Julia Was Here – A Trip to Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

Thank you for all the feedback on yesterday’s post! I’m so glad so many of you are on the same track as me with the whole yogi/foodie thing. Especially since I’m about to tell you about my trip to Le Cordon Bleu Paris today…. tee hee.

 

Oh yes, my friends. My inner Julia Child is squealing with delight after today’s trip to Le Cordon Bleu. After a very long day of class (we are in the midst of  a two week intensive module and have class from 10:00am to 6:00pm each day as well as extra visits throughout the week), we took a trip to Le Cordon Bleu for a presentation by the slow food cafe in the Bastille that my class is volunteering at, as well as a presentation on Le Porc Noir de Bigorre, a special pig raised in France that is part of the slow food movement.

I was giddy with excitement while we waited for the presentation to begin. It was a real-live-class for culinary students and our class was lucky enough to sit in. I talked to a couple of the students while we waited, asking about what it was like to be a student there. I was shocked with the number of people I heard speaking English, and in fact, the entire presentation was presented in both French and English.

 

The students I talked to had been at Le Cordon Bleu since June and were just about to finish up their training. Usually classes start with a 2.5 hour demonstration before they head upstairs to the kitchens to practice for another 2.5 hours. We were told that the room we were in was one of the demonstration rooms…

That is the look of excitement and anticipation.

  

Unfortunately, there was no cooking demonstration, but the presentation was really cool. We learned a bit about the origins of the Slow Food Movement, which I will be posting about later this week. The Salon de l’Agriculture is going on this week in Paris – it’s kind of like a big fair centered around the movement with a focus on local and regional cuisines. Farmers are there with their livestock, produce and other goods and are all proud of their homemade products. I went this past Sunday and will go again this Sunday coming up – look forward to a post about that! Lots of cows and chickens and other fun cultural stuff.

 

But anyway, I digress. Back to Julia’s old stomping grounds!

 

Le porc noir de Bigorre is a rare pig that was nearly wiped out after la Seconde Guerre mondiale (WWII).  There were only 32 existing around 1981, but now there is around 680 Bigorre pigs, and the population of them is slowly growing. They are raised on farms and eat the grass, acorns and chestnuts there – a very wholesome diet. They also take a long time to gain weight because they only eat half as much as normal pigs.

Getting them ready to eat is a very delicate process, but the end results are delicious. It’s a bit morbid, but after learning all about this special pig…we ate some. Sorry my vegetarian friends. But it’s in the name of education!

Thanks to the high quantity of poly-unsaturated fats in the Omega3 family that the meat contains, it’s really tender and flavorful. Also, thanks to the long breeding process, the meat is vibrantly red. The pigs are usually ready to well, ya know, after a year and it takes about 18 months to dry out or cure.

 

Of course, no tasting at Le Cordon Bleu would be complete without wine! The meat pairs really well with very dry white wine….

The wine was so delicious! And the tastes were very generous

That’s my roommate Tiffany – you know it’s a good time when we speak only French all the way home. Comment dit-on “lush?” Tee hee.

 

There was also lentils in endive topped with a bit of the fattier pieces of meat,

and of course, dessert.

This was a chocolate mousse with orange peel and…STEVIA! Ok, so apparently it’s not illegal, but it’s one of those “don’t ask don’t tell” things here. It is a controlled substance, but it’s close to being a normal everyday item here in France, especially with the emergence of the slow food movement.

 

The stevia used was pure, un-refined green stevia that had been ground from the leaf– not like the stuff we find in the little Truvia packets back home. It’s EXTREMELY sweet, and tastes so much better than the white powdery stuff. We were able to dip our greedy little fingers in and try it….

 

The dessert was so delicious…very sweet and so unique with the little pieces of orange zest. Me likey.

My little foodie heart was overflowing with delight during the whole visit. I was so overwhelmed and thankful that I got to hang out at Le Cordon Bleu. In Paris. Amongst amazing chefs and students. Pinch me.

 

Being at the school got me more than excited about my future plans to go to culinary school. I even talked to someone who invited me back to sit on other classes while I’m here studying. So excited!

 

Who knows? Perhaps maybe I’ll be Chef Courtney, graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. We shall see

 

“I came to the conclusion that I must really be French, only no one had ever informed me of this fact. I loved the people, the food, the lay of the land, the civilized atmosphere, and the generous pace of life.”

                                                                                                                                               -Julia Child

Tagged as: culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu, Paris