I didn't blog at all this week, but there's a great reason: I spent the week in bed because I was recovering from an upper respiratory virus. I was in the Emergency Room on Saturday and Sunday because I had a fever of 104 and trouble breathing. The second ER visit on Sunday finally yielded some results in the form of some pain medications that would allow me to semi function while I get better. But anyways...kitchens!
In the fantastical world of bread this week: Monday we took our first paper test and mixed brioche dough, which is really buttery!!! We had to mix it in stages, first developing the gluten without the butter, which makes up about half the weight of the dough, and then kneading in the butter without melting it.Tuesday we shaped it into brioche a tete (excuse my lack of French accents, my laptop doesn't have that program), and carroune. A tete meaning with head, because brioche a tete literally has a small head on top of a cupcake, and brioche carroune is French for crown. Wednesday we shaped more brioche, because it will be on our next practical exam. We also mixed challah bread dough. Challah is a traditionally Jewish bread that is soft and delicious! We shaped it into a five strand braid, as that will also be on our practical exam. Friday we made bagels and pretzels which were hand shaped and everything, as usual. It was really interesting to see after working at Panera how a real baker shapes bagels. What Chef said, is never stretch a bagel by poking a hole in the middle and stretching it out, because it always contracts. The best way to stretch a bagel is to pinch it into a rope, and then wrap the rope around your hand until the ends overlap. Roll the ends together by leaning hard on them as you roll. Another practical exam on Tuesday I think. So far, I've kept my GPA at the 4.0 so let's pray it stays there. Brioche carroune may just be the death of me. Until next week,
M
In the fantastical world of bread this week: Monday we took our first paper test and mixed brioche dough, which is really buttery!!! We had to mix it in stages, first developing the gluten without the butter, which makes up about half the weight of the dough, and then kneading in the butter without melting it.Tuesday we shaped it into brioche a tete (excuse my lack of French accents, my laptop doesn't have that program), and carroune. A tete meaning with head, because brioche a tete literally has a small head on top of a cupcake, and brioche carroune is French for crown. Wednesday we shaped more brioche, because it will be on our next practical exam. We also mixed challah bread dough. Challah is a traditionally Jewish bread that is soft and delicious! We shaped it into a five strand braid, as that will also be on our practical exam. Friday we made bagels and pretzels which were hand shaped and everything, as usual. It was really interesting to see after working at Panera how a real baker shapes bagels. What Chef said, is never stretch a bagel by poking a hole in the middle and stretching it out, because it always contracts. The best way to stretch a bagel is to pinch it into a rope, and then wrap the rope around your hand until the ends overlap. Roll the ends together by leaning hard on them as you roll. Another practical exam on Tuesday I think. So far, I've kept my GPA at the 4.0 so let's pray it stays there. Brioche carroune may just be the death of me. Until next week,
M
Hey margarit its nadya from germanna im glad to see your doing well I also am learning to become a chef nothing fancy but im studying at stratford university in woodbridge when I withdrew from germanna I decided that nursing just wasnt for me and I decided I wanted to get into the cooking thing bc ive always loved to cook but anyways ive been following your blog and I just wanted to say hello and I will have my eye on your blog until you finish and maybe well meet up somewhere down the road in our professional roles keep up the good work and ill b sharing your blog with my class mates its always good to have some encouragement from a fellow student ......ps nevermind my typing skills im sending this from my phone!!!!!! Lol
ReplyDeleteGreat! Glad to see you are doing what you love! It's definitely not for the faint of heart, this business. Click the "Follow" button to the left where it says fans. Then you get emails when I post new stuff!
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