Mon cours de cuisine

One of the great opportunities my school offers is a French cooking class, and of course, I signed up for it. Last night was the first class, and I cooked and ate one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten. We started with fresh bread and a squash bisque topped with chevre cream.

This was followed by chicken seasoned with thyme and olive oil on a bed of caramelized onions.

And for dessert, we had delicious, light and creamy chocolate cake!

Our chef/professor, Bruno, is a hilarious man who started cooking when he was 10 and went to the best cooking institute in France. He had us taste everything at every stage of the cooking so that we could understand what went into every step. It was also really cool because he teaches cooking using all the senses. You don’t put the bread in for a certain time because, as he said, ovens are like cars; each one drives a little differently and you have to figure out what is right for each one. So instead, we touched and smelled the bread to see when it was ready and watched for the perfect coloring.

Bruno supervises

I think the most eventful thing I did during the class was learn how to, in the words of Bruno, "attack a chicken." He brought us three whole chickens, and I was one of the people charged with cutting it into the proper pieces. It's harder than it looks! But overall, the evening was an amazing experience, and just the first of several classes. I love the art of French cooking, and I can’t wait until our next class!