Photoblog: In the Louvre Museum

A good painting to me has always been like a friend

It keeps me company, comforts and inspires.

-Hedy Lamarr

Bienvenue sur Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 14

Demonstration 14: Brioche 

"Let them have Brioche"

Those were the legendary words Marie-Antoinette had said in response to the starving French folks protesting outside the palace gates. It was from those fateful words that so suddenly, was born, Brioche as one of the staple breads in the French pastry world.

Personally I hadn't known what a brioche was until I came to France and saw the signs plastered on the windows of every single patisserie and boulangerie in every corner of Paris. 

My discovery of Brioche was akin to one who just discovered the signifcance of gold! I had an epiphany. You know that feeling? You know, like in the movies where the character makes a surprising discovery towards the ending of the film? The scene where it's as though a brand new universe had just started to unravel right before your eyes, that so suddenly the rose-tinted glasses which you view the world with has suddenly been lifted...

Yeah... I had an epiphany like that...

Well... kind of...

Truly, it amazes me how the French can come up with something so wonderfully delicious, gob-smackingly delicious, did I mention delicious?, bread such as the Brioche! Seriously, why wasn't I born French??! I would love to be from a country that has stemmed itself with strong historical culinary and patisserie foundations.
 

Brioche is truly unheard of from the petite country of where I come from!

So what is a Brioche?

Brioche is a French bread, highly enriched in butter and egg rending its flavours sweet and rich, whilst flaky and uber-soft in texture. Although it falls under the category of patisseries, the brioche is more bread than cake because it requires yeast and kneading for a good 20-mins by hand!!! (can you say, STRONG BICEPS?!! - no wonder majority of the bakers in France are men!! Baking is labour-intensive!!!).  
 
In France, Brioche is eaten as breakfast as well as tea/snack time. It's baked in different sizes and shapes from traditional rectangular bread loaves to the a small round dough baked on top of another bigger dough, resembling a cupcake with a growing head!!

 Parisien Brioche: the cupcake with a growing head

The Grosse Brioche: The Big Brioches with bigger heads!

What I particularly loved about this demonstration was that Chef Jean-Jacques (so far my favourite chef of the lot because he's an AWESOME baker!) showed us the different bread-based desserts. Another reason why I love Brioche... i can make Brioche-based kougelhopf!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!! Brioche-based rolls and so much more!! GAAAHH!! I'm SO excited to try them all out that I can't help but giggle like a school girl! Hehehe

 Kougelhopf and a Braided Brioche

Chef Jean-Jacques Tranchant - my favourite chef

Sadly I didn't take photos of my brioches from practical because I had forgotten to bring my camera and I was in a rush! Much to my dismay, I had both the demonstration and practical on my birthday: the first being at an early 8:30am and the latter being the last session of the day at 6:30pm (ending at 10pm).

Not that I'm complaining but it didn't help that as well as being late for pratical, we had the horrendous Chef *ehem-I-refuse-to-mention-his-name* who... to my delight (and I'm being sarcastic)... threatened to give me a ZERO because he THOUGHT i hadn't bothered to listen to his directions and do something completely different...  

WORSE was when he realised his mistake (that I actually WAS doing what he wanted me to do) and rather than apologising or anything a decent person would do... he simply said...

"MAYBE a zero"...

Ohhh boy was I angry that day. VERY angry.

But I tried not to let it get the best of me, and in the end I succeeded.

Because despite it all, I realised three things:

First: that I've already gone through one of the hardest experiences of my life, so a chef threatening me with a zero is NOTHING compared to what I've been through before;

Second: that once in a while, in life and at work (especially in a working kitchen) I'm definitely going to cross knives with people and chefs WORSE than him, with threats that are FAR MORE serious than a mere zero (such as... being fired, for one thing!);

Lastly third: in the end, Chef was just doing his job. It's normal and nothing out of the ordinary. It's one of the few ways a student can learn from their mistake. Although obviously there are better ways of going about it, but still in the end.. chef was just doing his job.

I have to say that this experience with the horrendous Chef certainly helps you learn to develope a thicker skin. Things like these aren't meant to be taken personally and being from an environment where it's very rare to experience these things, it was a big personal learning curve for me.

I'm also VERY VERY thankful I had people like Ellie, Klara and all in my class - who despite everything was brave enough to joke around with me and eventually got me to loosen up and let everything go. I'm happy to know that I have people like this in my life :)

Btw: I discovered that there exists an oven that can shoot out steam jets inside, whilst baking... WOOOO!!!!

Bienvenue sur Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 13

Demonstration 13: Le Croissant & Pain Aux Chocolat

Aside from the uber-french classic baguette, there are two other baked goodies that have epitomised France in the patisserie world: the croissant and the pain aux chocolat. These mind-blowing tongue-pleasers are so enriched in buttery warmth and goodness (don't forget a whopping high-scaling calorie count) that the experience of eating them, is as if warmth had just exploded in your innards and drowned your senses - I have yet to meet someone who does not like them!

The dough for the croissant and pain aux chocolat is simple really, consisting mainly of tons of flour, tons more butter, some water, salt and yeast. Could it be any simpler than that? The beauty of these heavenly are is in the process of making them: a method which is long, wearisome and extremely repetitive. Dough is made, rested, rolled out and layered upon each other over and over again in between rests and succession.

 Rested Croissant Doughs ready to be baked by Chef Cotte during Demo

For those pain aux chocolat lovers out there - did you know that pain aux chocolat is basically just croissant rolled with sticks of chocolate known as bâtons boulangers (Baker's sticks) which are chocolate sticks made in such away that they are resistant to heat when baking. Interesting, huh?

Pain aux chocolat by yours truly :)

Another reason why I LOVE living in Paris because the bakery ingredients here are widely available and so cheap! I bought myself some (300 sticks, actually) of bâtons boulangers for a mere 9 euros! Best part: it's the top quality Cacao Barry brand which we use in school, too!!

BUT!!!!!! 

Even more interesting is the history of the Croissants themselves!

Did you know that (this is one of the many culinary legends we learn in class about the origins of certain cakes/desserts/etc.) that Croissants originially did not come from France but was developed in Austria?

Yup. Austria. Croissants originally are not FRENCH!

Oh.
Mon.
Dieu!

Croissants, or as I like to call them: my lobster-claws :)

There are actually plenty of varied stories circulating around about the origin of croissants but one that we learnt was of the bakers in Vienna 1683, who sounded the alarms upon hearing the enemies from the Ottoman Empire tunnelling into the walls late at night. In commemoration of their bravery and celebration of the Ottoman Empire defeat, the croissants - a reference to the Turkish crescents on the flags - was developed!

I told you it was interesting!

:)

For now, I can cross off one of the MANY MANY MANY MANY items on my bucket list and I'm content. The thought that I now know how to make croissants from scratch makes me want to jump up and squeal with delight... Ok, maybe not squeal. Maybe scream out of happiness!

It's days like these that makes love being in Le Cordon Bleu and being a patisserie student, learning from some of the best talents in the industry!

I count myself to be one lucky gal! ;)

I couldn't resist!

I simply LOVE girls with croissant-mustaches!

Love is in the Air.

Happy Valentine's Day from 

the City of Love, Paris!

With Hearts, 

Ms. Shooter

To all my singletons out there, 

Don't worry: Valentine's Day is over-rated :)

Bienvenue sur Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 12

Demonstration 12: Le Gateau Moka

Le Gateau Moka: a double or sometimes triple (depending how generous your baker feels) layered cake of tongue-tingling delight – in other words (to be a tad bit crude) an oral orgasm of another, purely non-sexual sort.

Le Gateau Moka: Coffee Cake.

The better kind: light and velvety coffee-infused French butter cream sandwiched and slathered all over layers of thick, soft, air-like genoise sponge-cakes that are, in turn, steeped in deep aromatically seductive coffee syrup and finally sprinkled with fine roasted nuts. 

I envy how the piping designs come naturally to the chef as he works

The genoise-sponge cakes out of the oven and piping hot!

Oh yeah, for all you coffee-aficionados out there…

This baby is the REAL. DEAL.

A slice of this darling here is what makes coffee time a tea-time paradise. Sitting down to enjoy a nice cup of GOOD brewed coffee, completed with a soft delicate sponge coffee cake that is neither too sweet nor strong.

In fact, it is just right.

For me, at least, my coffee world just became brighter.

Mind you, this cake is definitely not something I’ll have with my coffee ALL the time, EVERY time.

That’ll be like death by overkill - some things are meant to be enjoyed through rarity. This is one of many other things I’ve learnt from the French. And trust the French to know one or two things about the etiquette of dining...

Actually about food. Period.

The art of dining - something I think the French have mastered generations ago.  It’s not something they learnt but rather, and I envy them for this, something that’s become second nature to them that it runs through their blood!

This art is the very thing that makes a French person eating their boeuf bourginon or cafe-ing with their friends, even eating their tarte tatin look so chic, so classy, so sophisticated... so FRENCH!

Dining in France is a luxurious experience - something that is meant to be relished...

In the case of Le Gateau Moka: it goes like this...

It’s the time where the moment you slice into the heavenly cake with your shiny fork, the world and time evidently stops. You carry your piece of cake and lift it to your lips. 

You pause: the slight whiff of dark tantalising coffee syrup oozing into the air and eventually breathed in. The visual seduction of soft spongy layers, buttered with rich delicate buttercream and coatings of brown fine-roasted almonds.

The world is at a pause. Sounds are drowned out. And then, ever so slowly, you place it in your mouth...

Immediately textures and tastes explode onto your palate: soft sponge cakes against crunchy roasted nuts, thick smooth buttercream against infused flavours of coffee...

Oh yeah, trust a pastry student to describe how the experience of food-tasting is like...

Unfortunately for us students, along with this concoction of delightful textures and flavours comes the complications of preparing the cake itself: fragile, temperamental and extremely difficult (PLUS TIRING) to work with. The hand-whipping action was double than previous practicals - it was worse than hand-whipping the egg whites to stiff peak...

But as Chef Cotte says: “It is all about confidence”

Chef Cotte telling (and depicting) to us students about the importance of confidence when dealing with fragile cakes.

Which I think is true for most parts of the practical, until it came to piping designs on to our cake. This was the moment that I believe my confidence faltered... and I hestitated... half way through decorations... which is not good.

But at least, it came out ok in the end... if not a disaster.

My gateau moka

As Chef Walter says: “C’est pas mal...”

Chef Walter and evaluation of cakes at the end of class

Oh and best part? The end of the day: we finished our practical early and most of us had produced "well-made" cakes, much to the pleasure of Chef Walter. To my happy delight, we also started making these:

DOUGH??

I know: you're probably thinking WTF is that?? Well, it's dough... we prepared dough for our next practical where we will be making these:

uh huh, oh yeah baby. We're going to be making Croissants!! :)

Bienvenue sur Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 11

So… It's back to the days of sucky internet.

Hence why the updates have been too little too few.

As we speak, we are encroaching on our 13th Practical session and the date of the written exam is bearing upon us SOON (less than 1 week to be exact!!)

Everyone (well.. MOST) are in full-speed study mode and much has happened since last update. After the written exams, we have give or take 2-3 more weeks before our finals on which we discover the fate our food-related dreams: whether the Gods look down on us and bless us with a Pass or a shattering Fail.

Up until then, I bury (attempt to, mostly) my nose deep in the depths of my pâtisserie notes…

Enough of misery!

Lets move on to… far more sweeter things in life, such as Demonstration 11.

Demonstration 11: Tartelettes.

Trust the French to come up with something more chic and gourmand than a cupcake – and they’ve been making this far longer than cupcakes have been around!

Tartelettes: a sweet pastry bowl of soft sandy and buttery texture shelling a wondrous assortment of filling within its cavity (chocolate, orange, strawberry, lemons and plenty more!). In my personal opinion, these are one of the most prettiest and versatile desserts on the pâtisserie block!

Made in smaller sizes, they are heartier and more refined than the best of cupcakes: petite enough so each person has their own to eat but slightly big enough that it can be satisfyingly-shared between two person.

The Raspberry Tartelettes

I especially love them when they come garnished with berries of sorts and when you take a bite into it, it's like experiencing "happiness" go crazy over your palate: the aroma and soft crunch of buttery-sandy shell, followed by the onslaught of silky smooth, light crème patisserie countered by the tart flavours of summer berries or acidic flavours of a sharp lemon.

I, for one, was certainly happy that we got the chance to learn and make these desserts!

Garnishing the Strawberry Tartelettes with powdered sugar

Our demonstration moved in a rapid pace, Chef Cotte worked fast and efficient (with the aid of two Chef assistants, of course!). As we entered the demonstration room, it was already clear that he had already started his work early because there were already a LOT of pre-baked tart shells!

 

Looking at our recipes for demo, I think he was aware that  he had a big variety of tartelettes to show us - and this was true!

PLUS, knowing Chef Cotte and how he likes to present us with a surprise for the day (an additional pastry dessert you can make with the same ingredients), all in all  there were 10 different varieties of tartelettes:

• Amandine Tartelettes
• Bourdeloue Tartelettes
• Raspberry Tartelettes
• Chocolate Tatelettes
• Orange Tartelettes
• Apple Tartelettes
• Apricot Tartelettes
• Strawberry tartelettes

and finally:

• two varieties of Lemon tartelettes.

The trio, starting from front: 

Apple Tartelette, Amandine Tartelette and Lemon Tartelette with Caramelised Meringue

 The Orange Tartelettes with Caramelised Topping

 Chocolate Tartelette with Gold Leaf Garnish & Amandine Tartelettes

That is a LOT, right?? The fact that he made these for 30+ students in under 3 hours is an accomplishment! I guess that’s why he has the right to yell at us to hurry in practicals. 

All the tartelettes made were all a delight! Out of the whole selection, my favourite had to be: the raspberry tartelettes... and the strawberry... actually i loved the lemon tartelettes with the caramelised Meringue topping just as well (it was divine!)!

 And yes, we got to play with the professional blow torch in practical as well :)

 

Everyone was in pure concentration as Chef went about his work. Enjoying the focused attention he was getting, to add icing to the cake (so to speak), Chef Cotte decorated the chocolate tartelettes with a nice touch of real gold leaf! 

Yup, REAL. GOLD. LEAF - being pâtisserie noobs that we are, of course came en suite the sound of gasping echoes and girls squealing in demo! *eye rolls*

One would’ve thought we’ve never seen gold leaf before!

Practical 11: Making the Tartelettes.

Out of the 10 varieties, we made 2 in practical:

• the chocolate tartelettes - sweet pastry dough encasing a deep, seductive aromatising dark chocolate ganache tart layered on top of a soft-baked light chocolate moelleux (mousse)

• the orange tartelettes - sweet pastry dough encasing a tart refreshing orange-cream pastry custard with caramelised brown-sugar topping.

Now, after having survived the practical, I have to tip my hat to Chef Cotte for managing 10 varieties of tarts in less than 3 hours because for our practical, just having to make 4 of each was already a challenge.

Loud clanging of whisk against steel bowls, random screamings of "CHAUD" (HOT!), students scuttling back and forth from the work stations to the sinks… yeah, it wasn’t an easy practical with plenty of things to do. 

Thankfully, because everyone worked out at helping each other – something I really love about our group - things went quite smoothly and most of us ended the session with finely made tartelettes!

For practical, we had Chef Christian Faure, MOF who (in a good mood thanks to the pretty Brazilian girls in our class ;) ) – was singing throughout practical . Due to his relaxed nature, i think we were all less stressed and  this made it easier for us to properly concentrate on our dough: Sweet Pastry Dough.

This would be the second time we’ve worked with Sweet Pastry Dough (Pate Sucree) and in a way I was sort of eager to practice more with this dough– mainly because this was something I couldn’t do in my last pate sucree practical. Chef Cotte (despite his constant overbearing yellings) was kind enough to do most of the work for me.

However, I soon discovered why.

This dough is difficult to work with: it's tricky, extremely fragile and delicate. Anything  besides a light, delicate roll would have torn holes everywhere (which happened to me often in this practical).

But thankfully I was able to fix it and my tart shell baked fine (except one which grew a big mound in the centre while baking – I had forgotten to place some holes in them!)

Aside from that, my tartelettes (after filling and garnishing) came out fine and chef commented on my well-accomplished work which really meant a lot to me. Sadly though, we weren’t given real gold leaves to garnish our chocolate tarts. Boo!  

C'est Paris: Le Musée du Louvre

Did you know?:

The Louvre Museum (the national museum of Paris) is the largest and most visited art museum in the world.

EVEN BETTER, did you know?:

That visiting the Louvre museum is FREE on the FIRST Sunday of each month.  
Oui, c'est vrai!

Note: expect to encounter huge crowds and long line-ups. But if you enter through Carrousel du Louvre or Palais Royal- Musée du Louvre metro station, the line goes along relatively fast and once you're in the museum, crowding will no longer be an issue.

those of you who have seen the movie Da Vinci's Code maybe familiar

with the sight of this inverted pyramid?

About the Musée du Louvre.

A clossal 700m (nearly 2300 feet) along the Seine river, I once read somewhere that it would take up to 9 months to simply glance at every artwork (35,000 in total) housed in this museum!! How INSANE is that? 

It is also home to the famous MONA LISA (La Joconde) - perched high on the wall, behind a bulletproof glass. Be warned: you'll be pushing and shoving in a crowd of people for a simple photo of this lady. She is quite famous!

The Musée du Louvre is housed within the former walls of a palace (you can still see part of it's original fortress if you go underground, there is a section of the museum is dedicated to this) and going about the Louvre can get quite confusing due to its astronomical size. 

  

The original Palaise du Louvre

(now part of it is gone but the Musée du Louvre sits on top of its foundations)

Oh, and expect to spend 1 whole day there or more because there is SO much to see: famous paintings by Michaelangelo and Da Vinci, authentic jeweled crowns, statues of greek gods and goddesses and even a REAL mummy!

 

There was something about looking at this REAL mummy in front of me that made

the atmosphere very unsettling. Creepy.

Luckily the Musée has provided it's visitors free maps located at the main entrance hall, available in several languages. Curious to know what a lavish lifestyle feels like? If you look hard enough, you may be able to locate Napoleon Bonaparte's lavish apartments which has everything from bedrooms to dining rooms (jaw-dropping) and to entertainment/tea rooms (eye-popping)!

When at the Louvre, take the free maps located at the main info desk in the entrance 

to help you from getting lost!

So far, I have visited the Musée du Louvre twice and still I find myself in areas of the Museum I haven't been to. What I love most about the Louvre isn't only the astonishing beautiful paintings and real-life mummies, but you also get to see real artists at work. Oh how I envy their talent. When I was younger, I had always dreamt about being able to paint portraits like them.

Bienvenue sur Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 10

 Chef Jean-Jacques leading the demonstration

Demonstration 10: Meringue-based Petits Fours.

Finally! It's here! The most-anticipated demonstration that we (mainly the students) have been waiting for since the first day we walked past through the school door! 

The reason why most of us hoarded up years of financial earnings to pay our way through this academie d'art culinaire! 

On account of why we endure and slave ourselves away in the oven-blazed kitchen, submitting our ears (and bruised egos!) to the yellings of PMS-ing chefs! 

The cause as to why we launch ourselves into the frightening world of French pâtisserie...

Well...

Actually... that's a tad bit of an exaggeration...

BUT...

It's still (i believe, anyhow) one of the main reasons why MOST of us wanted to learn french patisserie anyway...


The Macarons!

 

Colourful macarons with chocolate-cinnamon ganache filling

Now before I begin, allow to start with other desserts we learnt to bake in the same demonstration. Today's main focus was: French Petit Fours.

pe·tit four
noun \ˌpe-tē-ˈfȯr, pə-ˌtē-, -ˈfu̇r\
plural petits fours

Origin of the word: French, literally meaning "small oven", first known use in 1884.
Definition by Cambridge Dictionary Online: "a small cake or biscuit, usually served at the end of a meal with coffee"

There are three different types of petits fours (pronounced as pet-ty fo-ur):

1. Les petits fours secs (Dry petits fours) consist of an assortment of small desserts like meringue-biscuits, macarons and mini puff pastries. I suppose they are considered dry because they've been baked off and are presented without any "wet" components such as icings and fondants.

2. Les petits fours glacés (Iced petits fours) are small desserts that have been iced (d'oh) or decorated. An few examples are: small eclairs, tartlets, and iced dainty cakes.

3. Les petits fours salés (Savourty petits fours) are the final category of this dainty desserts and are mainly bite-sized savoury (not sweet) appetizers served as part of cocktail parties or h'ordeuvres.

To find read out more interesting information about petits fours, click here.
 
In our demonstration we learnt to make 4 different types of petits fours secs: Raisin Biscuits, Marshall's Batons, Cigarettes and finally the Macarons (Chef was saving the macaron demonstration for last... and with it, he was expecting the onslaught of a million questions... which was true, in a way, there WERE a lot of questions).

 

 Les Petits Fours (front, anti-clockwise): Macarons with Chocolate-Cinnamon Ganache, Cigarettes and Raisin Biscuits

Take note of the macaron bowls: 

Instead of rolling the cigarettes, he molded the massive sheets into a bowl! How ingenious!

Between the four: i found the cigarettes most interesting! - no, not because of it's name, but because of it's method. The rolling action seems quite fun and the chef had given us another use of our instruments in our knife set! I'm eager to try this out!

Les Cigarettes

 Les Palets aux Raisins (Raisin Biscuits)

The macarons were interesting and throughout the demonstration, chef gave us a LOT of helpful tips on how to make a successful macaron - which I was very happy to jot down! These tips were certainly NEVER in those macaron books you buy at the bookstores! Demonstration class was SO QUIET when he was making the macarons... because everyone was concentrating on everything he was doing!

I think that perhaps my notes on the macarons were by far MORE detailed than any other notes I've made in school so far...

... which is not good, is it?... hahaha

Marshall's batons

Practical 10: Les Petits Fours

Sadly though... we didn't make the macarons for practical. Unfortunately, Chef told us that due to the complicated nature of the meringue-based mixture, the macaron practical only starts once you're an intermediate student (how lucky you guys are!) - which is another 3 months of intensive baking!

However we made: the marshall's batons (one of my favourites) and the raisin biscuits (not my favourites).

waiting for the chocolates of my marshall's batons to set

 

We had a change of chef in our practicals and our class was lead by a cuisine chef who was in the past also a patisserie chef, Chef Patrick Caals (the infamous eye-candy chef uber-popular among the girls in school). In practical, Chef Caals was cool and calm - something I didn't expect because I have heard that he is quite stern with his students and a few times, he can be quite the charming chef, winking and singing at the girls in practical. I find it quite funny actually!


What I liked about this chef was that he made us responsible for the ovens and baking process of the biscuits - this was something that so far all the patisserie chefs haven't allowed us students to do (because they want to minimise the number of times we open to oven door and therefore conserve the heat, making cooking time shorter). Personally I think it's important that we learn to be responsible for our baking process, that way when it comes to practical exams, we know what to do and when to take it out!

Despite not being rushed by the chef, we were done with our practical one hour ahead of schedule and eventually everyone slowed their paced a little, taking more time to organise and clean the work stations appropriately and allowing our chocolates (coated under the marshall's batons) to cool.

I wasn't quite happy with my raisin biscuits because: 

1. they kept popping out of the cookies AFTER being baked; and 

2. the raisins were dried out due to the high temperature baking process; and finally 

3. presentation-wise, I really didn't find the cookies appealing. Perhaps I just dont like this biscuits due to my dislike of raisins? I never really liked them, even as a kid!

 

mes palets aux raisins

 

Bienvenue a Le Cordon Bleu: Demonstration 9

Demonstration 9: Tarte Meringuee aux Poires

Demonstration

We're reaching our halfway mark of course sooner than I expected! I've learnt, experienced, seen and heard so many new things and now we're already in February! I have approximately 1 more month of school left before the start of examinations and after than in 5 days time, graduation!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! In two weeks time, we'll be having the written exams and after than would be the final practical!

... Dang...

I probably should start studying...

... Actually... more like start baking...
Ok, time to save up some $$ for the baking equipments!

In this demonstration, we learnt the basics of sweet pastry dough and made the ever-delightful Pear Meringue Tart! Crunchy sweet pastry dough lining cooked and softened chopped pears and raisins, topped with a delicious (AND GENEROUS) mound of meringue topping, sprinkled with sliced almonds before popping into the oven to be browned!

 Up, close and personal: Pear Meringue Tart with Roasted Almonds and Powder Sugar

Sounds delicious doesn't it?

In this class, Chef Cotte was more serious than ever. Rolling up his sleeves and just getting his hands straight into work. Sometimes, demonstration can be good that way. Everyone quiet, intently watching the chef bake and design the tarts carefully. You could seriously hear a pin drop!

 Chef Cotte explaining... something?

Also in this class we learnt to make Caramlised Almond Tartelettes - something I wasn't really fond of due to the bitterness of the caramel mixed in with the sugar. I personally would've added a form of creme or custard in the base to balance out the crunchy-ness of the roasted caramalised almonds. It was a simple recipe which only involved 4 ingredients mixed all in all.

 tarte amande caramélisée