#100FootJourney Teaches You That Every Bite Takes You Home – My Cordon Bleu Cooking Experience

Most social functions always seem to have a strong tie to food. Food — both the taste and the smell — can bring back strong memories. For example, potato salad and chocolate chip cookies remind me of my mom. She has her own recipes for them, and they are just so delicious. Even though I live 4 hours away, if I make her chocolate chip recipe, it takes me back home.

In “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, Maison Mumbai. That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin-starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren) gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own escalate into a heated battle between the two establishments until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine — and for Madame Mallory’s enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon) — combine with his mysteriously-delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Madame Mallory cannot ignore. At first Madame Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

After I was able to see this movie when I was in LA, I was able to take part in cooking at Le Bordon Bleu!

Our tour was led by Lead Chef Instructor Chanel Martinez.

We learned about their cooking program and what is expected of their students. We even got to watch a chef practicing.

We then got to go into the demo kitchen.  Once there, we got to feast on an appetizer of Quiche Lorraine, a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, and Beef Bourgogne Kabob.

While snacking on this appetizer, we then watched our chef start our cooking lesson for the Parisian Mumbai Salad. He went over everything, so we would know what to do:

Then it was our turn:

When we were done, this is what our salad looked like:

Yes, it was as good as it looks!  I even brought the recipe home so you too can try this!

Parisian Mumbai Salad

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Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp ginger freshly grated
• 1 tsp garlic minced
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 T curry powder
• 2 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1/3 strips)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper

Salad

• 4 oz mixed green
• 1 mango julienned
• 1 apple w/skin, julienned

Vinaigrette

• 2 T salad oil
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• ¼ tsp dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Naan Bread

• 1 pc Naan bread cut into cubes
• ½ oz salad oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Curried walnuts

• 1 oz grape seed oil
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp curry powder
• 2 oz walnuts

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Instructions

• In a plastic bag, combine the yogurt, ginger, garlic, cardamom, curry powder, salt and pepper.
• Add the sliced chicken pieces and marinate for 45 minutes. Set aside.
• Julienne the mango and apple. Set aside.
• Proceed the vinaigrette. In a bowl, mix Dijon mustand and red wine vinegar together. Add salt and pepper.
• Slowly incorporate the salad oil while continously whisking. Set aside.
• Take the bread and cut it into 3/4 inch cubes. Drizzle with salad oil, then season with salt and pepper.
• Bake it in the oven at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
• While waiting for the bread, toss the walnuts into the grape seed oil with sugar and curry powder. Set aside.
• Get the chicken and then grill it.