Baking Bread at the Cordon Bleu in Paris

After the boat cruise was over last night we walked around Paris a bit at night and enjoyed the lights but this meant we did not get in until about 1:00 am. This wasn't the best plan since I needed to be up at around 6:30 so I could get ready and head to my bread making class at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris (http://www.cordonbleu.edu/). Needless to say I was a bit tired but also excited to go to the Cordon Bleu



The school is on the other side of Paris from where we were staying so I headed a few blocks down to the Bastille and picked up a cab. After about twenty minutes I was standing in front of the famous culinary school a little nervous since I did not know what to expect.

As I entered I was greeted by the school receptionist who spoke flawless English and told me I could head upstairs for a light breakfast and that class would begin at 9:00 AM. As I headed upstairs I walked through the students dining area which reminded me a lot of the great hall at the CIA from my culinary school days.





I was surprised to find several students (all Americans) already having coffee. By the time the class was about to start we had about twelve students total mostly from the US but there was a mother daughter from Spain and one gentleman from Canada. Everyone was very friendly and outgoing and passionate about cooking. It was a lot of fun to meet them and share stories.

Just before 9:00 AM we were greeted by our English translator Laura who is from Australia but lives in Paris. It is interesting to mention that all of the classes at the Cordon Bleu are taught in French and translated into English. This really surprised me and I also learned that the school has students from all over the world (Russia, Japan, China, United States) who come to get their culinary degree. The requirement for attending the school is that you speak either French or English so that the students can actually understand the lessons.

One other item I would like to mention is the cost of the program. I find this interesting since when I went to culinary school in the early 1990's the CIA cost me (or cost my parents actually) $25,000 for a two year associates degree in culinary arts. That same degree now costs around $54,000 for a two year culinary degree.

The Cordon Bleu is broken up into three quarters and each quarter is 15,000 euros so a total of 45,000 euros. Which, at today's exchange means the program runs about $60,000. Pretty close to the CIA.

If you're like me and you don't want to shell out that much cash or have that much time you can do the continuing education classes which range from 3 hours to one day to several days. My bread making class was 160.00 euros and was an all day "practical" class. "Practical" simply means that you get your hands dirty and actually get to make something. It also means you get a fancy certificate at the end of the class.

Once we had ourselves together we headed up two more flights of stairs past the photos of Julia Child and Giada De Laurentis (students at the cordon bleu) to the class room.

Students ready to bake some bread.


Ready for action!


The chef and the translator.


So enough of my rambling are you ready to make some bread? We made a total of seven different types of breads which were:

baguette
mini baguettes
croissant
kugelhopf
olive bread
country style bread
rye bread

Of the seven breads we made the baguette and mini baguettes from start to finish. For the sake of time we had three assistants that mixed the other breads and we shaped and baked them. Here is a step by step of how to make a baguette Cordon Bleu style:

The recipe


Mix the yeast and the water


After plenty of kneading let it rest




Divided the dough into 4 100 gram portions


Rolling out the dough






In the tray and into the proofing oven.


The risen dough getting the classic baguette slits on the top.







The chef put the baguettes into the oven and added some steam and we just watched them bake




The finished bread cooling






A shot of my crossiants


Me accepting my certificate.



We baked bread until about noon and then we broke for a one hour lunch. About this time our baguettes were coming out of the oven and we were allowed to take our baguette to lunch with us. The lunch was incredible and I did not expect it at all. It was a beautiful buffet of food and wine all prepared by the students for us to enjoy. The lunch was even better since I enjoyed it with my freshly made baguette.



A few other items I will mention that you get when you take the class besides breakfast and lunch you also get a Cordon Bleu apron and side towel, folder with recipes, a pen for taking notes, and samples of all the bread. As a matter of fact it was too much which was a bit sad. Every student walked out of the class with two bags of bread and a box of croissants. I would of preferred that the school keep the bread since I had no idea what to do with it. I tried to pawn some of the bread off on my taxi driver but as I expected I think most Parisians have their favorite boulangerie and prefer to buy their own bread. In the end I had to throw a large amount of it away (terrible I know). We did however enjoy the croissants for a couple days. Not bad, I can't remember the last time I made croissants or a baguette for that matter. All in all a great time and something I would recommend you try if you feel up to it on your visit to Paris.

A shot of my certificate of participation: