I Made It!

Not much to report on Friday’s class.. not even any pictures. I figured y’all were getting tired of seeing ground up meat and seafood. Allison and I made the Mediterranean Seafood Terrine, which consisted of ground up shrimp, scallops, saffron infused cream, egg whites, and seasonings. The rest of the group worked on the Chicken Galantine, which was another chicken pate that we wrapped in the skin of the chicken. The rest of class was spent helping Chef Chris prep for his recreational class followed by a quick culinary review of everything we learned in the past 6 months. And so ends my very last lesson at culinary school..

I only had the realization late last week that not only is culinary school coming to an end, but so is this blog. Starting this blog was the best thing I could have done, since now I have my own electronic diary/portfolio. I was the class “paparazzi” as I made sure to photograph almost everything we prepared. It became a comforting and therapeutic routine for me to talk about each and every day and share my thoughts and feelings throughout the way. I definitely had my fair share of struggles--there are always going to be bad days where things just don’t turn out the way you want. I also enjoyed sharing the successes-- my own and my classmates’. We all worked really hard these past six months so as to become great chefs, whether it’s at a top dining establishment in NYC, a bakery, a catering company, or a media publication.

I would like to take this moment to thank the people who made this all possible. Thanks, mom and dad for supporting me in everything that I do. Thank you for making my dream come true. I am so blessed to have such loving, supportive, caring parents.

I would also like to thank the Chef instructors that have taught me so many culinary skills: Chef Allan, Chef Karen, Chef Ana, Chef Erica, Chef Chad, and Chef Chris. It is truly amazing how I went from learning how to properly mince my first clove of garlic to filleting my first fish in module one. In module two we learned every cooking technique from braising, sautéing, and poaching to learning how to make the perfect French omelet. In module 3 we explored the cuisines of the world and prepared the classic Boeuf Bourguignon, fresh pasta, and sushi. Module 4 was a bit of a change as we baked bread, decorated cakes, and even churned our own ice cream. Finally, we ended module 5 with recipes from Daniel Boulud, Rick Bayless, and creating our own original dishes.

What an adventure this has been! I can’t forget to thank my classmates for providing a fun, light-hearted cooking environment. I am so lucky that our class got along so well. It makes a difference in your cooking experience when you can work well with the people around you. I know that I will be keeping in touch with many of my classmates and can only hope to cook with them again soon!

I’ll leave you all with my theme song of the week:


Stay tuned for a graduation re-cap later this week!