"You deserve to die.."

We, of course, walked into the classroom for Gastronomy, and Professor Raider handed us a pop quiz. I have mentioned that I like this class, before, but it is definitely not as easy for me as Culinary Math and Food Safety. The quiz was on foie gras. I tasted that a few weeks ago, remember? I hated it, and I hated taking a quiz on it. After our quiz, two groups presented on two chefs, whose impact on the culinary world we can actually see today. Learning about Alice Waters, I now want to eat at her restaurant, Chez Panisse in Berkley. She changes the menu based on the local, organic, and sustainable products available. Craig Claiborne was born in Mississippi but was inspired by the cooking of Morocco, specifically with cous-cous. Each group prepared a dish, a fresh salad with a vinaigrette made with herbs ground in a mortar and pestle to represent Waters and an orzo salad from one of Craig Claiborne's cookbooks. Now, I know where the CIA Bookstore got its name, from Craig Claiborne, who donated part of his estate to the CIA. After the presentations, we reviewed the five questions (who, what, when, where, how) of nouvelle cuisine and cuisine monsieur.

In Food Safety, Vergili split us into groups of four or five, and he gave each group a recent food-borne outbreak. Of course, by mere coincidence, my assigned food of concern was the peanut outbreak of 2009 in Georgia. We had to answer five questions about our food. Here are three interesting facts about the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) outbreak; nine people died, with mostly the high-risk elderly population being affected; the PCA continued to operate, choosing to ignore twelve positive tests of Salmonella; and this outbreak resulted in the largest food recall in U.S. history. There needs to be more strict regulations for the processing of peanuts. PCA, in my opinion, is fully responsible for this outbreak. As future chefs and bakers, it is our responsibility to stay well-informed of the news concerning food illnesses and pathogens, and it is important for us to take immediate action, as our food and reputation depend on us doing so. We must only buy from reputable suppliers, who have the proper certifications or paperwork that meets certain standards of safety and quality. (Nestle refused to purchase ingredients from PCA after performing their own inspection of the PCA's plants in Georgia and Texas.)

The other five recent outbreaks have been linked to Banquet Turkey Pot Pies, Spinach, Beef Patties, Cookie Dough, and Hot Peppers, with the pathogens of concern being either E. coli or Salmonella. Professor Vergili pointed out that all of the outbreaks are from products manufactured by major food companies, such as ConAgra and Nestle. He is particularly passionate about the beef patties, called Chef Select Angus Beef Burgers. I would not get him started. He said today, "If you purchase this meat, then you deserve to die." It was a heated moment. Each beef patty can be ground from multiple different animals, up to eight cows per patty. Though I do not necessarily agree with his harsh statement, I will think again before pulling a patty out of the freezer to put on the grill. I do like a good black bean burger!

I enjoyed dinner tonight at Banquet. A new block started on Monday (except for me, as Block B is six weeks and not three), and the students in Banquets and Catering just began this class. They look scared to death. A few things on the menu are beginning to repeat, meaning I have already had them before prepared the same way. I do not mind so much, but I might start trying the vegetarian option just for fun.

Appetizer: Grouper Fingers with a Roumalade and Cole Slaw
Entree: Stuffed Sausage Pork Loin with a Stuffed Tomato and Fingerling Potatoes
Dessert: Chocolate Cake with Creme Anglaise and Raspberries

Tonight there is a mandatory hall meeting at 8:30. I am fairly confident that we are going to talk about the procedures for how we are supposed to leave our belongings when we go away for summer break. I already know that I have to take everything out of my chest of drawers because I am getting a new one. Other than that, I hope we do not have to do a lot of stuff before we leave and that the meeting does not take too long.

FYI, I am talking to my Residence Director tomorrow concerning my room situation, if you know what I mean. Wish me luck.

Oh, and Isner won today, after a first round match that took three days and over 11 hours, with a fifth set, 70-68. If a tennis match is going to go down in history as the longest tennis match ever and a former Bulldog is playing, then of course I am routing for my former player. However, Isner's competitor should be pretty proud of himself; I would take being the loser in the longest ever tennis match and be in the record books!

EAT MY WORDS

Haley