There were only two dishes to prepare today, and plenty of time, but I was feeling pretty tired and didn't have a sense of urgency. Consequently, I was a bit rushed towards the end.

The day started with a tuna fabrication demo. This was sort of important because we needed that tuna for our first dish. The layout of tuna is almost absurdly engineered for processing, as it divides quite readily into four nearly equal quadrants. This is not to say that taking one apart is simple. Fabricating almost any animal is not as easy as it sounds and takes a good deal of practice to gain any skill in it.

Once the demo was over, the prep went on apace. Organization was really a consideration today.

For example, the first dish seems pretty simple, but it takes awhile to get going: Seared Albacore Tuna with Black Rice, Maui Onion Confit, and Tropical Fruit Salsa (recipe). Searing the tuna takes but a few minutes. It's the rest of the dish that requires a significant amount of prep. The salsa requires dicing a fair number of fruits, which takes a bit, but also has to macerate for at least an hour, so you have to finish it quickly. The black rice (aka Forbidden Rice) still has its bran coat, so it takes a good deal of time to cook. A couple of students didn't realize this and had to present their dishes with undercooked rice or no rice at all. Additionally, to really develop flavor in the Maui Onion Confit, you have to let the dish go for a good period of time. You can't just throw it together at the last minute. Oh, and did I mention having to make a teriyaki glaze that has to simmer for at least twenty minutes?

Sounds like a quick dish, "seared tuna? that'll take seconds", but the entire plate, ain't.

On the other hand, our "Contemporary" Bouillabaisse was actually much quicker and easier to prepare. You have to make a lobster stock first, but that isn't too difficult: sweat some aromatics, add lobster shells, pince with tomato paste, add stock, brandy, a sachet and you're done in an hour. You'll be adding some more veggies to the soup, but they're mostly the same as what you need for the stock, so you can cut them all at the same time.

Once the soup is simmering, it is simply a question of cooking the fish and shellfish in the soup, which must be done in the proper order so as not to overcook the various types of seafood as some cook quicker than others. However, the fish take very little time to cook overall. Plate and you're done (but don't forget the Rouille on toast garnish).

Lesson for today: one needs to maintain a sense of urgency even if one is tired.