Off to the CIA, to attend “Baking and Pastry for Chefs.”
6 hour flight, 2 hour drive, and an over night stay later; class began with 17 chefs and 1instructor with a thick Scottish accent. We learned very quickly the limits of our own skill sets. I truly have to say there is nothing more amusing than a savory chef learning how to make pastries. For some of my classmates it was a true “fish out of water”experience. Everyone in the class was a Chef in their own right,so not a lot time was spent on every little tid bit of the baking world.
Although part of the culinary world, the realm of baking is different in its own right. Baking is an exact science; unlike the savory world where a little of this and a little of that will make a dish. With baking, the slightest Mis-measurement can throw everything off.
The first day of class we learned, “if you mis-measurement,throw it out and try again.”
Each day would start off with a brief lecture of our recipes, as well some key tips we were to learn, and what we should really pay attention to. Our recipes were very basic. Then again, you have to learn the fundamentals before you can even dream about attempting the darning. What is the purpose of each ingredient? Is it there for moisture? Is there for flavor? Is there for mouth feel? In the world of baking there are only 5 base ingredients that you really need to pay attention to; they are know as the “Fab 5:” Fat, Sugar, Eggs, Flour and Liquids.
Once you understand how each of the 5 will effect your baked good, you can easily manipulate flavor profiles. Let’s not forget the almighty salt: it is one of the most important ingredients it the kitchen. This statement holds true for the baking world, too. Without salt, your dessert will taste overly sweet and flat. Salt will help up lift flavors, just as an acid will.
Day 1 was centered on cakes and base elements:
Something that could be used as a “vehicle” to deliver flavors. We learned to focus on the aroma, the mouth-feel, the crumb, the density,the weight, the color. All of these are keys to determine if the item was baked,measured, or mixed correctly. Once the first few items were baked,everyone learned quickly that next to measuring, mixing was most important step. Once something is mixed wrong there is no saving it, just throw it out and start anew.
Day 2, we moved on to bread. Learning bread was even more enjoyable and more difficult.
Unlikely regular desserts, those without yeast,bread is a living thing. As with all living things, if it is not cared for properly it will die. If it dies at the wrong time, you will be left with a very dense, heavy, only good to fix a wobbly table thing. But if done right: mixed right, baked right, left to rise and left to cool (“d$%n impatient chefs; always in a hurry to tear it open”) you will have created something magical. Nothing releases endorphin’s like the smell of freshly baked bread.
By this time we were encouraged to work on what we felt we needed to learn. We veered towards ares such as bread baking, sauces, classic techniques, adaptations of basic and fundamental recipes, as well as advanced techniques.
Each day we still had lecture and our instructor still made it a point to demonstrate some of the more advance skills.
During my trip, I was fortunate to have to the opportunity to work with some Certified Master Chefs too; even though I had to be in class at 0500 am to do it. It is a very humbling thing,when people of a high caliber take the time to put into your education. Now let me tell you, these bakers who have to report at 0500 am or earlier are some serious coffee drinkers. I wont lie, after my short time with these bakers I went back to my room and CRASHED!(I had class later that night as well).
The invaluable information I gained was well worth getting up at 0430 am and I would definitely do it again.
Finally our last day of class came:
Our focus for the day was to take what learned, as well as did on the week prior, and compose a final dessert plate. After all, one of the goals of the class was to produce a better product and then present that product. As we all know, we eat with our eyes first. Does it balance? Is it united? Does it flow? Where is the focus? (B.U.F.F.) Does the dessert posses the 5 characteristics; sweet, sour(acid), salt, bitter and texture. A truly good dessert will not leave your mouth craving any of these characteristics.
In short, class at the CIA was great. In some areas it was a real eye opener, while in other areas it reinforced and solidified some of my skills. On a whole, it gave me a greater respect for full-on pastry chefs and their skills. At the same time, it was motivating and encouraging to get home and get back into a “real” kitchen. School is a great place to make a mistake, not have to worry to much about how much it cost, or if your boss will ask, “What the h$&! are you doing…?” In our case, we paid a very skilled Scotsman to call us “Cupcake” every time we made a mistake.
So an overnight stay, a 2 hour drive, a 6 hour flight later and my trip was done. I was home, back in my kitchen and rearing to cook and BAKE!
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@ChefJRivas
