I will start with lunch, as I do on most occasions. I went to Banquet for lunch, and the students in the kitchen and dining room had switched places. They seem to spend about a week in each section, and today was the first day for the former kitchen students to learn how to serve us.
-- Mock Pineapple Champagne Cocktail
-- Mushroom Vol au Vent with Green Beans
-- Roast Pork Loin with Ratatouille and Spaetzle
-- Strawberry Shortcake
Vol au Vent: A puff pastry shell that resembles a pot with a lid. The term translates to "flying in the wind" and refers to the pastry's incredible lightness. In this case, it was filled with sauteed mushrooms
Ratatouille: A popular French side dish or appetizer that combines various vegetables such as eggplant, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and zucchini - all simmered in olive oil
Spaetzle: Translated from German as "little sparrow," spaetzle is a dish of tiny noodles or dumplings Overall, this was a very tasty meal that was full of variety. The specialty drink just tasted like bland pineapple juice. That's not really a complaint. My favorite drink is pineapple juice, so I was happy to get something close to it. This was the second mushroom vol au vent I've gotten at school so far, and I think I liked the first one better. The sauce was completely different, and I liked it better. The mushrooms weren't as soaked in buttery liquid, and the pastry shells this time were a little burnt.
The roast pork was better than the other pork dishes I've gotten here. I believe this was because the cut we received was much thicker. For some reason, it always seems better to have a nice, thick chop. the ratatouille last time was undercooked, and I could barely chew it, but this was soft and just as it is supposed to be. The spaetzle was a nice change, and it was buttery and delicious. The last item was the strawberry shortcake. Unless you have a strawberry allergy, you probably love strawberry shortcake. If that isn't true for you, read Jeffrey Steingarten's book on food aversions. Do it right now, and fix yourself because you are broken. This wasn't the best strawberry shortcake I've ever had, but it was also different than any I've had. My favorite part was the bottom biscuit part. It had a saturated strawberry top and a crunchy, sugary bottom. Altogether, I enjoyed it.
I don't remember what happened in between lunch and dinner, but it must not have been important because I didn't take any photos or notes. Therefore, we're skipping right to dinner.
-- Chicken Paprikash on Egg Noodles with Mushrooms
-- Chocolate Fudge Cake with Nuts
Chicken Paprikash: Traditional Hungarian dish consisting of chicken and onions browned in bacon drippings, then braised with chicken stock, paprika and other seasonings. A sauce is made from the braising liquid mixed with sour cream
This dinner was very sentimental. One of my best friends from high school, Stevo, had me over his house on many occasions for dinner. He is half Italian and half Hungarian. On one occasion, I went to his house while his Hungarian grandma was staying with them. She had made chicken paprikash before I'd arrived, but when I arrived, she insisted that I try some before I did anything else. So we heated up a generous portion and I tried it, not knowing at all what the dish was supposed to taste like. It was incredible, and I wanted more.
When I walked by K16 on my quest for a dinner location, I looked briefly at the menu to see what the menu had. I was in the mood for trying some other kitchen, but when I saw that chicken paprikash was there, I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, "Stevoooooooooooooo!!!!!"
In the name of Stevo, I got myself some chicken paprikash. It wasn't as good as his grandma's version, but it was still very good. The most similar aspect was the sauce which was light and creamy. The noodles here were undercooked, but still edible. The chicken wasn't the traditional style (just chunks), but in general it was a dish I'm glad I chose.
Moral of the story is... appreciate Hungarian grandmas.
The cake wasn't very good. Well, most of the cake wasn't very good. The top icing was fantastic, and it reminded me of the kind from the can. I just scraped it all off and ate it.
After dinner, it got exciting. I cleaned my plates, grabbed my books, and headed to Product Knowledge class. This was a very fun class. Starting with this class, we would have big tastings every time we met. We got into the part of the class routine where we'd go over an entire section of produce, analyze them, identify them, and taste them. We don't taste absolutely everything that we go over, but we have a generous spread. This class's focus was on salad greens.
I don't really have a planned format for this kind of information, but I'm just going to wing it.
We tried these things:
- Micro-greens
- Arugula
- Mustard Greens
- Mustard Greens, cooked
- Mache
- Frisée
- Escarole with Balsamic Vinegar
- Green Swiss Chard, cooked
- Radicchio, cooked
- Spinach, cooked
I will explain. Micro-greens are classified as a plant at its beginning stages of development. They will only be a few inches in length when they're cut. They're common in salads, but fresh and safely handled micro-greens are a very special treat to receive.
I won't explain everything, but bare with me. Mustard greens, if you haven't had them, taste like horseradish in green-leaf form. It's an intense flavor, but cooking makes the intensity drop.
Mache is also known as Lamb's Leaf, Lamb's Tongue, and Corn Salad. It's a very tender, small, mild in flavor, and delicate leaf that looks similar to micro-greens. They are also expensive and a special treat to get in a salad.
Frisée is a slightly bitter, yellow-white leaf that is common in salads such as mesclune.
Escarole is a green, leafy family member of the Belgian endive. It has a bitter flavor profile, so my teacher served it with balsamic vinegar drizzled on the top. Dear George, I hate that stuff. It's really not fair that I don't like balsamic vinegar. I have two things I want you to visualize. Imagine you despise the smell of, let's say, Dr. Pepper. It can be across the room and you won't smell it. It can be in the person next to you's hand and you won't smell it. You could probably be a couple feet above it and you won't smell it. Now, think about how you (hopefully) detest the smell of raw sewage. Now imagine if almost everyone you know loves it on their salads. Your teacher puts it on the salad, and everyone is enjoying it. You smell that stuff three buildings away. I hate balsamic vinegar.
Swiss chard is a leafy green that is known for it's similar qualities to spinach, and its ability to be grown in various, vibrant colors such as red, green, yellow and purple. It tastes much like spinach and cooks down like it too. It's very tasty.
Radicchio is a member of the chicory family, as is frisée, endive, escarole and others. It looks like a small ball of red cabbage. It has a bitter flavor, and was cooked down for us with garlic and seasonings to counter-balance the bitterness.
It was a pretty fun tasting, and aside from the balsamic vinegar, I thought everything was quite tasty.
After class, I changed into some more casual clothes, and got ready to go to my first ever club meeting. I got an e-mail that a senior had started the Thailand Club, and its first meeting would be at 9:15 in the Wine Spectator Classroom of Roth Hall. Not only was it the first club meeting I'd attend, it was also the group's first meeting ever, so I felt like I was doing something special. I was the first one there, and when the kid who runs it showed up, I introduced myself. His name is Sitti, and he is actually from Thailand. He is an extremely friendly and humble kid, and by the time it was 9:15, the Wine room had accumulated thirteen whole people! Sitti had brought a little Thai food dish that he'd made himself for us all to sample. This gave us a little window into what the club was all about. Here's the photo:
I thought the shells were fascinating. I asked him what it all was, and this is what he said. The shell was made in a mold with a batter consisting of flour, water, coconut milk and pig fat. The craziest thing was that I could tell all of those ingredients were in there when I tasted it. The filling was chicken, beef, corn, peas, carrots, curry powder and cilantro. It tasted incredibly good, so I asked for another.
The plans for the club are to meet at least once a month (the standard for clubs here), and to try a different region of Thailand's cuisine at each meeting. This will include many curries, and I cannot wait. Another feature we discussed was a trip to New York City's Chinatown. This would be particularly great, especially because we'd have someone to guide us that would actually know what's authentic. I only knew one person who was at that meeting, and just in case you're wondering, most of the people at the meeting weren't asian.
Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more
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