In Season

As I've told you before, a major reason why I wanted to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris is because of the city's markets and their fresh and delicious produce. These markets promote fruits, vegetables, fish, and meats that are in season. Remember when you had to plan recipes and menus according to what was in season? 


Thanks to free trade agreements and transportation systems that I find miraculous, you can buy strawberries 365 days a year, mangos in the dead of winter, and tomatoes come rain, frost, or shine. However, I find that most fruits, including apples and pears, don't have as much flavor as they used to because they're picked before their ideal ripe/picking time in order to last the long trip to your neighborhood supermarket.


In France, it seems that fruit and vegetable vendors, fish mongers, and everyone else take pride in presenting goods that are in season. This is wonderful because you are, after all, supposed to eat things when nature intended. Of course you can also find out-of-season products in France, but it is evident that people pay more attention to consuming things that are in season.


I believe that the chefs at LCB wanted to emphasize the importance of using ingredients that are in season and planned our cooking schedule accordingly. White asparagus and small Mediterranean crabs are in season right now in France, so yesterday's demonstration included a white asparagus veloute and a crab bisque. 

Yesterday's cuisine demonstration was refreshing and quite simply a joy. Chef Frank described the artful, step-by-step process of making soups in colorful and tasteful detail. The crab bisque went through many transformations; blanching, sauteing, flambeying, reducing, straining, and finally, presenting. The end result was to die for. Its burnt orange color had a deep taste that began with a crab infusion and ended with a rich vegetable aftertaste. Very good.

crab bisque

Chef Frank also gave us two great tips that are helpful when cooking many dishes:


1. Add vegetables to the pot one by one according to their varying cooking times, as opposed to adding them all at the same time.
2. Add a little water to a sauce pan when melting butter in order to prevent the butter from burning.


Tomorrow morning I'll make my crab bisque - wish me luck! I'll tell you how it goes.

white asparagus veloute