You can get a degree in cheese...

Today we had a 3 hour cheese lecture. It was actually incredibly interesting. The man who came to talk to us has his degree in the history of cheese and apparently there are only a handful of people who have that degree in the world. He is one of 3 in all of Great Britain. He travels and gives lectures on cheese to all the most luxurious restaurants and hotels in the world, the Savoy and the Ritz to name a few.
Fun facts to know and tell….did you know that the original confectionaries started from cheese makers. We tried a type of cheese today, which is made in the Netherlands, and I kid you not tasted like caramel and cheese. It looked exactly like a caramel candy. It sounds gross, but it was just more different than gross. Guess how Nestle started?...yup cheese, or at least that is what the cheese expert told us. We were able to try some of the best cheeses from all over the world. We were able to taste some homemade Buffalo Mozzarella from Italy. Apparently there are only a few people in Italy who still can make it the old fashion way. They take the whey in their hands and dunk them in boiling hot water to make the mozzarella. Everyone in my class was squirming when the cheese expert was explaining the process. It is the best I have ever had…it sets a whole different standard for me now.
I also had my test on artichokes and turned carrots…have you ever tried to hand cut turned carrots?! It is really hard. Oh well even though my chef said that I “had the whole family of carrots” because they were all different sizes after I finished cutting them, they tasted pretty good.
Tomorrow is my test on stocks and boiled whole chicken. Just to give you a preview…I have to use a blowtorch to get off the extra feathers on the chicken.