Well, one week is over, and no risk of deboning a chicken is in sight.
We “experienced” and incredible Dr. Herve This “note by note” cooking “dinner” last night. (His last name is pronounced: Tis, aka the guy who asked us what colour an egg white is.)
I call it a “dinner”, as it was not a meal in the traditional sense, but more like participating in an experiment. The Cordon Bleu chefs had been working with Dr. This since June, on how to bring his vision of cuisine to life in an entire meal. He of course was present – full of excitement and anticipation, just as much, if not more than all of us students. He sat with his wife (who must have incredible patience – he once woke her up in the middle of the night to share his exciting news that he had just “uncooked” and egg) taking photos of each course and taking notes, speaking to us about his vision between courses. Some courses were spectacular, and others were, well…weird.
Imagine the possibilities if you could replicate proteins with compounds? Compounds that are less expensive and more sustainable than traditional ingredients we use today?
What if farmers could add value to produce by selling “carrot compounds” instead of carrots?
Most importantly – what flavours and textures can we create that does not exist today by using new techniques and new ingredients?
The final course was make your own champagne. Not kidding. On a gorgeous slate slab, each had a tall graduated cylinder filled with wine. Beside it a long spoon with a mound of powders and crystals. We each dropped the spoon in and stirred. The cylinder filled with a gorgeous pink bubbly mixture. It was fun. It was exciting. It tasted terrible. Sort of like pop rocks and wine. But that’s ok, because we were at the third note by note dinner in the history of the world.
After dinner a few of us debriefed on the meal, asking each other: “Is this really food?” “Will this catch on?”
A student piped up “It’s like looking at Matisse in the early 1900’s and saying – but this is not art – and now….look at what it is today.”
And so we say goodbye to Paris and to the Cordon Bleu. We head to Reims, home of Champagne. There is one more week, and already there is starting to be a lot of chatter about the final exam. Some people are missing some of the social events because they are “tired”. I think they are studying, fear having been instilled in them after hearing that four students failed last year (that’s 16%!!!!). I am not going to worry about it right now ……although an “all-nighter” the likes I have not had since University, is clearly in my future.
