RE-SIT

Even more scary than 'Assessment' is the word 'Re-Sit' ... plainly put, one fails the 1st round, and given a 2nd chance to, hopefully, reverse the verdict. The parade (or public execution) ground depending which side of the bench you are on, is shown on the left. Presiding today was Chef 'No-Nonsense' Olivier. Let me give you the punch line : 4 out of 14 were privileged to 're-sit' ie Jack from China, Ben from Taiwan, me ie 'Raymong' from Hong Kong - for a moment we thought it was a racist thing against the Chinese - until Yeon, my young Korean friend, joined the party. Our products are the ones on the right hand side of the photo, with the happier folks to our left. The sentencing was business-like, no ifs or buts here. In my case (1) Choux pastry was left in the oven too long, the Eclairs cracked (2) Fondant was not properly tempered, too hot, it should not be more than 37C in order to 'shine' (3) color of the piped Creme & the Fondant do not quite match, and lastly (4) I forgot to use the 'star' nozzle to make the stuffing more appealling. Chef Olivier belabored the point; 'I am not judging your Eclairs on commercial terms, but your competency to produce them'.

I failed, badly! I was up since 430am this morning worrying about this. I am sure you all had this sense of bad vibes that 'shit may happen'? It did today, big time. Who would imagine a hollow pastry filled with cream, and coated with coffee flavored sugar can yield such enormous stress? 10 Not-up-to-Standard Eclairs brought me to my knees on June 26th 2009. Eclairs .... those little cholesterol jobs that come with Cafe Latte at high tea !!!!!!!!

Having been in business for almost 40 years I learned to accept defeat and move on. I have lost tenders, assignments, contracts & presentations against competition of all shapes & forms. We take a deep breath, we take it on the chin, we call to congratulate the winner, and we huddle on how to improve the next time, I mean the 'Next Time', and not doing it a second time, like a driving test. 'Re-Sit' is therefore a totally alien concept to me. I still cannot cope with it. I wonder if taking the NYC - Not Yet Competent - grade is the more honorable thing to do. Patisserie Practical has 3 components; making puff & sweet pastries yesterday, eclairs today, and tomorrow we produce vol-au-vents & a fruit flan. If I fail again tomorrow ... I will suggest to LCB that they put me on the NYC list in Patisserie because it is a fact. I need to look at the mirror every morning and see the honest side of me.

Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest today in LA, probably a broken man at 50. Poor soul. I have been a fan since his Jackson Five days, he is an all-time-great in my book, and his personal inadequacies has zilch to do with his sheer musical & preforming genius.

The end of an era, the passing of a Superstar, on the one hand ... and now my notorious Eclairs on the other. C'est la vie!