Day 2 of final exams for course I.

Today may be the easiest day of the exam. We only had to produce and present Cream of Tomato Soup and French Onion Soup. We also had to make 3:2:1 dough and pasta dough, but those are for use later in the week.

To make the Cream of Tomato Soup, you have to make a recipe of Bechamel. However, that is not what I started first.

The very first thing I did was slice the onions for the French Onion Soup. In order to really mellow and bring out the sweetness of the onions, one must sweat them for an extended period: at least 30 minutes. After extended sweating the onions need to be caramelized, to give the soup a deep, rich color and depth of flavor. The caramelization cannot be rushed either. Finally, the soup has to simmer for at least an hour after the sweating and caramelization. Knowing how long good French Onion Soup takes, it was the very first thing I got started and the last thing I presented.

I think that I'm really starting to get the hang of a decent Bechamel. The sauce really came together nicely.

Where I had my trouble today was with the tomato base for my soup. The final product didn't zing with tomato flavor. I think the problem was that I didn't reduce the tomato base enough; it was too watery. I needed to reduce it some to concentrate the tomato flavor.

Part of the issue is the quality of tomatoes. February really isn't a good tomato month. During the peak of the season, I probably wouldn't have to worry about the tomato flavor at all. However, during the winter, one really has to taste and sample the product to know how to deal with it. It might even be better to use canned tomatoes than fresh. I really should have concentrated the flavor more. Even the exams are learning experiences.

Today was fairly easy, so I was able to spend more time on my station organization. I did well, I think. We will have to see if I can keep up on some of the other, more difficult days.