Stage - Floriole - Sandra Holl
Stagier
Floriole
1220 W Webster Ave
Chicago, IL
Chef-Owner Sandra Holl
1st Week
Floriole is a bakery cafe in Lincoln Park. I emailed them last week and received an email detailing their expectations and schedule. The baking manager, Betsy, and I set up and initial stage to see if I would be a fit.
When I arrived, I changed into my uniform and met a few of the bakers.
My first task was rinsing blueberries, picking out the stems and soft berries, drying them and layering them on trays for the cooler.
My second task was making almond and chocolate croissants. They get cut horizontally, dipped in rum simple syrup, and filled and topped with almond cream and slivered almonds. I then helped pick some herbs for the savory scones, which I helped scoop onto trays later. I buttered muffin tins, scooped sugar filling and sprinkled pecans over the top for Pecan Buns. My next task consisted of scooping buckwheat scones, washing them with heavy cream, pressing a thumbprint indentation in the middle, sprinkling them with course sugar and filling house made raspberry jam.
Betsy signed my stage sheet, and we discussed our schedules and decided that I would come back next week and stage again. She said, over time, the advantage of repeat stages is that I will be given various tasks and an opportunity to learn new things that require a little more skill and responsibility.
As I left to catch the train to school, the front of house prepared a take-home bag of delicious Vichyssoise and crostini. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the environment is clean and organized. They have beautiful products ranging from house made soups, salads, and sandwiches to unusual pastries such as Gateau Basque, Canelés, Pot de Crème and intricate seasonal galettes and tarts. They also do artisan breads, croissants, macaron, Kouign-amann and many more.
2nd Week
I began the day by egg washing croissants and popping them in the oven. They need to be baked until they are nice and dark. I made toasted hazelnut butter next by toasting hazelnuts and removing their skins. The skins are easily removed by rubbing them together right after they have been toasted. I removed the skins on a bucket of cold, previously toasted hazelnuts and the skins were stubborn. I even popped them in the oven briefly. After the skins have been removed, the hazelnuts are spun in a food processor until the resulting butter is very loose.
I washed and pitted cherries the rest of the morning. I learned the hard way to wear gloves. My hands were stained. I realized my mistake halfway through the process. I used a very efficient cherry pitter that rested on a mason jar. Cherry juice splattered all over my apron but not on my shirt. The cherries were a little past prime so they will be turned into jam.
3rd Week
I made an egg wash using egg yolks, a pinch of salt and cream. This gets hand blended, labeled and refrigerated. I juiced some oranges and buttered bread and muffin tins. I then scooped savory scones. One of the bakers walked me through the lemon blueberry scone mixing process. They add lemon zest and buttermilk for a moist and flavorful batter. We scooped the scones by sprinkling frozen blueberries on top of the batter without mixing them in. This kept the blueberries from bleeding. The scones get topped with cream and coarse sugar.
A bread baker gave me a tour of the rooftop garden. There were greens, herbs, peppers, cucumbers, and edible flowers. They use a passive watering system, and it gets a lot of sun. The plants were thriving.
4th Week
I started the day by cutting aged white cheddar batons for the savory croissant. Floriole uses fresh flowers from their rooftop garden. We picked nasturtium leaves and violets. Just a few on a platter looks really nice. I buttered Canelé molds using a soft paintbrush. Some bakeries use a combination of butter and beeswax. I generously buttered muffin pans and covered them with saran for later.
Sandra Holl's friend Zoë Nathan just wrote a book, Huckleberry, and it had arrived in the mail. Sandra was very excited, and the book looks beautiful. It is still on pre-order and becomes available on September 9th. Sandra was making meringue bowls for a lemon cream. I asked her if they were Italian Meringue and she said she likes the ease and speed of the Suisse Meringue. She also recommends Harold McGee's book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen and said it should be a cook's bible. Bien Cuit means cooked well and many people ask about the dark bake on all the croissants, Canelés, breads, etc. This is also called, "French Dark" and many Americans think that things have been burnt. A good dark color on baked goods brings out more flavor. Some French bakers say that good color is 30 seconds from being burnt.
I was able to make a fruit crumble on my own today. The cooler was full of ripe fruit, and I chose peaches, plums, and raspberries. 6 quarts of large dice fruit, 1 knob of fresh grated ginger, zest, and juice of 1 lemon, ½ a cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar. I mixed the fruit, put them in jam jars, pushed them down to fill them tight (fruit shrinks a lot during baking) and topped with a sweet, oatmeal crumble topping. When it was bubbling and oozing over the sides, Sandra took it out of the oven. I should have taken a photo of the finished product.
Practice is important in rolling out croissants and many people have different techniques. I rolled a few trays and egg washed several croissants. My final job was to scale and make a sweet bun topping by mixing the zest of 16 oranges with brown sugar, sucrose, and cinnamon in the mixer.
The savory team made me a sandwich to go. Thinly sliced, marinated zucchini, fresh buffalo mozzarella, pesto on house made focaccia. I chose the green bean, corn, and potato side salad. It had a slight kick to it and was very good.
5th Week
I started the day by picking flowers from the rooftop garden. There were violets, nasturtiums and zinnias blooming. Nasturtiums have beautiful leaves that look like lily pads. I topped the chocolate/caramel tarts with roasted hazelnuts. Each nut needs to have its skin removed, cracked in half, and placed on the tart without any dust or shrapnel from the nuts. I scooped Passion Fruit Cream into tart shells.
The apple cake has several varieties of apples from a local farm. I chopped and grated 7 liters of apples. A necessary task, and one that I find very relaxing, is buttering muffin pans and canelé tins. With soft butter and a pastry brush, each cavity gets a very thick coating of butter. The canelé tins require a painter's brush.
Chef Sandra Holl worked on a Peaches and Cream tart. When baked, the peaches create a pink syrup that is beautiful. The finished product was buttery and delicious.
Out my way out of the door, I grabbed a cup of Spicy Tomato soup, a croissant, and a very dark caramel candy.
6th Week
There were many new people in the kitchen today, so it was a lot busier and more talkative than usual. My jobs were to butter muffin tins, butter madeleine tins, fill Pot De Créme jars for baking in a water bath and cleaning, pitting, and slicing a huge bin of fresh plums.
My take to school choices from the bakery case were the almond croissant and the olive oil cake. The olive oil cake was not only delicious, but one of the more satisfying bakery I have eaten. They place berries on the top and the whole cake is super moist and creamy.
Saturday Lunch
Two very good friends, Cathy, and Elizabeth came to visit from Milwaukee.
We took the brown line to Armitage and walked to Floriole for lunch. We shared the Veggie Croque, Quiche and Veggie Tartine. I tried the Cheddar and Bacon Croissant and the Pumpkin Sweet Roll. Everything was delicious.
7th Week
I started the day by buttering loaf pans and muffin tins. I prepped a box of fall apples for the Apple Galette by coring them and slicing them evenly. My final task was to make the cranberry scone, scoop, top and freeze them. I did this myself from start to finish.
I brought back a beautiful box of pastries to share with my class. I brought the Gateau Basque with cranberries, a pineapple upside down cake, olive oil cake and an apple galette.
8th Week
Sandra was in the kitchen today. I buttered muffin tins. Very relaxing. I filled and baked Butternut Squash Clafoutis. Filled Coquette/Puff Pastry season pastry with Cardamom Pastry Cream. I made Chocolate Pot De Creme base from start to finish. I scooped savory scones.
On my way out the door, I tried a sample of Pear Clove and Cranberry Orange Pâte de Fruit and grabbed a cup of Tuscan Kale soup.
9th Week
I started the day by picking flowers on the rooftop garden. Most of the blooms are gone but small Nasturtium and Marigolds were still available. I also pick the leaves from both plants. Nasturtium have leaves that look like small lily pads. I made Almond croissants using day old croissants. I cut them in half horizontally, dipped them in Rum Simple Syrup, scooped Almond Cream for the inside and the top and pressed Almond Slivers into the Almond Cream on top. They go in the freezer to be baked later. I scooped cranberry orange scones, buttered muffin tins and sliced apples for apple galettes. I need to learn better knife skills. The results are acceptable, but I am always at risk for cutting myself.
On my way out the door, I picked up a tartine of the day, roasted brussel sprouts and dried cherries on whipped goat cheese toast. I also had a cup of Spicy Tomato soup.
10th Week
I washed and sorted blueberries, washed, pitted and slice plums, buttered tins and filled tart shells with passion fruit cream. I learned that the beautiful tart shells are the result of large chunks of butter and a couple lamination turns.
Sandra allowed me to take a box of pastries for my classmates to try. We tasted croissants, Blueberry Buckle, Canelé, and a Gateau Basque. For the croissant lover, they were a hit, but the overall winner was the Gateau Basque which is almond cream goodness.
I went back on Saturday with my good friend Priscilla Pardini and her sister, Deborah Pardini. Lunch began with a shared Croissant and Spicy Tomato soup. We ordered and shared the Vegetable Tartine, Vegetarian Sandwich and the Quiche. We loved the quiche, but they were all outstanding. The crust is unparalleled. Deborah bought a Fougasse, and we all shared the Gateau Basque. Sandra Holl said hello and was busy and gracious all at the same time.
11th Week
This was my last day at Floriole. Betsy gave me more recipes to do than before. It was fun. I made a buttermilk panna cotta, granola, pavlova shells and Canelé de Bordeaux batter.
Sandra took me through her book collection and told me which ones she used the most and which ones she could not live without. I will miss this perfect working example of excellence.
Additional thoughts:
The stage, or job shadow
Stages are volunteer and unpaid.
Hotels are less likely to allow a one-day stage. They prefer longer term commitments.
Communicate with the staff to maximize the stage experience.
The stage offers insight and guidance
Organize questions and then write them down. Ask to speak to the chef and be prepared.
Ask to take photos of equipment, food, tools, etc.
Rules for a stage:
Don't talk to the chef, talk to other people.
Don't talk.
Work hard.
Ask what to do next.
Only do what you are asked to do.
Don't act like you know anything.
You do not know anything.
Be attentive.
Relax.