Photography

There was a photographer in class several weeks ago taking photos. Here's where they ended up.
(the first pic is me, looking manly. not the greatest photo i've ever taken.)

I got a job!

Really, I convinced someone to let me work for them for free.

At the end of our program, I have to do a one month internship at a real patisserie or restaurant. The school is supposed to place all the international students in internships because, well, it can be difficult. But I'm quite impatient. And somewhat of a control freak. And I don't like other people making decisions for me. So I put the word out to a few friends asking them for any advice or recommendations.

I had no idea where I wanted to go. The coast? Big city? Small village? I've always said I could live anywhere for a year, so a month is really no big deal. But I thought I may as well find somewhere I'd enjoy. The last couple months in tiny Yssingeaux have made me realize that living in a less than optimal location has the power to slow down the speed of time.

So anyway, one friend suggested Strasbourg. It's an important city for many reasons, past and present. It's old, yet it has every modern convenience. It's located in a beautiful region. It's centrally located and easy to travel to or from. It's a university town so it's got a youthful energy. And it's population is around 300,000. Not too big, not too small. I like it.

So I mention my internship and interest in Strasbourg to a friend and he tells me to contact his friend who has a pastry shop in, as luck would have it, Strasbourg. So I promptly write a letter (in French) introducing myself and my situation. Intern Aurelien proofed (rewrote) it for me. Then a couple weeks later Aurelien says that he's going to Strasbourg to visit some friends and I am welcome to come along if I like. At this point I hadn't heard any response, so I email again and say I'll be coming to town (again, in French) and get a quick reply: Call me (yes, it was in French).

Yay! This is good. Only problem is, she thinks I speak French! And I do. Kinda. I've been improving heaps. And I understand a lot. Chef has been speaking more and more French in the lab and Yssingeaux only speaks French. So I get in a lot of practice. But I'm still not very comfortable speaking. This is something I'm gonna have to get over. I know. And I am. But I felt like I painted myself into a corner. Here I wrote this nice letter in perfect French and now I'm gonna get on the phone and speak like a kindergartner. She's going to think I'm a fraud. I was terrified.

So I asked Chef for help. He misunderstood and called for me. He chatted about the program, about me, about what we make, about his expectations for our internships etc, etc. Then he handed me the phone mid conversation and I awkwardly set up a meeting time for Saturday morning. And that was that. I felt bad that Chef had to speak for me, but I was relieved that Chef spoke for me.

So I went to Strasbourg and it was exactly what I had hoped it would be. I met with the woman at the patisserie and the head chef on Saturday. We had a short, simple and nice conversation entirely in French as they don't speak English. They both agreed I could come back to do my internship with them. What a relief! So come September, you can find me working here, at Litzler-Vogel.

And when I'm not working, I'll be wandering around here.






I even found a yoga studio. (It's the pink building with blue shutters.)


And if I don't feel like walking around the city, maybe I'll kayak.



Delicious pretzels (or Bretzels as they say in Strasbourg). I'm told this is where they were invented.


Look, an unexploded bullet. Not sure which war.


Here's the beautiful cathedral. My pocket guide told me, and is now telling you that, "It is one of the most important monuments dating from the Middle Ages (11-15c). Its 466ft high spire was completed in 1439. It remained the highest in Western Europe until the 19th c."

I went in when a service was in progress. The music was intense.




Okay. I just looked at the time. I'm up too late again! Gotta get some sleep so I'm rested for class and my parent's visit. They arrive tomorrow evening. They'll hang out in the area for a couple days then we're driving down to Provence for the weekend. I can't wait.

I'll probably check back in next week. Bonne weekend!

Two month mark.

I promised some food pics and here they are. Sorry for the delay. I'm not sure where time sneaks off to in Yssingeaux.

It was another delicious week with lots of good food. We had another go at croissants and pain au chocolate. Then we spent a day or two playing with chocolate. And we made a couple yummy cakes as well. Have a look.

The cakes in the background are Frasiers and our cereal bars dipped in chocolate up front. We've made marshmallow a few times now. It's pretty darn good, but there's something really off-putting about pink marshmallow for me. I want nothing to do with it. Not even if it's dipped in chocolate. But the other guimauve (marshmallow) we made was chocolate. And let me just say, when I get home I hope people are ready for the best rice crispy treats um, like, ever. I think this will be another staple in my future shop. And maybe my pantry.


We spent a lot of time this week on chocolate. Dark chocolate, specifically. We learned how to stabilize it so it will dry hard and not be all melty as it sits around or when you pick it up. This, (like everything else) is a tricky process. Dark chocolate has to be cooked over a bain marie (double boiler) until it's 45-50ºC. Then you pour half of it on the table to be worked and cooled to the high 20's. Then you put that mixture back in with the remaining and get it all to a consistent 31ºC. Then, and only then it will be stable and you can begin to play.

Bubble wrap mould.





We took our chocolate creations and decorated our mousse fingers. That's not an official name. I don't remember what they're called. But it's a biscuit on bottom, with a moulded mousse, all dipped in chocolate. These were mine.


Here's my Framboisier. It's a basic biscuit, cream and raspberries. Traditionally decorated with a layer of green marzipan and fruit on top. We ran out of raspberries, so I had to substitute with strawberries on top.

Writing with chocolate. C'est trés difficile. Much more difficult than even tracing type. I was having flashbacks of my type class at the Circus. Mark Brought would not be impressed with my work here. Either am I. But I'm new. It's okay.

I didn't budget my space well. I know. But I like the idea of overlapping my letters. My art teacher, however, hated it. "Never never never do this," he said. He has so many rules, and he strongly advises us to follow tradition. At first I had a hard time with this. Especially coming from an art teacher. "Never, never, never use blue. Ziss is very important," he said.

I don't know. Maybe I've been an advertising creative too long, but as soon as he said this I could only imagine blue cakes, blue ribbons and blue icing (all tastefully done, of course). Give me a challenge and I'll figure out a way to get it done. It just seems silly to me to have such a concrete rule. "Why?" I asked immediately. And he said it's because "you don't find blue in nature." Well, again, I disagree. I'm looking at a beautiful blue sky right now. "And in France we don't use blue in pastry," he added.

Okay fine. I'm in France. I'll follow the rules. I think I'll have to if I want to pass my final exam with my instructor on the jury. I'll make up all my own rules when I get home. But for now I'll play nice pretend that there's no such thing as the color blue. I'll only use odd numbers. And I'll give space to every single letter I ever write. Cross my heart.


Here's another example of frustrating. So first we rolled out some marzipan and cut/shaped it to look like a plaque or scroll. Then we torched it to add some aging effects and then I RUINED it with chocolate writing. This was so frustrating for me. We practiced and practiced on the table first, but the marzipan has an entirely different texture and well, you can see how well mine turned out. And check out the grade. Hmm. Not fun.


Okay. Enough with bad type. The good news is, my croissants are improving! Not great yet, but at least it's not 100% brioche like last time. Look, there's a few more layers and pockets of air. Yay.


We made a bunch of stuff, including pain au chocolate. This is exactly the same as a croissant, only when you roll it, it starts as a rectangle, not triangle and you add chocolate inside. In France, this is breakfast. Isn't that delightful?


This one looks really good. I'm guessing it's Aldo's. He's our only guy in the class, and he's also the best baker. He's been working in bakeries in Lima for years. Chef put us in teams this week and Tam and I were matched up with Aldo. So my future croissants are looking good.


The Belle-Hélen. It's not as pretty as the Black Forrest cake from a couple weeks ago, but this dessert delivers. You serve it cold and it just tastes happy. Almost like an ice cream cake, only more smooth, and all around better. I had more than my fair share last Friday.


Alright. I gotta go pack. I'm headed to Strasbourg this weekend to check out the town. I've heard good things and am hoping to find an internship there for September. I'll check back in next week.

Bonsoir!

When it rains, it pours.

There's a fabulous thunder storm roaring outside. An entire orchestra is playing. But this piece is all about percussion, complete with gongs. I love it. I heard the rumbling start earlier today so I scrambled out the door with my sneakers and ipod to get in a quick run. And I have to say, a mean dark cloud that spits on you makes for one motivational running coach. Also my new running path helps. I discovered a beautiful path just behind my apartment. Sidwalks and all. It's fantastic. Now I don't have to run in circles or be chased by cars.



These guys joined me for a while the other day.


Man, it's really pouring out there now. Crazy, as just yesterday I was toasting myself beside this lake.



Jacqueline (my flatmate), Adda (intern at ENSP and CAP graduate) and I went to la barrage for the afternoon. Jacqueline went for a short walk, which for a Swiss woman is only a mere three hours. Adda and I relaxed with the dogs and kids in the shade. I SO wanted to take this guy home with me. I can't wait to adopt a dog someday.


Anyway. Enough rambling. I'm gonna go wake up Nate. But I'll be back later with food pics.