So I know I haven’t written a blog in awhile, but I decided that I should post about my conclusion to Culinary School. For our graduation we were assigned the task of creating a buffet with an assortment of French inspired appetizers. Because our school is transitioning from the Culinary Academy of Austin, to the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts – our chef wanted us to prepare an Escoffier themed buffet. After reading both of his dense (no-pictures) cookbooks, I quickly realized that this might prove tricky. Almost every recipe in his cookbooks called for truffles, fois gras, calf liver or brain, or some other high-quality or unusual item. Obviously, we were not going to be preparing strict Escoffier recipes for our final event. After alerting the chef to this detriment we were allowed to broaden our horizons to simply “French-themed” and could take it from there. We paired off into teams of two and compiled our menus. My partner and I decided we could complete three dishes: Grilled Chicken with Truffle Herb Butter and Figs, Profiteroles with Roasted Red Pepper Goat Cheese and Asparagus, and Butternut Squash Crostini with Herbed Cream Cheese and Fried Sage. The other teams also assembled their menus, consisting of: Corn Soup with Green Chile Oil, Fried Eggplant with Goat cheese and Asparagus, Filet Mignon with Burgundy Sauce, and Lobster Americaine.
We were allowed to bring our friends and family to our graduation and our chef prepared a speech and slideshow for us to watch and hear. We were given the entire morning to prepare our buffet and then assemble it as beautifully as possible. It was incredibly fun to be able to work in the kitchen for one last time with my classmates, without rushing, simply preparing good food. It was also great to have my husband finally see the classroom and kitchens and finally know what I was doing all of those mornings, sneaking off at 6:30 to head to class.
I loved going through the experience of culinary school. Although I have realized that working in a kitchen might not be my career choice, I still learned extremely valuable skills for my own self-awareness. I have noticed that my abilities in the kitchen at home are now much more efficient and clean, and that my preparations and presentations are also much more advanced. I take more care in the kitchen, and am now concerned with how the dishes look, as well as how they taste. I loved culinary school, meeting a different set of individuals who I would never have gotten the chance to know in any other setting. I also love the new sets of skills that I’ve learned, from knife and cutting techniques, to how to break down a chicken effectively, to how to properly cook meat (something I still rarely do). Although some people might think that going through the process of a year long program without the desire to actually enter the field professionally might be silly, I believe that the knowledge and experience I’ve gathered is well worth the time and monetary contribution. Plus, now I can cater for my parents and they can say I was professionally taught. And my husband and friends can now enjoy my new skills as well.
