I definitely don't claim to be an expert photographer. My pictures are just to show y'all what I'm making each day. Here is the tarte aux pommes, or apple tart, that we finished today. Looking at this picture, I already see things I know I can improve--it needs to be more browned, the rosette in the middle is a little to the right, I cut the apples a bit too thick, the apples could be more tightly layered. Agh! But setting aside the perfection this program is teaching me to aim for, I am kind of proud of my first creation. And it tasted good!
Today was another fast-paced day. We spent two hours of the day learning about food safety and sanitation. I think the scariest thing we were taught was about parasitic worms that live in raw and undercooked pork and can travel to your brain. Thankfully, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about that in making pastry and desserts, although I have eaten a bacon and dark chocolate bar before :).
We finished the day making creme patissiere (pastry cream). Creme patissiere, along with creme anglaise, are the 2 "mother sauces" of any French pastry chef. And if I have to make it a lot, I will have a seriously buff and muscular right arm. It must be whisked vigorously and continuously, as we were constantly reminded. And as the sauce thickens it gets harder and harder to whisk, but on you must whisk lest you get dreaded lumps in your cream. I think I know why all the contestants on Top Chef have sweat dripping from their nose. Tomorrow, we use the cream as a base for a banana cream tart. Ciao.
2 comments:
enjoyed the update! your apple tart looks delectable...can you ship me one?
sounds like you are having a great time! and your story about whipping the pastry creme was comical...call me when you get some time to tell me more about it.:)
That's awesome! What's the glaze-type stuff spread over it to give it that shiny look?
And if you hadn't mentioned the off-center rosette, I wouldn't have noticed :)
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