— Day 1, New Term Level 2
BK woke me at 5am, it was about 8pm Sydney time. I just slept for about 2hr. He was calling to make sure I did not miss the first day of class after Ike and he knew I was really looking forward to it.
When I reached Allensby about 7.40am, there were some vehicles parked already at the school compound - hmm… must be the new students as they would usually be early on the first day – exactly what happened 10 weeks ago when we were. Then I saw the generator? … then the unlit stairways? … then heard the familiar voice … “careful“… Elyse was holding the flash light to shine the stairway for us. Ever chirpy and high spirited, I was happy to see Elyse … oh she and Jean-Luc still did not have power at their home at Memorial …. huh? Expect to have it on in Oct? … “Go to the library…” What??!! Why? … I want to go to the lab. They were trying to crowd control the number of students streaming in for the new term. I borrowed Elyse’s flash light to change into my uniform in the restroom. I took out all my tools … “You won’t need all that today huh…” Elyse told me as I returned her flashlight. Huh? I don’t need tools today?
By the corner, I saw Chef Sebastien, … another familiar face, I went forward to give Chef a hug. It is really nice to come back to familiarity after a week away from school. Chef Laurent came to me, “You only give your chef a hug, what about me?” Of course! I was so happy to see everyone. Then Sarah came, “oh, I am so happy to be back, so happy to see you” , I said to her … we chatted. Even if there was no class today, we were happy to be back. Then Elizabeth, then Jennie… I decided to put my tool bag back into the locker.
As I get round the corner, I saw Chef Philippe with a group of students. Oh I am so happy to see Chef too! Chef Philippe Richard would be my new Chef in the new level 2 & 3 10 week term. It was already 8.20am. Class usually starts at 8.15am but I guess it was special as half the school was in semi-darkness - apparently, the labs were running on electricity, some parts by generators since the power came from another side of the street where power was still down. “See you in class in 5 minutes” from Chef Philippe. Wow, we were more than happy to do so. When I stood in the lab, as I looked at Chef and I looked at all the familiar faces around me, I wanted to smile head to toes, it was more than ear to ear. Oh come on, I really missed such familiarity! I was trying to contain myself and look more normal. Chef Philippe started his brief for us when everyone was in class – there are still 9 of us, like in level 1 but some faces were replaced by others. No Roberto – he has graduated, No Jennifer – she is into academic lesson this term, No Amanda - apparently she didn’t secure a loan to continue her terms. We have Christine – who had just completed 3rd level of cuisine and will be graduating with double Diplomas, and Ashley and Amber returning from academic term.
“Week 1: mousse cakes … week 2: chocolate … week 3: dough etc … week 4: research, plating … week 5: sugar and pastillage …”, Chef Philippe gave us a brief of what to expect – Yes, we may repeat what we did in level 1 but with level 2 & 3, we have to do as if and think in terms of 10s and 100s of production portion and sharpen our presentations, level 1 had focused on techniques. And also what was expected of us – sanitation, uniforms, what to bring to lessons, read and bring to class On Baking … Then the make-up hours, Chef left it to us if we preferred make up lessons on Sat or evenings, most of us preferred lessons on Sat. Chef was even willing to extend make-up hours till the day before Thanks-giving which would be hols for many of them before new term.
The air inside the room got a little warm. After 2 short breaks, Chef decided that was the end of Day 1, it was 9.30am. We were to meet next morning at 8.15am. Wow, we were happy to be back. During the break, Jennie told me that they would be going to Cafe Brazil and they would wait for me. Jennie had wanted to introduce me to the cafe two weekends ago when I told her I enjoyed pancakes, waffles and crepes … but we were tired the day after Gala and decided to postpone to the Saturday after our finals, then Ike came. We chatted a little at the stone table outside the building, we can leave but the Chef got to be in the institute for evening lessons … gosh! Then 6 of us went to Cafe Brazil for breakfast together – Marlene, Raffaella, Jennie, Sarah, April and me.
— Day 2, New Term Level 2
Enjoyed today’s lesson on Chocolate tremendously – a good mix of theories from Chef Philippe and the chocolate tempering we were introduced in level 1. It was initially cool in Chef Emmanuel’s cuisine lab, but we got warm especially after we started work on the chocolate tempering but it still suited us fine (hmm … retropectively). We were happy just to start learning. Chef Philippe is knowledgeable, precise in his instructions and recommendations for desired results, and had answers for what if’s, whats, hows, whys … and his expectations of the state we should return Chef Emmanuel’s cuisine lab. He would repeat some instruction while we practised our chocolate tempering. “If you don’t know, you take notes“… “Any questions?“… “If I don’t say anything, you are doing ok“… “Read up the chapter on Chocolate“, as he went through the text book chapter in On Baking with us. As the room got warmer, we realized later none of our chocolate set within 3 minutes - April was telling me she was disappointed her chocolate did not set, I laughed and I told her so did mine, so did Sarah’s, so did Elizabeth’s …
When we arrived at the culinary institute this morning, the school was still in semi-darkness. Sarah and I looked at each other and wondered if we were to have lessons. But I don’t see Chef Philippe? Sarah confirmed she saw him when she was turning in. Great! We will definitely have something. Then we heard we were going on a field trip to Hong Kong market with Chef Laurent’s cuisine class. Then I saw Chef Philippe, “Be in class in 10min, tell everyone.” We did not go on the field trip, but we enjoyed our first lesson in Chef Philippe’s class – “we” may be too much of generalisation, at least between Sarah and I.
We will continue with lessons tomorrow. Chef said that if we still don’t get power back, he will think of something else for us. Yes!
