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CU234: Classical European Cuisine (E1)
Week: 10 | Cuisine of Russia
Daily Objectives:
Review basic classical cooking techniques and quality standards
Follow standardized recipes
Demonstrate plating techniques
Work as team to meet timeline production
Menu:
Moscow Style beet soup
Blini
Salmon in pastry
Groats
Georgian Chicken
String beans in sour cream sauce
Sweet cheese fritters
Summary:
In Today’s lab we worked on dishes from Russia. I was surprised by the items on the menu and that they sounded appealing to me. When I think of Russia and food I imagine raw fish and vodka. The beet soup was very hearty but not heavy and it wasn't as sweet as what I thought it would be with all of the natural sugar from the beets I think because the acid from the tomatoes tones down the sugar. I also liked the spices in the Georgian Chicken. I would not have thought Russian food would have any spiciness to it because of the geography of the country. I worked on the Blini, which is a buckwheat pancake garnished with sour cream, salmon and caviar. This recipe used yeast and had the batter ferment and rest over a couple of hours. The batter did produce a light pancake and the flavor of the buckwheat was more developed than what I have tasted before. Blini’s are usually served with the pancakes arranged around separate dishes or containers of the sour cream, smoked salmon, caviar, or other ingredients where each person can build their own. This was the first time I have had caviar. I was able to taste it well because our team did a plate of blinis that were caviar and then some that were just smoked salmon so that the flavor of the salmon would not dominated the entire flavor of the blini. The dessert dish, the Syrniki or Sweet Cheese Fritter with Berry Kissel, was an interesting dish. The center was soft with a crispy outer shell. Served with a raspberry and blackberry topping the sweetness from the berries complemented the tartness of the cheese in the fritter. I did not like the texture of the fritters they were a bit off to me. Unfortunately I over cooked the groats as the recipe said to cook them for 20 minutes when Chef told me that they only need to cook about 5 minutes. They were mushy and unpleasant.
Week: 10 | Cuisine of Russia
Daily Objectives:
Review basic classical cooking techniques and quality standards
Follow standardized recipes
Demonstrate plating techniques
Work as team to meet timeline production
Menu:
Moscow Style beet soup
Blini
Salmon in pastry
Groats
Georgian Chicken
String beans in sour cream sauce
Sweet cheese fritters
Summary:
In Today’s lab we worked on dishes from Russia. I was surprised by the items on the menu and that they sounded appealing to me. When I think of Russia and food I imagine raw fish and vodka. The beet soup was very hearty but not heavy and it wasn't as sweet as what I thought it would be with all of the natural sugar from the beets I think because the acid from the tomatoes tones down the sugar. I also liked the spices in the Georgian Chicken. I would not have thought Russian food would have any spiciness to it because of the geography of the country. I worked on the Blini, which is a buckwheat pancake garnished with sour cream, salmon and caviar. This recipe used yeast and had the batter ferment and rest over a couple of hours. The batter did produce a light pancake and the flavor of the buckwheat was more developed than what I have tasted before. Blini’s are usually served with the pancakes arranged around separate dishes or containers of the sour cream, smoked salmon, caviar, or other ingredients where each person can build their own. This was the first time I have had caviar. I was able to taste it well because our team did a plate of blinis that were caviar and then some that were just smoked salmon so that the flavor of the salmon would not dominated the entire flavor of the blini. The dessert dish, the Syrniki or Sweet Cheese Fritter with Berry Kissel, was an interesting dish. The center was soft with a crispy outer shell. Served with a raspberry and blackberry topping the sweetness from the berries complemented the tartness of the cheese in the fritter. I did not like the texture of the fritters they were a bit off to me. Unfortunately I over cooked the groats as the recipe said to cook them for 20 minutes when Chef told me that they only need to cook about 5 minutes. They were mushy and unpleasant.