No rest for the wicked, heh? After a weekend of work, it was straight back into the kitchen this morning. Like the Beyoncé of the culinary world, I am becoming a machine. On the menu today was a pear, persimmon and pecan salad and a pasta with chorizo in a creamy, spicy tomato sauce. I also managed to rustle up a jar of jam (or 5) to accompany my cooking partners scones.
There was another strong emphasis on teamwork today, as I found myself in a position of having time surplus to requirements and when my partners pastry was being temperamental, it became my priority to help out with her washing and to continue with our section checklist. Then it comes to the kitchen blitz, although being assigned a certain number of ovens to clean, when I finish mine, I get straight to helping out with the others. I’m aware that at this point, it sounds like I am trying to portray myself as some kind of kitchen angel, but be sure that as I was doing this, the other pairs scattered around the kitchen were demonstrating the same comradery. Not only this, but I had been on the stressful end of the workload on days previous, so it is not about standing out, it is about feeding people great food with maximum efficiency.
Whilst some of these recipes might sound incredibly easy, they are, but I have to admit that they amaze me. Why on earth haven’t I just been making my own jam all of my life? It is something that we could all do. Doubtful? Take 900g of granulated sugar and 900g of raspberries, pop the sugar in a pyrex bowl in the oven at 180 degrees and heat the raspberries in a big saucepan until they burst. After 10 minutes in the oven, take out the sugar and add it to the raspberries. Keep the jam on the boil for a further five minutes or so. To test the jam to see if it is set, take a chilled plate, spoon a small amount of mixture onto the plate and put into the fridge for a minute. Once set, run your finger through the jam, at which point you are looking for a wrinkle to confirm the jam is set. If you look closely at the picture below, you might be able to see said wrinkle. If the jam doesn’t quite set then simply put it back on the boil and repeat test procedure until the jam is set. Simple.
The afternoon, then brought about our first demo under the instruction of Rachel Allen. There was an obvious level of excitement amongst a few students, who openly admitted to being fans. Each tutor has a very distinct style, what Rachel brought was a realness. It is a quality quite difficult to describe, but she demonstrated incredible skill, was extremely engaging and yet at times she seemed to get a bit flustered by the work. This in itself was quite endearing. It was most like she was cooking for a family. Many of us have been there. You want to do your best, you get a little bit addled by the work, but nevertheless, it all comes together and indeed Rachel presented some beautiful dishes, which I cannot wait to get in the kitchen and cook tomorrow. It was also helpful that she was a fellow left-hander and took a moment at various crucial points to point out how one might approach a certain technique, with both their right and left hands. Small point, but one which was undoubtedly helpful to many.
We also had our first birthday of the term today, as Lawrence, my room mate, turned 19. To mark the occassion Rachel presented him with a chocolate cake after demo, at which point the room sang a chorus of Happy Birthday. Back at the house later, there came more chocolate cake and a room full of balloons. Happy Birthday Lawrence.
Dirty Whites 