Baking Macarons in Paris

In the summer of 2018, I could not miss out on the opportunity to visit Le Cordon Bleu, Paris on my trip to France. Back when we were planning our visit, I had booked an appointment with the school to simply visit it. The school was beyond everything I had dreamed of.

As you enter the school, there is a small cafe on the right, where I had what was probably the best croissant of my life. There are demonstration classrooms which is the first part of your class for the day. Chefs teach a particular dish through a demonstration after which students go into a different kitchen to prepare it. Each classroom has no more than 15-17 students to ensure that everyone receives one-to-one feedback and help from the chefs. The kitchens are temperature and humidity controlled to provide the perfect climate to cook each dish. The campus also has a herb garden on the terrace where they also harvest their own honey! I was in awe after the campus tour. I found out that they were hosting a macaron workshop the following day and decided to attend it.

The kitchen was absolutely phenomenal! There was an immediate change of environment once you entered it. Our instructor for the day was Chef Vincent Valton. He spoke in French and another member of the faculty translated the instructions to English. We were 10 people attending the workshop teamed up in pairs of two. I was teamed up with a Chinese photographer. He had no experience in the kitchen but simply attended the workshop for the experience and to click some amazing pictures! We made chocolate macarons filled with chocolate mousse and a raspberry gelée. The process was so intricate and the flavours were simply incredible! Without a doubt we were using some of the best quality ingredients out there.

It was my first ever time baking macarons. They did not look the best but my family and I indulged in them. I walked out of the campus knowing this is where I wanted to study. I cannot wait for this journey to begin. Stay tuned for more on it later this year! I hope you all enjoyed this blog. Subscribe to my Weekly Newsletter if you haven't already so you don't miss out on any of my uploads. Thanks for reading, I hope to see you again!