My friends have given me several aloe vera plants, burn cream and various protective devices since I’m famous for burning myself. Not wanting disappoint everyone, today I gave myself a rather nasty burn.

I was preparing my paupiettes de veau borgeoise (stuffed veal rolls with glazed vegetables). You begin by pounding veal slices very thin and wrapping them around a stuffing made of shallots, garlic, mushrooms, ham, ground veal, ground pork, pork fat, breadcrumbs and cream. Roll each veal slice around the stuffing, wrap with a piece of fatback and tie with string. Next, you sear the veal rolls in a combination of oil and butter before placing them in the oven.

This is where I got myself into trouble. As I was turning over the veal while browning, I splashed the back of my wrist with burning hot oil and butter. Being the expert that I am on burns, I quickly wiped off the oil (I think I heard my skin sizzle) and immediately ran it under cold water for a while. Massimo helped me smear burn cream all over my wrist, and I continued cooking.

Once the veal rolls are brown, place them in the over for about five minutes. This should give you enough time to turn the carrots. If don’t know what turning means, don’t try it. I suck at it, especially when I’ve burned myself. Turning is the process of cutting carrot pieces into perfectly round ovals with a paring knife. They look like baby carrots, so I keep wondering why we can’t just use those instead and save ourselves the hassel.

Take the veal out of the oven and lift the rolls carefully out of the oil and butter. Remove the fat from the pan, add your mirapoix and caramelize. Deglaze the pan with cognac, add your veal stock, put the veal back into the sauce, and place in the oven.

Caramelize your carrots and baby onions over high heat and set aside. When the temperature inside the veal reaches 65 degrees Centigrade, pull out the veal and let it rest while you strain the sauce and reduce it a bit. Slice the veal into rounds, place carrots and onions on the plate, and ladle some sauce around the vegetables.

Needless to say, I didn’t do so well because my mind was on the burn. When I took my plate to the chef for grading, he looked at my hand and let me to the first aide box. He put on some second skin, gauze and taped the whole thing up. I almost went through the roof while he was taping my hand, but I endured the pain because the chef was really hot. Kinda made getting burned worth it! Unfortunately my sauce wasn’t seasoned enough, my carrots didn’t have enough sugar (for caramelization), and my veal was a little tough.

When I went home, I ate my veal roles with pleasure. Even though I didn’t get the best grade, I still enjoyed them. Then I sat around for several minutes trying to figure out I was going to wash my hair without getting the bandages wet.

At last I had a brilliant idea. I stuck my hand in a plastic sack – the kind you get at the grocery store – and secured it with a rubber band. It actually worked pretty well until I had to wash my face. I soaped up my left hand and my bag hand and proceeded like normal. Because the bag is pretty scratchy, it could almost pretend it was like getting a facial. Hmmm… maybe I’m on to something!

I’ve finally received my initiation in the kitchen. I’m sure there will be several more burns and cuts, but at least I’ve got the initial one out of the way!

Update

It has been a week since I burned myself and it’s been quite the adventure. Do you know the saying too many cooks spoil the soup? Well it also holds true for injuries. I had so many people telling me what to do – use Vaseline, use vinegar, use a certain type of cream, keep it covered, don’t cover it, etc. Needless to say, I was pretty confused about what to do.

A couple days after I burned myself, the skin around the burn started to turn red and become inflamed. I thought for sure I had an infection, so I asked Madame for the name of her doctor. She called to make an appointment for me, but as luck would have it, it was the Friday before Easter and most people leave town. Unable to make an appointment, Madame took me to the Emergency Room after class.

Madame waited with me for three hours at the hospital. Because of the holiday, only one doctor was available. Finally after I was about to give up, the nurse ushered us into a room and removed the bandage. I was certain they would look at my burn and tell me they’d have to cut off my arm. But thankfully, that was not the case. Evidently the swelling and redness is common in burns like these.

The doctor came in after a while to poke and prod my skin. “C’est normal,” he said. It’s normal. The nurse then put gobs of white cream on the burn and wrapped my up tight. They asked that I return every two days to change the bandage. After a week, I should be back to normal.

I came to Paris for the adventure. Looks like I’ve found it!

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