Oktoberfest

Today was good...pushed hard and knocked everything out nicely. Alexandre showed me a cool way to do a form like a flower (I forget the name now), but you take a flute and cut off a piece from the front. Then you divide the remaining length into 7 equal pieces and cut them at an angle and arrange like a flower and then the ass piece and the first piece you ball and place in the middle. You can even decorate with poppy seeds by dipping a small end of a rolling pin into olive oil and then the seeds and then the bread. This kind of bread is great for sharing and you can also make a multi levelled piece by using a flute, baguette and fiscelle for descending sizes.

Alexandre also shaped a baguette into a very distinct shape...you can figure out what it is.

After work I planned to go to an Oktoberfest party but no one responded to my invites and I was tired so I just slept.

Tourists for a day…

Today we had planned to do some walking around and seeing the city. Nic made some bacon and eggs and I had my protein shake and a cereal bar for breakfast. We then headed out just after 9 am. We walked from Croix Rousse to Vieux Lyon, passing through the market that I visited with the American students.

Once in Vieux Lyon we went to the museum of film and miniatures which was really cool, seeing props/costumes that were used in various movies and miniature sets, most of which contained an insane amount of detail, even at 1/12^th  of the scale. Some sets even had individually hand painted mini plates or frescoes or blown glass bottles or serviettes. The museum itself was housed in one of old buildings in Vieux Lyon so it was spread across 3 levels and various rooms. They also had some scenes from the movie “Perfume” and one amazing fact is that for the movie 13000 bottles were blown in total by one small polish bottle making company.

We then ambled around, looking at the different shops, stopping in one to buy some artisan jam (similar sort of award as MOF but for the jams) and some terrines. We stopped in a chocolaterie which had a really cool display of flavoured syrups (not sure if any were alcoholic) on a mirror on the floor to resemble a bowling alley so the whole thing had a really cool effect.

We bought some sorbet, I had orange sanguine (blood orange) which was flippen sick! Just as good as the pink grapefruit one I had before, and  Nic had the white peach which was nice but was quite sweet so left your mouth feeling quite heavy still whereas mine was almost like a sherbet doing a nice job of refreshing my palate.

For lunch we stopped at a bagel place and I had one with just some Philly cream cheese and some NACHOS with cheese sauce. Nic had one with Parma ham, goat’s cheese and honey (jambon cru, chevre et miel) and some coleslaw. The place seemed very American inspired, targeting maybe a younger market and reminded me a lot of the vibe of Clarkes in Brea Street, Cape Town. They also had some Duffy beer there (beer from the Simpsons) but I didn’t try it.

We then made our way back and by this time the streets were now thronging with people...it seems town only gets busy from around 11am or so.

The rest of the day was spent inside. For dinner I made pasta with marguese, bolognaise sauce and brie. And a gin and tonic of course.

Brother from Berlin…

Today was pretty average, I didn’t do much most of the morning and then around 10am I started walking from Croix Rousse to Bellecour which is really quick walk taking maybe about 15 min. Even though Croix Rousse is on a hill, there are some stairs that lead all the way down so it’s very easy to find your way to the city centre.

Just horsin' around...

I met Nicholas at the metro station in hotel de Ville and we walked back to Croix Rousse, stopping close to home to get some things for lunch (pizza) and some stuff for breakfast. Here I haven’t seen any sliced streaky bacon or back bacon anywhere, only stuff like whole pancetta or coppa. The closest thing you find is bacon lardons in the supermarkets which tastes like streaky bacon but obviously just in another shape. Some eggs, milk for my protein shake and some tonic for the gin (lekker papa!!!!) (Just what the doctor ordered!!!!)

A short while after we got home Fatiha gave me a call...she needed help carrying some canvases. She hadn’t thought about how she was going to carry them home from the bus stop so I had to help her...she’s a very cool person and a bit absent minded or “Loskop” as we say but she makes staying here interesting. She has a good sense of humour and a good spirit.

We just chilled for most of the day and watched some stand up comedy and then later we went out to eat at a local brasserie called “brasserie de l’ecole”. Nice little place, very accessible and varied menu. I had a perrache to drink which is like a radler (beer and lemonade) and Nicholas had un carafe d’eau (tap water ha-ha). As with most places you can order a la carte or you can have an entree+ main/salad or main/salad + dessert/cheese for much cheaper than the individual prices; which means it’s cheaper to have at least a 2 course meal.

I had a small Lyonnais salad which is a leaf salad with some tomato, croutons, bacon lardons and a poached egg. I had seen this a few times walking around and it looked pretty good and it tasted good too. I mean, a poached egg and bacon...all that was missing was the hollandaise sauce!! For main, we both had the confit carnard traditional which was a confit duck leg, pomme dauphinoise (slices of potato cooked in cream, cream and more cream), green beans cooked with some garlic and a roast tomato. It looked like less before I started but I just about managed to finish it...man it was so good. Just what I needed. Nic then had a crème brulee for dessert which was delicious, very light and not as heavy as they usually are with a thin crisp crust of caramelise sugar.

Our bill came to 33.5Euros with our food being 15.50 each and my perrache 2.5. We then headed back and walked to a viewing point about 2 min walk form the brasserie where you could see most of Lyon. As we got back it started to rain so we made it just in time. We just did our own thing for the rest of the day.

Cappuccinos & Lattes…

Today was really crappy weather...since last night it had been raining and it persisted through the morning. I got up just after 8 and since Andrea had to leave at 10 to catch her bus I made us both bacon and eggs. Strangely enough I haven’t seen streaky bacon or back bacon here; they only have lardons which they sell in the supermarket. So it was that and some scrambled egg which is very un-French but I still can’t really have bread or pastries for breakfast. It just makes me feel so sluggish.

Had my protein shake, 2 cereal bars and a little chocolate dessert after that and then we just chatted while Andrea did the dishes and then prepared to leave. Even though she left around 10 she still ended up missing her train as had been her bad luck on her trip so far...she told me that she had almost missed every single one of her trains by mere minutes. Ha-ha so at least she got some more time to chill and have a pastry and a croissant.

French people don’t seem to have cappuccinos or lattes from what I’ve seen. It’s usually an espresso or an Americano (allonge a francaise). I don’t know why this is; it’s just how they roll.

Around midday I decided to get off my ass and get out a bit. I had been planning to walk around a bit and look for a place to do some running or some callisthenics before I start to get a bit of a boep [beer belly] from doing sweet fanny all. I have to draw money every day from a specific ATM (to add it up and pay my rent) as I can’t do international transfers via my internet banking even though I have Fatima’s IBAN and BIC because TIA...while the world went there we were like “no its fine, we’ll get you there...just going to take a sho’t left”.  [a detour]And only 1 ATM I found can give me cash even though I can make payments with my card because I have no clue why. So I walked towards the ATM which is maybe 7min walk from my place. On the way I could smell some pork being cooked as I walked past the extraction unit of a bistro and then further down the road I smelled caramelised onions. Man it was soooo good. And the previous day I had smelled some sort of lamb stew or tagine...it’s so like food porn.

Ok so I got the cash and then walked back and picked up some groceries from “Casino”, there version of a woollies/spar. The other brands are Carrefour which is more like Pick and Pay (a national retail store in South Africa); and Monoprix which is more like a spar. Generally I’ve been having some sort of pasta dish for lunch as its cheap and filling and I can feed myself for about 3 days for the price of going out and having a burger... that way when I do go out I don’t break the bank.

Walking back past the market which had had almost finished by 1pm (here in France they don’t say 1pm, but 13:00. They work with a 24hour clock only, not a 12 hour one) I saw that the produce vendors who had some spoiled stock would just leave it in a crate in the square. I have no idea who clears it up if at all.

My brother gets here tomorrow so then we can walk around a bit. If I do it on my own I’m just going to mission and not take time to appreciate everything.

Just a Lazy Ass…

Today nothing remarkable happened, I just stayed in, ate, read and listened to music and was generally just a lazy ass.

Only exception was I met a cool girl from America who came to stay the night at Fatihas place. Her name was Andrea and she’s studying art and design I think. She arrived quite late and was pretty tired as she had been travelling and had spent a few hours on the train that evening travelling from nice to Lyon.

Anyway, after Fatiha had explained some things to her we started chatting and exchanged info and stories about home. Andrea bought a small pizza from down the road and we had that with some gin and monster...naturally: D

We ended up watching some Trevor Noah show via YouTube and drank beer while I explained the terms and relevance of things in the skit.

Going Dutch part 2 / Monster & Manga...

Later today I met up with Spencer, Jennifer and Carolina at the metro at George de loup. They wanted to get something to eat and buy some stuff at Carrefour which is like their Pick n Pay [a national supermarket chain in South Africa].  We went on the D line and then went on the B line from Saxe Gambetta. Once you get off the metro you take some stairs and you’re in the shopping centre. It was like 16:30 and there were so many people... all of us commented how you always see so many people in the street you wonder when and if they work.

We ended up going to a place called Quick which is probably France’s equivalent of a McDonalds even though they do have a McDonalds. Oh my word service was so slow...painfully even. I’m talking 1 cashier working there...there should have at least been 2 but there was also another queue which was for an express line where you place your order via touch screens and pay with card (the majority of all sales in Lyon are done with card, from small superettes to restaurants to buying bus/metro tickets) and then you take your slip to the cashier who gets the order together for you.

I was amazed to see a hot chick working the fryer at a fast food place. Europe is on a next level man... so Spencer and Carolina ordered some bacon Mexican thing and I just ordered a small burger with cheese... delicious for 2 Euros. It wasn’t bad, still tasted like the usual mcD’s cardboard but it had that processed cheese that I love so much and a nice cheesy pepper sauce. No pickles or salad though, even for the bacon ones so it all looked a bit dry.

One significant difference is that when you order a drink they just give you a cup and there is a soda stream station like they usually have behind the counter where you can have unlimited amounts of soda. It’s weird because you get charged differently for the different sized cups but you can have as many refills as you want. I was quite shocked to see this as I knew if they had this sort of thing back home it would get abused and shut down in one day. Unlimited Coke or Fanta or sprite or whatever??? Trust me; us saffas would nail that so quickly. Ha-ha.

We had a little entertainment as amongst the coke machines there is one for ice or water, which wasn’t working but we still saw person after person walk up to it and try at least 20 times to get ice, just keeping on pushing the button or trying different settings...even if there were 2 people, 1 would try like 10-20 times while the other person watched, then after the first person gave up and just got their drink the next person would try for another 20 odd times. It really was bizarre to see people trying over and over again. It’s like the saying “insanity isn’t banging your head against a wall, its expecting a different outcome each time”. The most ironic thing was that as we left, spencer just pushed the button for shits and giggles and ice actually came out. : P

We then walked around, Jen bought a bag and then we went to Carrefour as the girls wanted to buy toiletries before they went to Italy for their vacation (vacances). Most of the stuff I looked at was a bit more expensive when I converted to Rands [South African currency] and Jen told me that it’s the same for her converting into Dollars. Luckily I found some Monster which is actually cheaper than back in SA *que angelic fanfare* so I bought 4 to have with my gin because that is how I roll.

Walking around I noticed that the supermarket doesn’t use baskets like in SA but these trolleys that you roll along the ground (they’re like plastic versions of the baskets you always see old people rolling with. A francaise c’est la chariot...a basket on wheels) and people also weigh off their own produce on scales. This particular supermarket didn’t sell or supply the thin plastic bags but rather had those thicker ones that you pay a bit more for. I saw some reasonably priced salmon and some fresh scallops...let me just repeat that...FRESH SCALLOPS. We only get frozen ones in SA. You could get rabbit or duck breasts in the shop as well. They really are spoilt for choice when it comes to some things (quel que choses) here (ici).

We walked around a bit and found a cool store where there were loads of cool Manga’s, comic books and figurines/t-shirts from Manga and video games and comics. Bleach, One Piece, Kickass, Full Metal Alchemist, and Justice League, Tintin...you get the picture. All in French though...reading manga in French is a bit different: p

We then went into a shop which is similar in content to a Yuppie Chef store. More gimmicky things like slicers and peelers and quirky things for the kitchen. Some knives were decently priced though and saw some cool ice trays which I would’ve bought if they weren’t so expensive.

After this we headed back and said by at gorge de loup and I headed back to CR. Having a gin and monster as I write this...because I can. 

Going Dutch...

Last night I met up with Nina who is a girl from Saint-Etienne, but works in a hotel in Bron which is on the outskirts of Lyon.  We had been chatting for about a month or so before I came to Lyon and she just gave me some info on the place and where to go or not to go so it was nice to finally meet her in person.

We met at Bellecour which is quite a central place, being very close to most of the very popular areas and supplying many bus and metro lines. We both didn’t really know the area so we ended up just walking around until we got to the busy restaurant/touristy area. I wasn’t that hungry or thirsty but I could’ve had a beer or something to chow. Before deciding on a place Nina told me that not only is she a converted Muslim (so no pork or alcohol) but she only eats little chicken and as for fish she only eats salmon. What is it with some girls and being so fussy when it comes to food?? I told her straight away as I do with everyone I meet who is so particular about what they eat “you’re full of shit” and we just laughed about it. Oh and no mussels or shellfish either, no mushrooms....man I could go on.

We finally settled on a Belgian restaurant called Leon de E or something like that... and guess what they served: mussels: p I’ll explain. We just wanted a place to sit down and chat so it was either that or an ice cream place. I had a waffle with chocolate sauce and cream and Nina had some salmon which was served on a hotplate with a wedge of lemon and a bread roll.  You get a complimentary bowl of fries (frites) and you can refill as much as you want free of charge. It was quite funny as Nina had never heard the term “French fries”...I don’t think they use that at all in France. The chips were flippen good...crispy and soft and slightly oily inside.

I saw at other tables that the mussels were served in small le creseaut casserole dishes with the lids being removed at the table. They offered moules provincial, moules a la crème, moules traditional, moules Lyonnais (with bacon baby!!) and that’s all I saw on the TV which was advertising the different dishes. You get a bowl of chips with the mussels so it does look really awesome. I love the smell of the mussels and the chips. Just typing about it my mouth is watering.

After dinner Nina insisted on paying which really surprised me as she said her part of the meal cost more so she would pay...that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me. I even suggested going halves but she wouldn’t hear it. So we made a deal that next time we’d go to that falafel place that Pierre and I went to and I’d pay.

We then left and walked back to the metro as the last metro is around midnight and it was 23:30 already, but still around 29 degrees and the same amount of light that Cape Town would have around 6:30-7pm. The last busses are at around 22:00 and the metro line to Croix Rousse is under renovations until 23^rd august so I had to ask people for the direction to Croix Rousse from Bellecour and it was actually not that far. About 15-20min later, after just asking and confirming my direction a number of times, having to as in French quite a bit “ou est la direction pour Croix Rousse?” I found my way home. It was quite a direct route, much more direct than Saturday when I had to get to Vieux Lyon and took a very long route but getting lost on sat helped me coz as I got to Croix Rousse I recognised the area as I had walked past it while being a dumbass so I found my way relatively easy.

The walk felt good. Tunes on and just missioned...so it’s sort of like exercise. I felt really safe , much safer than I do in Cape Town as I was also thinking if someone tries some shit with me I get to at least do some krav maga on their ass. Damn I miss training so much!!!!!!!

As for today, I’m being a lazy ass. Just ate and been chilling with some gin and tonic. It’s still really quiet and I’ll wait for Nicholas to arrive on Thursday before we mission around.

Fatiha is really cool. She plays some nice chilled dub or hip hop or some other stuff that is really chilled. She often lets the music play while she paints. She has loads of paintings on the go at any given time. But we both just do our own thing so it’s cool.

Bread without salt!?

So today is my 3^rd Sunday in Lyon. With everyone on holiday here the place is very quiet. On Sundays about 90% of the shops are closed save for a few brasseries and pubs, but there are 2 markets that I found in close proximity to where I stay. I bought a loaf of bread but being an impulsive donkey, I didn’t read the sign properly and it was a loaf of bread without salt (pain sauf sel – lit. Bread except salt). Aaargh, anyway so I walked around and the majority of the produce available is fruit and veg. They have a system where all the produce is already weighed/counted out and is in a metal dish with the price/unit or weight then you just take the dish to the vendor and they charge you. There are also quite a few fromageries (cheese suppliers)  selling mainly goats milk products and a few hard cheeses, but you don’t see anything resembling cheddar or gouda like we’re used to in SA, except maybe the small convenience stores.

I also saw a butcher that had pigs tails, the belly skin and even half a pig 'smiley ( pig's head )' for sale (I doubt they call it that, probably tete de porc. )He also had some salads for sale similar to what you see at Raith Gourmet (a well-known German Deli & Butchery located in Cape Town)...tomato tartare, celeriac remoulade, julienne veg remoulade and even some pizza slices. The “pizza” here is not like SA’s stuff. It’s usually sold as rectangular slices and is made with a thin, albeit bready base. When chef made some pizza for us the one day he used the pain viennoise and just rolled it very thin over a tray, put a layer of cheese and then another layer of the pain viennoise dough over that and refrigerated it dans le frigo (in the fridge) before putting the topping on.

Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera or phone as I didn’t expect to see everything that I did.

On the way back I passed the second market which is closer to my place and bought 2 marguese and 2 saucisse (the marguese is a spicy sausage i think...i hope) and I was like yes!!!! Finally something that looks like 'wors' (Afrikaans word for ‘sausage’) so yeah bought that and a pack of salami which was beautiful....perfect fat content that melts in your mouth.  So for lunch I had some of my salt less bread with camembert and salami and the last of my pampelmoes. With a gin and tonic of course.

It was pretty hot today so after a few drinkies [little drinks] I had a little nap. By that I meant I passed out; woke up dribbling like a vegetable but I had a good rest.

Some things I’ve notice about Lyon/France that I haven’t written about:
*a lot of people smoke....a lot. So it’s quite common to see people asking for a cigarette, even complete strangers walking by in the street of just sitting somewhere, and consequently there are cigarette butts strewn everywhere.
*the markets that are set up on the pavements get their power from power boxes that are on the electricity poles, so it seems that it’s actually a thought out thing and people aren’t just rocking up and pitching their stalls.
* even though there are a lot of cleaning vehicles you see cleaning walkways and such there is still quite a lot of litter, probably similar to what you’d see in the Cape Town CBD, I guess a horrrroooog is a hoooorrrroooog no matter where you are in the world
*there seems to be a big market for frozen foods as well as most little stores stock a variety of convenience foods and I even passed a huge store solely selling frozen foods.
*there are no clubs as we know them in Cape Town or SA so I have no idea what people my age do here, it seems they just meet up and chat over drinks...so that means no Drum 'n Bass for me until maybe September when supposedly some events/parties happen.

Lost in Lyon...day 13

It seems that even when I’m not working and I’m exhausted, I can’t sleep more than 6 hours. I went to sleep at 2am and still woke up at 8... Did a whole lot of journal entries that I hadn’t done in the week as I was too tired. Then around 1pm I left to meet up with some students from Institut Paul Bocuse.

What a freakin’ mission. Fatiha told me to walk as it would be faster but I got sooo..... lost  I walked my ass off...like across the one river, eventually after walking a distance to find a place where I could cross, then once I had done that I had to mission to Vieux Lyon but I headed in the wrong direction and ended up walking up the hill to the cathedral and then I was like ‘nah’, this isn’t right so asked a guy for directions and he said for 2 euros he’d show me where to go...so I was like f*&#!... it  I’ve walked for like 40 min already, just do it. He didn’t speak English so I had to communicate in my broken Neanderthal French.

Eventually we got to the bistro...it was called le terme (can’t remember) jaune which means something yellow. That explained all the yellow serviettes and tablecloths and awnings. We had to order straight away as it was almost 3pm and in France the restaurants in the busy/tourist areas mostly have 2 services which is really weird.

I ordered a salad which was boiled potatoes, dressed salad leaves and some smooth cottage cheese thing. It was ok. For the others, Carolina from brazil had a salad Lyonnais which is leaves, bacon, croutons and a poached egg, Kris from Singapore had a pork terrine (I tasted a small piece and tasted liver and was like no ways), Spencer also from Singapore had a brioche with some sausage in the middle, Jennifer from the States had the same salad as me and Nicholas, another Singaporean had the onion soup but it tasted really shit. The consistency wasn’t good and it wasn’t seasoned nicely or even really tasted like onions and had a powdery texture. Needless to say he didn’t finish it.

For mains I had some steak with a Roquefort sauce and a potato gratin and a beef tomato, stuffed with other veggies and roasted. I ordered MR and it was so chewy it was either a shit cut of meat (I honestly couldn’t identify what cut it was as it was so sinewy and chewy) or the chef didn’t cook it properly as the connective tissue hadn’t broken down enough. First time vie never finished a steak...and even if they gave me a steak knife, which they didn’t I still wouldn’t have been able to eat it. Jen and Carolina had what looked like a slice of cooked ham with chips, Spencer had the tartare which looked so finely minced to me that it was like pulp, Kris had lemon chicken with rice (the 3 Singapore guys were saying something about the rice) and Nicholas had something “Caesar” which was like a tartare, except it was mixed with some Worcestershire sauce and sealed on the outside. It tasted ok.

For desserts, half of us had mousse au chocolat which was pretty good and the saving grace of a pretty bad-mediocre meal and the other half had tarte praline (made with the Lyonnais praline, had a similar taste and texture of fudge) but the pastry base was almost as thick as the filling.

The meal cost me 19.5Euros which is ok as most places offer a set menu for around 18-26 euros and it’s a choice of starters, mains and dessert/cheese.

Afterwards we walked around a bit and I bought some awesome grapefruit sorbet...I love grapefruit ^^

Journal...day 12

Today was the last day for the semester at  Institut Paul Bocuse. Also, it being the last day of the week, which meant that the students were having their exam. Chef let me choose what bread they would have to make so I chose a variety of different shapes and techniques for them to do. I decided on Pain de tradition, petit boules and baguettes, pain de meteil, petit boules farinee and boules grande (which they had to flour seam side down) and pain bressan which had to be shaped into fusettes and batards and farineed.

I mixed all the doughs and then while I was doing that and waiting for the doughs to finish, the students started cleaning parts of the bakery.  After the primary fermentation, chef and I didn’t talk to the students at all except if they were going to do something very wrong. If they shaped, scored or baked anything incorrectly, they were penalised. Both the first and second groups started off well, but once it came to loading the bread, things went downhill. Both groups slowed down to the point where the secondary fermentation was too long and so the pain de meteil and bressan were so proved that they hardly opened up at all. Both groups also forgot to either score at all or scored bread incorrectly.

Subsequently, they were penalised for this. with both groups getting around 10 points out of a possible 20. Each individual was also scored on their technical execution of the methods, their understanding and listening to you, their work spirit within the team. In both groups there were one or two people who stepped up and took charge, making sure everyone was on the same page and what was being done was being done so correctly (well, kind of). 

 Lunch was weird today. Obviously the canteen was trying to use up any leftover stock but when we were served, at our table, some portion sizes were bigger than others and some were only partly garnished. This also fell to the service staff who almost had no clue wtf was going on.

Entree was a selection of small things, club sandwich, some roasted pepper stack, a grain dish, and a Caesar salad (mine didn’t get bacon, croutons or parmesan...it wasn’t even dressed). Mains was a disaster in my books. We got some sort of cured fish (later we saw them bring out salmon for other people) and it was with similar spices and veg as the day before, but it’s like they literally took every piece of prep and just chucked it together. Mange tout going brown...I think the chef couldn’t have been there. Possibly the students winged it for our service (there are usually 2 services, at 11:30 and 13:00...)

When I got home, Thierry and I went to a bouchon in Croix Rousse close to  Fatiha's place. Bouchons make traditional Lyonnaise food which is usually made from offal or less choice cuts of the animal. It started when the poorer carriage drivers wanted to stop for a cheap meal then they would have something at the bouchon and they would also get a bale of hay for their horse and it’s different from haute cuisine in that it doesn’t use as expensive ingredients and is more centred on meat and is usually fattier. You will generally find pork, duck, veal, beef and chicken on a menu in a bouchon.

Thierry ordered the confit duck leg cassoulet which was really good but the leg seemed to been quite dry as if it had only been roasted and not confit’d and I ordered some potatoes cooked in duck fat and the Andouillette, which I thought was a pork sausage with whole grain mustard and white wine (it sounded lovely on the menu) but it was actually a tripe sausage!!!! 

I immediately thought of the Mr Bean episode where he orders steak tartare in a restaurant, not knowing what it is and then spends the rest of the episode trying to hide it. I really could barely stomach the one mouthful I had. I just smelt and tasted farm and wanted to chunder... it was a painful experience having to sit with it in front of me and smell it all the time. The service was really slow at the restaurant... only 2 waiters, 1 manager and 1 chef....and it’s like a 40 pax place and there were around 25pax there incl us. Not smart at all. The chef was definitely spinning his ass off. At least my potatoes were ok. And it makes a fun story but next time I’m not going to order in French unless I’m 100% sure what it is I’m getting J

Thierry and I then walked around a bit and I finally bought some gin and agrum’ which was soooo good. We chilled a bit and then he had to leave around 11pm to catch his train.

Journal...day 11

Today we made pain aux cereals which is similar to the pain de tradition, but with the fermented spelt (d’epeautre), pain au mais which is a corn bread made with wheat flour, but with some of the kernels as well as some maize flour and sunflower seeds. It also contains a colourant as the maize flour would normally come out white so with the additive (ameliorant) it comes out a cool yellow colour with an amazing aroma. Chef reckons it’s good for a vegetarian sandwich, but I think a slab of that with some chilli con carne or some bacon and tomato chutney would definitely hit the spot.

We also made pain de tradition again and finished preparing the brioche for the next day. 1/3 plain, in the mavette shape, 1/3 au chocolat and 1/3 avec pralines Lyonnaise, which were shaped into boules.

The entree for lunch was a club sandwich...the bread of which was lightly toasted with some curry powder which reminded me of mom’s curries and making my curried butternut soup. It was good, very nicely presented as well with some sort of a tomato coulis and a mayo.

The main was fish, it must’ve been a smallish fish as the portion size was 2 smallish fillets, spiced with some aromatic spices including coriander, pepper, fennel and had a blob of marmalade on top which was surprisingly good with the other flavours and the fresh herbs. To accompany the fish there were potatoes with garlic and herbs, courgettes which had been cut in a way which looked like it would be a pain in the ass if you had to prep that for 100 odd pax and a tomato salsa/relish and basil pesto.

I met a guy named Thierry who stayed at Fatiha’s (the lady I’m staying with) place for the night. She apparently rents out her room as well and then she just crashes on the floor in the kitchen on a mattress. She’s really cool like this, her house is full of paintings that she’s done and has loads of bright colours and she seems like one of those free spirited people.
They invited me to go to some music event somewhere but I was still exhausted from the week so I declined.

Journal...day 10

Today I met with chef Berthemier at Maison Pozzoli and was introduced to Monsieur and Madame Pozzoli as well as their son, Alexander. Chef Berthemier and Monsieur Pozzoli are really good friends, both of them being MOF Boulangers as well. I got shown around the boulangerie and saw loads of machines that I’ve never even seen before, like machines that shape baguettes once the dough is divided as in terms of quantity alone, they produce 450 (quatre san cinquante) pain de tradition baguettes. They also produce a wide variety of small breads (I saw a fig and honey one) and various other loaves.

There is a separate section in the back where the patisserie is produced and there are also loads of proving boxes (chambre de fermentation) where the doughs are fermented overnight. They also have a machine that produces the levain that is used in almost all of their breads. It has a capacity for 45kg of levain....45kg. Each day they add more flour and water and the machine mixes it and regulates the temperature and humidity. I tasted some of the levain and it had a really smooth acidic flavour and a slightly sweet undertone.

The shop is in a really old building, it has these huge stone blocks in the wall and just feels old; there is even a wood fired oven but unfortunately they don’t use it as I think people complained about the smoke. They have a 5 deck oven for the breads and I watched Mr Pozzoli for a while as he loaded and scored the baguettes...that guy is insanely fast.  He comes from a family of 4 generations of chefs with himself and Alexander being 2 generations of bakers.

I start at 3am on Monday, so I will need to wake up before 2am as there is no public transport that runs at that time...back to the good old days!

Journal...day 9

C’est mon dernier jour en L’institut Paul Bocuse aujourd’hui. There was no “exam” for the class; however chef and I did make notes so we could give them feedback during a debriefing at the end of the day. The students made pain de tradition, pain de campagne and pain bio. The work was good, but the students’ concentration deteriorated as the day went on.  All in all chef and I were happy with their work but we just gave them some constructive criticism regarding respect and punctuality as well as discipline and maturity.

This morning I woke up in time but then fell asleep again and woke up at 6:20…I usually leave my place at 6am to get the bus but this time I just got dressed and brushed my teeth and was out of the house in less than 5 min.  I literally ran to the metro and got there just as the metro was departing. Luckily for me, all my following metros were departing as I got to the platforms so I got a bus at George de Loup at 6:40 and just got to the school at 7, so after getting dressed I was in the bakery only 10 min late; still... I hate being late.

For lunch today we had an onion tart and main was sole with some sort of herb moussoline which I didn’t really enjoy with steamed veg, brown rice and a sauce whose name I forget but tasted like it had caramelised onions and fish stock as well as cream.

Just chilled for the rest of the day.

Journal...day 8

Today we did pain aux multi cereals, pain au mais and pain de meule. Due to the large number of small rolls we had to make, we just did them in the petit boules shape. The class worked very well. After a few stern words, they really brought their side and worked quickly and efficiently. So much that we were done with all the production including the viennoiserie for the next day and cleaning by 12:30. Being hard, but fair ensures that they learn disciple and the sense of urgency that one needs when working in a kitchen.

Tomorrow, they won’t be having an exam but chef and I will still make notes about their work attitude and quality of their work.

For lunch we had a sweet melon, with some Parma ham, clove infused red berry coulis and crème Chantilly, balsamic reduction and some yellow sauce I couldn’t make out.

Main was beef stew with jus, tagliatelle and a tomato sauce. Perfect brasserie fare.

The group that I’m teaching this week is from Lebanon and Morocco so I’ve learnt some Arabic but its only vulgar things...naturally. I think that’s what everyone learns first when they learn a language. J

I had the tarte citron today...sweet short crust base, a creamy lemon curd type filling, glazed and garnished with a slice of candied lemon. Who doesn’t like lemon curd....?!

Journal...day 7

Today the class was a bit better and they worked a bit more efficiently.

We did pain bresan (with the “gaude”, roasted maize flour), pain complet (made with the T150 and butter...) I would eat this one with just some salted butter or schweinschmalz) and pain bio (made with bio flour and baguette concentrate which is roasted barley flour). Due to the class still being pretty slow, we have only done the shaping of small breads into boules and the larger ones into baguettes or batards.

For lunch we had a nicoise salad, but with tinned tuna, anchovies, thin slivers of tomato, slices of boiled potato, capers, olives, hard boiled eggs and  an awesome dressing. Main was some fish with beautifully cooked veg, potatoes, carrots and mange tout and some soft and extremely flavourful onions to garnish.

I ate some of the things that Marlene bought for me at Maison Pozzoli. The Framboisier was delishus!! A base of sponge cake, with an almond mousse with pieces of raspberry and dried coconut, topped by another layer of sponge and then a thin layer of pink marzipan which was ever so slightly brulee’d.

The “charlotte” was similar except it contained a vanilla mousse and no marzipan on top and also came with a small macaroon on top J

There was another small item that I don’t know the name of but it was in a quenelle like shape and had a base of some sort of cake with chestnuts in it, topped by the chestnut cream and then some icing... very simplistic but all you need really.

As I’m typing this I’m having one of the beers that Marlene bought at the blueberry festival outside of St. Etienne. Initially it tasted quite strong (its 8%) but after a while I can taste the slight acidity from the blueberries. In fact, since it was neither sweet nor dry, the acidity reminded me of a beer-ish wine if that’s easy to understand. Really pleasant once I was half way through...I think it needs to warm up in your mouth before you can get the full flavour of the blueberries. Definitely not a quaffing beer.

Journal...day 6

Vignt sept Juillet

J'ai dîné avec Pierre hier soir a la restaurant Le Grain de Folie.  So last night I went for dinner with Pierre in Croix Rousse.  We had to look quite a bit as we couldn’t decide on the menu at some places and others were a bit too expensive for our liking.  It’s amazing how many small restaurants are hidden away, its like a maze, with roads winding in all directions…we had no idea where we were going, so we just walked around, looked at menus and kept on going.  We came across some  cool places like a tapas bar, but Pierre didn’t like the menu even though I thought it was a good Spanish tapas selection.   Another restaurant was very brightly coloured and had an inside terrace (a lot of these places have a small seating area inside the restaurant and then a terrace on the inside which is the preferece of most people) and an awesome menu that had foie gras and escargot on the menu, but with unsual ingredients .  The kitchen was quite tiny (as I later discovered most are) maybe anywhere from 40-60m2.
Anyway, the place we settled on was close to where I will be living from August, its called Le Grain de Folie (the craziness). It looked quite smart from the  inside, but  that belied a more playful terrace. Brightly coloured placemats (it seems a lot of places use a thickish paper placemat that can be discarded after use), lights that changed colours and just a quirky but comfortable atmosphere.

After looking at the menu we decided to choose the set menu.  Most of the small restaurants and brasseries offer the dishes at a la carte prices, but then also offer a set menu of 3 entrees, 3 mains (plats) and a choice of dessert or cheese and is slightly cheaper than choosing individual dishes.

For wine I had un verre(glass) de chardonnay and Pierre had something fume (I can ‘t remember exactly).  Mine was good, slightly dry and fruity but it actually opened up after we had an amuse bouche of chilled cucumber and avo soup.  For entrees we both had froids veloute d'artichaut avec magret séché (cold artichoke veloute with dried magret).  This was fantastic, the subtle flavour of the artichoke coming through beautifully and with the flavour of the magret bursting through, with the rich creamy flavour of the fat and the saltiness of the cured meat.  The only downside with the dish was that they had what seemed like pickled mushrooms in the centre which completely did not work.  The acidity from the pickling process ran rampant across the velvety veloute.  Pierre commented that the veloute wasn’t thick enough, but I think he was just being overly critical. :P

For mains I had lamb shank with garden vegetables (Jarret d'agneau avec légumes du jardin) which was good but the shank could have been cooked for longer as the connective tissue hadn’t broken down completely yet.  The veggies were tasty too, baby potatoes (petit pomme de terre), batons of carrots (carottes), fine beans (haricot fine) and some white vegetable which was almost like a turnip, but Pierre didnt know the English word for it ; he said it was some long white vegetable that grows in the ground.  Pierre had the poisson d’epice (fish with spices).  The fish was cod and was beautifully cooked, and crusted with a devine combination of cardomom seeds, seschuan pepper, coriander and fennel seeds and served with the same garden veg and a beurre blanc.

For dessert we both chose noeville (spelling ?)chocolat avec coeur de caramel et glace fraise.  This was basically a chocolat fondant with a caramel centre and was served with a strawberry icecream. The menu cost 26euros and with my wine, my bill came to 29.5euros.

Afterwards, we walked around Croix Rousse and chilled for a bit by a vantage point that overlooked Lyon.

Saturday morning i met up with Mark-Anthony and his group of students from the States.  They have been doing a tour of France for a month and had been spending the week in Lyon while going to the Institut Paul Bocuse.  Mark does food anthropology and this particular course was focused on French gastronomy.  The students were all between 15-17.  We headed to a market in Vieux Lyon (old lyon)  and wow, this place is like a chefs wet dream...

First of all, I saw oysters that were the size of my hand !! and some smaller ones too but i have never seen oysters that big in my life, i didnt even know you could get them that big.  There was a guy cooking paella and rotisserie chickens, cooking some potatoes in all the collected fat.  The smell was like that of a Sunday roast. :D …the variety and quality of vegetables available was overwhelming, I can’t even start to name everything as i would go on forever.  I had noticed that in supermarkets you didnt find fish or chickens or steaks, mainly pre-sliced hams or smoked salmon….well at the market they had everything : onglet, hanger steaks, sweetbreads, brains, testicles, tonges from veal and lamb, rabbits, chickens and pheasants with the heads still on…terrine de campagne, fromage de tete !

As for fish,  there were whole fish, salmon, prawns, squid, mussels, trout, sea snails and many more fish that I don’t know…

Ok, I guess I have to tell you about the veggies….so the herbs for instance are kept in big crates in bunches and you choose how much of what you want and the seller packs it in paper for you.  Same with the salads : you choose a head of what you want and the seller packs it for you.   And they had like 10 different varieties as well as rocket, english spinach, mizuna.

The variety of berries available is completely stupifying :  I saw red currants, black currants, white currants (I had only ever seen these in a book before), raspberries, blueberries, black berrries, mulberries, strawberries).

Fresh mushrooms which looked like yellow pine rings, and some other kinds that I didnt recognise…
Melons, peaches, nectarines, apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes…more than 10 different kinds of tomatoes, plenty varieties of zucchini, onions and garlic, peppers, aubergine

OK, that’s all I’m willing to write in my lazy state…I could probably go on for another 2-3 pages. You guys will just have to look at the pics. :D

So after having a snack, we headed to the metro at Vieux Lyon and met our tour guide. Madam Deveaux, a 60-70 something lady who is originally from Austria ;  so I had a little chat with her in German.  She took us up to the cathedral that overlooks Lyon and gave us the history of the city : Lyon is over 2000 years old, having being founded in around 45BC. Cape town is only around 360 years old,  if Ii remember correctly.  This particular cathedral is dedicated to Mary after the city was under threat of attack from Barbarians from the North East (Germany/Austria area) ; the people of Lyon prayed and said that if they weren’t attacked they would build a big church to honour and worship Mary.

We went outside to see the panoramic view of Lyon, where you can see a solitary skyscraper called the pencil tower ( I dont need to explain why its called this !), and then we walked a short way to a Roman theatre that had been excavated and is now used for concerts and show.  Seeing the amphitheatre  made me realise how ingenious the Romans were in their time.  There was a band doing sound tests while we were there and all I could think about was what the acoustics would be like if there had to be some good old Drum ‘n Bass pumping. J

We walked back to the metro and were then treated to a tour of some of the houses in the area which still retain their original spiral staircases and wells.  The buildings are beautiful in their simplistic design and one really feels as if you are living in another time.  While walking around I found a small shop selling only absinthe so I bought a bottle of one which is made with a Lyonnaise recipe from 1883. The maze-like streets are lined with restaurants, brasseries and bouchons (bouchon is the name for traditional Lyonnaise food made from offal which was served to the working class as it was cheaper than using expensive cuts and back in the day, the driver of a carriage would get a bale of hay for his horse as well).

We then made our way to the tete d’or park (head of gold) and had lunch there.  I had bought a baguette with coppa, confit aubergine, tomato and rocket…flippen good).  We also had some strawberries and goats cheese as well as some confit garlic that we bought at the market and some gelee de fruits (gelified fruits) for dessert.  The students had some time to waste so Mark, Jess and I went to the botanical gardens of Lyon and then to the zoo where they had deer, ducks, pelicans, flamingos, bulls and even a giraffe.

Around 5 :30pm the park closed so we headed back to our hotel and everyone chilled and took a much welcomed shower.  I had an apéritif of rose that I bought at the market and then Mark and the students went for dinner at the Paul Bocuse brasserie Ouest while I met up with some guys from the institute for a burger at a cool place in Bellecour called Marcels.  I had a wicked beef burger with raclette, bacon, confit onions and fries.  Then we went for a drink near where the market was and chilled for a bit.  I had a Rio beer which was half grapefruit juice, half stella artois and a shot of grenadine.

It was almost 12 by the time we were done so I headed home and crashed..Long, busy day… J
a bientôt !

Journal...day 5

Today was the end of my première semaine (first week) at Institut Paul Bocuse. I was feeling quite tired today as I didn’t sleep very well. Since I had accumulated sleep deprivation I napped as soon as I got home yesterday and then while still feeling quite awake, I tried to go to sleep just after midnight but struggled. First waking up around 1am with the feeling like an small animal was trying to get to my head, like scratching on my pillow...it was almost like lucid dreaming as I wanted to “wake up” but I had to fight to do so....I suppose it’s also from lying on my back which is how you induce lucid dreaming. Then again waking up at 4am, thinking that someone was trying to climb onto my balcony, even though I’m on the septième étage (seventh floor).

Anyway, today was good…the brioche for the viennoiserie was baked off and we had some. Despite my doubts as to the texture, it was light and fluffy, similar to the recipe I use, except that since mine is bulk fermented overnight it has a more yeasty flavour, whereas chef Berthomier’s recipe has levain (almost all of the breads and viennoiserie has levain and then a small amount of fresh yeast) and a much more subtle flavour.
The brioche praline was good, but I’m not a big fan of sweet sticky things. The brioche chocolat is much more to my preference.

We made pain de campagne today (mix of T65 and seigle[rye]) and to la moitire de pate (half the dough) we added L’epeautre (I found out that this is spelt...the French refer to it as “grain l’accienne” or ancient grain) which is what we had with the duck for lunch yesterday. Pain de Tradition (1 bac de cinq cent cinq kilo (5.5kg) avec  multi-cereals, the fermented mixed seeds). And pain de meule (1 bac de cinq ans cing kilo avec de 275g de pesto (the pesto powder we used earlier in the week).
And for the viennoiserie for the next week we made croissants.

Every day, after we have baked off the viennoiserie for the day as well as made the doughs and folded most of them (rabat), everyone goes downstairs for a small break, usually a coffee and a cigarette to go with whatever goodies we baked that morning, and basically make small talk.
A LOT of people in France smoke (fumer, verb for smoke)...I’d say about 80% of the people at the school smoke. And its not cheap, about 6.5 euros a box of 20’s

Today chef pretty much left us alone after the dough had been made, to see if we remembered and understood what we had learned during the week. So we divided and shaped the boules and baguettes and I was in charge of making sure which ones were farinee and which weren’t (if the dough contains farine de seigle then we use that, otherwise we use T80 as T65 gets absorbed and then the dough will stick to the couche (baking linen).  Paul & I did the scoring and loading while the others made the croissants.
After baking, chef graded the baguettes on the crust (la croute), the colour, and the shaping (la faconnage) from 0-5, 5 being the best. Most were around 2-3, as most of the other students don’t have as much practise as me, but I still struggle with the softer dough that we work with. All in all, chef was happy with the bread. He reckons it takes about 6 months of baking every day to become a good baker.

After we were done, we cleaned down the kitchen: moving all the tables and equipment, sweeping up the flour, then hosing the floor and scrubbing it and then moving all the water into a drain in the floor with a “raclette” a big floor squeegee. Chef helps us clean as he believes it’s important to lead by example which I admire as it’s something I try to instil in students as well; that being hardworking and humble are good traits to have. My classmates say he’s the only chef who helps with the cleaning and for chef, he says that the students are more like his kids so since they’re only with him for 1 week at a time, he’s not as strict with them as he would be if they were working for a longer period. It’s like the “one team one dream” vibe...or as I like to say “ we ride together, we die together”. Bad boys for life” J so whether someone’s doing well or whether they’re having a bad day, the team sticks by them and conversely, if they’re hanging or having a crappy day, they still have to stick it out.

Lunch was “tacos a la Mexican” which was a taco with avo, beef, my favourite processed cheese slices that were cut into strips, some lettuce and tomato.
main was “saumon a l’italian”, oven roasted salmon with tagiatelle, roast broccoli and cauliflower and a delicious dill infused cream.

Some of the institute’s students are going away for vacation from this week and some from next and they all got their marks for the semester.

After getting off the bus, I saw that there was a produce market near my residence. The quality and variety of stuff they had was incroyable (incredible). I’m talking cherries, strawberries, nectarines, raspberries, all sorts of other fruits et legumes (fruit and veg) like haricot fine (fine/green beans), swiss chard, about 4 kinds of courgettes that I saw, spring onions WITH THE BULB STILL ATTACHED :D, lettuces, tubors...man I could go on...

There were also 2 stands selling various cheeses and a man selling some meats and sausages from a refrigerated unit. The market was placed in a line so as you get off from the bus/metro station, you can walk down and buy your things. There were lots of' tannies' (South African colloquialism for 'old ladies’) getting their shopping done for the weekend... btw, the cherries were selling for the equivalent of R45/kg so I nabbed a handful for 55Euro cents, about R7.

Tomorrow I’m meeting with some interns from America who are here just for a week at the institute and then head back on Monday. They want to go to a market and then they’re going on a tour of old Lyon so I won’t feel too bad about looking like a tourist if I’m in a group of them.

I’m going to meet up with Pierre and charlotte in a bit and go for dinner at a brasserie somewhere. Details to follow tomorrow.

Bonne weekend :D

Journal...day 4

Aujourd’hui est jeudi, le vingt cinq Juillet.

Today we made pain de tradition, pain de meule and pain de meteil and pate Fand B. Pate Fand B is enriched dough made with creamie (kre-a-mie) which is palm oil that is in a paste like state, which has some added sugar as well. Has a grainy, greasy texture.

For the pain de tradition we added some multi-cereals (mul-ti se-ri-als) to la moitie (moi-ti-er) [half] which is mixed seeds, sesame, poppy and linseed that contains levain as well. It also contains malted barley and has a fermented aroma, but you can still pick up a strong molasses like smell from the malted barley syrup. The dough was shaped into boules (bouls) and baguettes. Traditional French bread is never farinee(fa-ri-neh) [floured].

Pain de meule was shaped into batards (ba-tarr-ds)[ovals]

Pain de meteil was shaped into boules, la moitie pate avec citron (a dehydrated lemon product, not sure how it’s made). This particular bread has an incredible aroma while fermenting and after baking the smell of lemon wafts everywhere. This would be ideal with seafood according to chef Berthamier or with some salted butter. Citron 1% poids pate.

The brioche dough was divided into 3 parts, 1 part “nature”, 1 part chocolat (choc chips), and 1 part praline.

the croissants we made on Tuesday and baked yesterday had a light texture, owing to the extended mixing of the dough. It wasn’t as dense as the ones I used to make, but when you bite into it, it almost has the body of the frozen ones in that it doesn’t hold but collapses as you bite into it. Still, a very nice croissant. And quite easy to work with.

Today towards the end of class, I had a meeting with chef and Mme Reynard. From next week, there’ll be 2 classes, from 7-3 and from 4-8. I will be with chef in the class in the morning and in the evening I will lead the class, teaching a group of the alliance students as chef takes the class in the mornings, directing them and showing and explaining to them. Chef said that I am very sound technically even though I’m not used to working with dough this soft.
I borrowed a French, English, German, Spanish baking and patisserie dictionary which will help me improve my vocabulary and I will be able to buy one by next week as the librarian was kind enough to phone a store and order one for me.

I forgot to note the meals that I had at F&B, the brasserie style restaurant that is essentially the canteen. The entrees are preplated and then finished by 1 chef, while everyone else plates the mains in a line, (veg/starch, meat, sauce, garnish, wipe). You collect your entree and main from the kitchen and then sit down and eat and afterwards everyone sets the place for the next person. This shows how there is really an atmosphere of respect in the institute, as well as how everyone greets everyone, not just the chefs.

Monday /lundi: salad of bacon, confit red onions, radiccio, watercress and croutons
can’t remember main

Tuseday/mardi: tian of prawns(crevette) and peppers with small salad and what looked like a pomme maxime garnish
Cantonese chicken with egg-fried rice, jus rosti and sesame seeds

Wednesday/mercredi: Burger de Joue de boeuf (beef cheek burger) with mayo, some cooked julienne courgettes and carrots under the meat on the bun and some jus
Some line fish which had a firm white flesh, mild flavour. Almost like a firmer hake with smaller flakes, celeriac puree, fine beans, plantain chips and a creamy lemon sauce

Thursday/jeudi: “fishcakes” coarse fishcake mix that was shaped into small 4cm high dariole shapes, some fine battered onion rings and aioli with a small salad
Duck breast, some grain that was like barley (I can’t remember the name but it was brown) that was bound with some cream/parmesan, mange tout, courgettes and broad beans and roast white peaches with jus

• pain breson(gaude)

• pain viennoise aux choc chips

• ciabatta aux poudre chorizo