Fire, Desserts and Kitchen Hygiene

After taking the food hygiene class and having a few bad habits tactfully pointed out, on reflection, it is amazing I haven’t given anyone food poisoning or killed off a few family members. Well, I did give my neighbor food poisoning in Baku but that was not my fault; it was the cooking of chickens in clay ovens on the street that did it. It turns out that tossing veggies on the counter and peeling them on cutting boards isn’t such a good habit….who knew. I also learned you shouldn’t take the lid off the blender when it is running….that is just plain silly talk there. How are you supposed to tell if the texture is right or add extra ingredients? You shouldn’t actually use a slightly used dish towel to clean off the serving plate and you can’t use the same spoon to taste things with twice. Nobody here at Tante Marie has ever heard of the five-second rule. This is a lot for me to remember. My M.O. up to this point has been to get meals out fast and efficiently, wash things only when absolutely necessary and postulate that all those extra germs were amping up my kids immune system. It worked for me when I grew up eating the majority of my meals at street stalls in Mexico as a kid. I never got sick and I saw more than once cockroach running through our restaurant kitchen. This week was full to the brim with yummy and beautiful desserts, giving the opportunity to try out patisserie sucre, meringue and the easiest, yet luscious, deep dark chocolate pots. I only had to cook one dead cow (and a few live mussels) but I learned a cool trick to gauge how done it is and then got to play with fire and alcohol again while lighting up the Brandy Cream Sauce. Another great week at Tante Marie. Next week is the Wine Course…should help with my waistline problem………#iloveculinaryschool