Superior So Far

My Superior Patisserie course is now fully under way, and during the second week we created a chocolate box and a variety of hand-dipped chocolates, both of which will be required for our final assessment in a few weeks.  Predictably, I chose to adorn my box with a large bow molded from white modeling chocolate, and I'm tempted to repeat the design on my assessment piece.  Below you can see the various chocolates we produced:  nougat, marzipan, and raspberry fruit paste.  The only thing the pictures don't convey is the enormous mess I made along the way (which required hours of soaking my uniform in a bleach solution).

Last week, the third week, we focused on marzipan modeling.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with marzipan, it is simply a combination of ground almonds and sugar (powdered, or "icing" sugar as it is called here).  The quality of marzipan varies depending on the almond content;  marzipan with a high almond content (and therefore a better eating quality) would be used to top cakes or for chocolate dipping, while marzipan with a low almond content is used to mold the figures seen below.   

My friend Eddie and I decided to make little marzipan bakers wearing pink pants - again, predictable.   

My little baker is rather beefy from rolling out pastry, whipping cream, kneading dough, and whisking egg whites.

As you can see, the lessons in Superior have focused on more artistic tasks, and the creative students in our class have had a chance to shine (not me).  This week we each completed a chocolate showpiece, and because the choice of chocolate molds was quite limited, most of us ended up with a holiday themed piece (mine had an Easter bunny on top).  I'll admit that I prefer making the gateaus, tarts, pastries, and breads, but I've accumulated a range of skills I never expected to possess.  While I probably will not need to make an Easter-themed chocolate tower in the future, I suppose it is satisfying to know that I could.

Still Intact: Our Great White Adventure

This past weekend, in a somewhat strange observance of Valentine's Day, Callie and I traveled to Port Lincoln, South Australia in order to dive with the great white shark. Port Lincoln is a small coastal fishing town and is close to the Neptune Islands, which is home to a colony of New Zealand fur seals, a favorite meal of the "white pointer." Needless to say, we were both excited and nervous, but now that we have returned to Sydney in one piece, we can safely recount our adventure.

We left Sydney on last Friday morning for an early flight to Adelaide. For regular readers, you will recall that we spent some time in Adelaide on our last trip, but this time we had only a short layover before catching a small regional flight to Port Lincoln. Port Lincoln is about 35 minutes by air from Adelaide and is home to a large proportion of Australia's tuna fishing industry, yet another reason that it is frequented by the great white. We arrived mid-afternoon and spent the remainder of the day walking along the harbour foreshore and enjoying the lovely weather. We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed soon thereafter given the early start the next morning.

The Neptune Islands is about two and a half hours from Port Lincoln by boat, which meant that we had to be at the dock at 6:30 A.M. The journey out was a a little rocky and some of our companions (there were about 20 of us in total) began to look a little green around the gills. Callie, on the other hand, had taken two dramamine and was having trouble staying awake, but once we reached the Neptunes, things began to get exciting. The crew began chumming the water with a mixture of fish innards, blood and tuna pieces while making as much noise as possible in order to attract the sharks. This ritual continued for about forty-five minutes before the first visitor arrived and the cage was in the water.

To say that the great white is a large animal is a gross understatement. Not only is it long-the ones we saw averaging about 15 feet- but it is thick and heavy, and given how powerfully it moves through the water, it is no wonder that we are afraid of it. However, after observing the sharks once they arrived, they did not seem to be overly aggressive or violent; rather, they appeared to be curious- like a really big dog with really big teeth. Nonetheless, when we got in the cage (yes, Callie got in as well), it was hard to not be somewhat overwhelmed by their presence. 

 

We were the fourth group to get in the cage, which was good because it gave Callie enough time to see that others had survived the experience without incident. There were four of us in the cage at once and we each had a regulator (like on a scuba system) to breathe through that was connected to an air compressor on the surface. The cage sits near the top of the water and is attached to the stern of the boat so that you are always close to help. Each group was in cage for about forty-five minutes, and during that time, sharks would come and go, circling the boat and trying to eat the bait in front of your face. In what was probably the most aggressive moment of the day, a shark went for the bait and instead bit down on the corner of the cage where I was standing, which prompted all of us inside to move back a little bit. You could hear the grinding of the teeth and the violent thrash of the jaws shook the cage in the water, but we returned with all our limbs and extremities intact. 

*Please note: that is a large black garbage bag in the bottom left corner of the picture- just so you can appreciate how large the shark is. 

Over the past several weeks, many people have asked me why I wanted to do this, and I always say that ever since I found out that we were going to Australia, this was something I just had to do. I have always loved the ocean and the chance to see arguably the world's most sophisticated and lethal marine predator in person was something that I couldn't pass up. Having safely returned to Sydney, we again feel extremely lucky that we could have an experience like this one, although I'm not sure that Callie will entertain the thought of another high adrenaline Valentine's Day next year.   

An Update on the Victoria Bushfires

As many of you have undoubtedly heard by now, the state of Victoria is the site of the worst peacetime disaster in Australian history. One hundred and eighty-one people have currently lost their lives and many expect the death toll to climb past two hundred in the coming days. Over one thousand homes have been destroyed, and it is estimated that five thousand people are left homeless. As of Thursday evening, twenty-two fires are still burning, but cooler temperatures and less severe winds have made the situation more manageable for country fire authorities.

As mentioned in the last post, Sydney is not threatened by the current devastation, but it is hard to feel unaffected. The country is gripped by a sense of shock and sorrow, and as evidence has surfaced that some of these fires were deliberately lit, there is also a palpable anger. However, there has also been an outpouring of generosity, and according to the Australian Red Cross, over fifty million dollars have been raised for the bushfire appeal. 

The horror and tragedy experienced by those in Victoria this week is absolutely unspeakable: story after story recounted the overwhelming noise and the suffocating heat and how the earth became a "living hell" last Saturday. Needless to say, our prayers and sympathies go out to all those families and communities who have been touched by this crisis, and we certainly hope that we have seen the last of the current devastation. If you would like to find more information about the bushfires or donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, please see the links below. 

News- The Australian

Australian Red Cross

Weekends: Surfing and Cricket

So that's me this time. After repeatedly falling and getting rolled by countless waves and swallowing an untold amount of saltwater, I have managed to crudely master the art of standing up on a surfboard. Now the problem is standing up for an extended period of time. Again, surfing is one of those things that is harder than it looks, but I am convinced that with further practice, I can manage to spend less time embarrassing myself at the beach.

After returning from our trip across Southern Australia, Callie and I have been working our way back into a more normal routine. Callie started classes in her superior program last week and things seem to be going well. She would admit, however, that some of their products are more sensitive and temperamental than perhaps she would like. She also might concede that she is having some difficulty adjusting to the new class schedule. As with previous terms, class is Monday through Wednesday, but now she is going from 3:00 P.M. until roughly 10:00 P.M. For anyone who knows Callie, they would immediately recognize that this falls within her going to bed hours, and as a result, she has been forced (quite reluctantly) to alter her sleeping schedule. 

For my part, things have been back to a somewhat more normal routine as well. While my classes will not begin until the first of March, I have managed to remain occupied with Rotary presentations and weekly sailing and waiting to hear back from law schools. I have also begun work on a health policy project in the Solomon Islands in conjunction with our host Rotary club, so while I am not baking away until after bedtime, I have some things to do as well. Needless to say, we are again enjoying our time back in Australia, and this past weekend, we were able to enjoy arguably the most Australian of summer traditions: cricket. 

Unlike the post on the various rugby codes in Australia, I will not attempt to explain the subtle nuances and intricate strategy that is cricket. Suffice it to say that it is kin to baseball, except it is played on a circular pitch, and there are two batsmen at a time, and there are no bases but rather wooden "stumps", and the players catch the ball with their hands, and a home run counts for 6 runs, and . . . it's really not anything like baseball. Nonetheless, we have found ourselves quite entertained by summer cricket and so this weekend we decided to go to the Sydney Cricket Grounds to watch Australia take on New Zealand. The weather was warm and the crowd was openly enthusiastic (which is somewhat surprising considering that many might compare cricket to watching paint dry), and best of all, Australia won! We didn't stay for the entire match, but we enjoyed the atmosphere and the spectacle and it was a nice way to begin the week. 

In conclusion and on a much more somber note, we would like to let everyone know about the terrible tragedy that is unfolding in country Victoria. Victoria, the state south of New South Wales, has been struck by the worst bushfires in Australian history. The death toll is expected to climb above 200, and last we heard, there were at least 700 homes that were destroyed and over 5,000 people had been made homeless. We have received emails from many people at home asking if we are okay, and while Sydney is not in danger, the entire country is in a state of shock and sorrow. Below is a link to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal that is being organized by the Australian Red Cross, so if there is anything that you might be able to contribute, it would certainly be welcome. Our thoughts and prayers are with those families and communities that have been affected by this terrible crisis, and we will let you know more as more news becomes available.

https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/OnlineDonations.asp