Boulangerie

Chef Damien and I

This week was all about breads. The name of this class was called Boulangerie which translates to bakery in English. I had a new chef. He was just as great as my first one and he has really nice blue eyes. His name was Chef Damien.

This class began on Monday March, 25. I was not too excited for this class because breads are one of my least favorite subjects to study. I find it very boring as there is a lot of waiting around for the bread to rise. However, just after the first day, I did learn some new techniques and formulas that I love. One of my favorite is Pâté Levee Feuilletee Sur Pâté Fermentee which is our croissant/laminated dough. It was very easy to laminate and fold this dough. There were not so many steps involved. It also had brown butter in it which was very different from the formula back at home from JWU. However, in the end, these croissants and chocolate croissants were so good!

Buffet Table

Monday was also one of my friends birthday. Since our group of five could not all be there due to class that Monday night, we celebrated her birthday earlier on Saturday. We ordered pizza, watched a movie, and celebrated with a raspberry entremet and Kinder Eggs! It was such a great time and she was surprised about the birthday entremet!

Alain Ducasse and I

Tuesday was just as exciting. We had class like we normally do, however we had a special presentation that day. We got to meet Alain Ducasse. He is a very famous chef that is known worldwide. He also founded and is the owner of the school, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie, where I am studying here in Yssingeaux. We had a question and answer session as he talked about himself and his career as a chef. Alain only spoke French, so he had a translator there for all of the English speakers, like myself. I also got a picture with him; it was very exciting to meet him. The most exciting part was when he came into our kitchen and we took a class photo for the local newspaper. I made it in a French newspaper!!!! The next day right after class I went down into town to pick up a couple of newspapers. I made it on the front page in color with a couple other classmates! However, I have no clue what it says! Who knew, I would be famous in a newspaper in France! 

On Wednesday, and the beginning of Thursday, we continued to prep for our buffet that was being held later in the morning on Thursday. Once again the buffet came out great. We got to look and evaluate all of the bread we made during the week. We also got our chef to make some cinnamon buns that day. We were told by the administration, that he makes the best cinnamon buns, and they were right! They were absolutely amazing!

Joe, Kayla, Chef Alain Ducasse, Chelsea,
Tabitha, and Kelly

 I continued going to French Class, and let me tell you, it is not getting any easier for me. Luckily for me, I am half way done with my sixteen hours. However, I found out we will be doing a project video next week, and will have class for three hours! Hopefully this project is easy and class flies by. I’ll keep everyone posted for sure. 

Instead of having class on Friday, we had a presentation on our Entremet Project. We also received our chef whites with our names sewn on.  The presentation went good and we got to start planning out what we will be creating for our entremet, which we will be making in the next couple of weeks. I am excited to start making my entremet; hopefully it will turn out how I want it too! 

Well, my weekend is just about here and since it is a three day weekend, I am going to Barcelona, Spain. This will be an adventure of a life time! I hope everyone has a good weekend and a good holiday, Happy Easter!

Le Puy En Velay

At the Market

After a great day at Lyon, we came back and got ready for our next trip on Saturday, March 24 to a very small town called Le Puy en Velay. We caught the first bus out of town at 9:10 in the morning. This was a very short bus ride. As we arrived we walked to the center of town to find the market. We could not miss the market; there were so many venders all over the town. While at the market, I picked up some fresh apples, broccoli, bananas, and some rotisserie chicken and potatoes. The market was very cheap. We all got fresh fruits and veggies for a low price! The market ended at noon, and soon after we explored the rest of the town until the last bus came at 6 in the afternoon. We went into so many cute shops and bakeries.

Throughout our journey in Le Puy we came across a public park called Bienvenue Au Jardin Henri Vinay. In this cute little park we saw some goats, doves, peacocks, and some deer. It was so cool to see all this animals especially the deer, because I am so accustomed to them back at home. There was a buck and a couple of does. They all had spots on them, and the buck had a big rack. I had to take a picture to show my dad and brother who are big hunters.

Le Puy en Velay was a very relaxing day, in a quiet town. It was nothing like the city. This coming week I start a new lab called Boulangerie which means Bakery in English. Basically, I will be making many different kinds of French Breads all week! See you all soon.

Notre Dame

OnlyLyon

St. Etienne Train Station

Bellecous

Today was the first day we adventured outside of Yssingeaux. Our first stop was Lyon! We left early Friday morning, March 22 (since we had no class) to catch a bus in town to take us to the St. Etienne train station. As we arrived in Lyon we had to take a metro to get to the district Bellecous. It took us a while to figure out how to pay for a day ticket on the metro. The machine was not accepting our cards, so we had to get Euro coins. Once we figured that out it was smooth sailing until we reached our final destination.

Lyon is the third largest city in France. It was very breathtaking as we came up from underground! There were so many beautiful views and many expensive shopping boutiques. We spent most of the day shopping and exploring the city! We stopped and finally found after searching, looking at maps and asking people in French (who we didn’t understand) where the OL store was. This is the Olympique Lyonnais soccer store. Here is where I got a souvenir for a friend. This store was amazing. It had everything soccer there! We also checked out many pastry shops as we are all pastry students and I bought my first chocolate pastry, grand cru, for only 3,40 Euros. It was so good, if you are a chocolate lover like I am!

Grand Cru

 

Before we left to adventure back home to Yssingeaux, we had our first French dinner all together. We ate at a small restaurant called Café Perl. Luckily for us, they had menus in English, so we did not have to guess what we were ordering. I got pasta with chicken and parmesan sauce. I was thinking the sauce would be red, but it wasn’t. However it was still very good.

As the day was coming to the end, we made our way back to the train station to where our house mother, Ann Marie, picked us up at the Retournac train station. She brought us back to our apartments as our personal taxi.  

Streets of Lyon

Overall today was a great day, and we made it to and from Lyon without getting lost! I am so proud of us all. I am glad I planned and wrote everything down and very thankful my chef gave us directions for the metro!

See you all soon on my next adventure to Le Puy en Velay!

Petit Fours

Monday started my first class here at ENSP. Each class is a weeklong and we cover a certain topic. This week we were making petit fours. I was a little nervous at the beginning because I was not sure what to expect. However, it ran very much like my other labs back at JWU.

My chef was really nice, his name was Chef Richard. He has an Australian accent. He told me on the first day right after I met him that I was going to be the sous chef for the whole week. This meant I had to help him out and make sure the kitchen was up to par.

Chef Richard and I

The class began at 6 in the morning. This meant I had to wake up at 5 every morning to get ready and walk to the castle. From where I was living to the castle, it was about a 10 to 15 minute walk. Not only was today my first day of class, but we woke up to a blizzard and had to walk in the snow.

The Castle

As 6 o’clock arrived we entered the kitchen. It was nice and big and very different to the ones back at home. I was very much amused by both the refrigerator and the freezer. They looked like old boxes in the wall. We also had a dishwasher in the kitchen. This was new to all of us because we are usually doing all of our dishes by hand in the pot sink. Once we figured out how to use the dishwasher it was great!

Refrigerator and Freezer

Everyday we get a break for breakfast. We get a choice from fruit, cereal, and fresh bake croissants. I had Rice Krispies this morning, however I had to eat it in a stainless steel cooking bowl, and it reminded me of a dogs bowl! I also ate a chocolate croissant. Yummy French breakfast!

Though out the week, we made many different French petit fours. These included items like a Sable Breton, Pate a Choux, different types of Macarons, Canneles, Brownies Caramel, Financier Chocolat, and Smile Chocolate. We were given a formula packet for the week; each recipe was in French with English translation so we could get use to their language.

I also learned many new French words that relate to the kitchen this week. These include words like une maryse which is a spatula, un cul de poule which is a stainless steel bowl, un fouet which is a whisk, une triangle which is a bench scraper and une corne which is a bowl scraper.

The next three days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were just as good as the first day! We continued to prep for the buffet that was held on Thursday with all of the different petit fours we made. Wednesday was also the first day of French class. For the whole time I am here I have to take 16 hours of French. Wednesday was the beginning of the first two hours. I was very confused the first day and had no clue what the teacher was talking about. He would ask was questions and we would have to respond. I had no idea what he was saying and I could not pronounce anything. It was not fun! However, the second day of French which was on Thursday was a little bit better. I figured out how to read both a bus and train schedule. We also learned our numbers and letters. I was feeling better after this day, as I was slowly beginning to understand the language. However, I still can't pronounce half of the French words!

Thursday was the last day of petit fours. We made some last minute chocolate decorations and put together the rest of the petit fours that we made all week. When everything was finished we put it all together on a buffet table to show off all of the products we made during the week. Other classes came in to check out what we made and to sample everything. Overall the buffet table came out great, and I learned so many new ways of doing things. I can't wait for my next class to begin next week!

I am looking forward to this longer weekend to travel and to catch up on sleep. Check back soon to see where I went this weekend!

Bonjour!!

I finally made it to France! After a day of flying I have arrived safe and sound in Yssingeaux, France where I am participating in the Johnson & Wales spring session Ecole Nationale Superieure De Patisserie (ENSP) internship.  
My journey began on Wednesday March 13, 2013 in the evening when my mom and sister dropped me off at the Logan Express Bus Station in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was an emotional time as I said my good-byes to both of them, but especially my twin sister who has been by my side through all my ups and downs. I checked in at Delta airlines and dropped off my luggage without any issues! I finally met up with my friend Kristen at security, who is also in the same program as I am. We made our way through security without any problems!

My flight left at 7:30 Wednesday evening and I arrived in Amsterdam at 7:30 Thursday morning. The flight was 6 hours long and we were served dinner and then a couple hours later breakfast to get us accustomed to the time change. I was lucky enough to get a few hours of sleep while in the air so I would not be jet lagged and tired when I arrived in France! I had over an hour to wait in Amsterdam and decided to call my sister to let her know I was okay and have landed safely. I got free Wifi in the airport so I decided to text her until my next flight. I am so lucky to have such a great sister, especially since she woke up in the middle of the night (her time) to talk to me! It was 3 in the morning there! From Amsterdam, my flight left at 9:30 Thursday morning where we flew to Lyon. This is where I would meet the rest of the students and the bus driver. This flight was much shorter! It was only an hour and a half!  

Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport

When I arrived in Lyon I picked up my luggage and met the rest of the group! We hopped on the bus to where it would be taking us to live for the next 2 months. From the Lyon airport to the town of Yssingeaux, where we would be staying it took us an hour and a half to get there. At Lyon it was beautiful out and sunny and by the time we arrived at Yssingeaux it was snowing!!! When the bus stopped, we were all hoping that we weren't staying here, because it was too much like camping. The apartments were down a dirt road and were colorful and bright looking flats. But the inside was definitely nothing like camping! It was beautiful. It was a nice, small room for two which was fully furnished with electricity and internet. I met up with my roommate, Kelly and we started to settle down and unpack. We had Friday and the whole weekend before classes started on Monday. This gave me and others the perfect opportunity to explore and get to know the town that would be my home away from home.
 
Friday we had orientation all day at the Castle as they call it where classes will be held. We learned everything about the school, the town, places to see, and how to get around. On the weekend it was very mellow and laid back. We were going to go visit Le Puy en Velay, a small town not too far from Yssingeaux, on Saturday, but... that quickly changed when the bus never showed up because we were giving the wrong times. So instead, we adventured out in our small town to figure out where everything was and went grocery shopping. We walked everywhere we went and oh let me tell you, it sure is hilly here. However, it is a great workout! I woke up the next day with sore calves!

Apartment 19


I hope you all check back later for my first post about classes and my many adventures I plan on taking! Au revoir!