Today, I passed my 2nd term practical exam. This is a momentous occasion, especially when you consider how very, very nervous I was about this whole ordeal. For those of you for whom this all quite foreign, let me set the scene. At the Culinary, you go to school for basically two semesters before you leave on extern (basically an apprenticeship in a real, working restaurant). Before you may leave, however, you must past a cooking practical exam and an oral exam (as well as a writing and costing practical, but that's neither here nor there...there was never any doubt that I would pass those). These exams test your knowledge of basic cooking fundamentals, food safety and product identification. The oral exam may include questions from any study from Food Safety up to Garde Manger...the study guide for the oral exam itself is 150 questions or thereabouts. For the practical, you know ahead of time what menus will be tested. You have to make two portions of a soup, a protein, a starch and two vegetables. You have 2 1/2 hours to complete the meal and present it. You can draw roasted chicken, sauteed chicken, shallow poached trout, deep poached salmon, grilled mahi mahi or beef stew. Ideally, you will have made each of these at least twice at this school, although sometimes more.

 Really, the menus are not that complicated. It's just a lot and there's a lot riding on this exam. So I was nervous. Very nervous. 

You take the practical in groups with staggered start and presentation times. I was the last one in my group to go. As I waited outside for my 340 start time to arrive, Chef Clark (the incredible! Fish Kitchen chef), came around the corner. He noticed how nervous I was and proceeded to give me a truly fantastic pep talk. Exactly what I needed at that exact moment. It was so very fitting that the first chef I had here at the CIA and the first chef to leave a truly indelible impression on me was the same chef who would give me the needed help right before I took the test that would allow me to leave the CIA (on extern). It was one of those hand-of-God type moments. Many people dislike Chef Clark because he is quite brusque and a little rough around the edges, but I really do love him.

Because I was the last, I did not get to pull my menu out of the proverbial hat. I took what was left after my oral exam. Sauteed Chicken breast, Sauce Fine Herbes, Fresh Pasta, Braised Cabbage, Sauteed Zucchini and Lentil Soup. I took several minutes to clear my head and then hit the ground running. Well, strolling: I learned early here that Aesop's lesson about the tortoise and the hare applies to cooking as well as anything else. Slow and steady DOES win the race. And so, like a marathon runner, I paced myself. And then, in the last 20 minutes, kicked it into a slightly higher gear to cross the finish line. And cross it I did. When Chef Coyac filled out the grading rubric and I realized that the numbers were high (not so high, but) enough to pass, the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders and my knotted stomach untangled and everything was suddenly much, much brighter.

Now I can focus on the things that really matter. Like getting my ticket to London. And having fun with food. And breathing. And sunshine. Because I passed my practical. And that's a pretty good feeling, y'all.