I’ve never done a blog in my life. I know I’m supposed to write my ideas and thoughts of the class; so here I go… The Garde Manger class started off with its usually small talk, conversations and discussions. I was the MOD for the day. Tiffany and I had presented our topics. They flowed together, which generated interesting conversation about the affordability of eating organic and seasonally. I have to admit doing this research and the discussion in class made me want to try to started eating organic or and seasonal foods. I’ll see how that goes…Anyway, the discussion went on longer then I expected; leaving the 3 team with only two hours to complete the task for the day. I thought we were going to have to present a show platter with food for 4 people and a show plate with a gelatin requirement with 2 proteins, 1 cold soup, 1 Salad and a sauce, but Chef changed it the day before. The task entailed make one salad break it down and reconstruct it into a hors d'oeuvre; gelatin must be use in some way shape or form and a dressing. Each group came up with totally different salad. Team #1 had a goat cheese salad with a citrus dressing. Team#2 had an Italian potato salad with and gelatinized dressing. Team #3 had a chicken less Cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing topped with whipped duck fat. During the presenting process there were a few things that needed to be changed; but overall we made big improvements. We have started to experiment more. During my whole culinary experience has worried about the flavor and taste and here in show plate we focus more on looks of everything. It is just amazing how we have grasped the concept so fast. It’s crazy, but move on….. In previous classes dishes were back up and we had to stay late. So as the class went on, I focused on making sure the class cleaned the dishes. This was not a normal class for us, there was no mystery basket; we did not have to present 2 proteins a starch and a veg. We even had to empty out three stock pots and a reduction during the cleanup at the end of class. With all the changes and extra things popping up we did really well. For the most part, things went smoothly, we presented, cleaned up and we got out on time.
