Chef Poul Erik is what distinguished the course head and
shoulders from others of its kind.. This course is all about getting you to
focus on the level of attention to detail required from food preparation to all
the prerequisites in creating an intimate dining experience. Chef Poul Erik has
a fine eye for intricate details to orchestrate every facet of the process -
down to selecting the right wine to compliment every course of the meal,
setting the table, picking the flowers with just the perfect colours from the
garden, lifting the ambiance with the right music, you name it…He also has the
gift to stand back, wave his magic wand and somehow rally us to enjoy each
other’s company and sample the fruits of our labour as the meal unfolds. At the
dining table, he is the poet, the food historian, the linguist and world
traveller, the architect and the electrical engineer who can solve your endless
remodelling challenges given his accomplishment with the very enchanted
Kerrouet House.
Make no mistake this is an intensive five days from a
cooking and eating perspective - six to seven hours of cooking, four courses
for lunch and dinner every day ladened with the crown jewels of French cooking,
think crème fraiche, butter, heavy cream and sauces. You definitely get good
value for money as our Chef is all about giving us as much exposure to French
cooking (eating and drinking!) as possible. The menu definitely had a focus on
seafood given our locale but our Chef was most accommodating of our requests.
From lobster bisque to warm oysters and razor clams; roast leg of lamb to pizza
Alsacienne, tarte au citron and creme bruleé to chocolate cake St. Remy. Let me
stop here and take a deep breath!
There is minimal pre-preparation by Chef Poul Erik as you
would find in other cooking schools. What you see is what you get - if you want
to sample a dish, be prepared to roll your sleeves all the way up! You make
EVERYTHING right down to sweating the
onions, making all the stocks and bread for the week, you lay the table for
every meal, you pick the herbs from the garden. In engineering terms, this
course is the real deal, you experience the entire wing- to- wing process of
cooking and dining….this is what makes it so special and the food tasted that
much better. This gave me an excuse to
have an extra bite, ok a few more bites than I should have… but so worth it
even if I have to go on a starvation diet for the next month.
Truth be told I have not met a more patient and encouraging
teacher. Whether you are an amateur chef looking to take your French cooking
knowledge to the next level; an absolute beginner who wants someone to take the
mystique out of French cookery, an explorer looking for a taste of French
country living with a twist or an avid foodie who wants to deepen your
understanding of French and European culinary culture and traditions (there was a fair amount of Danish influence
given Chef Poul Erik's background), somehow the course can be pitched at a
level in a relaxed and fun environment where everyone got something out of it.
We came as strangers and left as friends bonded by our love for good food. This truly is not an experience that can be
replicated, and once you have been there I guarantee you will be back for more.
I will be back to share my interview of Chef Poul Erik in my
next blog post…now let me have a bit of that chocolate cake to relive my memory
in the French Dining School !
Bernice Cheng
October 2013
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