Tour of Le Marché de Rungis

On Thursday, all of the superior students (Pastry and Cuisine) had an early morning wake up call. We met near the school at 6:15 in the morning to catch a bus out to Rungis Market which is said to be one of the largest food markets in the world. They cater only to professionals and purchasing is not open to the public.

We all had to wear coveralls and hats

The place was huge – it’s actually bigger than the principality of Monaco! The entire complex is basically a self-sustaining community covering over 200 hectares (more than 500 acres). Employing over 10,000 workers, the government-owned market has 2 bakeries, cafes, a post office, police, firefighters, a medical center, and apparently a discotheque (although the tour guide could have been joking…)  They also burn any garbage that can be incinerated onsite and the energy produced is used to heat any of the buildings that require so. The roof of the incinerator building is made out of vegetable matter to help seep up the smell. How economical!

We arrived at Rungis at around 7 in the morning and by that time we were already too late to see the fish market! The fish market opens at midnight and sales begin at 2 in the morning. It was a bummer because I think the fish would have been one of the most interesting parts to see in action but all we got to see was this:

The fish market

The fish market pricing is all based on negotiations between buyer and seller and can change based on what time it is. For instance, the catch for sardines is particularly big one day? Chances are, if you buy at 5 am instead of at 2 am you will get a better price as the vendors are trying to sell their remaining stock. It’s all about strategy.

Even though the fish market was closed, we still got to see the rest of the pavilions. Poultry wasn’t too exciting.. mostly everything was packaged up into boxes. They did have a few things though:

Pavillion de Volaille

Box of Birds! I think these were quails…

After the poultry, we moved onto the hangar full of meat. For me, this was the most interesting part of the trip! It’s incredible how much meat people consume! All of the meat in the hangar had been butchered within the past 24 hours.

The huge carcasses on the left are veal. If a veal is that big can you imagine how large beef is? Beef carcasses are actually cut in half, below the ribs and hangs around the same height as the veal!

Seriously huge!

World’s largest drumsticks

When I asked, I was told that only about 10% of the people who work a Rungis are women. Pretty apparent based on how much attention girls get when visiting. This is my new French boyfriend.

If I were carrying a larger bag, I would have been tempted to steal these… They look so delicious!

After the meats, came cheese and dairy. This part of the tour was maddening. It was like being in Costco but with no samples! Really Rungis? I just want to taste some Comte!

J’adore le fromage! (Et le beurre, et la creme!)

These wheels of cheese are worth hundreds of dollars. Hundreds of delicious dollars.

Mmmm, cheese!

Interesting facts about Parmesan:
1. Parmesan is the only cheese to be traded on the stock market.
2. Parmesan is considered legal collateral for loans in Italy!

 

Now comes the plant section of the tour! The fruit and veggie hangars were really cool – It’s incredible how much fresh produce comes through this one market. What’s also really great is that any produce that comes slightly damaged but is still edible is given to a food charity!

Just 1 of 8 hangars!

The view from above

 

The variety of tomatoes available there was amazing!

This is all garlic!

Baby Turnips!

 

Round Green Zucchini

Round Yellow Zucchini

White eggplant! Never seen nor heard of this before!

Edible Flowers

 

Although I could have stayed/lived forever in the fruit and vegetable pavilions, we had to move onto the flower pavilions. Which were absolutely gorgeous. Obviously. There were flowers I had never seen, lillies of all colors, daisies, tulips, roses etc. It was amazing! It was a good thing I took my allergy meds in the morning though. Some people couldn’t go through because the pollen was so bad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Atelier

Yesterday was my first atelier for superior cuisine. It was really fun, but I definitely have to plan better for next time. My entree dish went really well! But then, I completely ran out of time to finish my main dish and it went pretty terribly… There were a few requirements: a flan, a composed garnish of 3 ingredients, a forcemeat, a gratinée, and a turned vegetable. I planned to make a white asparagus flan which turned out to be my first problem…

I blanched the white asparagus first and they retained too much water. I tried to squeeze as much out as possible but the mixture was still too liquid. Even after 40 minutes in the oven, it was still runny! My lamb, didn’t have enough cooking time or resting time so it was (obviously) undercooked – bleu would have been an understatement. For my composed 3-ingredient garnish, I braised the lamb’s neck for 2 hours in the oven and made a layered tian with the meat, sliced potatoes, and tomatos concassé. I also turned the tian into the gratinée requirement by topping it with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese and tossing it into the oven for a few minutes. The braised lamb was actually good – one of the only good things on my plate besides the sauce. The sauce was amazing! I combined the jus I made from the lamb bones with the braising liquid and let it cook for about an hour. It was one of the first times I had zero grease left in it, and it was thick and shiny enough that I didn’t even have to mount it with butter at the end! I think in the end though, even the sauce couldn’t save my plate 😦

The entree/appetizer on the other hand went great. Which is good – I put a lot more time into planning it than the lamb main dish. I even practiced it 2 times at home before the atelier! Mostly because I love the dorade dishes I chose to make and I wanted to eat it for dinner…

In the atelier, we had to use prawns, a dorade/sea bream, peas, and a brunoise vegetable. I coated the shrimp in crushed coriander and grated star anis then pan-fried them in sesame oil finishing with a splash of lime juice. Then I tossed the shrimp into a salad with brunoise zucchini, tomatoes, and red bell pepper. I made the dressing with soy sauce, grated garlic, lime juice, honey, and sesame oil.

For the dorade, I served it in 2 ways. It was fresh enough to serve raw so I made a dorade tartare and used soy sauce, lime juice, and sesame oil again as a light marinade. The other half of the fish I made into a tempura that was SO good! I made a fumet (fish stock) out of the dorade bones and turned it into a tentsuyu sauce for the tempura. To use the peas, I blanched them with some cilantro stems and pureed them into a green sauce. It turned out pretty nice and added a really nice color to my plate.

Here is a picture!

Atelier #1 Entree: Japanese style!
Shrimp salad, Tartare of Dorade, Dorade Tempura, Soy Sauce fumet, Pea and Cilantro Puree.

 

 

 

 

Nothing really new…

I think people in Superior levels are going through the culinary school version of senioritis right now. Superioritus. Not to be mixed up with superiority complex – although for some people, it sort of goes hand in hand. I can’t lie – I think I’m suffering from a bit of both. Superiority complex only because the new basic students are afraid of the superior kids – afraid and impressed. I never remind them that this is where they will be in less than 5 months – that would undermine the perks of the fear! Which basically only includes easy access to my locker but if you have ever seen the inside of the women’s locker rooms at the LCB Paris school, you would know that this perk is not to be overlooked or taken for granted.

Superioritus is really more of a rut than anything. I’m not sure if I’m the only person who feels it. I can’t even be sure that it’s a school-based thing. It might be the weather. It’s starting to warm up a bit but the weather seems to work in intervals here. 5 minutes of sun, 25 minutes of cold rain. But sometimes (as we are in Paris) the rain is late. So you think you’re safe but really – the rain is waiting to catch you just as you’re about a half mile away from home, a metro, or school. When you’re good and soaked, the rain goes away and the sun makes a re-appearance just in time for your class so you can look longingly out the window at it – knowing that by the time you walk home again, it will have gone back to raining.

Anyway, I’m hoping this “superioritus” comes to a stop next week. Next Saturday will be my first atelier which is basically a workshop where students are the ones responsible for coming up with the recipes! There are guidelines, students are given a list of required ingredients as well as optional ones. Also, there are certain requirements that we have to fill as well. The plat must contain a farce (forcemeat), a gratin composed of 3 elements, and a flan. The entree just has to have a brunoise element, which is a specific knife-cut. Each student is required to make 2 platings of an entree (appetizer in English) and 2 platings of a plat (main dish). I was really worried at first but planning the recipes has been really fun!

For my plat I’ve decided to use the lamb as the centerpiece – mostly because I’m not creative enough to try and make a rack of lamb into an appetizer. I think I will cut the rack of ribs down into a filet and stuff it with a Madiera-mushroom duxelles.

For the appetizer, I will use the other required protein – Dorade or Sea Bream. It’s the first time we are allowed to add our own ideas and flavors in a recipe we make in class so I’ve decided to go Japanese-themed on this one! I think it’s a bit of an advantage because a lot of the chefs have worked either in Japan or with Japanese chefs and have a lot of respect for the culture and cuisine. Also, 1 of the ingredients available to us is soy sauce and the sea bream is supposed to be fresh enough to serve raw! It’s going to be tough though, I have to use herbs and spices to try to re-create flavors like dashi and mirin. However, I’m going to keep planning and I’ve already got my basic outline of recipes in mind. If you have any suggestions – please let me know!

This is a Dorade!

I was really worried at first but planning the recipes has been really fun!

Beginning of Superior Level!

We made it to Superior! 9 months is going really fast –  I’ll (hopefully) be done with classes at Le Cordon Bleu Paris in just 2 more months! Then, fingers crossed, I’ll get a stage or an internship with a patisserie or a boulangerie in Paris for the rest of the summer.

Superior has been going really well! All of the recipes are great – and for the most part, practicals have been going smoothly.

In pastry class, so far we have made:

1. Baba au Vieux Rhum

My Baba au Rhum from Practical!

2. Tarte Creoles

My Tarte Creole from Practical!

3. Bûche à la Mangue et à la Framboise

Mango and Raspberry Yule Log! This one is from the Demonstration – This practical didn’t go so well…

4. Delice Chocolat du Roussillon a la Pistache Entremet (Chocolate and Pistachio Surprise): Haven’t made this one in practical yet but we will be making it tomorrow!

Delice Chocolat du Roussillon a la Pistache

For the last 2 (the Raspberry/Mango and the Delice) the chefs showed us a different way to make the cakes. Entremets are basically a layered mousse cake and they looked really nice!

Mango and Raspberry Entremet garnished with colored white chocolate

Delice Chocolat du Roussillon a la Pistache Entremet

In cuisine, we’ve been making and seeing ingredients that are much more interesting than what we used in basic and intermediate. For instance, the our first demo, the dessert the chef made for us was baby bananas baked in their skins with a banana sorbet and a hibiscus/ rum sauce.

John Dory Fish with Red Spices (Tandoori and Satay) with kidney bean “fries” and wild rice with Papaya and Mango.

Another day, the chef made frog legs as his appetizer with a garlic puree and a green herb puree.

Cuisses de Grenouilles Poelees a la puree d’ail et jus vert

Mmm! Frog Legs!

Annddd the latest practical class we had just earlier today: Mitonnee de Souris D’agneau aux Herbes Seches or Lamb Shank Slowly Cooked with Dried Herbs with bok choy, confit tomatoes, and potatoes glazed with the lamb jus.

Slowly Braised Lamb Shank – the name alone sounds delicious.

The schedule is going to be really hectic this term but if all goes well, should be fun!