Whats a-kir-ring?

For the first time since being at school we swayed away from the sweet side of life with a technichal class about savory petit fours (or canapes).

The chef slaved away producing hundred of minature treats for us to enjoy and to top it off at the end of class produced several bottles of wine, a bottle is cassis, and proceeded to make us all a class or Kir to enjoy them with. After our miniture drinks party we were giggling and ready for our practical class.

Ive said it once and I'll say it again; best school ever. 

Supreme Cuisine

Just as we through a tea-party in our third and final term at school, the cuisine chefs host a dinner evening. Its held in the school and is a chance for them to create a menu to show off their skills and, more importantly, for us to eat it. We had canapes, amuse bouche, starter, main, cheese course, pudding and petit fours and champagne flowing. It was really great to have a chance to try some of the cuisine and see what they get up to in their kitchens. Here are a few, fairly low quality, pictures of the delight of the night, themed la Belle Époque

One of many glorious canapes - tuna tartar

Menu

Amuse Bouche - Espresso Trompette

Starter - Menage a Foie Gras; parfait, confit & Seared

Main - Confit belly of pork & stuffed pigs trotter with black truffle tian & madeira jus

Cheese - Parfait of roquefort with poached pears

Dessert - Praline glace & caramalised apple, pain d'epice mousse with spiced wine syrup

Tea & Petit fours

We left the meal tipsy, happy and stuffed right to the brim.

Does the lady have legs?

Today our grooming continued with the first of our wine tasting classes.  We were taught about the wine making process, various wine regions in France and their regulations and finally how to test and taste wine, spitting optional.

Several glasses of white and red later and I was still unable to recognise any of the 2000 possible smells, except of course alcohol, and became increasingly perplexed as students began to pick out supposed undercurrents of fresh leather and liquorice. On the plus side we got to drink some top wines and nibble on some bread for a few hours.  Perhaps with a little practise my conclusions will develop from "crisp and fruity" to the more poetic offerings from our teacher. Just need a steady supply of nice french wines..

By the end of the class, when asked "does the lady have legs?" (a test for a good Bordeaux) the answer was, surely, no. Well, not after an afternoon of taste testing.