Cuisine across Cultures - Day 22

Tuesday, February 9.  Chef had everyone draw out of a hat the product they were going to use for their practical exam on Wednesday.  The choices were - corn, bean, rice or flour.  With this we had to make three different dishes from three different cultures.  We had the opportunity of researching and putting together a recipe for the chef and gathered together our mise en place (all of our supplies) for making our practical on Wednesday.  However, we could not use recipes or notes for our exam.  I drew corn, and with this I made corn souffle (New World), arepas with beef filling (Venzeula) and polenta with sauce and cheese (Europe). 

We also had the glory walk tonight.  The glory (or as some same victory) walk is when students who are finishing their last block of classes walk down the red mile.  (The red mile is a long stretch of kitchens on both sides).  Students and Chefs who are in the classroom come out into the hallway and clap as you walk down the red mile.  There were over 50 of us who walked the red mile.  I am officially finished with my program on Thursday, February 11th.  There is a 6 week externship and then graduation is scheduled for July.  It has been a fun, long, and sometimes difficult road, but overall this experience has been very rewarding to me.  I have learned more in the past 9 months than I could have ever imagined. 

Here are a few pictures of myself and some of my classmates taking the glory walk....