Since new classes come in every three weeks at the CIA, that means that there's a graduation every three weeks. When there's a graduation, there's a Grand Buffet on the last day. The Grand Buffet is a buffet that is quite grand. All of the kitchens prepare foods for this giant feast that occurs in Farq. for lunch and dinner. It's a celebration for the graduating class, and all students are allowed to come. It counts as a swipe, but you can eat at other kitchens instead, if you wanted to. They encourage students to take as much food as they want and can manage. I helped them out. But that was dinner. Let's start with lunch, shall we?
Today, I knew there would be no Banquet because that class was prepping for the buffet, so I knew I didn't have to wake up at 10:00 like usual. So I slept in, and at noon I woke up and got ready for lunch. I did not know what I'd be doing, but I hoped that I would make it for the lunch buffet. I didn't make it; in fact I arrived as it ended, but I walked around to find a kitchen that was open. I first passed K16, but I didn't want to wait on the huge line that was for some reason there. I continued to walk down the hall, and passed the Mediterranean kitchen which had a menu in front of the door and no line at all. I did a double-take, and as I thought, "Could I have actually found an open Med. kitchen?", the class's maitre d' came out of nowhere and asked what he could get me. I was thrilled. I hadn't tried this kitchen before, and didn't even look to see what country it was before I said "SURE!"
It was France today, and the guy said that there were only two dishes left because I came at the end of service. One was the vegetarian dish, and the other was what I chose. Here's my lunch:
-- Seared Scallops with Pommes Au Gratinée, Brussels Sprouts, and Diced Red Pepper in Lemon Beurre Blanc
-- Mussels in Beurre Blanc
-- French Onion Soup with Apples
Pommes: French for "potatoes"
Au Gratinée: French term for any dish that is mixed with breadcrumbs and cheese and then placed in a broiler until brown and crispy
Beurre Blanc: French for "white butter" and referring to the classic French sauce comprised of white wine, vinegar, shallots and butter
Unfortunately, I don't really know too much in terms of details of what I got. I could figure some things out for myself, but it's French food and I'm not too good with it yet. I was in such a hurry to get my food that I didn't get to take a photo of the menu, and there was too much description of the food that I couldn't retain it all. All that I could remember and figure out on my own I have listed above.
This was definitely one of the tastier dishes I've gotten from a kitchen that wasn't K16, and I look forward to going back to Med. kitchen sometime soon. The scallops were perfectly cooked and phenomenal, and I've had lots and lots of badly cooked scallops. They were fork tender on the inside and nicely caramelized on the outside. I've had a fondness for brussels sprouts ever since my dad made them for me pan-browned in butter with garlic, pine nuts and chicken. I hadn't tried them before he made that recipe, so I was not used to the plain, boiled preparation which gives this cabbage its bad rap. Therefore, I was excited to finally have some of these at the CIA, and they were as good as I'd hoped. The sauce was a tad acidic, but otherwise nice. I believe I've had pommes au gratinée four times so far here, but this was this best execution of the dish. The mussels were tasty as well, and the soup was delicious, especially with the addition of the apples.
I ate that meal in the aftermath of the lunch Grand Buffet. When I was done, I went back to my room and got ready for Gastro. This was an exciting class. It was our chocolate tasting today, and I couldn't wait. When I got there, early as usual, I volunteered to help portion out the different kinds of chocolates on the plates for all the students. There was white chocolate, which if you didn't know is arguably not even a chocolate because it's made from cocoa butter and no cacao mass, milk chocolate, and about five others which range in purity from about 44% to 100%. The last one was awful, and tasted exactly like the old cingulair allergy tablets I had to take when I was little because I couldn't swallow pills. All the rest were just good chocolates, but to half the room they tastes extremely bitter.
We've done a few experiments in past classes dealing with bitterness, and we learned how some people are extremely sensitive to bitterness while others rarely taste it. I won't get into it, but I'm one of the latter.
This was a great class because of the fact that we ate chocolate. After class, I went back to my room for a while and relaxed until it was time for the dinner Grand Buffet. I was told that it would start at 5:30, and I was very hungry. It was 5:05 and I didn't want to wait any longer, so I left and figured I'd just sit around and wait for the doors to open. When I got there, people were leaving Farq. with expressions of being full and holding to-go boxes. I was frantic. I knew that the lunch food was taken incredibly fast, and I thought I was being smart by coming as early as I did.
Actually, I was smart. I am smart. I give myself credit. Not only did I come early, I asked around and found out when it was supposed to start. I was proactive and superior. The school however decided to start early. So I got there I think around ten or fifteen minutes late, from what I could gauge, and it was just soooo packed with people. It was insane, and there was a huge line for all the food. So, I got in line.
Here are my pictures:
-- Foie Gras
-- Terrine of Ham and Duck
-- Terrine of Chicken and Crayfish
-- Seafood Salad with Calamari in a Horseradish and Wasabi Dressing
-- Roast Lamb stuffed with Pork Sausage with Caponata
-- Fruit Tart
-- Puff Pastry Cookie
-- Challah Bread
-- Poppy Seed Egg Bread
-- Tropical Fruit Mousse and Spongecake
-- Mango and Passion Fruit Cake with Coconut
Foie Gras: French for "fat liver", and is generally used for goose liver. This delicacy is the enlarged liver of a goose that has been force-fed for around 5 months without allowing exercise, producing a liver that can weigh up to three pounds. It is silky smooth in texture and is very rich
Terrine: The term being interchangeable with "paté", it is a ground force-meat mixture which may include pork, veal, liver, ham, fish, poultry, game, vegetables and moreCaponata: A Sicilian side dish usually comprised of eggplant, onions, tomatoes, pine nuts, anchovies, olives, capers and vinegar, all cooked in olive oil
Safe to say this place was popular. The main section of the room, which is only shown a little in the bottom right of the last picture, had long wooden tables going from the front doors to where it's shown in the photo. They had cuisines from France, the Middle East, and Asias. The area in the back is where they had all of the breads and desserts. I had only a tiny sampling of the desserts, but they all looked exquisite. I heard they had sorbets that were pumpkin flavored, candy apple, raspberry, and others that sounded oddly tasty. They had a thing called tuxedo strawberries which I'd never heard of or seen before. They were chocolate covered strawberries but they decorated them to look like tuxedo suits.
This was my first time having foie gras, although I have had a paté of goose liver. This was buttery soft, as rich as anything, and was pretty salty. I liked it, I must say, but I couldn't bring myself to eat it all. So you know, the foie gras is the one in the picture on the slice of bread. I'd also never had a terrine before. To the left of the foie gras is the terrine with chicken and crayfish, which was relatively bland in flavor. On the right was the terrine of ham and duck, and of course I thought it was incredible. It was duck and ham, what could go wrong. I was almost positive the seafood salad would be intensely strong with bitterness because it was made with horseradish AND wasabi, and although I could taste both, they really made it work so that your mouth didn't burn off. Very impressive.
The roast lamb was very good too, although there were some chewy parts. The best part was the caponata that went with it. The challah was a bit dry, but only because I was late to the feast. The fruit tart I'd had before, and I knew it was going to be as good as it was. The tropical fruit cake had an amazing appearance and that's why I took it, but it was just alright. It had a tart mousse which I wished would have been sweeter. On the other hand, the cake with the coconut was really good, and so was the chocolate decoration on top. Lastly, the bread with the poppy seeds and the cookie were so good, I got more to bring back. Here are my spoils:
I told you the bread was good. Also, I had an extra to-go box and wanted to put it to use, so I looked around the room. Most everything was gone or was being taken back to their respective kitchens, but I found a bowl of spinach salad. I asked the guy if I could just have it before it was disposed of, and he gladly obliged. Now I have a back-up meal (as if I'm worried about going hungry)!
It looks like today we have two new additions: foie gras and terrines. And the list of foods I've never tried before coming to the CIA grows even larger!
So the Grand Buffet was impressive in a lot of ways, but in the end I'm pretty upset I didn't get to be there to try everything they had. My friend who was there from the start said that they had a lot more then. So I was disappointed, but the good news is that I only have to wait three weeks to get one again.
Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more
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