Chiffonade

Chiffonade, cutting leaves into fine shreds. When done correctly the shreds are like fluffy puffs of spinach, sorrel or basil. Oh how lovely!



Things are heating up in class. We are now being given an amount of time to set up our stations for knife cuts practice. So here is what happens. Our class-room is a series of tall stainless steel tables with shelves below and chairs. To get set up to cut you must stack your chair along the outside walls, gather a half-sheet pan & parchment paper for that pan used for scraps of product. A cutting board that is secured on the table with a skid resistant mat below, fill a small wash and sanitize bucket and get all your knifes out and ready for the daily "challenge". None of this sounds (nor is it) difficult. The challenge comes when you have people on the end of your row who think that their pace is fast enough at a shuffle. Or the occasional individual who FORGETS that they have a chair to move. Hummm???? Basically, if you are not set up and ready to go, you get to leave class...No more messing around! Then we are given the challenge and timed.



Today! 45 Minutes to the following...

2 Carrots

• 10 Batonnet
• 10 Julienne
• 10 Fine Julienne

1 Potato

• 8 Tournet

Spinach

• Chiffonade

Now, this may sound relatively easy and may even seem like plenty of time... however, for new students (like me) and 44 year old eyes (like mine) I felt like I needed about 3 more minutes. Measuring a Fine Julienne (1/16" x 1/16" x 2") even with these new glasses was a bit difficult. But no worries, I did complete the challenge and my Tournes even looked close to the model! The muscle memory is sticking and my hand has fewer and fewer cramps! Whaoo!

Tomorrow we begin the sauces section of chapter 8. Those five mother sauces that we need to develop the many secondary sauces that smother those steaks & vegetables we love to eat!

Oh, by the way... 20 out of 20 on my quiz today! As the smile crosses my lips....