Apricot Custard

I love the smell of Rioja in the morning ...

... and in the afternoon, and at night!

One of my rituals many mornings is opening four or five wines and having a quick sniff and a taste, before putting them in my bag and heading out for the day to sample with my customers.     I've been pretty lucky that I've rarely gotten a corked bottle, or one tainted in some other way, which can stink pretty badly, but that's what I'm checking for.    These smells are covered quite well in the Le Nez Du Vin "Faults" aroma kit, which my friend Michelle kindly lent me, along with the core kit of aromas you'll find in most wines (54 individual scents in little bottles!), and the "New Oak" kit ...  

The three best things I've learned at the FCI so far ...

I've been so busy with attending cooking school, getting ready for each lesson (reading ahead, preparing notes), and work (wines sales - more on that again some time), and trying to squeeze in a little downtime with the missus and the kid that I've neglected my blog!

I've learned a tonne of things since starting at the French Culinary Institute a little under two months ago.  I went in with the attitude "if I'm not shown it here, I don't know it ...", meaning I don't want to bring all my bad habits (or even my good ones) into the training kitchen, I want to take full advantage of the expertise of my intructor(s) and learn how to do the the right (French/ FCI) way, because that's what I've decided to invest my money and time on ... I did know a fair bit going in, but I also didn't.  My interpretation of things was never for a production environment, and I never achieved as many efficiencies in my techniques and yield as I am now learning.

The great thing about taking these professional lessons, as opposed to reading about stuff in a book, or even watching a good detailed demo on TV, is seeing the chef prepare things in all their various stages, from raw, uncut, product through to a final dish (which you can then taste), ask any questions you need to, and then go off and do it yourself - and get feedback all along the way and and the end when you present your final dish.