Recently I’ve had to step back and reassess what it is I am doing here. The fact that literally two weeks after touching down I ended up in a 9 month course just hit me a few days ago. Though I like the spontaneity of it all, I had no idea what I was getting into… first of all gastronomy in France is not taken lightly. It has a history and rules, both written and tacit. It is governed by hierarchy and bureaucracy and tradition (and lavish amounts of cream, as already mentioned). There is such a thing as a national exam that prospective cooks take, much like doctors or lawyers elsewhere… like I said, it’s serious stuff.
Back in the States, I never heard of all these different diplomas and degrees relative to working in the kitchen. Here is France, it’s a hot topic in the kitchen, with different statuses for interns, apprentices, chefs, sous-chefs, and the rest. What’s more, there seems to be a tight-knit old boy network linking the top tables like an invisible web…
So today I decided to take a break from the kitchen, from the classroom and from government offices and enjoy the city. After class this morning (How to Attempt to Navigate the French Bureaucracy 101) I suggested to one of my classmates that we grab a big salad for lunch (I haven’t had a salad in days, as it won’t be in the “board” exam). So we walked to Cours Julien, which is a neighborhood with lots of cool restaurants and bars, and had a nice lunch. Afterwards we headed to Noailles market where I wanted to get fresh produce. On the way we stumbled upon the Asian grocery store, and lo and behold, they had Filipino products! I got dried shitake and bean thread noodles and picked up sweet potatoes at the market. Then we headed to Empereur (http://www.empereur.fr/), one of my favorite stores in the city, which sells cooking ware of the highest quality and presents a dazzling choice. I was a model of self-restraint and left with only a spatula (you get your ass kicked in class and in the kitchen if you don’t use one to empty the contents of one container to another). Finally we settled at one of my favorite places, Green Bear Coffee (http://www.greenbearcoffee.com), where I had my soy latte and completed my assignment, a cross-word puzzle with vocabulary from the French labor system.
Tomorrow’s program: a hike in the Calanques, which are the charming little beaches which dot the Riviera coastline… hopefully there will be no mistral!
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