How to make Macarons (with Italian meringue)

So here are some step-by-step directions in the making of some macarons. But pardon the poor photo quality and the outcome, (as that was our first time making them)

Thanks to my friend (And you know who you are) who guided and taught me throughout the process of making this delicacy!

Here are the ingredients:
250 g     almond powder
250 g     icing sugar
180 g     egg white
200 g    castor sugar
[Preheat oven to 160'C]

So firstly after you got all the ingredients prepared, boil 200g of sugar with a little of water (just enough to make the sugar wet) to 117′c – 121′c. The reason to cover with the foil is to let the heat stay inside the pot and not evaporate to the surrounding and it aids up the heating process, and also to avoid the formation of  lumps on the edge where there’s steam. Using a thermometer to check the temperature. (or the traditional method of “blowing bubbles”)

Sift the almond powder and icing sugar to make sure there’s no lumps, then in a mixer, mix them together with 90g of egg whites using the paddle. And at this point is where you add in the colouring, or any essence you desire.

In another mixer (or you could just pour out the almond-icing sugar mixture into another container, clean the mixer and use it), beat 90g of egg white (with medium or slow speed) until it is like the picture shown below, by using a whisk. And wait until the boiling of the sugar reaches 110′c then on full speed, beat the egg white til it almost reaches soft peak. (Not soft peak but almost there, like when you’re still able to see little bubbles)

When the boiling sugar reaches its desired temperature, let the whisk keeps on beating on full speed while pouring in the boiling sugar (but make sure to pour it with slow stream without touching the spinning whisk as it might splash the hot sugar on you!)

Beat until you get a shinny and smooth texture with a medium hard peak (not too hard of course) like the picture shown below. While letting it to be whisked in the mixer the meringue will cool down a little.

Once it reaches the desired texture, mix in the amond-icing sugar mixture using the folding method (to use a paddle / spoon and “folding” in the mixture).

VOILA, you should get something like the picture shown above.

Now, using a piping bag, pipe the mixture on your trays leaving a little spaces in between each of them. And after piping each tray, allow them to rest for 10 mins or so before baking. I am not quite sure of the reason of letting them to “rest” but I was told it is to get the “crust” on the surface of these macarons shells.

Les Macarons resting. So the reason to use the double tray (put the tray on another tray — yes, you might need a lot of trays) is to allow some kind of convection to ‘push’ up the macaron shells hence creating the layering effect. But I was later told by another person that it is not necessary. So do let me know if you know the correct method/answer to this.

(I do not know why I took this picture but I’ll post this anyway)

So here are the macarons after baking. You have to let them cool down before taking them out from the trays, if not you might break them!

A closer look at them, shows that they are quite rough. Argh, our first time. So please forgive us.

Here is a picture I found on tumblr of the making of Macarons, and I think it’s pretty cute, no?

* You may want to sift the almond powder, icing sugar, mix them with egg white and then beat the remaining egg white first before boiling the sugar so that you do not have to rush things. Once you’re used to it you can do it at the same time

* As you can see from the recipe that we’re using a lot a lot a lot (And yes a lot) of sugar. That’s for Italian meringue, if you’re using the french meringue you do not require that much amount. So maybe you could try on both and experience the outcome

Happy baking :{D

Beef

These 3 months had come to an end. The last week of our Term 4 ended with the cooking of Beef on that fine Thursday morning.

Inspired by my chef last week (as a commis), I planned to do a simple mashed potatoes as the starch, and then some braised vegetables with roasted tenderloin. Served with Bearnaise and choron sauce. The reason why I chose to do two sauce was because I saw something like this:

Sort of. But then, my end product didnt work out so well. The sauce wasn’t thick enough, the choron sauce wasn’t dark enough. And it was a wrong step to use choron sauce. But argh,… what’s done is done! Look at it now! It looks like a mess.

I was kinda sick the day before, and that day as well, super no mood to “fix” the plating.

Chef said that the beef must be tied, so that it maintains its shape. I did tied mine, but since it wasn’t cooked and I was running out of time, so Kah Wai offered to help me pan-sear it. That was why, the shape was gone.

Mine

Look, it’s a mess. The mashed potatoes was made “chunky” because I like it that way, and I like the taste too. I marinated the beef with salt, pepper and mustard, but it’s still lack of seasoning. And it wasn’t entirely cooked! It’s like close to medium rare. I didn’t taste it, cos, I don’t dare. ;D..

Chef’s Comment – Messy like how hiroshima got bombed. Mashed pototoes shouldn’t have lumps (but I like it that way, ;( . . . ) Beef wasn’t cook, medium rare and not enough seasoning. But good colour combination for the dish (oh thank god).

Foo Haw

He did the same starch as me too! I bet it’s because we worked as commis under the same chef too But he did a really good job on the plating! But his meat wasn’t cooked, as you can see blood flowing down, to the mashed potatoes. Oh and good brunoise cutting for the vege.

Chef’s Comment – Best presentation, good idea. Potatoes are abit dry though. And beef feels like there’s no seasoning and it’s not cooked.

Charlie's

His plating method is always the same. But with puree this time, the puree should be shaped properly, with the back of the spoon. But good balyani.

Chef’s Comment – The croquette should put on top of the beef but 1 slice is enough for fine dining. The portion of the dish is too big, but good idea. The beef got not enough seasoning, and no colour for the dish. Should put something green (like parsley maybe?) Oh, and for french’s standard, the vegetable (balyani) must be soft, as you slice it, it should be intact and soft.

Kah Wai

Her presentation this time was good. But I think the mushroom shouldn’t be wrapped around with the zucchini. The beef was a small portion though, should be a bigger size. But overall, nice colour combination, nice presentation.

Chef’s Comment – Dry. Small portion. But good choron sauce. The vegetables are lack of seasoning. And the mushroom wasn’t good, should put some garlic. Good presentation idea but the main dish isn’t enough.

Byron

His presentation lacks of colour. No green, eventhough there’s fried zucchini. And it’s weird that he separated the capsicums at both sides.

Chef’s Comment – Big portion. 1 mushroom is enough for fine dining. Potatoes must be crispy. There’s not enough sauce, it looks dry.

Chia Chia

Her presentation could be better if she didn’t use the mushroom (and I know how much she loves mushrooms haha) but yeah. She wanted to use okra but there’s no okra that day. So, she cooked the carrots instead. But her croquette was nice, though I didn’t taste it. But chef said it was nice. ;D

Chef’s Comment – Good idea. Don’t put too much variety of mushrooms. Beef shouldn’t cut as it shows that it’s not cooked, but good doneness. Good seasoning too for the beef, in fact, she had the best seasoning.

Shafiq

He had a good colour combination, but the way he plates it, was, okay, but could be better if the dishes weren’t separated. And the beef looks over cooked, and the mushroom looks like it’s the main dish instead. The puree was too watery, i think, it looks like chili sauce.

Chef’s Comment – Good presentation, but not good cutting. Beef lack of seasoning. Mushroom not enough salt. Potatoes are good. Good julienne zucchini.

Carmen

Her presentation was good! but her beef’s cutting was kinda big. Good colour combination, and good way of shaping the mashed potatoes. Good sauce too.

Chef’s Comment – Beef medium rare, but good seasoning. Good presentation. The sauce was okay. But mushroom cutting wasn’t good.

***

And that’s the end of our term 4 kitchen Practical. ;(

Chicken

  The following class, we’re assign to do a dish out of chicken. Even though I did stuffing for the previous two dishes (duck and lamb) but my stuffing skills have not yet improve, so I tried again this time. Chicken breast is, relatively small, to stuff, there’s two method — 1. Carefully slice the middle part without breaking the sides, and pipe in the fillings. OR 2. like duck and lamb, slice the middle part (butterfly) and put the stuffing in the middle, then roll. Tie tightly with a butcher’s string. I actually wanted to do the first one, but my chicken breast was very small, and it broke in the end, so I used the 2nd method. And also, was interested in terrines, so I tried to make one, even though the end product wasn’t satisfying but it’s a good experience playing with the recipe.    

Mine

  

 Tried to do what the chef taught of oven-dry tomato slices, but mine was too soft, I wonder why, maybe the oven should adjust to a higher temperature. My rissotto this time was good, I think. The previous time was dried up because I cooked too early. The chicken stuffing was good, for me, Even though the portion is small, because I tied too tight and it shrinked. Oh, and the sauce. It’s suppose to be roast gravy, I tried to thickened it but I put too much flour and it turned white. >< Did the glazing for white raddish, not much effort to turn it because I used a baller. The terrine was, okay lah. could do better with a better mould. I used a small metal bowl. Initial plan was to draw a line using brush and caramelized sugar, but too much sugar causing it to harden too quickly. so you can see a messy bit underneath the food.    

Chef’s Comment – Terrine lack of seasoning, Tomato should be crispy and thinly sliced. The whole presentation lack of colour. Rissotto is okay, taste also okay.    

Kah Wai's

  

 I find her presentation improved alot compared to the previous ones. But because of me her beetroot puree was screwed because I added the wrong roux for her. Good thing she got help from the DC students. However I think the presentation could improve if the rissotto was shaped and the chicken portion is slightly bigger. 

Chef’s Comment – Good idea, good spinach but the vegetable portion is bigger than the chicken as the pumpkin is bigger than the chicken, good garnishing. Taste ok.  

Nik's

  

Presentation wise this is not very good, however the chicken shows a nice colour. The pumpkin wasn’t seeded properly as you still can see it from the picture. 

Chef’s Comment – Big portion, good idea but the pumpkin still got seed in it. 

Byron's

  

 Good idea for presentation but somehow lack of colour. The garnich (orange and lemon) could be sliced a little thinner for a better combination of colour. Chicken doesn’t have much colour and looks kinda raw.  

Chef’s Comment – Chicken too raw and big portion. Good risotto and good taste. Pumpkin still got seed.    

Janet's

  

 The best presentation. 5 Stars for it. The presention is well balanced as it creates dimension with stacking but didn’t cover up the vegetables underneath. A fine presentation that oozes your appetite.  

Chef’s Comment – Very good presentation. Well balanced. Risotto too salty but chicken lack seasoning.    

Charlie's

  

 Portion too big for fine dining standard. But somehow he improved in his presentation. The dish doesn’t show colour though. The sauce is leaking out from the chicken, if the sauce is put around the food the presentation will be better.  

Chef’s Comment – Good idea, big portion but chicken is salty.    

Carmen's

  

 Good turning for the raddish. And also a good idea for presentation.  But the garnish could be oven dried then it will be better cos it will create more dimension. The risotto looks kinda wet in a way, but still looks good.  

Chef’s Comment – Fine garnish but if it’s deep fried the presentation will be better. Risotto not entirely cooked.    

Foo Haw's

  

 The only one who did pasta, which turned out to be kinda good, good attempt but the pasta looks thick. The presentation is kind of messy in a way but still has some colour in it. Not as dull as compared to some of the others’ presentation.  

Chef’s Comment – Good thigh, Good presentation but the chicken slightly over cooked. Chicken over seasoned, pasta is too hard and the tip of the bone at the drumstick should be removed.    

Chia's

  

 A very good presentation but somehow the portion is small for a big plate. If she added 1 more dish to it then it will be perfecto. Good idea for the risotto stacking on top of the vegetable (pumpkin I think). The way she created a line out of the beetroot and risotto creates a good presentation. Good job *thumbs up*  

Chef’s Comment – Should plate in the middle. Small portion, colour not there, good presentation, good chicken but lack of seasoning. Overall very good.    

Shafiq's

  

Kinda big cutting for all the vegetables. The rissotoo looks smashed. Plating wise, okay, but the sauce looks messy when it overflows into the rissotto. Rattatouille looks messy (or is it balyani?). Portioning is too big, te whole dish is dominated by the side dishes, not the main dish (chicken)  Chef’s Comment- Portion too big, based on the plate. Wrong method of making rissotto. Good chicken stuffing and got improvements.  

***  Next up – Beef : last class. 

Lamb

It’s Thursday again and we had our kitchen class. Classes had been getting tougher and tougher. And this time, we’re going Lamb. Oh, maybe to you it may sound, simple? But for lamb, lamb shoulder lamb shank or lamb rack, there is a very important and complicated process. For example frenching for lamb rack. The last time we did during diploma already took us 3 hours to do so (or the chef was just exaggerating). And also deboning lamb shoulder takes us a lot of patience (which obviously I do not have it).

The day started by chef showing us a little about deboning lamb shoulder. Where as lamb racks are left for us to do on our own. I wanted to do some stuffing of lamb shoulder, that is why I didn’t get the chance to do the racks.

Mine

Mine was a failure that day! Stuffed lamb braised in lamb jus, Aubergine caviar, Sauteed vegies and couscous.

The sauce should be thick enough, or else it will flow out like what you see in the picture, not so presentable huh. Aubergine caviar should take out the skin, cos it wasn’t soft enough for me to scoop out the flesh, and there is not much time left. Never knew blending ain’t gonna work. Oh well, lesson learned.

I think my couscous was, not that bad. As everyone was heating up water and couscous over the heat, I did it a different way from what I learned from youtube the day before.

Have a look. The way he talks and teaches is kinda funny too.

Okay, coming back.

Chef’s Comment: Never ever ever put rice (starch / couscous) in the shooter glass, only sauce. And do not put uncooked raisins as garnish. Chef also said that my presentation this time wasn’t satisfying enough. (oh dang)

Anson's

A very nice presentation, simple enough. However, I think that the sauce’s presentation could do better, then the dish will be très parfaite!

Chef’s Comment: The lamb rack’s portion was too big. Serve two maximum for fine dining standard. Oh, and the couscous was too wet. Couscous should be dry.

Byron's

At first glance I thought he did some pudding or terrine or pate or something. But then, I realize they’re couscous! Ummm.. well, 1 of the best presentation. Lack of colour though. Maybe a little more light green garnish, and the tomato. Chef suggested to use oven dried tomato. Fine, thinly slice the tomato, lay it on a parchment paper and oven dry it.

Chef’s Comment: Good Idea of presentation. Tomato looks good. Couscous not so good, should be separated and dry.

Carmen's

The presentation of this dish ‘s simple. If sauce is put along the side, creating a curvy line, then I bet this will be way better. The sauce-in-tomato thingy looks cute eh, but then serving it raw isn’t a good idea.

Chef’s Comment: Good Idea. Tomato looks raw and everything you plate must be edible. The fat on the meat is obvious and too much, should be trimmed before cook.

Charlie's

If sauce is put on the side of the dish presentation will be better.

Chef’s Comment: Good idea, but presentation not so satisfying. 1 mushroom flan is enough for fine dining standard. And there’s not enough colour.

Chia's

Wooooot! Can see improvements! But if the yogurt sauce was shaped nicely then this could be the best presentation. And I think the lamb is kinda dry. If the carrots are turned, or maybe cut into something else, then presentation will be better.

Chef’s Comment: Good frenching for lamb rack. Clean bones. The yogurt sauce should have more vege in it, or maybe mint leaves. Wrong cutting for carrot, good couscous and balyani (or is it baryani?) was wrong.

Foo Haw's

He did a good job in presentation, but the idea of stacking the lamb on the couscous and then covered it with the yogurt sauce wasn’t very good. It looked kind of messy. But the vege looks nice.

Chef’s Comment: Good presentation. Yogurt sauce shouldn’t be covering the lamb.

Janet's

The presentation this time looked kinda messy though. But the idea of persillade was good. Just that if it was put on the lamb and put back into the oven for few minutes before taking it out I bet it will look much better. The puree thingy could look better if it’s shaped properly.

Chef’s Comment: Persillade not so good, should be fully coated on the lamb. First you put on the lamb, leave under the salamander for few minutes. Lamb should be standing up. Sauteed mushroom doesn’t give colour to the dish, carrot puree should be fine, not chunky.

Kah Wai's

Her presentation looked messy eh.. Everything was scattered everywhere. The sauteed vegetables  could be lined properly, couscous shaped properly and more sauce.

Chef’s Comment: Presentation looks flat, should have something to “lift” it up. Good mushroom flan but dish looks crowded.

Nik's

The colour is there, good lamb and nice volume. However, can see from here that the couscous was wrongly done, as it should be dry and separated.

Chef’s Comment: Couscous cooked wrongly, Carrots cutting not so good.

***

Chef commented that we all improved in our presentation (‘cept me of course) and for the lamb rack, the bones should be wrapped around with aluminium foil while cooking. Many didn’t, I bet that’s cos they couldn’t find the aluminium foil. Not a single roll in the entire kitchen! They (college) better do something. If we ask from the storekeeper we get scolded again. So what now?

***

Next up – Chicken.

And chef pressured me with presentation. gggrrrrbrrr

Waste not, Want not.

On the 15 of May. We were suppose to have pastry class but it was coincidentally replaced by the “Waste not, want not” campaign. Which the culinary school was involved.

Every different groups and batches are divided to do different task. There were people who cooked, did mis-en-place and also people who brought the food to the places and distributed them.

We’re cooking food out of unwanted products from Giant, (Note- the “unwanted” doesn’t mean they’re rubbish. Just slightly turned bad and the supermarche can’t sell them, so waste not, we reused them). My group was doing the cooking. Which involves, reheating of the Ayam masak merah, cooking of Nasi Minyak, and also Stir fry vegies.

Ayam Masak Merah

The “sauce” for the Ayam Masak Merah, a curry based sauce. Ayam is chicken, in case you don’t know. ;p

All the Happy people

And then you got some happy people working. I’m at the far end! LOL. See how happy they looked busy stirring the sauce? Yeah…

Constant stirring.

You have to stir and stir while heating to avoid the sauce from sticking at the bottom and allowing the heat to heat up the sauce evenly.

This is how you stir it

Yeah, and that’s how you do it. Stirring to heat up the thing evenly. Of course this part is kinda crucial, you need to serve them hot and you do not want to have food poisoning for improper heating up. lalalala.

Mixed Vegies

The Mixed vegies after it’s cooked.

The chicks.

The prepared chickens ready to be heated up and served (sent ).

Nasi

Fragrant rice cooked in fat (butter).

When they're soaked in water

Then, you filled them up with water to cook them.

Ready to go

And after everything’s done, you have to wrap them up.

Then they’re ready to go. =D

Duck

Two weeks after the fish-cooking, this week, we’re doing duck. Just in case you don’t know, duck, belongs to the dark meat family, just like lamb, beef etc. Where as a part of chicken and fish are white meat. And dark meat, do not have to be entirely cooked or else it will be too tough to bite.

And this week, I decided to make Roasted stuffed duck with gastrique jus and risotto rice served with sauteed asparagus and caramelized mangoes.

Mine

My first attempt of stuffing duck breast. As you can see from the picture, the duck meat is kinda raw. Too red. And first attempt to cook risotto rice. And from the picture, you can see the dead asparagus, yea, overcooked. And the caramelized mangoes’ juice falling out, spoiled my presentation!!! >;(

Chef’s Comment: Vege too little, duck is raw (medium rare). Rice is overcooked (yes because I cooked it too early and it “dried up” ). Asparagus mati dah. Can tie up the asparagus to make the presentation looks nicer.

Syafiq's

I personally think that his presentation could do better if the duck meat weren’t stacked on top of the rice covering it up. =/ And the puree thingy could shaped better for better presentation. But overall I think this is a nice presentation as the colour was there.

Chef’s Comment: Portion quite big, Rice portion shouldn’t be so big, Sauce too little. The stacking made it looks like it’s hiding something, Cabbage overcooked. But overall good colour for presentation.

Charlie's

Looks dead, not enough colour.

Chef’s Comment: Duck is dry, Cabbage not cooked, and that’s not caramelized mango.

Carmen's

Nice presentation. The plating of the sauce could be more uniform, ‘cos as you see from the picture, you see the sauce beside the asparagus, then another two lines near the cabbage, if she put the sauce on the plate creating some patterns before plating others will be nicer.   But I like the colour combination.

Chef’s Comment: Too much duck, cabbage’s colour gone, duck not enough seasonings.

Chia Chia's

As said in Carmen’s comment, Chia’s plating could be much better if the sauce was first put on the plate followed by the other items. But the duck was kinda big : / Well, the mushroom stuffing was the best so far, as in, the real mushroom stuffing. I kinda like her idea of shaping the caramelized sugar as garnish, too bad chef didn’t like it.

Chef’s Comment: Big portion, 1 stuffed mushroom is enough for fine dining. The caramelized sugar isn’t suitable for the dish, colour of cabbage gone, good Rice. Not enough “green”.

Janet's

The portion is kinda big for the vegies on the small plate, don’t ya think? And on the left side of the dish was kinda messy but on the right it’s fine. Haha, if she “tidied” it up the presentation will be good. Nice colour for the duck though, from here I’m drooling already.

Chef’s Comment: Cabbage was too big ( should julienne) , Colour gone for the cabbage, duck not enough seasonings.

Kah Wai's

The portion is a little big for fine dining. So are the rice (very big). The part where all the vegies were looked messy, similar to Janet’s. But the rice portion is kinda big. It looks bigger than the ducks!

Chef’s Comment: Big rice portion, Good colour for braised cabbage, Duck very salty, but good finishing.

Anson's

This is the biggest portion I see. Perhaps it’s the angle, but from here, the rice looked as if it’s alot. Perhaps it’s “compressed”. Nice asparagus though (compared to mine ;( )

Chef’s Comment: Cabbage should be sliced. Big portion and too much sauce. Asparagus too fresh.

Foo Haw's

The rice looks good, and cabbage as garnish. He should use another ingredient as garnish, something red or bright green perhaps. Stuffed mushrooms looked abit messy and “over stuffed”. He should put more sauce to make this dish more presentable.

Chef’s Comment: No sauce, duck was dry. Good idea, nice rice. Mushroom too salty and that’s not stuffing. Create “volume” as the dish looked “flat”

___________________________________________________________

Most of the ex-culinary arts student transferred to another group that’s why there were lesser dishes this time.

Coming up – Lamb.

Fish

On the 29th of April 2010, BDH 34 OB group 6 got together and had their very first and very last kitchen class. Menu – Fish. Pictures are not in order, uploaded according to the time and date. LOL.

CK

This is CK’s dish, couldn’t tell the type of cooking method from here though, pan-fried perhaps? And his idea was good, he sliced out a bit of the fish skin and made that circle.  He included everything though, as in, colour. However, I personally think that the portion is kinda small.

Chef’s comment – Potato duchess too small, fish cracked and puree not really cooked.

MINE

This is my dish! Since it’s mine, I know the name (duh) it’s Pan Fried fish with crushed almond nuts topping served with hollandaise sauce, confit tomatoes, glazed carrots and turned sauteed potatoes.

Chef’s comment – Presentation good, but THAT’S NOT HOLLANDAISE SAUCE! =( Tomatoes looked dead (yeah it is). Vegetable too little, fish could have more seasoning, the skin part (where the nuts were) could have a bit “greenish” colour from chopped herbs.

Carmen

At first glance, this looks like chicken. Haha. But it’s not. Pan fried fish again as most people did that that day. In my opinion, portion is good, the sauce could put a little more.

Chef’s comment – “Looks like you’re hiding something”. yea, as the fish was lying on a bed of puree. And should put the skin side up for plating.

Foo Haw

Foo Haw’s One Malaysia themed dish. Again, pan fried fish. The carrots are kinda big though. And the beurre blanc sauce, -.- made it looks like some chinese dish you serve at wedding. But his idea was good too, big portion. A bit too much for fine dining though.

Chef’s Comment – Crowded and it looked like a “family”. The turning of potatoes should go according to standard (I can’t see the potatoes from this angle). His celeriac puree was good. Fish is VERY good. But carrot not cooked.

Kah Wai

Kah Wai, my partner for the day. Our carrots are the same because on that day ours burned, so we “borrow/curi” from another group. She was the only one who did poaching I guess. But I think the poaching liquid should put more, more like it’s flooded.

Chef’s Comment – Very little vegetables. The dish looked fresh. Good idea. Fish could put more seasoning, but good flavour (from the poaching liquid i think) Potatoes Lyonnaise should have onions. No sauce?

Ming Jun

MJ. This plate looks fancy =D. Hmmm, he separated the main course and the vegies. But presentation I think not bad. The turned potatoes look nice, turning not bad.

Chef’s Comment – Tomatoes overcooked. Cuttings should have its standard – julienne, jardiniere.. And the taste of the fish was weird because of the skillet. Chef’s suggestion is to put salt to cover the surface of the skillet, heat the pan, wait til all the salt turns brown then throw the salt away before actually start pan-frying. (Poor mj )

Charlie

I personally think the presentation was kinda plain.

Chef’s Comment – <tak sempat copy.. -.->

Anson

He actually put the glazed carrots “in” the root. But I kinda like his presentation, though it looked as if it’s too little. Small portion. He steadied the fish on the potatoes! Haha how nice.

Chef’s Comment – He is hiding his tomatoes (wow ! really! can’t even see it from here) Only one fish and portion small. Taste of fish okay. Vege a little only.

Janet

She had a little too much garnish – see the dills on the top. Her sauce was good though, compared to mine =(.

Chef’s Comment – Too many garnish, Too many sauce. And the tomatoes are hidden. Celeriac puree not cooked. Fish should show the skin part. But fish’s taste was good.

Yeoh

His hollandaise damn “pro” ah! Good idea, he was the only one who had mushrooms I think.

Chef’s Comment – Good presentation, but could separate them a little. Tomatoes are good.

Byron

The one and only who did stuffed fish. The “stuffed” here doesn’t mean that you slice open the fish and put something in the middle, like stuffing chicken. Stuffing fish is like doing “pate” – Blend the fish along with other ingredients (herbs etc) then roll with clingfilm and poach it. I find this very complicated. And I think his dish’s portion kinda big, too big.

Chef’s Comment – Crowded. Potato Lyonnaise no onions? The cutting of the fish could be done diagonally so it looks bigger. Cutting too thick.

Dayana

Erm, I think the carrots were quite far away, kinda at the edge d. And again, lyonnaise have no onions?But her fish looks really really big eh! =p

Chef’s Comment – Carrot too far. Potatoes too big, but good.

Vincent

Late without name, but it’s Vincent’s from what I remember, correct me if I’m wrong. Hmmm, portion too small. And since he’s CK’s partner, so they were having the same idea of the skin. Looks nice, but the portion is kinda small for such a big plate.

Chef’s Comment – Fish not enough seasoning. The skin as garnish is a good idea. And vege kinda little, can only see tomatoes from here.

Nik

Hmm, this one’s portion kinda big. Big as in everything big. Fish big, carrots big. And he didn’t put the skin side up.

Chef’s Comment – Potatoes too brown.

Shafiq

He separated the potatoes and the tomatoes on both sides, then put the fish on top of the carrots. Haha, kinda uniform. The puree looks interesting. The plating as well.

Chef’s Comment – The carrot’s cutting isn’t standard – long and flat. Less vege (but I think it’s a lot wei) The fish kinda raw.

Mun

Haha this dish looks so cute. Looks like a little playground. =p

Chef’s Comment – Good Idea. Should lift the fish up (As in putting something underneath or lay the fish on something) Carrot cutting too small. Fish is raw, should be brown a little bit.

Chia

The one and only who did the rose cutting for the carrot. From what I see here, she put another piece of fish on top of the one at the bottom, hence “lifting” the fish up. Good Idea eh. So instead of hiding certain vege, she used the fish. Hmmmmm…….

Chef’s Comment – Small portion (but I think kinda big eh). Vege not fresh. But the taste was good.

Lester

From what I see, he separated the fish, and vegies, then connected them with the sauce. Hmm =/ But chef said the taste was very good. The only one who scored highest in taste (though marks were not given )

Chef’s Comment – Good Turning. Good Idea. Taste very good, but bit raw.

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Next up – Duck. =(