Olive Internship - Day 6

This morning, I went to the bakery quite early; at 8:30. There was nobody except Chef Sumanthu, the man who bakes all the bread. He made me a cup of coffee, and we began to make the first batch of bread. We started with Wholewheat Onion rolls. once we formed balls and laid them on a baking sheet, we left them out to double in size. Chef Sumanthu then poked each roll with his finger, and put a teaspoon of caramelised onions on top of each.
Then we made Pumpkin seed rolls. Chef Sumanthu brushed the tops with olive oil to help the skin become slightly crunchier.

Pumpkin Seed rolls (left), Wholewheat Onion (right)

In all the bread dough, Chef Sumanthu adds 2 grams of gluten, and 2 grams of bread improving powder. This helps the bread develop maximum flavour.

The last bread we made was Tomato-Pesto Rolls.
The dough was very pale and soft, and Chef Sumanthu rolled it out to about 1.5cm thickness, and used a round cutter to cut circles. We laid these out on another baking sheet, put half a teaspoon of pesto sauce on each, and finally a thin slice of tomato absolutely on top, covering the pesto.
Then we left it aside to rise.

Then, I churned the previously made Vanilla Bean ice cream in the PACO machine. Churning the ice cream is important, as it keeps it soft by constantly moving it around. If it wasn't moved around so much it would just freeze into one solid ice crystalline structure. Churning the ice cream in the PACO machine also helps make it creamy.

My work with Chef Sumanthu was done.

Then we (Keya- the other intern, Chef Babul, and I) began to make Tiramisu. This was made the usual way; kahlua, egg yolks and castor sugar over a bain-marie, and whisked until thick. Fold in the mascarpone, and fold in the whipped cream after that (both liquids have to have equal viscosity).

Next, I made Chocolate Ganache. It's very simple to make, all it requires is cream, glucose (or corn syrup as a substitute), and chopped dark chocolate. First I boiled together the cream and corn syrup (we ran out of glucose to use), then I poured it over the chocolate, and kept stirring till it was all melted. Then I strained it, wrapped it, and put it in the fridge.

Once that was done, we started on the Chocolate Mousse.

For this, we beat egg yolks and castor sugar over a flame until all the sugar had been dissolved, then we folded in melted chocolate, and then whipped cream. This was wrapped and kept in the fridge.

Then, using the Vanilla cupcake sheet cake I made last night, we made an Apple Crumble Cake. Over the sheet cake, we spread previously made Almond Cream, and sprinkled diced apples which we rolled in cinnamon sugar. Over that, we crumbled sweet pastry with our fingers, and put it in the oven to crisp up. 

Finally, I made Pastry Cream. I never realised how much I actually enjoy making it, and how quick I've become with more and more practice.

I boiled the milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean over a bain-marie, and tempered it with a mixture of egg yolks and cornflour. Then I strained it, and directly placed cling wrap over the surface to prevent a skin from forming and ruining the texture of the cream. 

The pastry cream would then be used to fill the eclairs that Chef Girish had made for the party yesterday. 

Since it was already past lunchtime and all the work to be done was done, Keya and I headed down to Monkey Bar for lunch.

We ordered starters, a burger, and peach iced tea. The starters were small but filling enough. The first one was a soured cream and chilli Pierogi dish served in a cupcake pan which I thought was a fun idea.
The second was a plate of "Spiked Nachos" which basically had jalapeno peppers, molten cheese, tomato salsa, avocado, re-fried beans, and spring onions.
The third starter was a plate of "Kung Fu Rolls" which was a mixture of lightly spiced noodles and vegetables in springroll wrappers and deep fried. They were crispy and delicious, and they were not greasy at all.
I ordered a cheeseburger with coleslaw and fries. The fries at Monkey Bar are hand-cut, and are crunchy on the outside yet not greasy at all, and that is why I like them.

When we were done, and completely satisfied, we paid the bill and left.