm of our graduating year is something even Chef Steele commented on, in a positive way at our farewell luncheon.  Our year had enthusiasm and focus (those were his words!).  This was such a compliment, and not unwarranted.  Less than a week out, and already a couple of students have flown out to Denmark to stage at Noma, the #1 restaurant in the world.  Another student is getting geared up for a five-week stage at Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California.  Several more are staging at Michelin starred restaurants in Amsterdam, Italy, France…and for those that aren’t travelling or staging, most already have jobs lined up.  Enthusiasm?  Most definitely! 

Even though the school year is over, we still have graduation in June as our last chance to come together as the graduating class of 2011 to say our farewells to each other.  It’s really difficult to come to terms with the knowledge that some people I’ve seen every single day, in school over the last two years, I may never cross paths with again.

 But I suppose that’s what social networking is for…what ever did we do before Facebook and Twitter?

But the reality of it is, school has gone into overdrive for the past few weeks, beyond what I thought it possibly would (November and December have nothing on January and February) and the whirlwind has quite honestly left me breathless. 

I’m finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel – as some of the classes wind down, breathings getting a bit easier again, the final assignments are being handed in, people are completing their last lab rotations…we’re finally in the home stretch. 

Pastry finals are over, so we met last week for Chef Bex’s sugar demonstration – lilies, roses, orchids – all pulled from hot sugar into ethereal objects, and sugar blown into uncanny likenesses of apples and pears.  I took a peek at the final “fruit and flower”  basket today as I left Rundles, and it was pretty spectacular.“ 

  The next class we’re doing laminated doughs – these are your danishes and croissants – the only problem is there never seems to be enough, as faculty tend to appear from nowhere when they catch the first wafts of croissants coming from the ovens (I can’t blame them one bit).

We’re moving into our Ethnic and Larder black box exams – it’s one of those things that I’m trying not to think about until they’re both upon me (mine are in weeks 15 and 16).  It’s a bit overwhelming for someone like me, who can’t make a decision to save her life when there’s too many choices.  I’m hoping I’ll have a couple of cuisine ideas in mind for Ethnic by the time of my exam, and Larder I’m pretty much leaving up to the Gods and whatever our instructors decided to pack in the box for the day…

 We have our final Gastronomy class tomorrow, which will consist of drinking hot chocolate, and have a discussion of how this year has gone for us and what improvements the instructor wants to make to the curriculum for next year.  And it’s our last wine class this week before our final exam, which if we pass, will give us our first level certificate in the International Sommelier Guild. 

We have the 21^st Annual Gala Dinner and Auction happening this coming weekend at Nota Bene in Toronto, which is a major fundraiser of the Stratford Chefs school.  It’s a huge deal for the school every year, and takes a lot of hours of a lot of dedicated people to pull off.  This will be the first time in two years I’ll actually be wearing my service jacket (shhh, I don’t know how I haven’t had to before now – but luckily it still fits). 

The students are divided into kitchen and floor staff to serve and work at the event, and it’s pretty much Riccardo Camanini’s last time in the kitchen with the second year students.  He heads back to Italy a few days before the end of the school year, and he’s been such an important figure at the school for the students, it’s going to be hard to see him leave. 

Oh, and in between the flurry of constant activity, I managed to make bread this weekend.  Did I say I finally killed my starter a couple of weeks ago?  Well I did.  I’ll lament over it a couple of weeks from now when school’s over, I’m sure.  But when I scooped it out into the garbage it was like a big responsibility lifted from my shoulders – no more guilty late night, sporadic feeds…anyways, the bread I made was from Max and Vicki Lass’s son Owen (of Church Hill Farms), and the method of using a dutch oven for cooking the bread was like an epiphany.  It holds in the humidity, no steaming required, and the bread comes out beautifully risen – I’m dying to try the method using other bread recipes and see where it gets me…

Last week we all finished up our catering projects for Food Costing class. Our job was to imagine a catering company for our groups (including name, logo and food style concepts) as well as a menu, which we then had to cost in entirety and submit with an accompanying food purchase order. It’s an imperative exercise, since as future chefs we will need to be costing and ordering for menus on an almost daily-basis. Like most things here at Chefs School, it wasn’t a question of the difficulty of the work, but the sheer amount of it and limited time frame. The catering assignment was originally to be completed for a writer-in-residence send-off to Ian Brown, but was then reformulated and rescheduled to be a reception for our latest visiting celebrity chef, Alexandre Gauthier… a week earlier than originally planned.

My group (or partnership with Josh Buckle) opted for the most difficult, time consuming and stupidly expensive method of completing the project – write every recipe from scratch, buy all of the ingredients, make every single item on our menu, photograph each dish, and then scale the recipes to serve 35 guests. After nearly 48-sleepless-hours together, Josh and I were pretty sure we never wanted to see one another again (he seems to have recovered to his jovial old self, while I’m admittedly still a little worn down from the experience). At the end of it, we felt as though we had given an amazing effort that just came up short in terms of over-all organization and vision. There were other groups that fared much better however. Four groups were named as finalists just two days after the projects had been submitted – ‘Lush’ with Margaux Whillans-Browne, Cierra Turner and Mary Pendergast, ‘5 Gentlemen’ (and one Lady) with Scott Deroo, Cory Mathany, Ciaran Tierney, Dan Ditner (who just welcomed a new little girl into the world – congratulations from everyone!), Chris Taylor and Katherine Puzara, ‘Hunger’ with Mark Dragasevich and Blair Chami, and last but not least, ‘Taste of Terroir’ with Kevin Peralta, Alexis Mackenzie and Eric Neaves. After all of the presentations and the announcement of finalists, I was thoroughly impressed and felt that the selections were fair and well-earned, as well as slightly relieved to find that I would not be catering a reception in the midst of week 12 madness (usually losing is just bitter, but I have to admit that this loss was slightly bittersweet). The winners were announced just a day later and I was not surprised to hear who won – ‘Taste of Terroir’ with Kevin, Alexis and Eric. Hands down, they had the most thorough, organized and well-presented contract pitch, so congratulations and best of luck with balancing all of the work in the coming weeks!

Another highlight of my week was working service on Friday night. It was Pilar Cabrera’s final night in Stratford as visiting celebrity chef, and she did not disappoint. Members of the media were present, as were most of the Chefs School faculty and executive body, as well as a few former students and friend of mine, Julia Wycliffe, who were able to make it down from Toronto for the dinner. For a peek at Pilar and the work she did while visiting, you can visit these two blogs, who have covered her time here: Community Foodist

(http://www.communityfoodist.com/index.php/menu-learning/278-pilar) Savouring Thoughts

(http://savouringthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/01/savouring-thoughts-with -chef-pilar.html?spref=tw) As Pilar wrapped up in the kitchen, Alexandre Gauthier, our next visiting celebrity chef, arrived for dinner and welcoming pleasantries. Although I have limited access to our visiting chefs as a first year, simply being around them and picking up on the vibe of the second years has whet my appetite for what is to come next fall. Oh man, do I ever wish it was second year right now. I’d give nearly anything for this last month of school work to be over and done with.

 This week we welcome Alexandre Gauthier, from La Grenouillere.  He is super keen to use as many local ingredients as possible in his menus this week, so he waited until he could visit the food markets in Toronto on Saturday before planning the courses!  It’s a little nerve racking in a way because we have no recipes or any inkling of what we’ll be into this week, but exciting all the same.  We all met his team today (himself, his Sous Chef and Business partner) and watched a couple of stunning short videos that showcased both his restaurant and food style.  Food porn?  Most definitely!  He explained a bit of what he’s decided with regards to the menus, and each day he’s purposefully planned a slightly more complex menu.  Figures my group has the Wednesday/Friday lab rotation!  It looks like there’s some sugar blowing involved in the Friday night dessert (shhh..).

 I’m looking forward to being back in the kitchen after a week and a half working on the floor in the labs.  It’s funny how much better you get at working the floor each time, even though we only do it every 6 weeks or so.

 This week we have two theory and one practical exam that sort of crept up on us, but I guess that’s what happens week 12.  It’s the last week of core curriculum and I guess our last milestone before the end of the school year!

This past Monday we had our first guests, Japanese Kaiseki Chef Hashimoto and his son Kai, come to demonstrate the art of Kaiseki cuisine.  Kaiseki is essentially Japan’s version of haute cuisine.  It’s extremely artful in its presentation, it’s a balance of delicate tastes and textures, and it relies on using only the freshest ingredients available.  Umami?  Oh yes!  And for $300 a person ($400 including paired sake) and a one to two week advanced reservation, you can enjoy a nine-course dinner at Chef Hashimoto’s, six seat restaurant in Toronto.  I think it was after I learned just how much a Kaiseki meal costs, that I really got excited about all of this – there has to be some insane talent and skill we’re talking about to be able to charge that kind of coin for a meal. 

Humble and soft spoken, Chef Hashimoto quietly demonstrated several components of traditional dishes while his son spoke about the skill and technique, and explained the cuisine in more detail.  We use peelers where they skilfully use their knives.  Peelers are thought to damage the cells of the ingredient, the pressure exerted bruising the vegetable rather than just peeling.  Chef Hashimoto used his knife to peel a red carrot, by first cutting it in several shorter pieces, than holding the carrot and his knife vertically, he skilfully removed the thin layer of skin as he rotated the carrot.  Do a google search on “daikon crane” and look at images.  You see that crane?  That’s a Chef Hashimoto speciality, and he made two for us as plate garnish. 

Mackerel prepared and simmered in a pot of sake, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce was awesome, and it sparked in my memory a similar dish I enjoyed in a Japanese restaurant in Taiwan.  White turnip soup with a little starchy rice ball as garnish, sashimi on a bed of daikon strands garnished with gold leaf.  Fresh wasabi (I’ve only known the powder and paste up until now!) grated on a traditional sharkskin grater.  An oblong smoked and dried bonito and the Japanese box grater used to flake it  (having tasted this, makes the stuff you get already flaked in the store taste like a shadow of what it should be).  Yellow miso paste like none any of us had ever before had – more sweet than salty if you can believe it. 

It was such an awesome opportunity to be submerged in the Japanese Kaiseki culture even though it was just for a few hours.  They finished up the class with a knife-sharpening demo, and asked who would volunteer to have their knives sharpened by Chef Hashimoto.  Of course we would!!  It was sort of funny to see Chef Hashimoto review the current state of our knives, starting with Shu’s Global that hadn’t been properly sharpened in over three years.  Jeremy’s Victorinox that he basically gave up using months ago and has been borrowing my knives on a daily basis because it’s beyond dull.  Nick’s ridiculous razor sharp Suisin and my MAC (I THOUGHT it was sharp, but apparently not). 

He started with Shu’s Global, a gentle chuckle escaped him as he realised the poor condition of it. (oops).  It was pretty funny actually.  He had to start it on the lowest grit stone he had, the one most often used to create a new edge, or used for chipped or really damaged blades.  She laughed too (as did everyone) and despite our embarrassment for the condition of all our knives, he did manage to repair hers, and achieved a sharper edge than I’ve ever had on my knife.  They taught us the proper and best way to use a sharpening stone, which was invaluable.  I admit, I’ve been scared to sharpen my knives on a stone because if you do it at the wrong angle, you can completely wreck your knives, so every so often I’d bring mine to Bradshaws to have it done.  I can proudly say I sharpened two of mine last week at home, and was totally happy with the results.  Until Riccardo commented on how dull my knife was when we were butchering rabbits two days later, but I STILL think it was way sharper than it was originally!

 This week, I’m totally excited about dining at the dinner labs on both Wednesday and Friday evenings (it’s Pilar’s week!) and the very next week we have Alexandre Gauthier, a Michelin starred chef of La Grenouillere restaurant, located in Montreuil-sur-Mer, France!

I admit – I did NOT want to get out of bed Monday morning.  I cowered under the covers, thinking it probably wasn’t the brightest idea to stay up past midnight watching season 2 episodes of United States of Tara on dvd… 

I was one of the keeners that actually did some work over the holidays (yup, I’m one of those) but for those that know me well, they know I do this just so I can hit the pub after classes and still feel caught up on my work!  And since this is our last eight weeks together, (after the first two weeks in first year everyone feels like best friends, by week 9 of second year, you’re in some ways closer than family) I wanted to give myself plenty of opportunities to be with my classmates socially, before we all take off in different directions in the spring. 

We’re starting to move into our Celebrity Chef series at the dinner labs, which is incredibly exciting.  This year, our first international Chef coming to showcase her talents and cuisine at the school is Pilar Cabrera Arroyo, a critically acclaimed Mexican chef from the Oaxacan region, who has mentored such Chef’s as Rick Bayless,  a well known American Chef and ambassador for Mexican cuisine in his own right. 

Pilar Cabrera learned to cook from her mother and grandmother at a young age, and later attended University for a degree in Food Sciences and Nutrition.  She opened her restaurant La Olla in 1994, and her cooking school Casa de los Sabores in 1998.  The foundation of Pilar’s cuisine relies on obtaining quality ingredients from local farmers.  She believes in supporting local economies and advocates sustainable farming methods.  She essentially embodies everything Stratford Chefs School has been teaching us from day one. 

I read that when she takes her cooking school students to the local markets to shop for ingredients, she spreads out her purchases over many vendors to support as many growers as she can.  She also often deals with the elderly women who she knows walked quite far into town with their produce to sell. 

Oaxaca is considered to be Mexico’s culinary capital.  It’s where Mediterranean meets Mesoamerican.  It’s known as “the land of seven moles”, famous for its “chapulines colorados”, and of course, mezcal. 

Mole is an incredibly complex sauce that contains more than 32 ingredients that include a variety of spices, chilies and of course chocolate.  It’s traditionally served with chicken, and specifically prepared for the Day of the Dead, where it’s used to honor family members that have passed away.  The mole is placed upon the altar as an offering, in hopes the departed family member’s soul will visit.  Some of the popular mole varieties include negro (black), amarillo (yellow), coloradito (reddish), almendrado (with almonds), verde (green), rojo (red) and Manchamanteles (tablecloth stainer). 

Chapulines Colorados sounds better when you don’t know what it is!  When translated, it’s little grasshoppers that are traditionally served as appetizers.  They are only collected at certain times of the year, and are prepared by toasting on a heated clay cooking surface with garlic, lime juice, and an extract from an agave worm that contains salt.  Sometimes chili is added, resulting in a sour-spicy-sweet-salty combination.  I tried a fried insect from a street vendor in Thailand, and I thought I was turned off insects completely but after reading about Chapulines Colorados, I think I may give them another try!  For those faint of heart, don’t worry, I have not seen them incorporated in the week’s menus. 

Oaxaca is also known for its Mezcal, not a food, but well worth a mention.  Mezcal is essentially an unrefined tequila – I tried it for the first time this summer when some friends arrived back from a couple of months backpacking around Mexico, with a bottle in hand.  I recall a weird smokiness about it, and earthy depth and complexity that tequila just didn’t have.  It’s made from the Agave cactus, and like tequila, includes a worm in the bottle. 

I think a week of Mexican cooking and eating is just what we all need to chase away these snowy January days!

 Although I’m usually a complete failure at keeping my resolutions, I decided that I would take one on that is more open-ended. No grandiose goals like quitting smoking – that was my first resolution, abandoned at about 12:05 AM on January 1st. Also, no reducing my alcohol or coffee intake (it’s really not THAT much, and would be completely unrealistic at this point). Instead, my resolution will be to seek out more responsibility and/or fulfill said responsibilities. For example, writing more than one blog post a month would be a good start (if only so I don’t: [a.] continue to picture Kimberley Payne, our executive director, shaking her head disapprovingly at me due to my absence from the Stratford blogosphere, and [ii.] risk losing next-years funding that is associated with this blogging gig of mine). It may also simply mean keeping on track with school work a bit more. I can no longer count how many times I’ve had to turn down helping out with events, going out with friends or just doing a better job on assignments and tests because I have left my work until the night before it’s due. 

Many of us culinary students may think it’s ridiculous to consider taking on more responsibility, that is, on top of the craziness that is a ‘regular’ work schedule here at the school. Others may be thinking what do you think I’ve been doing this whole time?!? For example, some of us kept working on weekends or have sought out work since the start of the school year, both paid and unpaid. Students have been working at jobs they’ve managed to hold on to for the school year, have volunteered to roll out and stuff hundreds of raviolis with Chef Middleton or travel to Toronto to volunteer for events, all on event- and homework-packed weekends. They’ve also planned and executed amazing dinners at the bed and breakfasts they reside at and have filled in at local Stratford restaurants offering up a shift or holiday break stage. I’ve been lucky enough to pick up a shift at Bijou, help out with Paul Finkelstein and Chef Louis Charest of Rideau Hall for their ‘Northern Fare’ dinner, attend the Stratford Farmers Market at our new booth we have on Saturday mornings, and I just finished up a holiday break stage at Cowbell in Toronto.  

Unfortunately, this has also meant missing out on a few things I wish I didn’t have to, like birthday and holiday celebrations, as well as a ton of family time and sleep (the latter probably explaining why I’m so damn sick at the moment). Though, this is not to say that I don’t have more to offer. 

One thing I’ve come to learn is that like most schools, the Chefs School is a hub for finding opportunities and connecting people, with each opportunity and connection reinforcing or feeding into the next: a night of work or a stage turns into a good reference, some paid work in the future or an apprenticeship; volunteering to prep for an event leads to more chances to help out at future events and learning from some pretty great chefs. Many people have begun to really think about where they will apprentice come March and a few have secured positions (a special congratulations to those who have been hired on at the Old Prune and Pazzo). Roll up your sleeves, rub shoulders, shake hands – it can be both a bit of a pain or very enjoyable – but soon you’ll find yourself tumbling forward on a career path. Plan ahead, get organized, and do your school work ahead of time if you can, because often things come up with just a day or two of notice, sometimes merely hours. I say these things (it’s good advice and all), but in reality I find myself bouncing from one thing to the next, somehow managing to keep it together. Being comfortable with the controlled chaos of these last few months has been pretty much essential for me. 

If I had a second resolution, it would be to tackle the serious issue that my diet has become – it’s completely messed up. I’ve overheard it a couple of times from several different people, and have joked as well myself, about how sad it is that we are culinary school students making high-quality restaurant food and studying about (and with!) Michelin star chefs… all while eating Tim Hortons, fried foods and junk from a bag during and after class. The inevitable answer is always. I don’t have time for anything else. I commend those who bring Tupperware or home-made lunches and I’m only half-joking when I say that post-class chowdowns and complimentary staff meals have become a vital part of my life. Personally, I wonder how and exactly when a diet composed of pizza, coffee, french fries, beer and cigarettes became such a regular and justifiable thing for myself. My ‘holiday food diary’ prepared for Ian Brown borders on being embarrassing. I have visions of myself at 50, with the same wiry frame, offset by an overwhelming paunch that you might confuse at a distance with a third trimester pregnancy. Everyone always tells me I’m too skinny to be trusted as a chef, so hey, maybe a paunch is exactly what I need. 

Best of luck in the New Year everyone! 

Jordan can be followed on Twitter @Student_Chef

Okay, I admit I’d remember a whole lot more if I hadn’t have missed writing about week 6 at the time but there was so much going on…I think I’ll talk about the pastry exam and my weekend of sourdoughs!

So exam day was pretty hectic for my group, because not only did we have the exam in the afternoon, but both before and after it we were scheduled to do some intense pre-prep work for the Friday night lab.  Figures I would be slotted for pastry for the Alain Ducass lab, who’s restaurant serves something like 25 different breads.  Shu decided to take it easy on me and went with five breads but still…I was pretty relieved when it was all over…

The exam went well for my group – the desserts all looked and tasted great – I think my favourite was Luca’s.  Just for the plating.  I looked over and he was painting on some caramel or something along one side of the plate, and artfully plated his pear and brisee elements.  He looked down and was decidedly torn about garnishing with his cinnamon stick and a couple of star anise that had been used for flavouring during the pear poaching.  We’ve always been taught to only garnish with edible items, and those would clearly be non-edible items.  But Luca’s a rebel and even though he was risking plating marks, he went for it because that’s how he wanted his dish executed.  It was very Martha Stewart J

Collectively I think our weakest marks were for our bread rolls – most of us worked the dough a little too much and ended up with crazy blow outs .  Some of them didn’t quite resemble dinner rolls anymore but like they had big tumours growing out of their bottoms…and we all should have left them in for more colour .  Note to future students and 1^st years: Chef Bex and Chef Middleton are NOT afraid of dark breads…you really should use the photos in the Rundles pastry kitchen as reference!

Anyway, so on Friday I got the idea in my head that after making five breads for the dinner lab, I wanted to make some sourdough at home and finally use that starter that was now headed for complete dormancy (I really thought I killed it last weekend, I think I forgot about it for five whole days.  But it came back alive!!).  So I sat down with Chef Middleton and he helped me work out a recipe.  I spent most of Saturday morning collecting the various equipment I didn’t yet have (razors for scoring,  a baking stone, canvas fabric, etc.) and got home about 2pm ready to start.  I measured out the flours…and then I tried to measure out the water but Chef had forgotten to write down the water percentage.  I laughed at that – out of all the things to forget!  I sort of just added water and it came out pretty good!  Not the most perfect loaves but I’ll get there!

 Exams are upon us, and I feel like they’re coming out of nowhere.  In week 6 we have our first Practical Pastry exam.  The thing about practical exams 2^nd year, is you don’t have a lot of them, so it means each one’s worth a heck of a lot of your final grade.  I think our Ethnic exam is worth 50%, and I’m pretty sure this pastry one is as well, just to give you an idea.

 My group had our dry run of the exam on Friday afternoon, and Chef Bex began the run through by letting us know that every other 2^nd year class ran over by a good half hour in order to finish everything on time – no pressure or anything!  We started with running through the bread, which seems pretty straight forward as far as breads go (the trick there will be to NOT forget about it!), followed by the pate brisee.  Then we learned about the bit of “black box” component of the exam…

 Each person needs to poach half a pear, in an infused sugar water of their choice.  The second half of the pear could be roasted, poached and pureed, made into a compote – you get the idea.  Just a second element of “pear-ness” in the dish.  The pate brisee would need to be formed into a wafer thin cookie, to provide a crunchy element to the dish and finally, a quenelle of whipped cream (flavoured if you like) to top off the dessert.

 You can see how this is both exciting and nerve-racking – I’m one of those people that when there’s unlimited choices and possibilities, I have a huge problem deciding what “I” think is the best.  I just knew I wasn’t happy with the pear I prepared during the dry run. 

 I had infused my sugar water with orange, indonesian long pepper and cardamom but found it too sweet, with no discernible flavour other than sugar, and it didn’t take on any of the heat I was hoping to get from the long pepper .  I ended up with a horribly sweet, colourless pear on a plate, with colourless brisee cookies, and a thieved bit of caramel sauce I begged off Nick so it wasn’t so ugly on the plate (thank God we weren’t getting marked on these). 

 At that point I looked up and saw what everyone else was plating.  Roger had made a caramel drizzled dome to sit atop their chocolate dipped pear, someone else had a myriad of sauce components artfully painted on their plate to accompany their perfectly poached pear (I forgot to mention, I completely forgot to turn my pear frequently during cooking.  In fact, I totally forgot to turn it even once.  So it was not cooked evenly, at all).  Shu infused hers with lavender so it took on this lovely floral essence, and Kaya used thyme and who knows what else to make some weird flavours that you knew you liked, you wouldn’t necessarily pair them together, but they worked in a strange and indescribable way.

 After that, I knew I’d have to spend some of my weekend figuring out what would make a tasty pear, and make it look great on the plate.  So that was how I spent my Saturday – I poached four pears, different flavourings (one I used chai spices as inspiration, another was earl grey, and two more I played around with orange, ginger and a few other spices).  In the end I’m going with a ginger based infusion – it offers that bit of heat I wanted to get on the plate that the pepper just wasn’t giving me, and works really well for this time of year.  I’m using some pomegranate juice to get some colour on the plate in my ginger-pear sauce, I think a balsamic reduction will give a nice flavour and be pretty on the plate as well as some rough chopped pistachios.  I’m going to flavour my whipped cream with ginger (I tried pepper, and then an orange-honey version but I found the pepper and orange zest flecks mealy and just not as tasty).  I even toyed around with several plating ideas – I came up with one that will work well if I can snag a rectangular plate for presentation, if not I have another idea for a round presentation I think may work well…

 The hurdle still to overcome will be getting it all complete for our put-up times.  You never seem to have time to do as much as you think you do.  I was toying with the idea of adding a tuille into the mix, I may still try for one, but after our Healthy Menu and Bistro Menu exams at the end of 1^st year, I just know when we get in there we’ll all be scrambling.

 So good luck to all the 2^nd year students!  I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

In addition to Tina Manno’s blog about Level II, I will be writing about the Level I experience. I originally planned to post weekly, so I apologize for only posting now. As we just completed the first month here at Stratford Chefs School, I think a review of past events would be the most enjoyable read. You can also expect pictures and posts devoted to our wine tours and Ian Brown (our Writer-in-Residence) in the next few days!

                So, back to the beginning. Orientation and the Terroir Luncheon out at Antony John and Tina VandenHeuvel’s farm, Soiled Reputation http://www.soiledreputation.com/  were great introductions to the school and the region. Most of the Level Is and some of the Level IIs had met previously, out at Bentley’s or the Boar’s Head, so many of our icebreaking introductions had been taken care of. I have to admit that l was a bit suspicious of how quickly ‘groups’ shifted to ‘teams,’ however. Competitive already, huh? That being said, I soon learned that this sense of team has a ton of advantages and should not be viewed with too much concern, especially considering how inclusive our classmates have proven to be. Aside from all of the cooking know-how these last few weeks, I found out fast how helpful a sense of ‘team’ is (I’ll get back to this sentiment in a moment).

                I can see how getting up early to cook for a bunch of freshman could be a pain in the neck, especially if the night before involved a drink or seven, so a huge thank you to the Level IIs, administration and the folks at Soiled Reputation for helping out and putting together such a great meal for a crowd. Also in top form was our entertainment for the day. Level Is were especially surprised by Eric Neaves, who got up and sung Italian opera without hesitation. Eric was a bit embarrassed when he found out that Chef Camanini was in attendance, only to later be redeemed by Chef, who said his enunciation and emphasis were great.

                A few words on classes. They’ve been quick paced and jam packed with information. Procrastination is not an option here. In high school and university I seemed to be able to put things off to the very last minute. Now I find myself with four or five recipes to familiarize myself with as well as a quiz or assignment due in each class, so I always have to be on top of things. Late nights and lunchtime library sessions have become pretty regular, especially when I’m running food or washing dishes a couple of nights a week. All this is to say that this month flew by and we soon all found ourselves in the middle of exams.

                From what I could tell, our Practical Cookery exams went over quite well (I wish I could say the same for Pastry). I’ve been hearing of a few hits and misses, but in general the marks were pretty high and everyone knows where they can improve. As could be expected, students were stressed all week for their first round of evaluation. Knowing that something you care about so deeply will be judged and graded can be daunting. On the Monday morning, I took my knives in to get sharpened at Bradshaw’s. I spoke to a few of their staff members and they mentioned that they’ve never had so many requests for “omelette pans.” It seems everyone has an itch for specialized gadgets, especially when nervous.

                So it seems the first quarter of our program has passed with many successes and very few mishaps. Our Writer-in-Residence events at Heliconian Hall and Nota Bene were enjoyable and informative, the Niagara-region wine tours at Rosewood Estates, Henry of Pelham, Ravine Vineyard and Southbrook Vineyards (with quick visits to Stratus and Jackson Triggs) were very impressive. Our visiting chef instructor, Riccardo Camanini, is shining through during Luncheon Clubs at Pazzo http://rundlesrestaurant.wordpress.com/  and our Level IIs have been performing extremely well for their dinner labs at the Old Prune with Mike Booth and Bryan Steele.

                My biggest problem seems to be gathering up and hanging on to everything I need for the day. Long days and many different tasks to complete don’t seem to help. I learned my lesson quickly during the first week however. I was changing down at Rundles and had put on everything but my hat. I reached to the bottom of my bag only to come up empty-handed. No hat. How could I forget my hat? (Those of you who know me by now, who’ve likely held on to a forgotten item or two of mine, also know that this isn’t much of a surprise.)

A list of options played in my mind: ‘run to Pazzo, ask around and look like a fool?  Take a taxi back home and risk being a couple of minutes late? Could I fashion a bandana out of one of my bar wipes? Damnit.’ I looked in the mirror. ‘I wonder how long it would take to shave my head…? That would eliminate the problem I suppose.’ I definitely did not have a razor on hand and my knife skills are not that great. I ran outside, scanned the alleyway and found someone standing by the Pazzo door. 

Being the first week and all, I wasn’t sure if they were a fellow student or a passerby. Completely out of breath, I asked as calmly as I could if they knew where to find a hat on short notice. He checked his bag. No luck. Then he asked me which instructor I had. Strange question, I thought. I wasn’t sure. “Collins or Steele, maybe?”

“Hm. Good luck,” he replied sympathetically, “try and get in there early and sweet talk him if you can.” He smiled and laughed a bit as I thanked him and walked away.

At this point I realized that I was completely screwed. My hands were now shaking. I checked my cell phone for the time. 5 o’clock. I figured I may as well head up to Pazzo and face the music. I rushed up the stairs to the kitchen, only to find Chef Camanini. I immediately U-turned to the dining room and took a big breath around the corner. 

Great. A Michelin-star chef filling in for evening class. This would be the greatest thing in the world at any time other than this one. I immediately felt a little weak in the knees. I looked around the dining room and yelled to my new classmates, “Guys!” Does anyone have a hat?! I will…” Calmly, before I could admit the lengths I would go to borrow someone’s hat, Josh Buckle turned to me and nodded, then rushed back to his bag for me. “I owe you big,” I said, “like a ton of beer kinda big.”

“That’s alright. I’ll just pull the friend card out at a later date.”

This is a scene that has repeated itself, in various forms, for many of us the past couple of weeks. One minute I thought I was going to pass out in a panic, the next I felt like I was right where I needed to be. Just like that, I had a hat on my head, a team mate to lean on and a friend for the year. Welcome to Stratford Chefs School.