A bit of frustration

Friday evening, Culinary Arts Level One Day Four, Garniture Bouquetiere - basically a bunch of cooked vegetables that is presented alongside a nice roast or other piece of beef.  Ours was to be prepared as an artichoke bowl filled with peas, surrounded by string beans, carrots and turnips cut en cocotte cooked glacer a blanc (cut in five centimeter, seven-sided shapes – our newly learned form of taillage that is my new hell- and glazed without color), pearl onions glacer a brun (glazed brown), and potatoes rissolees (blanched, sauteed, and then baked).  I thought that the final product looked pretty enough to take a photo (see below), but nothing was right.  Everything was overcooked (turnips and carrots), or undercooked (pommes rissolees), or not properly prepped (the onions still had that hard outer/inner shell, and I knew that my cocottes did not really have seven sides even though Chef said they were "beautifully shaped")… 

Garniture Bouquetiere

But let’s focus on the artichoke.

I cannot speak to the preparation of the artichoke because I didn’t have a chance to taste it and I don’t know how an artichoke should taste anyway. I was disappointed when Chef Wanda spit it out into a paper cup… but I later learned that she spit out a lot of things, so I don’t really know if it was terrible…. Honestly? I have never cooked an artichoke before so, even though I precisely followed every step Chef demonstrated, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was absolutely inedible. The interesting thing about the artichoke was that I learned something about the philosophy of my Culinary Arts course (or at least this Chef), something that may be difficult and annoying for independent, never joined a study group, me…

See, my partner and I presented our dishes at the same time (as we are supposed to). They were identical except for the artichoke. My artichoke was very short and very small, as I had removed all of the leaves and trimmed the green from the outside of the heart. It was not particularly (ok, not at all) attractive and didn’t hold very many peas... in fact when I tried to “bowl” the peas they went all over and made a huge mess of my plate. My partner’s artichoke was much taller with some leaves still present, and held many more peas.

Chef Wanda, the support chef, helped my partner with his artichoke. Given the obvious difference in artichoke preparation, I figured I had royally screwed up… even though I was paying very close attention to this part of the demonstration...

Then, the perplexing happens… Chef Veronica, the executive chef, turns to me and asks me why I (the student, no more experienced – in fact less experienced - than my partner) didn’t correct my partner’s artichoke? I was very quiet. I was not sure how to respond. I certainly was not going to tell Chef V that Chef W had prepped my partner’s artichoke. I had nothing. I still have nothing.

I am uncertain how I, a totally inexperienced student of Culinary Arts, can instruct or correct my partner…  especially in this situation?