Le Cordon Bleu
Cooking demonstration with Chef Patrick Terrien, Chef de Cuisine.
Lesson 10 – Contemporary Cuisine (Classic technique with a contemporary twist)
All the notes and recipes below were written down by Maria Rihte during the cooking demonstration as truthfully as possible.
Menu
Fresh Artichoke salad and ricotta gnocchi with lemon peel and dandelion leaves.
Serves 4
Lamb Shank slowly cooked with spices – roll-cut salsify and potato gnocchi with herbs.
Serves 4
Pineapple and Vanilla ‘Brochettes’ with gingerbread, coconut sauce with saffron.
Serves 6
Le Cordon Bleu – visit
I was standing in a crowded hallway, staring at a Julie and Julia poster on the wall, past the white kitchen hats of the students dressed in the mandatory school uniform. I was so excited, that I could hardly keep still. I was going to attend a Cuisine demonstration at the famous Le Cordon Bleu – the culinary Mecca of French Cuisine.
The much celebrated French Cuisine; the traditional, gastronomic meal with its rites and presentation, was rightly declared as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by Unesco in November 2010.
This food culture is said to have been introduced to France by Catherine de Medici as she arrived in Paris in 1533 with wagons filled with chefs, food and recipes from her native Italy. She was on her way to marry Henry - the second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France - the future King Henry II of France.
Catherine the Queen of France taught the French how to eat with the revolutionary fork and her private chefs created pastries, breads and cakes. They also used truffles and fresh vegetables, like artichokes, spinach and tomatoes in their kitchens.
Catherine’s niece Marie de Medici followed her in aunt’s footsteps by marrying another Henry – Henry IV and from her vast kitchens arrived such French classics as Sauce Béarnaise and Sauce Mornay.
Le Procope - which started as a café and is one of oldest restaurants in Paris, was founded in 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli. Iconic figures like Voltaire, Diderot, Danton, Robespierre, Marat and Benjamin Franklin visited Le Procope, which exists, even today, at the lively Rue de L’Ancienne Comédie in the heart of Saint Germain, on the left bank, in the 6th Arrondissement.
The more recent connections with food, café life and literature can be sensed in The Café de Flore, which Simone de Beauvoir frequently visited with Jean-Paul Sartre and in Les Deaux Magots in the corner of St-Germain and Rue Bonaparte where Ernest Hemingway used to enjoy his drink amongst other writers.
So much of the weight of the culinary history was pressing down on my shoulders as I entered the demonstration kitchen, eager to take notes and photographs.
The students greeted the Chef by bellowing in unison “Bonjour Chef!”
The Chef was no other than Chef Patrick Terrien, who has been a member of the prestigious team of Le Cordon Bleu chefs since 1989. He has worked in many restaurants in many French cities, taught at the Tsuji Academy in Japan and earned his “Manifestation Internationale Gastronimigue” in Geneva. He owned a restaurant in the City of Tours, which was awarded one Michelin star and now he was going to teach us and guide us into the world of French gastronomy.
Today’s lesson was about contemporary cuisine, using classic techniques with a modern twist. Chef Terrien was going to show us how to prepare lamb shanks, slowly cooked with spices, served with Daikon radish and potato gnocchi, coloured slightly green with herb chlorophyll.
The appetizer would be a fresh artichoke salad served with ricotta gnocchi, lemon peel and dandelion leaves. The dessert was going to be a beautiful pineapple and vanilla ‘brochettes’ with gingerbread, served with coconut sauce with saffron and coconut sorbet on the side.
I had been given the menu and the list of ingredients in a folder – nothing else. It is the responsibility of the students to write down the recipes while following the demonstration. I was re-reading the menu, trying to remember everything, so that my note taking would be easier. Luckily I had brought with me a large notebook, because the next three hours would be a fast paced adventure into the land of scents and tastes, with no time to loose by writing down notes in orderly fashion.
Chef Terrien looked at the class through his silver framed glasses, introduced his assistant, Geraldine and the translator, who would be providing simultaneous translation from French to English during the demonstration.
Chef Terrien began. His stage was a large table under an even larger mirror, which was fastened to the ceiling at an angle, so that the audience could easily and at all times see what was happening in all of the multiple pots on top of the large stove.
Chef Terrien placed ultra thin tomato slices on a large baking pan and put them into an oven to dry. He took the lamb shanks out from the fridge and trimmed them before putting them into a hot pot with olive oil. He whacked the cinnamon stick, star of anise and the Szechuan pepper corns with the side of a long sharp knife. The smell of the spices was beginning to circle the room. He had already made the veal stock, which was simmering comfortably on the large stove, right beside the lamb shanks and then he added a third pot with the simmering mixture of onions, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.
It was almost like a dance. Chef Terrien’s agile hands were here and there, chopping, stirring, picking up pots and pans, testing and then suddenly, the lamb shanks were put into another oven to cook slowly for the next hour and half.
It was time to bake the gingerbread – Pain D’espice, one of my favorite cakes that I have eaten in France.
New mixing bowls were introduced and just like that, the gingerbread dough was made and set into a rectangular form, which was then placed on the top of one of the ovens to warm up slightly, before being put into the oven to bake in low temperature for an hour.
Three ovens were running simultaneously. A student sitting by the window cracked it slightly open.
Chef Terrien brought out the already cooked artichokes and began sautéing the small pearl onions in olive oil. He then added the beautifully chopped artichokes with the onions, cooking them till al dente. After a few minutes he placed the pot into the oven with the lamb shanks and began boiling the lemon peels. He cleaned his workspace and Geraldine, the assistant carried the dirty bowls into a preparation room right beside the demonstration kitchen.
Geraldine brought out a gingerbread, which had been baked earlier by a student. Chef Terrien was not very happy with this cake. It was not up to his standards. The cake was too flat and slightly burned on top, but it would have to do. He let the cake rest on the table as an example for the students of what not to do, while he made a hole into a coconut with a corkscrew to take out the coconut milk to be used in the desert sauce. There was a slight pause while he cut out some slices for the students to taste and then it was back to the whirlwind action again.
He cut the gingerbread and then the pineapple into small strips and placed them one after the other into a long line. He pushed skewers through these stripy lines and then cut them into small long strips. We were looking at long bumblebee coloured sticks – brown, yellow, brown, yellow. He proceeded to make the saffron and pineapple sauce, but in between, he quickly turned his drying tomatoes over and placed them back into the oven.
The sauce was cooking, the tomato slices were drying nicely, the kitchen counter was cleaned and then it was time to make the chlorophyll.
Chef Terrien put the potatoes to boil for the gnocchi and brought out the leeks, spinach and herbs. He placed the greens into a blender, which was so quiet that it made me wonder, if there was something wrong with my own blender at home, because it requires the user to wear earplugs or risk damaging their hearing. Chef Terrien poured the green blended herb mixture onto a white tea towel, placed above a metal bowl. The student, who had opened the window, asked the translator if the towel was ever going to be white again.
We watched as Chef Terrien proceeded to squeeze the green ball inside the previously white tea towel and slowly a trickle of incredibly dark green juice began dripping into the metal bowl. He placed this dark green juice into a pot on a hot stove and after a while, using a tablespoon, he lifted a tiny amount of green pulp from the bottom of the pot.
Voilà – the chlorophyll - incredibly dark green powerful concoction to be used to die the potato gnocchi beautifully green. 350 grams of greens yielded about one tablespoon of chlorophyll.
My notes were by now scrawling across the page amongst the quick sketches and anecdotes. All my senses were occupied simultaneously; touch, smell, sight, hearing and I could not wait to be allowed to taste the results later on. I turned a new page. Chef Terrien was going to prepare the ricotta gnocchi appetizer. No more than an hour had gone by. Chef Terrien whisked, cooked and chopped with the easy manner, acquired only after many years of painstaking practice. He spilled nothing, burned nothing, forgot nothing and somehow managed to clean his workplace in between, while all the time explaining in detail, what he was doing and why. He made the ricotta gnocchi and then put them aside and began making the potato gnocchi, coloring the batter with the amazing chlorophyll. He boiled the potato gnocchi quickly, put them aside and then took out the lamb shanks from the oven to turn them over, before placing them back into the oven.
Chef Terrien fried the gingerbread and pineapple sticks in butter and took his own flawless gingerbread out of the oven. It was perfectly baked and it smelled delicious. It had risen nicely, it was rounded on the top and most importantly – it was not burned.
It felt like the Christmas had arrived as the warm smell of the special five spices circled the room.
Lamb shanks came out. The daikon radish was somehow prepared. The potato gnocchi was fried with olive oil. The sauce for the dessert had been made. I scrambled through my notes; trying to find any notes I might have done earlier on the sauce. Nothing. How an earth did I miss a whole sauce?
Chef Terrien assembled the lamb shank on a plate with the potato gnocchi. He placed the daikon radish and the greens on the side and then poured the sauce decoratively around the lamb shank. He assembled the appetizer plate with ricotta gnocchi, artichokes and onions, placing the incredibly thin oven-dried tomatoes on top of them. He drizzled the last minute change - herb pesto, for a lovely colour, along the edge of the white plate and then he added a few thin leaves of rocket on top of everything.
Last of all Chef Terrien created the dessert Brochette - the pineapple and gingerbread dessert drizzled with pineapple-caramel sauce and served with white pineapple sorbet, which he must have created, while I had been looking at something else. I felt utterly surprised and humbled. I honestly did not remember him finish making the pineapple sauce. I vaguely remembered seeing him making the caramel sauce and the Malibu liqueur bottle had been there on the kitchen counter and then it had all vanished into the thin air. I wondered how the young students had absorbed the simultaneous and constant information, because some of them had not even taken any notes. I looked through my own notes, but there was absolutely no mention about the coconut sorbet and my pineapple sauce notes were very confusing. If I had been a student at Le Cordon Bleu, I would have most certainly failed my cooking test.
Geraldine, the assistant created small individual plates and we were allowed to taste each food created during the long demonstration. I marveled at the beauty of the appetizer, the perfect harmony of colour and texture. The taste was exquisite. The softness of the ricotta gnocchi alongside the al dente texture of the artichoke, with the slightly bitter taste of the rocket and then, the amazingly crunchy and a surprisingly sweet dried tomato slice.
The lamb shank smelled delicious and its reddish brown colour accentuated the green potato gnocchi and the chickweed decoration. These two colours were made even stronger by the white and slightly yellow daikon radish placed on the side.
The pineapple and vanilla ‘Brochette’ with gingerbread exploded in my mouth with intangible sweetness, cooled down with the coconut sorbet. I smiled and made a simple Mmm-sound. There was nothing to add and nothing to take away. It was the perfect combination of taste and texture, hot and cold. I have never tasted a better dessert in my entire life and I probably never will. Chef Terrien’s ‘Brochette’ will remain forever in my mind as the perfection of desserts.
The students and I took pictures of the beautifully decorated example plates on the table by the demonstration station. I wanted to record everything, in case I would forget something again. When the cameras were put away, the students pulled out the tasting spoons from their sleeves and devoured the lamb shanks, the appetizer and the extra desserts. It is no wonder that an average student gains a few kilos while studying at Le Cordon Bleu.
Chef Terrien watched his students and calmly cleaned his kitchen. The metal surface shined and all the dishes were put away. You would have never known that during the last three hours, an exquisite three-course meal had been created in that space.
Fresh Artichoke Salad
100gr Dandelion leaves
2 Brittany Artichokes
1 Lemon
8 Small onions
50ml Olive oil
Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Dried tomatoes, finely sliced – 1mm thick and oven dried at 50C for 1hr on top of baking paper (1/2h on one side, then turn carefully and bake again for 1/2hr) Chef used 3 different kinds of tomatoes; black, green and red.
Cook the artichokes beforehand, cut and take the hair out and leave the bottom meaty part, disregard the rest.
Peel onions, cut in half, cook in olive oil till al dente so, that there is some resistant when putting a metal stick through.
Add cut artichokes to the onion mixture and juice of 1 lemon. Cook for a while. Add lemon peels and put the pot into the oven.
( Lemon peels – cut off the lemon ends, cut the lemon in quarters and then roughly cut off the skin)
+ 2 Lemons cooked + chopped
Make the lemon peels: boil the peels in water for 5min. Pour the water out and rinse the peels. Add cold water and let it boil again. Cut the lemon peels into thin matchsticks and add them to the artichokes.
Add dandelion, olive oil and salt. Mix all together in a big bowl.
Ricotta Gnocchi
150gr Ricotta
1 Egg yolk
50gr Flour
20gr Parmesan
Salt and Pepper
Mix everything in a big bowl with a plastic bending spatula. Form gnocchis with two spoons, so that they form a sharp oval shape. Do not use boiling water, instead,
use hot water. Let the gnocchis sit in hot water for 5min, take them out and put them on paper towel to dry.
If making really small mini gnocchi, let them sit in hot water 45sec. That’s enough.
Sauce
Artichoke cooking liquid
Olive oil
Vinegar or lemon juice
Decoration
Cilantro/Dandelion pesto
Parsley
Dandelion leaves
Cilantro
Olive oil
Salt
Blend all in a blender till smooth.
Lamb Shank slowly cooked with spices
4 Lamb shanks on the bone
30ml Olive oil
2tbsp Honey
2tbsp Balsamic vinegar
150ml Dry white wine
6 Garlic cloves
1 Tomato, diced
150gr Onions
2 Shallots
Salt
230ml Veal stock
Spices
1tsp Szechuan pepper corns
1tsp Cilantro (Coriander) seeds
1tsp Cumin or Caraway seeds
4 Cinnamon sticks
2 Star Anise
4 Cloves
Garnish
800gr Salsify in season or 800gr Daikon radish ( black skin, looks like a carrot )
(Cook in a ‘Blank’)
Salt
Butter
Cook the pealed Daikon strips ( larger than matchsticks ). Put aside and let it cool. Choose some to boil again with saffron the will make them yellow. Put aside.
Mix the white and yellow Daikon and cook quickly in butter and season with salt – so that Daikon is still hot when garnishing the lamb shank plate. You may cut Daikon diagonally to give different form to yellow and white Daikon.
Cut extra meat off from the lamb shanks carefully. The meat is attached to then bone.
Crack with the blade of the knife the cinnamon sticks, anis and Szechuan pepper corns.
Sweat onion in olive oil in a big pot, add cumin.
Add tomatoes.
Add the lamb shanks that had been so far cooking by themselves in a separate pot with olive oil.
Add garlic.
Add orange peel and honey.
In another pot you have veal stock cooking simultaneously.
Have another hot pan and add balsamic vinegar and let it reduce.
Add white wine and let it boil to reduce the alcohol content.
Remember to have mellow tastes so that the taste of the lamb shank comes forward and is not overpowered by the spices.
Put everything together in a big pot.
-Veal stock
-Tomato-cumin-lamb shank mix
-Balsamic and wine
Clean the sides of the big pot with a paper towel so that nothing would be burning on the sides of the pan and giving a bad taste to the food.
Cover and simmer for a while.
Put the pot in the oven 180-190C for 1,5hr.
You can also cook it in lower temperature for a longer time.
After 1,5hr test the meat by pushing the metal stick through it, if not ready, turn the lamb shanks and put them back into the oven.
When ready take the lamb shanks out and put them into another pot and cover.
Strain the sauce, squeeze with spatula against the side of the sieve.
Put the liquid into another pot and cook. Taste. While the sauce cooks, skim it to remove the fat that is forming onto the top.
Potato Gnocchi with herbs
300gr Potatoes
50gr Flour
2 Egg yolks
Salt
Nutmeg
Butter
Cook potatoes till done. If using small potatoes peel before cooking, if using big potatoes, peel after cooking.
Take out the potatoes and put them onto a big oven pan on top of baking paper. Cut and put them into oven to dry for 5min.
Put the diced potatoes wedges into a sieve and push through thoroughly. No waste.
Scrape nutmeg in and add 2 egg yolks, flour. Remember that you need only 300gr of potatoes. Add chlorophyll. Mix well.
Knead on the table, make long, thin tubes and cut 2cm pieces. Roll fork over the gnocchi to create decorative lines.
Boil them in water for 2min – more poached that boiled.
Take out and put them into cold water with ice. Put on paper towel and let them sit.
Heat olive oil in a pan and add pepper, fry the potato gnocchis till hot.
Herb Chlorophyll
2 Leeks
10 parsley stems
5 tarragon springs
150gr Spinach leaves
½ Glass of water, you may add some more if needed while blending.
Yields 1tbls of chlorophyll.
Spinach is for the strong green colour.
Blend all together in a blender. Put the mush into a kitchen towel, which is placed over a large metal bowl. Make a packet and squeeze the juice out. You’ll need a lot of strength.
Cook the liquid in a pot gently. After a while, you’ll find thick deep green mush in the bottom of the cooking pot. Pick it out with a strainer and that is your chlorophyll to be used to colour the potato gnocchi.
Decoration
30gr Chickweed
10ml Vinaigrette
Pineapple and vanilla ‘Brochettes’ with gingerbread, coconut sauce with saffron.
Gingerbread –Pain d’epice
120gr Honey
5gr Spices for gingerbread
5gr Baking powder
5gr Bicarbonate soda
150gr Flour
100ml Milk
40gr Butter
1 Egg
Small rectangular mold, baking paper on two sides only. 150C - 1hr
Mix flour, soda, baking powder and spices.
Add honey into the centre.
Add egg
Add cold milk
Mix well with a big whisk – arm power- add pinch of salt, because it helps the rising agents.
Add hot butter.
Fill mold 2/3 and leave it above the oven to warm up slightly before baking and till the oven has reached the correct temperature.
Check with a blade of a knife after 50min. You do not want the edges to burn.
Coconut sauce with saffron
Caramel – melted sugar and a touch of butter cooked in a pot till colour changes into lovely Cognac colour.
200ml Pineapple juice
100ml Coconut milk
20ml Malibu liquor
1 Pinch of saffron
+ A bit of butter, sugar and scraped vanilla pod to cook the skewers of gingerbread +pineapple.
Mix together pineapple juice and caramel – 20 sec.
Keep adding pineapple juice till thick bubbles appear.
Let it boil hard. Strain and press the sieves sides hard with the spatula to get everything out.
Put it into a fridge.
Make coconut shavings and dry them in an oven slightly for decoration 180C till slightly brown on edges.
Cut a pineapple and remove the ‘eyes’, cut into strips and make the pineapple + gingerbread skewers. They need to be exactly the same size. Keep them in a fridge until ready to use. Cook butter, vanilla and sugar together in a pot and then put them into an oven for a while. Make sure that the skewers do not stick onto the frying pan.
Coconut Sorbet
500gr Fresh coconut flesh
250ml Milk
100gr Sugar
30gr Grated coconut
Make a hole into the coconut with a corkscrew. Take the liquid out.
Do not add too much sugar, because the coconut is quite sweet already.
Cook the ingredients together, strain the hot mixture and put it into an ice-cream maker or do it by hand in the freezer.
Decoration
Shave some coconut for décor.
1 mint spring
1 packet of raspberries
Make the desert. Place skewers onto the plate, add sorbet on the side, and pour the sauce beautifully on the side. Add décor.
Et Voilà.
