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Brandee sent another update!! Looks like she's already made a whole bunch of friends and a whole bunch of pastry! Here is her second installment:
I survived the first week in Yssingeaux, Lyon. (pronounce- EE Sang Joe), Lyon
The town Ysssingeaux is very small. I have already been here one week and I know where everything is. They have one post office, 3 grocery stores, a place to get a cell phone, a handful of eating places, a bowling alley and ALOT of patisserie. The landscape here is so beautiful. We have chickens roaming around the chateau and sheep in the backyard . It's a ten minute walk into town and everyone says BonJour. You don't pass anyone without saying hello, and when they greet you they kiss you on the cheek 2 times. The older generation is 3 times.
The chateau that I am staying at is the school Ecole Nationale Superieure Patisserie, run by the famous french chef Alaine Ducasse. All the Patisserie chef here are French and very talented.
Chef Jocelyn Mentieure is my chef. He has been a teacher here for a year and is the sweetest man you ever met. Chef Damon Baccon is the bread man he teaches the beginner course and knows everything about bread, and then there is Chef Sebastian. He teaches the Perfecting class. He is a master patisserie and has cooked for the president of France at one time and Tony Blair the ex-prime minister of England. He looks quite scary, but they say he is really nice.
Class begins here bright and early at 6 am and is finished at 2 pm. We have a break at 12 noon when they serve us lunch in the dinning hall. Yssingeaux (EE Sang Joe) is known for their lentils. They serve us some kind of lentil dish for lunch everyday. They are also known for there cheeses too, which is so inexpensive to buy in the stores. There is a farmer's market every Thursday in town, and in Le Puy which is the next town over. There is a farmer's market every Saturday, but to get there you have to take a bus which costs 4,80 euro each way.
At the school there are a total of 30 students here all from 22 different countries. I handful are from Brazil and they speak Portuguese. My room mate is Katiya. She in from Belarus. Niki is another friend I have met here and she is from Athens, Greece. Karin is a lady my age she just doesnt know it. She is from Mexico. A lot of Canadians in the house and 3 Aussie. 2 of the girls are best friends that live in Australia, but they are Malaysian. And then we have a guy from Malta, a girl form Sweden, two people from India, Noem, he is from Tel A Viv, Israel. Freshta from Iran, and a couple of french, and of course 2 girls from Miami, that are friends, but are from Venezuela, and then little old me from Hawaii. We are a bunch alright.
This week was the first week and all I did was make tarts. I made a lemon tarte with candied meringue, chocolate tarte, Pistachio apricot tarte, an apple tarte with a brulee topping, chocolate decadence tarte, and a glacee with burnt meringue on top. We also did a poached pear tart, brulee with red currant tarts. We did all this in 4 days, Monday was the orientation and Tuesday was the first day of class.
The days before the beginning of class we went into town to have lunch and it was the "Tour de France". How great is that to see. Here are some of the pictures of the town, some of the girls I met, bicyle riders and the chateau I am staying at for the next couple of months.
I had a really hard time getting this shot 'cause I don't like to use my flash when I take food pictures. But it was already late in the day when I made my dinner plate, and took my first bite of this awesomest-ever pork adobo. I knew right then that hungry as I was, I would have to stop eating and somehow get a picture of it to post here. So here it is . . . hand held at 1/30 . . . it's the best I could do.
The recipe is from What Hawaii Likes to Eat by Muriel Miura and Betty Shimabukuro. Wendell might have overcooked the adobo a bit, but if that's so, then maybe you should overcook yours too 'cause it was outta this world ono.
2 pounds pork butt, cubed
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbs minced garlic
1/3 cup cider vinegar
4 bay leaves, crumbled
Combine all ingredients and marinate pork overnight in refrigerator. Place everything in a skillet; cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until pork is browned and tender, and all the liquid in the pan has been absorbed, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Choke local recipes at new website Cooking Hawaiian Style, including lots of my sister Didi's recipes. Her real name is Deirdre Todd, by the way. Go check it out!!
Michele and CQ, for want of a better job title, are our collating team at work. They put together the doctors' reports and whatever images are needed in whatever format desired, and make sure that they are sent out accurately. Not an easy job, let me tell you. Michele also doubles as our backup transcriber. You already know that CQ is a mean cook. Turns out Michele is one too.
Here is Michele's Hanamaulu-Like Chicken. My photo doesn't do it justice. No fancy plating or fancy lighting . . . taken as is . . . in a Ziploc container . . . just before I scarfed it. It was super super ono, and do you know why? It was soaked in liquor for 2 to 3 days!! Hooo hooo Kimo . . . thinking of you.
Here's Michele's handwritten recipe. It's her aunty's version of Hanamaulu Cafe's chicken. Sorry, no more time to retype it for you . . . got some crochetting I gotta do. Jose bought 6 of my beanies!! If I ever get around to making extra, I'll let you guys know. I'm gonna sell um for only 10 bucks each. Cheap yah.
Here's CQ's sausage. Do you know how she made um? She got Italian sausage and removed the meat carefully, keeping the casings intact. Then she cooked the meat with other ingredients and RESTUFFED IT. Who in their right minds does something like that yah?? Dat's NUTS . . . but talk about ono!
Okay, so let me see if I can get this right. In one pan she fried the sausage, some hamburger, egg, panko, garlic salt and pepper. In other pan she sauteed spinach, minced garlic, onion and cooked rice in a little bit of oil. She then combined half of the meat mixture (she used the other half to make some chili) with the spinach mixture and restuffed the casings. Like I said, NUTS but ono.
One night about 20 years ago, Wendell and I were in the living room watching TV. Wendell got a phone call from someone with the Hawaii Kai Youth Baseball League. He said that a new family had just moved into the neighborhood and had missed signing up their son for the current baseball season. The draft had already taken place and although Wendell had already chosen the players for his team, he wondered if Wendell would be willing to pick up an extra member. Wendell agreed. His name was Dane Marcouiller, a quiet, shy hapa haole kid who turned out to be one of the best all-around players that Wendell has ever coached. And the Marcouiller family . . . one of the best ever.
Dane and Laurie's wedding was held yesterday at Loulu Palm Estate in Haleiwa. This is one of my first shots of the day. It's of the recession . . . opposite of procession . . . which in wedding talk is the exiting of the wedding party after the ceremony. So you know what that means, huh . . . yup . . . we were late. We totally missed the wedding ceremony. Aiyaaaaaa.
Jay and Bryce are Dane's brothers. Wendell was fortunate enough to have been able to coach them too, extending the Marcouiller legacy 13 years.
Dane's parents, Dave and Amy Marcouiller. Here, I am at a loss for words. What can I say about a friendship between families that began with a single phone call 20 years ago? A friendship that has endured long after the last baseball season ended. What can I say . . . but that such a thing is rare and very precious.
Laurie's parents. Alan Nakamura is actually my classmate. I remember him well. He doesn't remember me at all. Hahahaha.
The Nakamura's dog Ty was the ring bearer.
Darren on the left and Nuff-Beanies-Already Kimo next to him, both coached by Wendell about 30 years ago. Faye Wong on the right. Her son Brent played baseball with Landon.
This is the official photographer David Lau. He was in the process of setting up a softbox when something caught his eye. I had to grab this shot . . . thought it was funny. I actually met David awhile back. I bought a Canon flash transmitter from him off of Craigslist. I e-mailed him recently when I had a problem with the transmitter. Turns out I just needed to change the battery. Duhhhh. That's why I'm still a wanna-be.
I often think of my friend Kevin's words about letting the professionals do their job and to not be a distraction to their subjects. Since I cannot leave my gear at home . . . that's impossible . . . I do try to stay away from the main photography action as much as I can . . .
but it's not easy.
I told you . . . not easy. After emerging from behind some bushes to get this shot . . .
I turned around and went back to the party. The ono food was done by Poke Stop.
There was a sushi bar also with three . . . count um . . . three . . . sushi chefs.
Here are more shots. I must tell you . . . not only were we late for the wedding, but almost from the beginning my flash stopped working. So essentially what I have here for you are shots from right after the ceremony until just before the start of the reception program. Kinda like I only got what happened during intermission. Sheese . . . what kine coverage is dat, yah?!
