Recommendation de bouquin de cuisine / Cookery Book recommendation…..
Un petit mot pour vous recommander un livre que nous utilisons pour nos travaux pratiques. C’est la référence pour notre CAP Cuisine, et tout franchement, c’est bourré de photos et toutes les gestes dont vous aurez besoin. Si vous voulez voir la base de ce que l’on fait dans une cuisine professionnelle, ce livre serait […]
The restaurant industry, Jean-Pierre Coffe and its bad press…..
just a brief word concerning the overall image of the restaurant industry, or more exactly, the life of a chef & restaurant owner. When I started on my career conversion “thing” over 2 years ago, I decided that I should start by asking people what they thought of changing from being a Senior IT Consultant […]
CAP Cuisine – What is it and what do we do ?
I wanted to give those who are interested a summary of what a French Cookery Diploma (the CAP Cuisine, similar to an NVQ in the UK) is all about – specifically for those English speaking people who love cooking and fancy knowing exactly what all French chefs learn when they first start cooking. Clearly this […]
don’t buy what the farmers wouldn’t give to their own children….
Just before I go to my practical class this afternoon, I noticed an article that appeared in the Seattle Post Intelligencer 2 days ago concerning Slow Food eating local and so on. The journo stated (among other things) that she was struck by the comment of a local farmer that “they will not sell any […]
Michelin Guide – 3 Star European Champions League….
Stumbled across an article (in a German publication Deutsche Welle, 15/11/07) which stated that Germany has just had another 3 restaurants awarded 3 Michelin stars to take it up to 9 3-star restaurants in total. This made me wonder where the various countries are in this gastronomic league table. So, starting from the top, 1) […]
Slow Food, Bacteria and Blogs…
…..not all at the same time, though, of course ! Slow Food as a concept is something that has interested me (from afar, I hasten to add, since I have never actively participated at any actual event and I am not, as of yet, a paying card member) for quite some time. Why ? Well, […]
Hervé This – my first steps into la Cuisine Moléculaire
Maybe it’s no longer particularly cutting edge, this “molecular gastronomy” lark, with the likes of Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Pierre Gagnaire and Hervé This (amongst probably many, many others) letting their creative juices flow in this area for a number of years now. But for me it remains pretty much a mystery. So, I decided […]
Day in the life of an English trainee chef in a french kitchen…..
So, I’m at the end of my 2 week period at La Fontaine Gaillon and wow, what a rollercoaster of emotion ! I’ve been buzzing with excitement, exhausted, aching hands (my right hand is still tingling, quite literally), slightly demoralised, and now quitely confident and content. In my last post I talked about the need […]
Around the world in 13 days….
This blog has been up and running and accessible for 13 days, and in that time I have had 60 different visitors from 9 different countries (France, Switzerland, Sweden being the top sources, with sporadic interest coming from the USA, Canada, NZ, Portugal, UK, Belgium). I think that a number of you have not spent […]
Into the meat of things….
I think that I am at a moment where I should start to master the basics and have some real cuisine knowledge – Saturday’s session at Le Zephyr was somewhat difficult for me….not too much work – quite the opposite and for me it was an opportunity missed to get a bit of experience at […]