Day 14: Business. Unmolding.

The second segment of today’s lesson involved unmolding our panna cotta of the other day, and unwrapping and tasting our gelée. The panna cotta came out quite nicely, if a little too firm and spongy. It most certainly lost moisture, since we completely forgot to wrap or cover it, and it had been sitting in a high-traffic refrigerator for forty-eight hours.

Champagne and mint gelée, the invention of which we were so smugly proud, was much more fun to look at than to eat. It tasted like what you might expect if you went into your great-grandmother’s attic and found a really old, dusty book, and opened it as quickly as possible while inhaling sharply. It was rather depressing, but in all honesty it would have been a little surprising if two pastry students had invented a jaw-dropper in their fourth week of school. At least now we know the reason none of us has ever heard of this dessert.

The first three-quarters of class was a discussion with the director of the school’s Culinary Management program, followed by an hour-long tide of personal questions to Chef. The management lecture and discussion were very informative, and the importance of the topic was lost on no one in the class. However, it was not as materially exciting as lessons in which we fling meringue at one another or drag our sleeves through freshly-piped chocolate designs. Thus lacking anything with which to amuse you further, I shall conclude early this evening.

And skip dessert.