Date: December 5, 2013
To: Professor Akana
From: Diana Kilby
Subject: Anna Nurse Workshop Memo
Who was the presenter?
The Anna Nurse Culinary Workshop presented Chef and cookbook author James Peterson on October 31, 2013. James Peterson is the author of fifteen culinary books, including “Sauces” and “Cooking”, a 2008 James Beard Award winner. He currently teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education.
What did they prepare?
Chef James Peterson made Puff Pastry, Blurre Buerre Balnc, the most famous butter sauce until the 1970s and Poached Lobster with a Sauce Made from its Roe. Classic puff pastry was made by enclosing butter n a square of a plain dough made with water and flour. Chef James Peterson demonstrated how many folds, rolls and several tricks need to success a perfect dough. As for the lobster dish, it was interesting to find out that a lobster needs only 4 minutes to be cooked instead of 20 minutes most recipes recommended. When a lobster cooks only for 4 minutes, the roe remains uncooked. It is dark green and unsightly. Chef James Peterson said, “the trick is to take the roe out of the lobster, work it through a strainer and whisk it up into a sauce”. Then he combined it with buerre blanc, it made the sauce pure orange.
Did you like the presentation, why or why not?
I was amazed by professionalism and craftsmanship of Chef James Peterson and I liked a lot his personality. He answered all the questions the audience had and made us laugh a couple of times. I have learned a couple useful cooking tricks. The lobster meat was perfectly cooked. It had full flavor and nice texture. The combination of lobster with buerre blanc made the dish special. It was simply delicious. I enjoyed the presentation a lot.
