Here is our double whammy: our last day at the Ecole St. Pierre & our last day with Professor Lorenzini as our professor. Today we will all sob & cry for sure…
Our last day at the school began as usual: we all trudged our way into campus- some with a spring & pop in our step- others with a pull & drag in theirs- but we all felt the same heaviness: our love affair with Paris & it’s people was beginning to come to a close.
Chef Nico lead the savory team in preparing their entre (that’s French for appetizer) of Roasted Salmon & Head Cheese over a purée of potatoes, mesclun greens, & seasonal veggies (cauliflower, celery root, endive, seaweed, purée of potatoes, asparagus)
and their plat (French for main dish) of Pan Seared & Oven Roasted Poulet (that’s chicken my loves) with cream sauce, sweet pearl onions, & sautéed veggies. Elvyra was the MVP as she was, according to Evan, “…all over the place. She was like a little Polish grandma- searing the chicken, taking care of her cream sauce… she was awesome.” Evan made sure to tell me that he sautéed the vegetables with butter & garlic.
Pastry Chef Sandrine lead her team in creating a pate a choux masterpiece: Croquembouche with Nougatine. Four teams created croquembouche pieces for our buffet-style desserts. After the choux paste were made & piped into little bite sized pieces, they were staggered baked, cooled, & filled with pastry cream. Nougatine, a hard candy, was simply made by stirring chopped nuts (almonds in this case) into caramelized sugar & pouring it onto a nonstick silpac sheet. The nougatine had to be quickly shaped by cutting with a knife or a thin-edged shape cutter. Finally, cream puffs were carefully dipped into hot caramel & placed on top of one another to structure & height- lots of drama & tension because getting burned with hot sugar is scary…
The real MVPs were the beautiful young students of the ecole- we could not have done it without them & it was great fun learning about where they come from, where they have been, & what they wanted to be in life! They were so jovial & knowledgeable- Chef Sandrine & Chef Nico are so lucky to have them… it’s so heartwarming to see such youth in chef whites…
Apertifs of Kir Royal were given as we gathered in the main dining room after cooking. A lovely graduation ceremony ensued & we were given beautifully framed certificates with our professors signatures… I was called close to last & got scared I had to repeat the grade!
After we ate, we “started to catch feelings” and the heat from the cooking & baking earlier started to catch up with us, & oddly enough- our eyes began to steam up & sweat! Here he comes… Professor Lorenzini approaches the middle of our table & tells us he has to leave & say bye now- I guess he doesn’t care about our feelings because we culinarians were halfway deep into our delicious pan seared poulet we were enjoying! I get all teary-eyed & my heart is breaking as the sweet professor who started this program 17 years ago is leaving us… my napkin is my best friend at this point. I am so grateful to be here & never though that I would be doing culinary & pastry at this point in my life- City Tech saved me but the Paris Study Program changed me. Long story short, I am indebted to Professor Lorenzini for his decision to bring 32 HMGT students to France 17 years ago…
As he leaves, some of us realize that we can’t finish our food… we are too melancholy to eat… not too melancholy to eat croquembouche though! The entire meal was beautiful & moving & we put our love into cleaning the kitchen. Merci boucoup Chef Nico & Chef Sandrine! We love you & your wonderful students! May you always find the best culinary & pastry arts students in France!
Mayra, our liaison, shortly tells us to meet her later at the Gare de Lyon train station to send Lorenzini, the cheval, off to his next destination… “Shh, it’s a secret & he doesn’t know.” By 5:45pm, after all is said & done at the ecole, we meet the old horse at the train station outside of a café & we say our last goodbyes. There is a lot of crying, & even a lot of awkward silences but hey, we didn’t really get much of a chance to deeply get to know Professor Lorenzini… we just know that none of us would be here in Paris all together if it weren’t for him- we wanted to pay our respects to the man, the legend, the founding father.
Professor Lorenzini has passed the torch onto Professor Zinder & his former student Professor Warner. An era has ended & a new one awaits for the Thomas Ahrens International Work/Study Program next summer 2017. Many new things will happen but the new keepers of the program will be sure to keep strict about time, glide quickly on their feet around Paris, pat students on their back, & remind folks to keep their hands out of their pockets.
We love you Professor Lorenzini! May you forever be in our hearts & may we bring your love & zest for life back to Brooklyn!
