My Experience at the Famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris

I never even thought I would ever be taking a course at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris!! I had planned on taking a cooking/pastry weeklong program at a chateau in the South of France, but that fell through so I decided to just take day course in multiple disciplines in Paris.

Among my searching of these types of courses, I came across Le Cordon Bleu’s day courses. There was only one that fit into my schedule, and so I signed up. It was a sauces course and I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I liked sauces and I was game. It was more expensive than the other courses I took, but it was also a whole different calibre as well.

The day arrived and I made my way over to the Le Cordon Bleu facility. Unknown to me, the facility I was going to was their brand new state of the art complex. It was absolutely beautiful! Everyone in the class was sitting in the waiting area. The type of people that attended this program compared to the other programs I did  were definitely different. A lot of people either worked in the food industry or they were foodies. 

The Pros of classes at Le Cordon Bleu:

The facility

Ok, the facility they have there now is A Mazing! You completely feel like you are going to proper chef school, and everything is state of the art. Plus you get kitted out in all the chef gear, proper apron, towel, and hat. Yup, it was like I was suddenly on Top Chef! 😀

The quality of food

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from a sauces course…I just thought we would be making sauces…little did I know that we would be making sauces to go on the proteins we would also be learning how to cook. I learned how to cook a steak properly in a pan as well as chicken, with the sauces to go with each one and both were DELICIOUS! We also learned how to make other sauces like béchamel, hollandaise and a seafood sauce.

One of the best things was there were a number of people who were either leaving Paris that day, or in the morning and they were not going to have a chance to eat their food…since I was still there for awhile, they offered me their food and I happily took it and ate it over the next few days! It is good to make friends at these things 😀

Was like being in a real working kitchen

Seriously…you had the chef at the front with his big chef hat on, yelling out the steps we needed to take and they needed to be done quickly. I definitely felt the pressure, I know I could never work in a “real” kitchen.  It was good pressure, but man, I surely don’t retain what we actually did when I am a bit scattered!

Con’s of classes at Le Cordon Bleu:

Translations

Since this program was done in France, the course was taught in French with an English translator. I didn’t think it would be much of a problem, but oi, it was super frustrating! Our translator really was NOT on the ball with how quickly she needed to translate things to get all the steps in.

The other annoying thing was we were told that the chef didn’t speak English and that was why it was done in French. Well, when he was coming around and helping/observing what we were doing, when I asked him a question, he answered me in perfect English…COME ON! Hahaha. I guess this was just the Paris Experience.  

Timing

Although you really did feel like you were in a real kitchen, it was a very fast paced class. So much so that you didn’t have time to write down all the steps you were doing so you can remember it for later. We were given a recipe booklet that only included the ingredients and amounts, but absolutely no steps. There was a blank page on the other side for you to write down all the steps. Well, I don’t think anyone had any time to write down the steps.

What I also missed out on was writing down the steps to cooking the fillet of beef and chicken, and I know I don’t really remember the exact steps. Although it was fun in the moment, I would have really liked to have walked away with the steps to recreate it the same way.

Attitudes

The types of people that attended this class compared to the other baking classes I took elsewhere were noticeably different. They were not the typical tourist types of people; there were a variety of people. Ones who had restaurants, cooks, foodies, some well honed home cooks and finally a few like me who just loves to learn new things. 

There were definitely a number of these people who were getting out the measuring sticks trying to one up each other.  It just brought a different air to the atmosphere. I just stayed out of their way and was so very thankful that the woman I was cooking with was super normal and nice.  Plus the majority of those people can’t say they have their photo on the courses page of Le Cordon Bleu Paris, but I can! 😀

Even though it wasn’t a perfect experience at Le Cordon Bleu, I still would do it over again! This experience was definitely a highlight of my adventures. An extra bonus is my family have given me the nickname Cordon whenever I cook/bake/create in the kitchen, and that is the best nickname I can think of! 😀

Helping others plan unique experiences like I had taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris is what I love to do. Get in touch and I will help you find your own unique travel adventure.