The Pastry Chef
The Life of a Professional Pastry Chef…
Pastry chefs are a rare breed in more ways than one. Generally speaking they are not made from the same mold as other chefs and it can usually be said; ‘Once a pastry chef, always a pastry chef’.
What seperates chefs from pastry chefs? two things, patience and the ability to follow a recipe. Chefs are people in a rush, speed is of the esscence. They know this because it is programmed into them from day one and the mantra is repeated daily in case they forget. Chefs don’t follow recipes, they look over the senior chef’s shoulder and watch before repeating it over and over-recipe books are for pastry chefs.
Virtually everything a pastry chef does comes from copying a recipe word for word, measure for measure. They have to, a chef doesn’t add two grammes of salt, it’s a pinch followed by a taste followed by more or not. You can’t do that with baking powder. This is what separates the two species. I think much has to do with the fact that young chefs fresh out of school would rather stick a fork in their eye then study a recipe book and I was the same. I just wanted to get on with it when I was younger, baking bored me. You followed a recipe by someone else, put it in an oven, put the timer on and then took it out. Nobody shouted at me in between, it wasn’t normal.
Looking back I regret not having had more of an opportunity to learn pastry properly, I took a couple of advanced qualifications in it but by then I was a fully fledged sauce chef, like it or not. I don’t mind that, I wouldn’t have changed my career path to follow pastry given a second chance-I’d be a stockbroker instead!
Generally speaking the pastry chef(s) are kept seperate from the rest of the team if the size of the kitchen allows it. Pastry chefs don’t do hot kitchens, I’ve seen many a miserable pastry chef trying to temper chocolate at thirty degrees centigrade much to the amusement of the sweaty sauce chef stuck between a hotplate and an oven range. The busiest time of the day on the pastry is in the morning, that’s when the pressure is on, with a sauce, larder or entremetier chef it’s the other way around. All of the mis en place (fancy French for ‘prep’) has to be made and cooked before service begins because all of the ovens will be in use during dinner service.
Back in the days before late night drinking hours were introduced the pastry chef had the worst shift in the world. Last desserts were/still are a killer. The one night you really want to get down the pub there is a late order. It’s always the same couple, he takes an hour with the wine list, she decides to go to the toilet the minute you tell them their table is ready. He then gets up half way through the meal to smoke followed by a debate about wether to have a dessert or not. At this point everyone in the kitchen has gone to the pub except the pastry chef, ‘Billy No-Mates’ stands against his bench, arms folded wishing a slow and painfull death on the guy in the restaurant who wants to wait twenty minutes before deciding.
By now even the kitchen porters have finished, there is one light left on in the kitchen and Billy has lost the will to live. Right then, on the stroke of last orders in the bar the waiter comes through and tells Billy the guy doesn’t want a dessert after all….
Miles,
If I have a leaning anywhere in the kitchen, it would have to be towards the pastry section…. I am that person who weighs stuff and bakes and watches nervously to see if things are rising. Perhaps it goes with my love of potion making and the perfect paint recipe… who can say, but I am an avid reader of ingredients cosmetic or otherwise. Subsequently I found myself recently drawn to the Ferran Adria sites to see what was going on in his world. It rather reminded me of some Japanese foods which are encased in jelly or seaweed concoction and served singularly on an exquisite plate. The agars and other ingredients are offered for sale…. I’d want a personal trainer to go with it
I had to admit that the concept of a quirky place to eat, situated remotely, that only opens for half the year, is intriguing …… trouble is El Bulli costs a packet and they’re fully booked a year ahead. Less intriguing and much more readily available was my steamed monkfish with garlic and ginger that I made last night…. the whole thing took 10 mins including the rice.
Cid
May 17, 2008 @ 9:25 am
Cid,
If measuring out ingredients and El Bulli is your thing then do what I did and buy the book instead-a snip at £120.
You do get a CD Rom to go with it!
Miles
May 17, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Miles,
Admitting that you own the book is a dangerous thing…. there might be people out there who would like a peek!
Cid
May 17, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
Cid,
Viewing charges are quite reasonable, they reflect the cost price of the book
Miles
May 17, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Miles,
Viewing is presumably between April and September?
Fear not, I shall provide my own white, ancient manuscript page turning gloves…. in the meantime I shall be practising my jellied olive encased in marzipan, dipped in chocolate and embedded in a scotch egg 
Cid
May 17, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Cid,
I may blog this book, reading it makes me realise what it must have been like to hear Sgt.Peppers when it was first released!!
Miles
May 17, 2008 @ 8:04 pm
Miles,
An excellent idea. Perhaps you could take us through some of the methods, step by step. Before you ask, my local market doesn’t have sea urchin so stick to sprouting broccoli spears dipped in powdered schnapps …. this one’s for Elsie
I managed to find one site that sold a sort of powdered malt that when mixed with something and then heated in a frying pan, turned to light popcorny nibbles. Trouble is I’ve lost the name of the site and now I’ll never get to open El Cid in Lincolnshire
Cid
May 17, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Miles,
Your stories are always very illuminating. It hopefully makes those reading them more aware of what sweat and toil goes on behind the kitchen doors and perhaps more mindful and understanding.
I, for one, have learnt a lot.
Christine
May 19, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Christine,
I think people should be made aware of what it is like to be a chef, it’s not all Gordon and Jamie.
Nice to hear from you again
Miles
May 20, 2008 @ 7:35 am