"Hello Chicago, the name's Jevon & I'll be conquering you today."(Chi-Town pt. 2)

Greetings, Today was officially my first day in class at French Pastry School for French Cakes & Tarts course. Chef Bob was hella cool and pretty knowledgeable. I learned some tips, tricks,etc...We started off the day by producing majority of the components for the cakes & Tarts. Today we learned: Vanilla Cremeux, Pastry Cream, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Biscuit, Pate A Bomb, Pain de Genes, Semi-Candied Raspberries, Lemon Curd, Hazelnut Dacquoise & Meringue. Speaking of Meringue, Chef Bob(Hartwig) gave us a tip that helped us recognize if we reached the correct peak(soft peaks) for our meringue, he said it should look like a bird's beak. Funny, but it works! Anyways, I will be takin plenty of shots of the finished products, so stay tuned tomorrow. I'm off to sleep cuz I got to catch the "L" to downtown pretty early. Goodnight all...

Jevon

What A Day(Chi-Town pt.1)

Ok, so here's the breakdown. I got on the plane at 6am departing Tucson then connected in Dallas Fort Worth, finally touching down in Chicago at 2pm. This is where the fun starts, I touch down at O'Hare International and proceed to contact my hotel about the complimentary shuttle...this "complimentary" shuttle of theirs had me waitin' for a complimentary minute! Between them and the airport attendant I was sent in circles. I mean I didn't get to the damn hotel and into my room until 4:39pm. WTF?!? you might ask, I was askin' the same thing.

I guess the important thing is that I made it here in one piece. Tomorrow is the big day, I don't know how exactly to express my take on it. All I know is that I am excited and nervous all in one! I'll be back with an update tomorrow...

Jevon

Hmmm....

So it's friday, which means thursday is departure day. Still hasn't hit me fully but I know once that plane starts it's ascent into the air it will all fall into place. I just recently picked up the current issue of Chile Pepper magazine(the one with the hot wings on the cover) .The magazine features a 6-page layout starting on page 48, about Trinidadian cuisine!!! It covers alot of things from pepper sauce to doubles to Buss Upshut, fried bake, curry chicken and finally tamarind chutney. I have to plan a trip to Trinidad next year cuz I am intent on learning how to make roti from scratch(paratha that is).

I can make sada roti & a pretty mean choka. But I won't be content until I can make a fierce paratha roti. I for one want to do my part to help preserve and/or elevate trinidad's cuisine to contend with the big boys. Now, don't get me wrong, Trini food is by far the best the caribbean has to offer, but, alot of people outside of the caribbean are unaware of this fact. I for one want to bring our cuisine to the forefront and hopefully with the right knowledge and training it will be possible. Just a few thoughts...'til chicago, I'm in the wind.

Jevon

Growing Anxiousness.

So, let's see, 15 days and counting...Chicago "The Windy City" awaits one such as myself, is it as anxious as I am?!? I hope so, cuz I would love to be greeted with open arms and not with a "cold" shoulder. In other words people, I hope Chi-town is warmed up by the time I touch down....haha, cuz as you might suspect Chicago can get cold as hell! I am ready to get the show on the road pertaining to this trip. It's right around the corner but seems like it's an eternity. I'm sure once I'm there, it will fly by entirely too quickly and I'll be complaining about that, LOL...oh well, enough of my babbling for the moment.

Jevon

A new lifeform discovered?!?

I bet you are wondering if this is the first images of a new life form. Well, in a sense it is, my son Julian made this for me yesterday(he presented it to me with PRIDE). Hahaha, anyways, now that we have cleared that up, it's update time. Today makes it 18 days until my 1st of 2 trips this year. As you know I will be hittin' up Chi-town on the 30th for my intensive course in French Pastry: Cakes & Tarts. Honestly, it hasn't hit me yet but I am sure it will hit me like a ton of bricks when I walk through those glass doors at The French Pastry School!!!

I will be takin' plenty of flicks during my travels, so be on the lookout. The one downside to my travels this year is I will be missing out on yet another family reunion(I can't wait 'til my family meets my son in person). Besides that, things are looking promising this year. I am amped to be takin' a plating class with John Kraus, he is the man!!!! I know I am going to learn ALOT. Well, Ladies & Gents, I'm "In The Wind" until my next update...Take Care.

Jevon