George Brown continues...

George Brown continues?  Actually it just ended.  Finished the 1 year Culinary Skills Program at George Brown and feeling good.  I remember being so intimidated of cooking.  I didn't think I could do it because cooking required something that I felt I lacked...patience.  My university roommate, lets call him Mr. Jamaican (inside joke), use to do a lot of home cooking.  He was calm, collected, patient...the qualities I felt would make a good chef.  I use to "always" under cook food because I was too impatient to wait for it to finish!

After 8 months of practice, I proved myself wrong. 

2nd Term...

I have to say 2nd Term of Culinary Skills kinda sucked.  Lots of theory work and not enough hands on shit.  There were only 2 labs: culinary skills and banquet/productions lab.  Banquet class only went half way through the 2nd term, after which Career Studies took over.  I seriously don't need to learn how to write a resume or cover letter. 

Although the mock interview was pretty cool.


Culinary Skills II

This was probably the best class in the 2nd half of the program.  Essentially it is the contnuation of the first Culinary Skills Class so I won't go into too much detail.  I am going to say that we defnitely worked on some more unique recipes this time around:

• Braised Mediterranean Style Rabbit Legs
• Sweetbreads and Chicken Quenelles in a Mushroom Cream Sauce Served in a Pastry Shell
• Woodland Mushroom Terrine on Aspic Mirror with Inlaid garnish.

CoOl huh? 

Banquet / Productions Lab

Again, a sequal to the one in the first term.  Except this one was less eventful.  Each group of 4 were to prepare a single dish to present.  Doesn't seem like too much work does it?  Well because it wasn't! 


Wine Tasting

The name explains it all.  In this class you learn about the production, use, and taste of all different types of wine as well as how to read lables and what food pairs well with which wine.  Did I mention that you get to taste various wines too?  Well I am now.  My class was at 8am so you could imagine what it felt like to drink wine this early?  A+ class!  By the end you will be able to tell the difference between Pinot Noir, Carbonet Sauvagnon, Chardonnay and many more!  Cast your intimidation aside and order a bottle of wine for your date at your next dinner.

You faNcy huh?.

Bartending 101

Bartending 101 not mandatory for the program but I thought it would be interesteding.  Although a little laid back (mostly due to our instructor) I still really enjoyed this class.  I connected with the classmates and instructor, that probably had something to do with my extra fondness for this class.  Your typical class starts off with a mini lecture follow by all hands on work at the bar.  You will learn how to make over 40 different types of drinks including:

• Daquiri
• Caesars
• Martinis
• Manhattens
• Liqueur based drinks
• and more 

 

There is plenty of practice time ( at least an hour each class) so you really get a chance to master your mixing.


...

Overall I really enjoyed my year at George Brown.  I actually ended up getting a brief job here:

http://www.barvespa.ca/http://www.barvespa.ca/

And to my suprise my studies actually helped a lot.  Of course it was more stressful and faster pace at a real restaurant but I definitely felt that George Brown prepared me for the industry.

If you have not read the first part of the review you can go here:

http://on-baoy.blogspot.ca/2013/03/culinary-skills-at-george-brown-college.html

Email me if you have any questions!

Thanks,

-Baoy
dennis_luu@hotmail.com