Spotlight: CdM goes to Cordon Bleu

While on a trip to the city of lights and fashion I decided to be adventurous and try a cooking class at the famous Culinary school and Julia Child's alma mater Cordon Bleu Paris! Inspired by Julia and Julia the movie I signed up for a class called Desserts en verres or Deserts in a glass. On the website this class was labeled for amateurs. It looked fun and interesting especially because I have an insatiable sweet tooth when it comes to French desserts. Well I was in for a big surprise when I got to the famous French school. The class was taught by a French speaking chef who moved a mile a minute and was translated by a young British trainee chef. Needless to say the instructions that were being thrown out left and right at break neck speed were a little hard to understand and keep up with. None the less we were handed our signature Cordon Bleu aprons, which I still use today, and pens and notebooks like real culinary students and sent off to the kitchen. We all stood around along stainless steel table surrounded by state of the art kitchen utensils most of which I had never seen before. Let's just say I'm not fond of making home cooked meals at my house. Since we were not given a recipe we had to rely solely on the instructions from the chef and his translator. Luckily I also managed to take some notes and brought the recipe home with me so I can recreate it anytime I choose. Although I don't know when I'll be up to hand whipping homemade cream again but just in case! After a long day of crushing pistachios and making homemade Savoyard biscuits we finally finished with twelve glasses full of delicious pistachio and strawberry cream desserts and coconut and cookie treats. The rest of the class was mostly American as well and when we finished everyone passed around the leftover Malibu and let out a sigh of relief. Like a scene from Sabrina the chef went around inspecting our work and, I thought I would never make it through, but at least I know I earned that certificate of completion. It was a really fun and interesting experience that has really helped me understand french cooking and culture better. If you are looking for something to do on your vacation a great thing to try is learn something new!