Intermediate Cuisine Exam

It was a difficult term and an equally difficult exam, but I passed! I’m off to Superior in January.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a lot of trouble feeling in sync throughout Intermediate.  It wasn’t a great feeling to have while preparing for the exam, but I tried my best to leave those emotions behind and just enjoy cooking.  It was hard at first, as I was so nervous, but sometime during the middle I really did feel like I was having a good time.

The two exam dishes were paupiettes de sole and tournedos de lapin.  Unlike other times, I really had no preference as to what I wanted to make.  I felt like they were both equal in terms of difficulty.  Although the rabbit has fewer components and an easier garnish, butchering and deboning it is tricky and time consuming. The sole on the other hand is easier to filet, but accompanied by more components: mousseline stuffing, flan, and turned mushrooms. I ended up getting the fish.

Unlike the previous exams, the students started their exams at different times. We entered in pairs at intervals of ten minutes.  Pacing and timing were extremely important as you couldn’t really keep yourself in check with the other people around you.  For the most part, I think I did a good job, but as always I ran out of time and completely rushed at the end.  With just ten minutes left, I haphazardly turned and cooked three mushrooms (which did not turn out half as good as the ones that I did for practice pictured above), unwrapped all my paupiettes, de-molded three flans, and plated…horribly.  I actually ended up finishing two minutes late, which was just the rotten cherry on top of how awful I was already feeling.  There were just a ton of details I just didn’t have time to go over.  I almost felt like I didn’t pass, but luckily I did well enough to pass!

Can’t wait for Superior, but in the meantime I’m glad to be on break.