We have to 'learn' 10 recipes by heart, and in the end the chefs pick only two. We don't know which ones that will be....
So, you can imagine that on the day of the exam, we are asking around what those dishes will be! First rumour came to us in the local cafe on the corner - rabbit had been spotted, and it wasn't on the 'basic cuisine' list. So that was clear: it was ours!
The biggest challenge came later: what would be the other dish? So you ask everybody who has access to the downstairs prep-kitchen: assistants, cleaners, even chefs! We even contacted assistants who were at home.... In the end we found out that our second challenge would be a guinea fowl (pintade) dish.
After our demonstration class (lesson 30!), we had some time to prepare for the exam.
Damien and Levi helping out chef Patrick in the last demo; joking around a bit, as usual!
I can't explain it, but I was nervous. Drank lots (and I mean lots!) of coffee in the cafe. Our group was doing the exam in the 2PS (second floor, petit salle) kitchen. You go upstairs in pairs, and you have exactly 2.5 hrs to finish and plate-up for 4 'judges' (external chefs). The latter wasn't clear to everybody, some of us didn't know to the last minute, right before plating up, that we had to produce food for 4 people!
I went into the kitchen together with Mr. Liu, our Chinese guy. Rabbit was on the menu! That meant lots of deboning, filleting, chopping etc. In by 16.30 and finished at 19.00 hrs - I was exhausted. I did it !! including my technical dish, a bearnaise sauce. Yes, I forgot a few things, but who cares? (forgot my breadcrumbs in the stupid stuffing and in the end I produced a very nice jus - without the cream...) - but I plated on time. ('Chef' Liu was more than 15 minutes late...)
Guinea fowl pie.
Rabbit.After the exam we downed a few beers and I went home. Some others did go out for dinner or parties, but I just didn't feel like joining them. Sorry about that. I was just knackered!
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