FAILURE ... A BITTER PILL

The reason why there is no picture is becasue I failed 2 out of the 3 items I am supposed to prepare today. No point of pictures is there? ' ... today was just one of those days, Raymond. You were distracted, you did not listen well, you better get a good night's sleep as tomorrow is another day of even bigger challenges'. The Chef would normally take a bite of what we present, and then comments. He did not touch any of mine today, ' ... throw that into the bin will you, because you will get sick if you eat that'. Try to visualize my pain at that moment?

It was a Cuisine class but today's lesson involved 2 desserts, not exactly my forte to begin with. Again they are French classics : the first is Clafoutis aux Cerises (Cherry Custard Flan) baked with Pate Sucree, accompanied by Sauce Anglaise (Vanilla Custard) and the second; Rice Pudding via the French Method.

To make a long story short, only my flan survived & only barely as the dough was too thick. I either did not take close enough notes, or pay enough attention during the demonstration, my sauce ended up 'cooked' ie more like scrambled eggs, entirely my fault for not watching the heat. 'Too late now, do not bother with making a new sauce, just concentrate on the Rice Pudding'. When I served up the pudding, he lost it. While the rice was alright, the egg yolks were not properly handled in the creaming process with sugar & butter. When the mixture was folded into the rice the yolk was still watery ie uncooked. I did not think he would put raw yolk into his mouth. 'Into the bin, what is wrong today, you are not your normal self, Raymond!'

I might as well throw myself into the bin along with all the BS I produced today. No, I was not embarrassed, I was furious with myself, I hated my incompetence.

Today is the start of the 4th week ie 33% already behind us as Dora observed. I was in fact quite driven. I woke up very early, all ready to go, only to end the day this way. In the locker room Israel tried to comfort me 'everyone has his & her good & bad days' which was very kind of him. That said, I know we are all here to be trained for a commercial kitchen operation where there is no such thing as bad days. You can keep your bad day, bad mood, bad vibes, bad experience to yourself and still deliver the good results. This is what it is all about.

A sad revelation, a loud wake up call & a defining moment : Tang-CANNOT-Cook!