The first day of class at Le Cordon Bleu was a rollercoaster of excitement and nerves. We started by unpacking our shiny new toolkits and pulling out our first tool: the knife. It didn’t take long before fingers started getting nicked. Those new knives were sharp enough to cut through a whisper, leaving blood trails with just a light touch. Making the fruit salad itself wasn’t hard, but slicing oranges and grapefruits required the patience of a saint. The star pastry term of the day was “peler à vif,” which means cutting fruit into perfect segments. This task involved meticulously removing each citrus segment without leaving any of the pesky white pith behind. About 30 minutes before the end of the class, our instructor came around to inspect our work. He checked the size of our fruit pieces and how beautifully we had segmented our oranges and grapefruits, making sure no pith was left. These meticulous details were the key to our grades. This is the first time I tried my hand at t...
Whisking Up Dreams: A Le Cordon Bleu Grad's Sweet and Humble Adventures