part 1. fini.

next monday is the final in my first culinary school class, intro to professional cooking. we'll be tested on our basic knowledge (how many ounces in a pint, what is a straight sided sauce pan called, how many ounces of clarified butter does a pound of whole butter yield, etc), and then chef pierre's boss, will test us on our knife skills. he will watch us make a medium dice, battonet, and the dreaded tourne (little football shapes). we practiced our potato tourne-ing skills both days this week, and frankly, i'm bored with it. i can do a pretty decent tourne, but it doesn't excite me like the other things we've been learning do, like fileting fish. or deboning a chicken. or clarifying butter! or making a garlic anchovy butter for escargot that we get to eat! in class!

this is, without a doubt, the most satisfying learning experience i have ever pursued. i hope it keeps up. i'm having a blast, even with the damned tourne of potato.