At Banquet, I got ready for a three-course meal that I knew might cause some problems. On my list of four bugaboos, I've already canceled out some things like gorgonzola and most vinegars. However, mustard still stood in its place. Here's the menu:
-- Creamed Tomato Soup with Sourdough Grilled Cheese Triangles with Gruyére, Swiss and Mustard
-- Shirley Temple with Orange
-- Braised Leg of Duck with String Beans, Pommes Purée and Duck Jus
-- Rice Pudding with Strawberry and Blackberry
Gruyére: A semi-hard cheese originating from Switzerland
Pommes Purée: French term for "mashed potatoes"
Jus: French for "juice", in this case refers to the natural juices exuded from the meat
I don't mind the fact that mustard is in a lot of things, but I do mind when it's prevalent and smelly. When you can see it, you can taste it. The ratio of mustard to cheese wasn't very good, because it was pretty equal, but I tried the sandwich alone, and dipped in the soup. I got through half and had to retire. I just didn't like the mustard. The soup however was delicious, and was the first time I've ever had tomato soup.
My dad recently told me that this kind of mustard is made with a vinegar base, and that's why it smells and tastes so acidic. He said he doesn't like that kind either, but that English mustard (Coleman's) isn't made with vinegar, so it tastes different and he likes it. I can't debate this because I haven't tried it yet, but I will soon.
The duck that followed was absolutely great, since it was duck. It was braised, which meant all of the meat was tender and juicy. Every part of that plate was tasty, and then we moved on to dessert. I do like rice puddings, but this one was a little off. The pudding part wasn't sweet enough, and there was too much rice in it. It did taste pretty good, but I thought I'd be eating it all when I ended up only having half.
Just because it might be interesting to some of you, I had my friend take a picture of his meal which was the vegetarian option. There's always a vegetarian option.
From what I can tell and from what I remember, it was spinach and ricotta ravioli with mushrooms, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, asparagus and some herbs.
It looks like today we have one new addition: tomato soup. And the list of foods I'd never tried before coming to the CIA grows ever larger!
Dinner was a change today, and it worked out pretty well. I took the shortcut and went to K16. They had lots of normal sounding dishes like burgers and pastas, but I went for something off the beaten track.
-- Mushroom and Mozzarella Sandwich on Herbed Focaccia Bread with Slaw and Fries
-- Cranberry Juice
This was a good sandwich. It was altogether nice that it was mainly mushrooms because I like mushrooms. The bread was a little too oily but otherwise good. The slaw tasted strongly of vinegar, so I didn't eat it. The fries were heavily salted, but I ate them anyway.
So in general I liked dinner, but then there was trouble.
The way dessert generally works is that, if you're in Farq., from the start of dinner, eventually (about 15-25 minutes in) two baking and pastry students will wheel a tall cart to the dessert table in the back and will start unloading their product. Normally it has one or two things. Not many people will be in Farq. at the time, so they won't be bombarded on their journey to the table.
Later on, about a half hour further, two more students will come and deliver a second cart of products; usually one or two new items. By then, it will be dinner mayhem and tons of people will be in there. As soon as the dessert cart is spotted, gangs of people walk up to it as it's moving and will pluck plates off of it.
Towards the back nine of the dinner rush, if you will, another cart will come, and it's the same drill except there will be about three-quarters the amount of people as during the middle of dinner time.
So I got my food at about 5:00, which is the earliest time possible, and sat in the seat closest to the dessert table (my favorite). I ate my food at a leisurely pace, and during my sandwich eating, the first cart came. They had one kind of dessert, so I took it. I finished my dinner, then moved on to the dessert. As that was happening, I was texting my brother saying, "It feels like I'm obligated to try at least two desserts while I'm here. I won't be happy with myself otherwise." Before I could hit send, the second cart was spotted and was heading my way. I put down my fork and got ready to take a plate of whatever thing was resting on it.
There's a timeline here. It goes from cart one to cart two, to cart three. Yes, as I had my second desserts lined up, a third cart came. I was in hell. There was an overload. Check out my picture timeline:
-- Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Jelly
-- Flan
-- Meringue Cookie and Pistachio Cream Sandwich
-- Double-Decker Mocha Profiteroles
-- Berry Tart
-- Cream Puff Swan
Flan: A famous Spanish baked custard coated with caramel
Meringue: A mixture of stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar
Profiterole: A miniature cream puff filled with either a sweet or savory mixture, in this case mocha cream
Well what would you have done? Exactly.
The vanilla cake was decent, the cake part was a little dry. The flan was good, but a little too syrupey. The meringue cookie sandwich thing was unbelievable. I like pistachios a lot, so pistachio cream won me over. It was with really crisp but delicate and sugary cookies, which just worked really well. The profiteroles had really great mocha cream inside, but I only liked the top one because the bottom one's shell was too large and dry. The berry tart, well I didn't really get to it. The cookie on the bottom was good though, but that's all I remember. The cream puff swan was fun to look at, but tasted dry also.
I guess it was a day when students got to make whatever they wanted. Bad for me.
Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more
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