Coq en Barbouille

Bloody cock, whoa, that got your attention! Sick huh? Well, we made Coq en Barbouille, which is rooster braised in red wine, then the sauce is thickened with blood. Lots of sick jokes in class about this one, but it’s all good, tasty too. A little challenging to cook with fresh bottled blood. I boldly kept on with the going on, what else could I do? Le Cordon Bleu is not a place for vegetarians or for the squeamish.

School felt like a grind this week, what with all of the World Cup games and celebrating, each class was an effort. The weather finally turned to something fresher and sunny, even after Portugal’s loss, so I…played hooky! It just wouldn’t be normal for me to complete the whole Grande Diplome programme without missing a class. I couldn’t bring myself to do yet another fish dish on such a fine day as we had on Wednesday. I left school at 3:00ish and meandered through the streets of Paris. I ended up at Les Deux Maggots with my friend Bridget, who is doing the pastry program. We sat in dappled sunlight across from Eglise St. Germain de Près and had a petit snack: citron pressé, carpaccio, green salad, cassis sorbet and a frambroise macaron. What more could I ask for? I felt guilt twinges at first, but when I thought of what I’d be doing instead (gutting 2 trout through their gills and removing their bones through an incision made on the spine to stuff them with a duxelle farci (mushroom, shallot and wine stuffing) and turning mushrooms and carrots, I was happy with my choice for that afternoon. I have gutted enough fish! Besides, I’m good at it, and I have had perfect attendance so far, not even one tardy. My average score will not be affected, thanks to the new attendance policy. Cross fingers that I will not get sick or have to miss any more classes.

Besides the coq in blood jus today, I made another chocolate cake, with yet more chocolate mousse and another meringue based bisquit. The big lesson was tempering chocolate, which we’ve done thrice. My chocolate was tempered beautifully. It had a snap when you broke it and a brilliance to it, only it took me two tries. I had to start over because I cooled it on the marble, which was too cold, and I wasn’t using a large enough quantity. So…I ended up with only one chocolate disk instead of two, and an imperfectly formed disk at that. I rushed to catch up and didn’t concentrate enough when I cut the chocolate….hmmm. Poor chef, he had trouble being positive about my creation when he graded it. BUT, I got the most important element right, which he noted, and it all looked good for the fist two layers. My piping was finally nice, the cake was ample and it tasted great if that counts for anything.

I was going to title my entry “Sleeping with a fan…not a man mind you, a fan…of the mechanical sort.” I have been sleeping with the fan on, until that beautiful day Wednesday when the weather broke. It got down to 85 degrees a couple of nights, but it hovers around 87 otherwise. Always a few degrees warmer up here in the roof. Cools down in Paris at night, but when there’s no breeze, it’s hard to chill in the crib. The incessant hum of the fan interrupted my dreams. Also disturbing, I witnessed a nudie neighbor across the way (so hot here everyone is in their apartments sans vêtments) who made the mistake of fondling himself with the curtains open. Add the the pigeon action on the sill next to mine and the honking horns of the deliriously happy French soccer fans until 4 a.m., it makes it difficult to complete any of my own dreams. Seems everyone is in love in Paris, even though it may not be with another human being…and yes, I love my fan. I am dependent on it these days. I try to give it its own space, but I have become quite demanding. Not really love is it? But I am in Paris after all and I am happy for that, even though I complain.