Class of Alain DuCasse .

Michelin is a motor  Tyre company which does anonymous checks on restaurants and  chefs. It publishes each year a list of world wide  classy restaurants and places to eat and their chefs.

Their stars are very much valued.

There are just a few of 3 star Michelin chefs in the world. We can count them on our figures. Many chefs commit suicide when their stars are removed or denied.

It’s a matter of honor and prestige .

One such chef is Alain DuCasse. He has 3 stars to his credit .

.He runs several classes here in Paris.

One such class is  of desserts.   I got this gift from Sri on my birthday .

I reached  on time   and there were some 10-12 students along with me .we were given one thick heavy cotton apron and some papers to write notes on ( with pencils of course  ) . the recipes were also printed and given to us  but in French .

Wow the kitchen is master class.

Each and everything there was WOW .

The man himself is simplicity personified. Here we think this big man who gets written about in big mags and papers must be pompous and snob nosed. But no he was simple smiling but also very strict with is students.

The first step was to create the base pate ( base pie dough)

He had already  made boxes with required amount f butter / cheese/ cream / flour etc,.

The students were asked to come  one by one . he made sure that all of us got hands on . among the students 2 were professional chefs.

2 -3 others were like me who had this class as a birthday gift.

A few were running their own restaurants .

The rest were house wives. U can see that they belonged to the upper echelons . many female students had grace and they were just ‘ housewives’ .  I can imagine  how they run their kitchens so much class and grace .

Wow  what a  class what grace alain had while cooking .

He was so strict he used to come over and look behind all our shoulders to see if its fine or not .

He had a couple of students who to used to come in / clean up  /arrange and leave quietly. The class lasted 4 full hours and we had to stand the entire time . it took a lot of effort from all of us to scrub/ whip/ cut / knead / boil/ stir . The ovens were transparent ( scrubbed squeaky clean ) so that we could see the  flour rising .

We did pate ( base ) for pies  , creams with berries for fillings / profiteroles( its like a bred filled with cream ) / éclair stuffed with cream … the usual popular French desserts

When we were cooking I felt it is going to be too sugary and heavy .

The last piece was when we sat down to taste .

At that time it tasted not that sweet but yes a bit heavy thanks to heavy cream and butter.

What he says is right- we won’t make all such dishes daily so when we do it once in a while why not use 100 % butter and cream. Why spoil it with low fat cream and butter  which wont taste so rich.

The kitchen utensils/ the spoons / the table/ the cutlery were spic and span. No wonder he is a star chef. I have taken pics and will try to paste them.

The apron was given to us as a souvenir .  it was a worthy gift. Now I cant wait to  bake  my own desserts in my own oven in my own house .