Skip to content


Week 3 at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit

Week 3 in pastry we continued with more sweet short pastry products. Chef prepped and baked lots of pastry shells, then went on to some tasty tarts.

Caramel Walnut Tart

First up, caramel & walnut tart, so simple & so good.

Apricot Tart

Next up, apricot tart which was ok(I am not an apricot fan!)

Strawberry Tower

Then he made a strawberry tart, it looked beautiful & tasted great. What I liked was that he used strawberry glaze to finish the tart, that means even before you take a bite of the tart, the aroma of strawberry is upon you.

Raspberry Tart

After the strawberry tart, a raspberry tart. Very nice….

Tarte Aux Fruit

Last for the demo was a fruit tart, Chef did two versions. The elaborate one above, then the more rustic one that we had to make for our practical.

lcbdweek3-117.jpg

Above is the fruit tart I made during the practical session packed away in my school lunchbox. It didn’t last long when I got home, I polished it off quite quickly. The trinity of fruit, pastry cream & sweet pastry was too hard to resist…..

Palmiers

Later on during the week, we looked at puff pastry. Making puff pastry by hand is “fun”, ok not really. After we made the puff, we made palmiers.

lcbdweek3-120.jpg

After palmiers we made paille, which are like puff pastry sandwich with jam filling. Very nice, the raspberry seed jam the school buys is amazing.

lcbdweek3-121.jpg

Chef showed us how to make vol au vent’s, pretty old school.

lcbdweek3-124.jpg

He also showed us how to make apple tart tartin the long way, in this method, the apples are pre-cooked in the caramel before baking.

Chausson Aux Pommes

We also made some apple turnovers (chausson aux pommes), they were lovely too good to share with anyone… lol!

At the same time during cuisine we also started looking at doughs.

Quiche Lorraine

We started with short pastry(pate brisee), chef demonstrated quiche lorraine & wild mushroom quiche both made with pate brisee. For practicals we did the quiche lorraine(bacon & gruyere cheese), though I wish we did the wild mushroom one instead.

lcbdweek3-118.jpg

Next up was puff pastry, during practical we made puff pastry. We used the puff pastry to make the dish above(chef’s plate), the dish is poached egg with cream leeks, sauteed bell peppers & albufera sauce. Chef showed us a really foolproof way of making soft poached eggs, all that is required is lightly simmering water & some vinegar.

lcbdweek3-123.jpg

We also learnt how to make omelets, the one one above is filled with candied onions.

lcbdweek3-122.jpg

To end the week, we did a roast chicken & vegetables jardinieres(french for veg cut like a stick).

That was week 3, 7 more to go…

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Basic Cuisine, Basic Patisserie, Le Cordon Bleu.

Tagged with .


Week 2 at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit

pain de genes

Week 2 pastry started with us looking at a lemon pound cake & genoise almond sponge cake(pain de genes). We baked the pain de genes during our practical session. The cake is niiiiiiice but very sweet. We also got to play with marzipan, we had to do a rose flower & some leaves. It was quite difficult, the marzipan can’t be too cool, too warm, too thick, too thin…. you have to find that right balance & then after that you have to make it look beatiful.

marzipan flower

During the demonstrations, the chef works with lots of ease, giving you the impression the task looks easy. During the practical, reality of the tasks sets in, then you realise you still have alot to learn & practise……

Tarte aux pommes

Next demo, we looked at sweet short pastry(pate sucree) and then various apple tarts. During the practical we made pate sucree then used it to make a tarte aux pommes(classic french apple tart).

lcbdweek2-6.jpg

In class you can watch the chef from three perspectives, watch him directly, the large mirror above his work surface, or the video screens. The translator also doubles up as video operator. The video captures amazing close-up views from the three cameras(which can rotatate and zoom) installed around the class.

Filets de merlan bercy

Cuisine week 2 we looked at stocks, chef demonstrated a white chicken stock, brown stock & a fish fumet(stock). We also looked at sauce thickening methods.

We got to cook a cheese souffle, whiting fillets with bercy sauce(pictured above). For the fish we had to prepare & fillet our own fish from scratch, it was not that hard. Having a super sharp filleting knife really helps.

Spinach Canneloni

Chef also demonstrated poached chicken with supreme sauce( french khao mun gai or hainan chicken rice), pasta dough preparation & spinach stuffed cannelloni with tomato sauce.

Pissalidiere

To end the cuisine week, we baked a pissalidiere, which is kinda like a pizza made from a rich yeast dough topped with onions sweated in olive oil, anchovies, tomatoes, capers & olives.

That was week 2, we started to get used to the school routine, 18 hours in class & 18 hours in the kitchen.

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in random rambling.

Tagged with , , , .


Eric Ripert’s – On The Line : A fantastic read

Eric Ripert - On The Line

Another addition to my food book collection….

I have not experienced Le Bernadin in New York, however this book literally gave a peek into the world of Le Bernadin and I loved it. This book was really magnetic, read it in two days. I stole every free moment in my day to read on.

It was great reading about the team behind the scenes that makes the restaurant great,

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Cookbooks.

Tagged with , , .


Week 1 at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit

The next few posts are in retrospect, they are all about my journey through basic cuisine & basic pastry at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit from October 12 – December 24 2009.

Week 1 Basic Cuisine & Basic Pastry

We started of with orientation, it was a pretty short 2hr session with information about the school, rules etc. We were then given our uniforms, recipe folders, knife kit & a large food container. All this items were pretty bulky, carrying everything back on the BTS back to my place was pretty arduous.

Le Cordon Bleu Wusthof Knife Kit

The knife kit if I remember correctly has about 40 items in it. Most heavily used for cuisine are the chef knife, paring knife & spoon. For pastry the little plastic scraper is handy for doing a lot of things and also really essential is my thermometer.

chef's rustic vegetable soup  

The general format of the classes was that the chef demonstrated about 3 recipes in every demonstration session, then we would cooked one of the recipes in our practical kitchen session. The recipe folders we were given at orientation only contained the recipe ingredients, that meant during the demonstration session we had to take notes on the recipe methods. Initially I thought keeping up with the chef would be a problem, but since everything the chef said in english had to be translated into thai, this bought me time to write my notes.

On day one of cuisine the Chef demonstrated how to cook a rustic vegetable soup. The soup was almost bland vegetable soup, but it had some bacon when rescued it from blandness. Bacon makes anything taste good, I swear by that…

lcbd_week1-1.jpg

Also on day one, the chef talked to us about our knives, how to peel & wash vegetables, then how to cut them the French way. It amazing the French have a name for every possible style of cutting vegetables.

rustic vegetable soup

This was my effort for the rustic vegetable soup.

crab bisque  

Next cuisine demonstration we looked at three more soups. Dubarry cream which is a cauliflower soup thickened with cream, watercress soup & a crab bisque. We cooked the crab bisque during the practical session, yummo. To make the bisque we had to cut the crab to little bits using a cleaver, then sweat it with aromatics, flambe with cognac, add more flavouring & seasoning, to finish we had to blend the whole thing together(yes, the crabs shells too) then sieve. It was worth the effort.

french lexique cuisine

During the demonstration sessions we also learnt alot of cooking french, pretty handy I think. With just a few words you can describe a whole recipe.

beef consomme & brunoises

To end the first week, we looked at the ubiquitous French onion soup, Marseille style fish soup & a consomme with vegetable brunoise. We cooked the consomme during the practical. Cutting the 2mm brunoise was fun(not), never cut vegetables that small. They all had to look uniform. I did mine slowly to ensure even sizing.

Diamantes

Day one of pastry we looked at and then baked sable biscuits. They tasted amazing. The trinity of butter, sugar & flour is good for you, yet bad for you. Figure that one out….

cake aux fruits & madeleines

Second day for pastry we baked a fruit cake & madeleines. Madeleines, I am in love with them.

gateau basque

Last for pastry on week one, we looked at financiers & gateau basque(butter cake with pastry cream filling). We baked the gateau basque during the practical. Chef thought I put too much icing sugar on my cake….. oh well. Sugar is good for you sometimes.

That was my first week at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit…..

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Basic Cuisine, Basic Patisserie, Le Cordon Bleu.

Tagged with , , , .


It has been a while

I have not posted much for a while, I have been in transition. I am at culinary school now. I had thought about doing this for a while and now it is happening.

I am at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit…….. Class started about 3 weeks ago, it has been hectic but fun. I will be blogging more about culinary school soon.

lcbd.JPG

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in random rambling.

Tagged with , .


McBroccoli – McDonalds Broccoli Pie

This is what happened, I was walking past a McDonalds restaurant in downtown Bangkok, inside was a promotion poster for a broccoli pie. Yes! Broccoli. I say again Broccoli.

I went in and bought myself one to take home. It costed 29baht(about 90 US cents).

greenpie-1.jpg

The pie is in the usual McDonalds pie box….

greenpie-2.jpg

Unboxed, revealing crispy deep fried goodness…

greenpie-3.jpg

The pie revealed…..

greenpie-4.jpg

The close up….

Ok let us talk about what it tasted like, I actually liked it alot. The pastry was crispy & slightly sweet, the filling is broccoli, mushrooms & some sort of mornay sauce. The flavour of the broccoli is pared back, it does not dominate. Their is also a hint of coconut, I don’t know what it is from but it is pleasant……..

McDonalds should put this pie on the menu globally, broccoli is good for you………. what do you think?

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in random rambling.

Tagged with , , , , , .


Flame Tree Brasserie at Sarova Panafric

Procrastination is a really evil habit of mine, a great friend (a lover of food too) told me four months ago about the great pork belly that is done at the Flame Tree Brasserie at Sarova Panafric. Four months forward, this week is when I got around to going down to the Panafric to try it. The Flame Tree Brasserie is located right at the front of the hotel, very easy to find.

Pork Belly, Sweet Potato Puree & Apple Sauce

Pork belly with sweet potato puree & apple sauce

The pork belly was slow roasted and was delightfully succulent. The lean & fatty bits of the pork, marry well. The crackling on top of the belly was a revelation, I could eat pork crackling all day, it is “good” for you. This is a sinful comfort dish.

The pork was served with a sweet potato puree & apple sauce, they both traditionally pair well with pork. Also on the plate was some broccoli florets with sesame seeds.

Yep, I know you spotted those two stray pieces of cartilage at the bottom of the belly. I would like to think the butcher left them there for me to enjoy. Seriously, I love cartilage.

Whilst eating the pork, my friend & I got to talking about sous-vide cooking, pork belly would great cooked en sous-vide. I will get around to trying this out sometime. In fact Thomas Keller’s sous-vide book Under Pressure is probably the next cook book I will buy.

Chermoula Tilapia, Citrus Scented Rice & Cream Sauce

Chermoula Tilapia with citrus scented rice & cream sauce

My friend had tilapia, I didn’t get to taste it. I was too busy with my pork. Sorry guys……. It looks good though.

Chocolate Fondant with Orange Sesame & Poppy Tuiles

Chocolate fondant with orange, sesame & poppy tuiles

I loved this choc fondant, I wished I could have had more. This had to be most height-challenged(short!) choc fondant I have ever had. The top was already open, revealing the molten chocolate. Into the molten chocolate were two orange, sesame & poppy tuiles.

Chef make it taller & bigger next time……. thanks.

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Eating Out.

Tagged with , , .


Six Chefs, Five Videos

Have a look at this great Authors @ Google videos. They all feature great chefs & authors who are masters of their craft.


Anthony Bourdain is chef at large of Bistro Les Halles, and host of “No Reservations” which is a food & travel show.


Thomas Keller is chef owner of the Thomas Keller restaurant group, his best known restaurants are the French Laundry & Per Se


Ferran Adria is chef owner of El bulli, he has also developed high quality fast food concept restaurant Fast Good.


Grant Achatz & Nick Kokonas is chef co-owner at Alinea. Nick Kokonas is a co-owner of Alinea.


Eric Ripert & Michael Laskonis chefs at New York’s Le Bernadin

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in random rambling.

Tagged with , , , , , , , .


Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

Yet another Flavor Bible inspired recipe, brownies are really really easy to make. The only contentious issue is the final texture desired, I like mine soft & squidgy. That means I don’t bake them as long as others would.

This brownies go great with coffee. Enjoy!

To make this brownies you will need;

  • 150 grams dark chocolate.
  • 125 grams unsalted butter.
  • 100 grams all-purpose flour.
  • 100 grams macadamia nuts, roughly chopped.
  • 25 grams cocoa.
  • 3 large eggs.
  • 100 grams sugar.
  • 60 mls brandy.

Then just a few simple steps;

  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
  • Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  • Melt both the dark chocolate & butter in a bowl over simmering water(a bain marie). When melted stir in the brandy.
  • Sift together the flour & cocoa into another bowl
  • In another bowl add 100 grams of sugar & 3 large eggs, beat it hard with a balloon whisk until pale.
  • Stir eggs sugar mixture into the melted chocolate.
  • Fold the flour & cocoa into melted chocolate.
  • Fold in the chopped macadamia nuts into the brownie mixture.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray.
  • Baking for 30 minutes.
  • At the end of the 30 minutes, the brownie will be soft & look under done in the centre. Thats alright, it will firm up as it cools down.
  • When you ready to serve, slice into rectangles using a knife that has been dipped in hot water. This will help you cut cleanly.
  • Dust with icing sugar & enjoy.

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Desserts.

Tagged with , , , .


Awesome Mutura at Buffet Park

Buffet Park Mutura

Mutura sausages are hardly pretty. This one was a recent afternoon takeout from Buffet Park located in Hurlingham, Nairobi.

This mutura from Buffet Park, just popped in my mouth exciting all my five senses. It looks pretty ordinary yet it is extraordinary. I don’t know why it is so good, but it is.

The casing had snap, not your usual tough chewy mutura casing. Inside was finely chopped goat meat & tripe(i think?). A good sausage can’t be lean, this one had a healthy dose fatty goat meat. Fat is flavour! Curiously, it is not apparent if any goat blood was included as is the case with other mutura.

Along with the mutura was sliced tomato, sliced onion & chopped chilli, this condiments just brought this dish all together. The flavour combination of sweet sour tomatoes, slightly pungent onions & the heat of the chilli met the flavour of the savoury mutura perfectly.

Is there a better mutura than this one, if you know where I can find some. Please do share.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Share and Enjoy:
  • PDF
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Live

Posted in Eating Out.

Tagged with , , , .