Making Ice Cream in Hell

Chocolate Souffle

Today was one of the hottest days so far, the temperature outside was 97 degrees with over 50% humidity. In addition to this, we are in a kitchen with no A/C and 20 ovens running all day!

This has been the situation all week which in itself is manageable if not for the fact that it’s “Desert and pastry“ week! Pastries aren’t a strong point for most people in Culinary Arts. Lots of respect to people who can bake, it takes a special talent for the anal, to do well at it.
For those that do bake, you know heat and humidity are the worst enemy of a baker, add to this our aversion to dough and you’ve got one hell of a week.

Today was by far the most stressful, trying to roll out dough onto a hot counter, without breaking it,

Profiteroles filled with Ice Cream and covered in Chocolate

overworking it, letting the butter within it melt, or letting it stick to the surface all while chef is shouting at us to hurry up and not to screw it up!

We all managed to make it through it, most of us drenched in sweat and dehydrated by the end of the day, but having a much more in-depth understanding of the pressures and demands of working in a professional kitchen.

This course is definitely not for the casual cook. If you make it through to the end you are glutton for punishment, a whore for abuse and probably slightly crazy. However, you are also an extremely hard worker, a team player, a selfless giver, someone with a passion for creating wondrous gourmet experiences, bordering on food porn and definitely destined to make a good Chef.

Pear Tart with Almond Cream

Apple Tart

Cheese Souffle