Congratulations Term 1, 2021 Graduates of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa

Through thick and thin, they held on tight to their passion and finally came to a very important milestone in their culinaryjourney: the graduation! We do not say "end" because being a Le Cordon Bleu graduate is never that, and it opens a whole different doors to new horizons. Dear graduates, we are very proud of what you achieved so far and looking forward to watching your accomplishments to enrich the culinary world with your vision. Congratulations!

And a very special thanks to our Cuisine Diploma graduates Kathryn Ohashi & Josee Witherow for depicting their journey at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa in such a creative way!

Uniforms pressed and clean and white,
We started in Basic Cuisine, Superior so far out of sight.

In the demo room we watched chef so comfortable with a knife
Who would have know that tiny chopped vegetables could cause so much strife!

We progressed to eggs and then fish and then meat
And then actually producing something good to eat!

For etuvée make sure you use a shallow, shall-lo-lo-low pan
Sautoir, sauteuse and ramekin for a flan

Measuring ingredients, lighting cooktops, filleting fish,
with butter and cream the essential to every dish.

“It’s in the details” , the chef would say,
The dish would transform in every way,

Onto Intermediate and learning about the regions on France
From pigeon to choucroute and then Cassoulet Dance

The multitude of sauces, and over 200 ways to cook potatoes just right
Skim, skim, skim the stock and roll the ballotine nice and tight

Superior came after a slight break during the COVID time
But as luck would have it, it was to demos online

Chef did his best to show practicals, the flavour and textures in 2D
But we were happy that in-person demos resumed for us to see.

Sure there have been times when a salt extractor would be a treat
and another when sugar made its way into the salt, making our savory sweet

There have been days when we thought chef had moved the clock forward in time
For some reason we thought we had better managed our “thyme”

There are occasions when we imagined a plate so refined
Coiled potatoes and basil chips and puree in a perfect line.

Transforming those ingredients from the production cart,
“It’s all basic science” or is it an art?

As long as you cut small pieces, even to the discerning eye,
the sauce will be “Beeautiful” like diamonds in the sky.

“Allez-up”, Thanks to you all for an incredible ride,
Taking us out of our comfort zone and for being our guide.

Chefs, you gave us a gift that we appreciate quite a lot
the confidence and the abilities to do what we sought

To Le Cordon Bleu, we are grateful to you,
For the memories and the experience and the friendships so true.

-- Written by Kathryn Ohashi, read by Kathryn Ohashi & Josee Witherow during Term 1 2021 Graduation Ceremony at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa --