The Rest of the Story

Christmas DAY has come and gone...but the celebration of the Octave of Christmas still continues!

But just wanted to catch up on my Garde Manger finals...mostly because I find the finals practical's oddly amusing. (And I just found out I did get an A!)

All people have different tastes and styles. Chefs are no different. And they make their likes and dislikes known! It's how they teach. For instance: My first Chef instructor liked salt, and his favorite herb was tarragon...so that's what I added to my sauce! My second Chef liked artificial flavor bases, LOTS of salt, and disliked white pepper...so that's what I kept in mind when I made my risotto! Chef Johnston paid attention on presentation detail.

After 8 weeks of mastering Garde Manger from Chef J...came our finals. Naturally I'd use the techniques he taught me to prepare my food...but wait!... I walk into the classroom on the first day of finals (recipes in hand!) to find a substitute teacher!

We had two days of final practical's with substitute teachers. On each day we were to prepare a menu with a description, a diagram of the final product, recipes and an Mise en Place/prep list attached. We would take a day of finals to make cold salad, and the second day to make a tray of h'orderves. But just image walking into the classroom to find a total different personality there waiting to grade you on what you were taught by someone else!

The first substitute Chef on the first day called my salad "boring" (but it was how Chef J taught us!). So I received a lower grade than I expected. On my second day I had learned my lesson. I impressed my teacher with h'rderves of Pear Chutney Crostini with Goat Cheese. It was perfect. She even gave me a lead on a job position!

All in all, getting a good grade in this program is all about impressing the instructor! The end!