Macaroons at le cordon bleu

So today was my last day of obligatory tasks while in Paris. I had my macaroon class at LCB.

The day started out a little bumpy when I couldn't access the Internet at Chez Provost, and was panicking about finding my metro stop. You really don't want to be late for a class. I knew the first leg of the metro, so while I boarded it, I called Chad, he found the name of the second stop, and voila! I was on time. Whew!

So, here I am in the kitchen classroom...There were 8 of us in the macaroon class, plus Chef and Leeanne, the awesome translator. We watch Chef begin the demonstration: whip the egg whites, add the powdered food coloring and bit-by-bit the sugar; mix the powdered sugar and almond flour; fold the two together, make sure it gets to this cool, "shiny" stage, and then put it into a pastry bag to pipe out. Easy, right?

In cooking, there is a term, Mis en Place, which literally translates to everything in it's place. It is an important term,and it is instrumental in making sure that things turn out correctly, because you have taken the steps to ensure they will. There is a reason I am giving you this little bit of background...please continue.

So, we get split up into two groups, and I decide to be adventurous, and go with the French speaking Grande Meres, rather than the English speaking Dutch, and Japanese ladies. Oh boy!

You know me, I wanted my macaroons to be perfect, and the fact that I had to share the first step with a group made me a little tense. The fact that these French ladies were a little bit messy and a little bit bossy, added to my stress. But hey, when in Rome, right? Anyway, we started by separating our eggs. This took a little time, as my new grand meres were a little slow. So while they were doing that, I started to measure out the ingredients for the rest of the recipe. Baking is usually measured by weight, and for the outcome to be perfect, you need to do so.

So while the egg separating is going on, I start to put the sugar on the scale. As GMs are finished with the eggs, they look to see what I am up to. They are clucking something in French, all with a bit of an agitated tone, and I am trying to follow them. I hear, "non!", and one of them actually spanks my hand with a little slap! I watch while my 140 grams of sugar that I have just weight out gets dumped back in the bin. What the...? Apparently they are not familiar with the differences between the two sugars (one powdered, one granular), and well, let's just say, it took Leeanne coming to my rescue to get it all sorted out.

Anyway, I survived, and the results were amazing. I had no idea how to make macaroons before this class, and I gotta say, I can't wait to bring them back to Parigi. The possibilities are endless, and you WILL be seeing them on the menu soon.

Bon Appetit!
Janice