Tomorrow's our first day in the kitchen, and I'm excited for it! I've had experience working in the school kitchen when I took the fundamental course, but tomorrow's session feels different. I have mentioned that the first few weeks of school have been the happiest I have ever been. I feel that tomorrow will be a validation that I am where really want to be.

There are a total of 14 cooking methods in Classical Cuisine. 14?! Before this course, the only cooking methods I knew were boiling and frying. Now, I have to slowly ingrain these 14 methods in my head: Blanching, Poaching, Boiling/Simmering, Deep-Fat Frying, Pan Frying/Sauteing, Steaming, Roasting, Butter Roasting, Grilling, Stewing, Braising/Glazing, Baking, Glazing Vegetables, and Gratinating. Its been said that if one masters all of these methods, then you can cook anything.

I bought my first starter knife set today. My haul: an 8-inch Chef's Knife, Paring Knife, Turning Knife, Vegetable Peeler, and Leather Carrying Case. The damage: 6,200 pesos. Its really not that expensive considering that I've seen knives cost twice as much as what I paid for - and its just for one piece! I guess those MAC or Global knives would have to wait for now. Anyway, all the chefs in school have been harping that its not the knives that matter, but the skills. It wouldn't matter if you have the most expensive knife in the world if you did not know how to use it. So while waiting for the opportunity to do serious damage with samurai-sword like quality and price knives, I'll have to work on my knife-skills to prove my worthiness.

Today's session seemed more like a science class than a cooking lesson. Our topic was on the properties of water, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Chef Gerd demonstrated a number of these properties at work in the kitchen. We learned a lot of basic stuff like combining hot and cold water to flour and starch, and how these two thickening agents behave differently. I also found out that our apples have a layer of beeswax in order to keep it shiny (Try scraping the skin of an apple, its freaky!). We tried burning cream, roasting flour, combining water and oil, whipping up egg whites and then pouring a fat over it, soaking legumes, among other things. It was a pretty interesting topic, only I was pretty restless in class today, and I didn't absorb as much information as I usually do. Must've been the cold I contracted from someone.

My Chef's Jacket Has Magical Powers

Since I started wearing my chef's jacket / school uniform, I have noticed that people have been paying more attention to me. I get double takes from random people in the street, on the train, and in the mall. I have experienced total strangers blurt out "Hi Chef!" in my presence. There are even people who obviously stare at the name tag affixed on my jacket. Restaurant workers also give me the look that either says that I should try the food at their place, or stay as far away as possible. It's a conundrum that I have yet to be able to answer. Has donning the chef's whites made me more attractive?

My Attempt at Holland-Daze Sauce

I was inspired by today's lesson about Sauces, plus the fact that Chef Manoj in his own way "ordered" us to experiment on sauces at home. I experimented on making Hollandaise Sauce. To the uninformed, Hollandaise sauce is a butter based sauce, which is part of the 7 Mother Sauces. From the 7 Mother Sauces, which includes White, Brown, Butter, Tomato, Oil, Pureed, and Specialty Sauces - one can make a thousand and one derivative sauces. However, in order to make these sauces, one must first have an expertise of the 7 Mother Sauces.

Back to my Hollandaise, I could say that it was a good first try. I actually had 2 attempts at making the sauce. The first one - I turned into scrambled eggs, possibly because of the lack of liquid (vinegar reduction) or the heat was too high. Casualty Count: 2 egg yolks

Determined to get it right the second time around, I made sure that there was enough of the reduction for the egg yolks. I also started whisking my yolks a little below the required temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. After making these adjustments, I was finally successful in churning out a respectable (in my opinion) Hollandaise. Although I still think that its far from perfect, as I found the vinegar taste a tad bit overpowering, I'm very proud of my work. Here are the pictures from my practice session:

For those who would like to know how Hollandaise Sauce is made, here are the ingredients, mise en place, and method:

Ingredients:
Egg Yolks
Clarified Butter
Shallots
White Wine Vinegar
White Wine
Water
Bay Leaf
White Pepper
Lemon Juice
Cayenne Pepper
Salt

Mise En Place:
Chop shallots
Wash Eggs and separate the yolk from the egg whites
Clarify the Butter

Method:
1. Combine Shallots, white wine, white wine vinegar, bay leaf, water, and white pepper in the pot.
2. Boil the ingredients until the liquid almost evaporates (This is called a reduction)
3. Add a little bit of water
4. Strain the reduction and allow to cool
5.Prepare a water bath - Boil a pot of water to 80 degrees Celsius and place a bowl on top of it. This is where you will whisk the egg whites
6. Place the cooled reduction on the bowl
7. Combine the egg yolks with the reduction and whisk vigorously until the mixture is foamy and creamy
8. Pour your clarified butter in a slow steady stream and continue whisking vigorously. Your aim is to create an emulsion with the mixture
9. Season the sauce with lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper

Next time I'll probably have to work on my timing, as it took my almost 2 hours to make this sauce. But nevertheless, I'm happy with the end-result.

We had Chef Manoj again today, and we were finally subjected to his famous recitation sessions. I got off easy as my question was this: What are chemical hazards? Hahaha! That was it.

My other classmates were not so lucky. Some had the tougher questions, some plainly blacked out, while there were some who simply chose not to study.

Today, we started our lesson on stocks and sauces, which is tough because now we have to memorize all of these recipes. Right now, I'm stressing over the fact that I have to memorize 7 stock recipes by tomorrow... and that's hell.

What makes food good? Is it just the taste? Is it using the freshest ingredients? Does good food always have to be healthy? These were some of the questions that were raised in class this morning as we had a discussion on what constitutes good food.

We identified 3 basic factors that have to be achieved in order to be able to say that the food one prepares is good. Its not to say that these 3 are the only things one should aim at fulfilling when preparing food. These are the minimum requirements, so to speak.

1. Taste
2. Texture and Consistency
3. Aesthetic Value

There was a point raised in class that really stuck to me today. That in the preparation of food, all ingredients that come into play in a particular dish should fill a purpose. It should either contribute to the taste, texture, or the aesthetic value of the food. No ingredient should be included just for the sake of having it or just because it might sound good for it to be there.

I can't believe that another week has passed. Those 5 days flew by so fast, I hardly had enough time to breathe. Its has been a very busy week in culinary school, but besides being busy, it was also the most fun and enjoyable 5 days. I say "so far" because I'm definitely sure that the weeks to come will be great, I can feel it.

Today we had Culinary Terminologies. We were introduced to more than 100 terminologies today, almost 200 I think (but I didn't count). To the uninitiated who has absolutely no idea what the words Mise En Place or Antipasto or Chateaubriand means, its bound to overwhelm you. Just pronouncing the words is a chore, let alone memorizing the definition of the terms. In my case, it helps to be a wide-reader, especially of literature related to food. I had encountered most of the terminologies we discussed from books I've read in the past, as well as from all the Saturdays I spent in the Culinary Fundamentals class back in January. In a way, I had an easier time today.

After school, our class had a bonding session over beer in one of the joints in Katipunan. It was a great way to cap off the busy week of lecture. I got to know a bit about some of my classmates I'll be spending 14 months with in school. We're a pretty diverse bunch in terms of age and personality.

The first official week of class is in the books. I'm excited for next week's round of topics. I'm reallygetting into the whole studying everyday thing. The last time I studied this religiously was when I was still taking pre-medicine. But unlike my pre-med days, I'm really having a blast right now. Having a keen and deep interest in the subject matter is making me double my efforts to really do well in culinary school.

We had Chef Manoj to wrap up the HAACP lecture today. The whole class was prepared for the worst, as we heard stories of how the chef would conduct a "Circle of Death", where he would make the class go in a circle and ask each student questions related to the topic at hand. Pity the student who wouldn't be able to come up with a coherent answer. But thankfully, we didn't have that today. I guess he was still trying to size up the class. Chef Manoj is actually a pretty cool guy. Out of all the lectures we've had this week, his class was the most entertaining in terms of the stories and the humor. He definitely held the class' attention lest we have an impromptu recitation. One could tell however, that the students were somewhat intimidated. Some people gave unintelligible responses to questions, while some just blacked out completely (One of my classmates didn't have a clue where he lived when asked by the Chef). But its healthy to be on your toes every so often, I guess.

Not much to write about today. It was just the continuation of our HAACP lecture.

I've been constantly reviewing my manual every single day because of the voluminous amounts of information there is to remember. Right now, my mind is filled up with characteristics of bacteria, viruses, and parasites; 7 Points of HAACP; How to prevent the spread of bacterial microorganisms; The different kitchens in a large-scale food serevice operation; Storage procedures for the chiller, freezer, and dry store room.

All these information crammed into my head. I've never memorized like this since I took my pre-med years ago! I just hope my brain doesn't crash on me anytime soon.

Our lecture on HACCP started today. Its a pretty scary topic considering that we discuss how food gets contaminated by bacteria and such. Its a chef's worst nightmare to find out that people got sick because of the food you prepared. Proper sanitation is something I will have to watch out for from now on.

On a side note, we had a surprise mock-quiz today on yesterday's topic (Kitchen Organization), and I got one of the highest scores in class! I'm very happy about it. I don't know, but I've just been on a natural high since school started. I don't mind waking up ahead of the roosters, I don't mind the hour and a half long morning commute, I don't mind wearing the uniform. Right now, I feel content.

The first day of lecture was great. We had Chef Pauleen, one of the 2 Filipino chef-instructors, as our lecturer for the day. They say that you know within minutes if something is for you. I knew within the first minute that I made the right decision to be where I was today.

We briefly discussed the history of Culinary Arts from Catherine De Medici, to Careme, to Escoffier. My eyes lit up when Ferran Adria, the pioneer of molecular gastronomy was discussed. Its a dream someday to work in the kitchen / mad lab of Mr. Adria, or at least have the experience of dining in El Bulli.

We moved on to a discussion of the different kitchens, and my attention held firm. From Garde Manger kitchens to a Room Service kitchen, I never knew kitchens had different functions. Now I know better.

Finally, we went over the kitchen organizational chart, developed by Escoffier inspired from the military org. chart. To be an Executive Chef seems too far a prospect for me right now, considering that I'm not even in the lowest rung of the ladder yet. Everyone has to start at the bottom, right?

I'm just inspired and very eager to learn right now. I'm going to be like a sponge thats going to take everything in.

Today was a total waste of time as we just had a 10-minute fire drill then we were dismissed. I commuted for an hour and a half, waited for an hour for the class to start, waited for another hour and a half for the fire drill, only to go down and back up again. That was my whole school day today.

My lunch with Pam made up for the nearly wasted day.

I hope next week will be better, as regular class starts. I'm pretty psyched up about it.

I can't wait to become a chef.

We were made to sit through a lecture today on Fire Safety and Prevention. Its an interesting discussion...if the contents of a Portable Fire Extinguisher turns you on. Otherwise, its the same series of pretty boring lectures.

But fire safety and prevention is important, especially since I'm going to be working in the kitchen soon. But having to sit through a harrowing lecture won't make things any easier or interesting at the least.

Anyway, I got to know a bit about some of my classmates, and I did have new acquaintances for the pastry class (I'm holding on to the notion that having friends in pastry will be good for me in the future when we do start eating). I have a classmate who lives a block away from my house. Talk about coincidence! I have another classmate who is a jazz player in a band. Now how cool is that?! I guess meeting new people and making friends was the high point of my day.

I'm excited about tomorrow in a geeky, unusual kind of way. Its the fire drills. I'm really back in school...

Today was the Red Cross Orientation and First Aid Training.

At first it was a bit painful to sit through the class because of the proctor who tried to make his lecture come off as funny and amusing.

First, his lecture was filling to the brim with sexual innuendos. Second, he was seemingly tried to hit on a female classmate and made fun of another who was on the heavy side. Third, his English was not exactly one that you would call understandable.

Some of my classmates were lapping it up though. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

But to his credit, I think the instructor loved what he was doing being a Red Cross volunteer. I go far as saying that I'm probably going to take one of the first aid classes sometime in the future.

That was my school day. I wonder what tomorrow holds when we have the fire prevention seminar.

Today was the first day of school.

Class was due to start at 3 PM...I was there by 1... Call me excited.

I saw a lot of young faces, most fresh out of high school. Great, I could be one of the oldest students in the batch.

Then I saw a fifty-something in the crowd. I can relax now.

The duration of the class was a whole 1 and a half hours discussing the student's manual. Mostly boring self-explanatory shit.

I wonder if it was just me, but the lecturer was just a step above being condescending.

Got my hardbound textbook that can also pass for a lethal weapon. Hardbound and heavy

Got my mug taken for the ID - the last order for the day.

Just a thought - my commute took longer than the actual class.

Tomorrow: Red Cross Training. I wonder if they'll ask us for blood donations. I hate needles.

Everything comes to a head tomorrow - the first day of the rest of my life.

Finally...the path in the forked road has been chosen.

Lets find our happiness, shall we?

I saw the film Stand By Me the other day, a coming of age tale of friendship and self-discovery adapted from a Stephen King novella. After watching the movie, I felt an emptiness that resonated from within that has kept me in a funk that I haven't been able to fully shake off as I write this piece. In the movie, 4 young friends go on an adventure the result of which can be one of two things - its either the bonds of friendship will be broken or it will be strengthened and preserved for as long as they live. Its a very touching tale, one that will make an individual examine his own life to reminisce of the precocious and carefree stage in life called youth. As I look back on my own youth, I realize that such memories do not exist for me. And it is because of this fact that I am somewhat saddened. But wait, the aforementioned statement may seem to harsh that it might lead readers to form the conclusion that I had a deprived childhood or I might have even been abused. No, none of these things happened. What I am drifting at to be able to say that I missed out on some significant events of my youth is this...

I have never had a childhood friend - that buddy you've known since you were wee tots growing up, that person you shared your toys with, whom you played with and fought with, that kid you shared your early childhood insecurities and anxieties with. I don't know, maybe my idea of having a childhood best friend may be as idealistic as how I view life. But its a thought that has always been nagging me at the back of my head for intermittent periods in my life. Why was I not able to cultivate a friendship from my youth? As I ponder on this thought, I realize that most of the friends I have now, those whom I consider to be good friends, were from relationships that started not so long ago - from when I was already into my adolescence? What does that tell you about me? I don't know, honestly. Was I not a congenial individual when I was young? Did I isolate myself from having social contact with people? Was I such a loser when I was a child? Unfortunately, these questions are very tough to answer now for the simple reason that I don't know how I handled myself back then.

I don't know, maybe this "problem" is not supposed to be a big deal. I bet that to most people, its not. But to me however, it is, because I think I would have turned out differently from what I am today. Would I have been more confident, more sure of myself, more outgoing? I guess that's water under the bridge now. I'm not saying that its a regret in my life that I would wish to turn back, but more of a realization that maybe I missed out on something that would probably have made an indelible mark, a significant impact.

There, I'm feeling much better now. I just had to get that out of my system.

This idea for a blog entry came to me while I was sitting in a Starbuck's in Katipunan early this morning, while waiting to pick up my school uniform. I realized that I haven't written anything about movies in my blog, despite being the avid movie watcher, frustrated movie critic, and die-hard DVD collector that I am. I can't believe that I haven't professed my love of movies in this blog, ever!

So here I am, making a list of my favorite movies of all time. I believe you can tell a person by the kind of movies he/she watches. Let me know what you think of me after reading this list. I must admit that my taste in movies tend to fall under mainstream films. I don't pretend to watch art films just for the sake of bragging that I'm a cultured individual, although I have seen a few high-art films (and most of them have left me scratching my head most of the time). And I don't think that people would choose to watch art-films if they were the only form of media left in the world. That's just pretentious. I still think that the primary purpose of watching movies is to be entertained. So without any further explanation, here are my top 10 favorite movies that I wouldn't mind watching over and over and over.

1. The Lord of The Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers
3. The Lord of The Rings - The Return of the King
These 3 films, I have to watch back to back to back. There's no other way to watch this masterpiece. When these 3 were released separately, I always watched the first showing of the first screening day. I cried at the end of The Return of the King partly because I realized that it was all over. The Lord of the Rings will mak you believe that anything can be done in the world of movies.

4. Seven Samurai - The best Kurosawa film in my opinion. Although this was a black and white film, the characterization and story-telling make up for all the color that the movie didn't have. This is a very enjoyable piece of film-making. If you're new to Kurosawa, I suggest you see this movie first.

5. The Shawshank Redemption - Watching this makes you feel like the luckiest man alive, especially after seeing what Andy Dufresne had to go through while incarcerated in Shawshank prison. Although based on fiction, this movie gives you hope even in the darkest of situations.

6. Cinema Paradiso - I'm not a big fan of romance movies, but this film made me want to fall in love. I cried at the scene when the boy - now an old man, watches scenes of different kissing and romance sequences that his old friend compiled for him. Truly heavy stuff

7. Kill Bill Volume 1 - This was the movie that introduced me to Quentin Tarantino. I had never heard of the guy before seeing this movie, but after this movie, I became a fan. I remember being enthralled and amazed at the black and white fight scene at the restaurant, as well as the anime sequence examining the origins of the Oren Ishii character. Really cutting edge stuff (no pun intended)!

8. The Sixth Sense - Who could ever forget the twist ending in this movie? I remember watching Sixth Sense in the theater with a bunch of friends, and we were seated in the front row. I remember a friend of mine crushed his drink cup (with the contents inside) when the kid ghost with the blown off head turned around.

9. Forrest Gump - Another inspiring piece that leaves you with a feeling of happiness after every viewing. This is a feel-good movie in the truest sense of the word.

10. The Godfather - Who doesn't love the Godfather?! The film that started the gangster movie trend. I also love The Godfather Part 2, but c'mon, without the success of this one, the second movie would'nt have been even made. I thoroughly enjoyed the final scenes when Al Pacino's character executes a revenge hit on their enemies.