Cours de cuisine

Today I quasi-participated in my first cooking class chez Mme. Beguin. I've been meaning to do it all semester, just haven't seemed to get around to it yet. Tonight my friends from Midd were doing their final course, so I figured I might as well participate. They were a group of 5, minus one this evening, plus Mme. Beguin invited another boy from Sunday night's class to join. In addition, my friend Emily, who spent the semester abroad in Madagascar and arrived in Paris this morning, was there as well. Thus we were a crowd of seven in the kitchen.

From the beginning I figured that I wasn't going to be a full participant, and after Mme. Beguin realized she needed more eggs five minutes into the course, she sent me to fetch some at the market down the street. By the time I returned the chefs were already in full force so I took on the observer role. I tried to make myself useful by unloading the dishwasher and setting the table, so I wasn't just a mere observer. However my contact with the food was extremely limited.

Calamari a l'americain was on the menu tonight and it was delicious. I am no longer scared of calamari and would even consider buying it and cooking it, since I was there for the cooking of the calamari portion of the program. Mme. Beguin made us all gather around and listen very carefully as she cooked the calamari. It was quite a precise process...we had to wait until exactly the right moment to drop them into the pan, then saute them for the right time, add white wine, add a touch of oil, add the last bit of saffron at the very last second. She even added a bit of apple liquor and proceeded to set the concoction on fire...I'm not sure whether this affected the taste or whether it was just for show, but it was quite the surprise when all of a sudden a two foot flame jumped out of the pan. Watching the precision with which she sauted this calamari was a very good example of what differentiates a decent cook from a great one...all those little details like saving a pinch of saffron until the very end that make the food taste that much better.

Along with the calamari we made a sauce a l'americain...fresh tomatoes, cream, and some other ingredients I missed, sauted and then pureed in the blender. When it came out of the blender it tasted like a decent tomato sauce, but when added to the calamari it was delicious. On the side we had some sort of strange rice...an experimental batch according to Mme. Beguin...that was violet-colored. Aside from the very bizarre color, it was very tasty.

Finally for dessert, we made profiteroles. And then Mme. Beguin realized that the boy had already made profiteroles, so she decided to whip up a few creme brulees on the side. And then she decided to make little almond cookies...very very thin wafer-like cookies to dip in the creme. Absolutely amazing way to end a meal.