今天是芝加哥180天之旅的第一天也是24個禮拜法式烘焙學校進修的開始。我興奮嗎??那當然，不過不包括接下來6個月將花掉的USD30,000。

I wish myself LUCK! =D

祝我自己好運! =D

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The first day of French Pastry School & Orgasmic Croissants.

法式烘焙學校的第一天 – 美味的牛角麵包

First day of Friday Pastry School…. And here it goes…

法式烘焙學校的第一天…及將展開…

One of the things I knew I’d have to get adjusted to before even attending this program was waking up early enough to attend school. And yes, I made it on time today. Thank you every much, I think I deserve some kind of treat for today's effort. =D

我知道在開課前我須要調適的第一件事就是要起的夠早上學。很開心的我今天辦到了，真是太感動~我覺得就今天為止的努力我應該得到一些獎勵 =D

OKAY! So the first day of school was beyond awesome. First, we had the director of operations, Franco Pacini, speaking to us about the school and their goals. I swear this guy, Mr. Pacini, is something alright. There’s just something about the way he presents himself in front of a crowd of some 70 odd students that just captures your attention to the fullest. He’s quite a witty joker combined with the personality of a motivational speaker, almost like Tony Robbins, except he isn’t as buff and is the French Pastry School version.

OKAY!開學的第一天就充滿滿滿的驚喜。一開始，營運總監Franco Pacini跟我們介紹學校及他們的目標。我發誓，Pacini就跟ㄧ般人一樣，只是當他在70名不同背景的學生面前演講時你真的可以完全被他吸引住。他是一個講話相當饒趣並活潑的人，很像Tony Robbins，除了沒他那麼胖外他較像”法式烘焙學校”的另一種版本。

I have to say, reading these master chef’s profiles on a piece of paper or online on some website is totally different from meeting them in person. They are way better than I had expected. Being in their presence and hearing them speak of their experiences, and listening to their advices on the first day of school, I already felt honored to be there. (But then again, I did pay about $22,000+ on tuitions) BUT that’s not the point!! It kind of hit me in the midst of our introductions that, sitting in front of me, or even just in the room next to us, are some of the world’s BEST master pastry chefs and world pastry champions.

我必須說，跟這些大師本人面對面的感覺跟從網路或書誌上認知到的是很不一樣的。

他們比我想像中的好。在現場聽述他們的經驗及給我們在學的第一天的忠告,我就已經覺得非常榮幸自己身歷其境。(不過當然，我是有付出$22,000+的學費的)不過那不是重點!!當你親身體驗在世界級的西點烘焙大師或世界級烘焙冠軍選手演講時，跟他們共處一室這種感覺真的我只能說感動。

Note the key words “MASTER” and “WORLD PASTRY CHAMPS”. You dig??

注意重點”大師”及”世界級烘焙冠軍”。你了嗎??

Alright, so cut to the good stuff. We were told that there were croissants baked for us at the end of the class, and that we wouldn’t find any other croissants that tasted as divine as these. Sure. I get that from almost every baker, chef and store owner I’ve been in contact with or worked for. And most of the time, they’re just alright, nothing orgasmic or firework-like. However...These croissants baked at the FPS were something else...

好吧，說到美食來。我們被告知在課堂結束前每個人將會品嚐到牛角麵包，而這味道譬美人間美味的牛角麵包是我們在其它地方吃不到的。當然這種話我並不陌生，在我曾經工作過的或接觸的幾乎每個烘焙者或廚師或店家都耳聞過。不過呢，通常結果事實上就一般般，並沒有美味到有多美好或擦出火花的感覺。但是…. 在FPS(法式烘焙學校)的牛角麵包真的很不一樣………

When I picked up the first croissant with my fingers, IT FLAKED! No jokes. It was so flaky on the outside, IT FLAKED. Picture this: It’s as delicate as freshly fallen snow, yah, try picking that up off the ground. This was a great first indication of a good croissant. As I proceeded to guide the finger delicate croissant into my mouth, I felt the outer layers of crispiness crumbling in my mouth and if I had exhaled, flakes of perfectly baked croissants would fly out like gentle snow flakes. And as I began to chew, I discovered layers and layers of soft, moist, buttery richness and right then, before I could finish my first bite, I was hit with a moment of silence.

當我用我的手指拾起第一塊牛角時，它脆掉了!不誇張，它的表面真的很脆，說有多脆就有多脆。給你個畫面:它脆的就像是眼前正在紛紛落下的雪~ 試試看將它們從地上撿起來。這是一個出色的牛角麵包初步的良好指標。接下來我用手指將酥脆的牛角送入口中，我感覺到外層酥脆的感覺爬滿我的整個口腔，然後我一呼氣，在我還來不及咬一口前碎屑就會像雪片般被我呼出，頓時我整個啞口無言。

“Awws shiiett...” I thought quietly to myself. By having THIS particular croissant, this wonderful, perfect, godly created piece of mastery, I knew the FPS instructors were right. And I had hated them for it. I was never going to enjoy another piece of croissant any where in the world that would come close to matching this orgasmic mouth & brain F--K. If I somehow died at a young age, *knock on wood* I hope to die with a mouthful of these croissants. Yes, I have no shame. They are just that good. Hell, I’d even make love to it...But seriously, that’s another story.

“Awws shiiett……” 我心裡滴咕著。這另人驚豔，如此完美特別如神才能辦的到的大作，我知道FPS學校的簡介是真有其事。不過這也是另一方面讓我討厭的，因為除非在這世界上-如有可能的話-還有能像它所能帶來另人口慾&心靈上的愉悅滿足感，否則我將無法滿足於任何其它的牛角麵包。如果，萬一，我英年早逝的話，- "應該是不會發生" - 我希望可以是含著滿嘴的牛角幸福的死去。是呀，我就是這麼大而不慚。因為她們真的就有那麼好。我甚至可以為她出軌….不過說真的那又會是另外ㄧ個故事了。

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