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Wednesday 27 October 2010

In the loop

Yesterday we had a lesson all about exams and assessments to tap into our fears of impending failure. I'm sure there are some of you out there pondering how we get graded so I thought I'd post a quick break down.  Our overall mark for each term is broken down into three parts.

One.
Weighing in at 45% of the overall mark is our day to day practicals at school. For each of our practicals we are marked on four criteria: hygiene, organisation, presentation and preparation. Hopefully I will find out some of my marks in this weeks tutorial

Two.
A written theory exam worth 10%. At the start of December there is a one hour written exam consisting of multiple choice questions, short answer questions and true or false questions. Hopefully a chance to get some scores on doors.

Three.
The main event, stacking up 45% in one fell swoop is the practical cooking exam. Heres the gist of it. We are told the 3 potentially recipes (in this case Lemon meringue pie, choux pastry buns and swans, genoise sponge with raspberry jam). We then have till the day of our exam to learn the recipes and practise to perfection. On the day we pick a number out of a hat and produce the recipe from memory. We are then judged firstly during the exam by a chef on our recipe, technique and organisation and secondly, by jury of chefs on presentation and taste. Think masterchef. We have 2 and a half hours and for every minute (up to 10 mins) over we lose 2% from our overall mark, any time after that is a fail.

Now for the grading:

50-79.99% = pass
80-89.99% = credit
90-100% = distinction

Basically to get anything above a pass you have to be pretty much flawless. Hense, I am off to bake a lemon meringue pie.

For now I leave you with some quick fire true or false questions. Answers on a postcard.

True or False....

1. The term imbibage means to spread
2. The main component of egg white is water
3. Pastry cream is cooked till is coats the base of the spoon
4. Dark chocolate is melted at a maximum of 74˚C


Bonne chance.

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