Time to upskill

Hard to believe that it’s already week 8 already and next week is exam week!

Backtrack just a couple of months and this journey wasn’t on my radar, I was working in the fast moving world of advertising when I was offered a scholarship to study the Diplôme de Pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand.

Despite my many years cooking, chefing and running cooking classes I have never been formally trained, I can cook, bake, run a kitchen team and manage to look unflustered, however I have always had an underlying desire to learn the classic French Pâtisserie techniques and my chance was now.

I was excited, however when I presented the idea to the family they looked at me as if I was an alien, really, how but you won’t be working, not sure its for you.......and so I dismissed the idea at first, however a little voice in my head (and heart) kept saying what are you doing? Take the chance, and so with encouragement from friends, my wonderful mum in Portugal and a solid pros and cons spreadsheet convincing the whānau I accepted the scholarship and enrolled. 

My journey with Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand dates back to 2012 before the school opened, it was incredible to be back in the culinary world albeit on the other side of the kitchen and I took every chance to be in the kitchen with the chefs whenever possible.  I spent a number of years promoting the school to international students around the globe, so somewhat incredible to now be walking in their shoes.

It’s no mean feat being back at school, however the excitement far exceeded the fear and fair to say that I am in a very happy place.

 Thanks to C19 and the border closure the class sizes are currently smaller than usual creating a close knit community.  There are four student in my class, they are all international students who were already here in NZ before C19 arrived and have decided to stay and study at LCB.  

The journey thus far has been somewhat delicious as one can imagine.  The biggest challenge for me has been unlearning the old and learning the new.  The first few weeks have been literally back to basics where the science of how ingredients interact with each other can make the most incredible creations. Day one was dedicated to the humble scone, my foodie friend recently returned from a 12 month secondment to Paris was somewhat surprised and said where’s the French in scones, I too thought the same however after sitting through the demo class waiting and listening to chef explain how the flour and butter work together and the chemistry behind them depending on whether you rub or cream the ingredients makes you realise that there is more to the humble scone than cream and jam!

Stay tuned for some class highlights.