Al the Retired Army Guy is a reader of this here blog and a student at the New England Culinary Institute. Here's the skinny on of one of his latest projects.
From Al: Here are a few pictures of a display platter my classmates and I worked on. If you’re wondering why everything appears shiny, it is because all of the food is coated in aspic (gelatin) to give the food a shine for display purposes only. It isn’t meant for consumption, though you could eat it if you wanted to. I wouldn’t mainly due to the gelatin. Without the gelatin, though--> ;-)In the pictures you will find a terrine, a liver pate, and a duck galantine, as well as two vegetable garnishes. There is also a beet/pickled onion salad, with an orange vinaigrette (you can’t really see the vinaigrette).
The single plate represents a single serving of the components contained in the platter.It took us about six hours to put five coats of aspic on every individual piece. The vegetables were individually carved and placed as well. I did the “pointy” rutabaga bases you see, as well as the chioggia beets (the purple ones, carved into fleurons or a crescent shape). I did the orange/white squares you see inside the circular garnish on the right side of the platter. The terrine, galantine, and liver pate were made for us by classmates and our instructor.
Overall it was a lot of fun. All the attention to detail I learned while in the Army definitely pays off while doing things like this.
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Looks good, Al. Now whydontcha come over here and wrangle up something for dinner?
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16 comments:
Looks like someone's started Charcuterie this semester.
Don't let it into your brains, Al. Save yourself. Hooked on aspic is no laughing matter.
Seriously, though. Beautiful; work.
Cook on, Al the Retired Army Guy! How 'bout cookin' something up for me?
WV - tukmwai. Next on Al the Retired Army Guy's lesson plan. It's a sauce.
thumbs way up Al. and, coming from a fuckin bleeding heart left of Marx who loves animals much more than people, the goddamn pate looks scrumptious.
Didn't they had cuisine in New England. Pretty soon they'll get indoor plumbing.
Al - I am a little over a half hour from your Main Street establishment. You are inspiring me to leave the county to sample your work.
aspic-good idea. it'll make the drool less conspicuous!
YUM! Those look delectable!
Dandy!
Crap, there goes the Atkins diet. Hey I oked you post on Twilight(old one)I wrote one after discovering the series with the missus. Called "Where do I turn in my man card"
cheers, Sausage
Crap, there goes the Atkins diet. Hey I oked you post on Twilight(old one)I wrote one after discovering the series with the missus. Called "Where do I turn in my man card"
cheers, Sausage
Al,
Don't worry: Finch won't leave the county. He's all typing, no driving.
Nice work on the eats.
Thanks for the props everyone.
We had our competition this past weekend and we didn't do as well as we thought we would. I have my own thoughts on that, but let's just say that I felt the judging was uneven. This isn't being a poor sport - I saw what the other teams did and didn't do as well as how the judges judged. To say I'm disappointed is a huge understatement.
Don't think I'll be doing any more competitions any time soon.
Al
TRAG
always the fuckin' Russian judge who screws you. always.
Jonas - That hurts. I left the county three times last year.
I think I gain three pounds just reading this.... ;-)
Swine - not sure which judge or judges it was/were. It's still a huge disappoint for all of us collectively and me personally.
Al
TRAG
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