alanamoana

by the time bread comes out of the oven, the yeast is long dead...aside from alcohol and carbon dioxide (which should also have evaporated by then), what is residual in hot bread that wouldn't be there in cold bread? i've never heard of this phenomenon and i've eaten a ton of hot bread in my life, either heated or fresh out of the oven.

they definitely sell the pearls and the straws in chinatown. look for the large brown pearls if that's the kind you're used to drinking/eating. they'll look a bit powdery. don't soak before cooking. phaelon's link has the correct method. sometimes, i will boil them for a minute or so and then rinse them and change the water so that the water doesn't get all gummed up, but that isn't crucial. edited to add: make sure that all the pearls are transparent when you're done cooking them. if they have an opaque core to them, then they aren't done and you'll have that weird texture in the middle.

flour is matured before being sent to market, correct...however, to strengthen the gluten they do not use bleach, that is the opposite effect you'd like with your cake flour. maturing agents that strengthen gluten are potassium bromate and ascorbic acid. flour that has been bromated has to be labeled as such (particularly in california, while it is no longer allowed in canada and europe) as it is a carcinogen (in lab animals). so, the move has been toward using ascorbic acid (vitamin C). these strengthening agents basically speed up the aging process in flour. bleach on the other hand is also a maturing agent, but it is a maturing agent that weakens gluten rather than strengthening it. this weakening of gluten in bleached cake flour gives you the desired effect of a tender and even crumb in your cakes.

according to paula figoni in "how baking works" -

in the old time/life series book "candy", there are two recipes for what i think you're describing josho. one is referred to as molasses taffy and the other is called "yellowman" or golden honeycomb pulled taffy. neither one describes how you can get such perfect air holes. that is certainly accomplished via the pulling rather than the baking soda. the chemical reaction certainly wouldn't give you such perfect hole structure.

agar agar is a gelling agent which might have the wrong texture result for a "pudding". when set, agar products have an almost crunchy texture very unlike gelatin's smoothness. if you're looking to make a soft pudding, as etalanian mentions, you can even make something similar to pastry cream thickened with some sort of vegetable starch like cornstarch, potato starch or tapioca starch.

maybe i'm thinking of a different product. the honeycomb i used to make was just: sugar, honey, corn syrup, butter...cook to certain color, add baking soda...quick stir to aerate and dump out. break apart and serve.

if you're just dipping your honeycomb, there's no need to pull it at all. you should stir in the baking soda and quickly dump it out onto your silpat or oiled surface and that's all. it usually doesn't cut very easily and you just have to break it apart.

when i first read the title of this thread, i thought of kugelhopf...a yeasted coffee-cake type bready thing. maybe you can base your muffin recipe on a kugelhopf recipe and see what happens. it is typically less rich than a brioche.

it is probably best if you're subtle about your search when you start off looking for another job, but when it gets serious (like you have gone on an interview or maybe a tryout) you talk to your boss about it. it can bite you in the ass if you're not forthcoming with information (and i refer to restaurant industry as well as other industries): your prospective new boss decides on his/her own to call for references before you've mentioned your intentions to your current boss...this is usually a bad scenario. sometimes you can save yourself the effort of looking for a new job if your boss is open to cross-training you in different areas. i got tired of working in the kitchen at one of my jobs and was able to move over to the front office for the remainder of my time with the restaurant. it kept me happy and they didn't have to train me because i already knew what was going on..win/win. had i stayed in new york, i might still be working for them in a different capacity.

Ruth, your experience is exactly what I meant when I wrote my response. It is by no means only hobbyists who slow the class down. There are "professionals" who have their employer paying for the class and they just play around because they're getting time off work to be at the class. You took advantage of what the class offered and I'm sure you came away with a lot from the experience. That makes you exactly the kind of student they're looking for!

i think it is good to read the descriptions carefully and (realistically) judge your skill level before taking a class. certainly, calling the school to ask them what would be expected of you shouldn't be ruled out. at the wybauw class, there were people of all levels. there were people who had their own businesses, self-taught professionals, industry professionals...i would say there were about 16-18 people there and there were probably 3 or 4 who shouldn't have been there. in other words, their skill level and their ability to work with other people weren't at an acceptible level. but, i think that is inevitable in this situation because they want to sell out the course and they probably won't turn anyone (with a check or credit card) away. the problem with this is that it can bring the level of the entire class down if those individuals monopolize the instructor's time/focus. when you're paying $800+ for the class and transportation and lodging...that's a lot of money to pay and you shouldn't have your experience marred by someone who is there to play around. that being said, i think that if you're a serious home cook/baker, you would be able to take any of the classes offered. if you're there to gawk at pierre herme, maybe you shouldn't take the class. if you're willing to work with other people and pull your own weight and learn what the instructor is teaching, take the class by all means!

i think this is a chicken-or-the-egg argument. do pastry chefs go there because of the money or are they the only places that can pay the money because of volume? i have to say that places like new york, chicago, san francisco and los angeles are big cities that can bankroll pastry chefs. that being said, the salaries are still paltry compared to exec chefs etc. and when you take into consideration the cost of living, it is still a struggle to make a living in a big city. the pastry chefs who get recognized (by PAD, as I mentioned above before this thread was merged into an existing thread) happen to be ones who work in hotels and bakeries...i think this is an insider/political thing. when it comes down to it, if you're a good pastry chef (like the ones listed), you'll do a great job at a good restaurant because it is what you love to do. the money will come eventually but i don't think that is a primary motivator. and i agree with rob, i would much rather work at a high-end restaurant where you can change those six desserts on a whim rather than having to mass produce the same thing over and over again. the pastry 'demi-gods' in las vegas are few and far between...the likelihood that they are at the ovens every day is very slim. they are lending their name just like most of the chefs who have a signature restaurant do.

While I have to agree that chef wear isn't very flattering to women, the goal surely isn't to look sexy in the kitchen, is it? The uniform was designed for practical reasons... long sleeves to keep you from burning yourself a double breasted front so that you could conceal stains if necessary I've never had a problem wearing a uniform. It thankfully keeps me from worrying about what to wear at work (and it saves me $$$). Then again, I've never understood women who wear makeup in a kitchen either. I think the only time I would ever be concerned with how the jacket looked is if I were to be included in some sort of photo shoot. To me, the uniform is part and parcel of the job. The respect that you get from people who see you in a chef jacket is pretty universal. When I see people in novelty chef wear (baggy pants with peppers on them - apologies to FG, multi-colored or denim chef jackets), I automatically question their qualifications/intentions. But that's my own prejudice.

Sam Mason now has his own place "Tailor" Pichet Ong also has his own place "P*ONG" Jordan Kahn is in California now (?) Alex Stupak is at "WD-50", replacing Sam Mason Johnny Iuzzini is pastry chef at "Jean-Georges" and "Perry Street" (although he isn't the corporate pastry chef for Jean-Georges...unless that has changed in the last couple of years). "Room-4-Dessert" has closed, but there's some discussion that Will Goldfarb is working on a new project already.

edited to remove repeat... for more "adult" flavor: espresso/chocolate sauce

Heck, I don't even mess with that. If I have leftover batter, I can save it to make a marble cake later (but not too much later), or I always bake off cupcakes. It's great to have a stash of well wrapped frozen cupcakes around when someone shows up and wants you to pull something out of your butt on short notice. ← hmmm, butt flavored cupcakes!

we used to make a lemon flavored agar (not my department), but it set up fine. i realize that it doesn't set up as well with acidic ingredients. does heating the juice affect any change in the pH? agar does have to be boiled to dissolve.

looks like a baby lotus leaf. i've never seen them eaten like that, but they use the older bigger leaves to wrap sticky rice and you can eat the seeds out of the center of the flowers, so they must be edible.

rob, i don't think there's any sort of fancy conversion to use. most pastry chefs (okay, maybe just me) just use an oven set to pretty much the same temp always and rotate and check things regularly. after you make things a few times, you get used to how long it takes. i'd say at work, my commercial convection oven is almost always at 350F or 375F and i just keep an eye on stuff. not very scientific, sorry!

for the most part, the better steam injected deck ovens are european made. that being said, i can't remember any particular name brands.

Thanks! I just got the jackets last night. They are tent-like with a small tie in the back. While I know I'll be expanding, I hope I don't get that big!

Aren't most bartenders using purchased mixers? A notable exception here in Washington is Todd Thrasher, the drinks master at Restaurant Eve, who makes all his own juices and elixers, including tonic. ← I think Pegu Club in NYC is another bar that makes quite a bit of their own mixers and drink flavorings. Nowadays with the trend toward naming your bartender a "mixologist" and the desire to have cool signature cocktails, many bars are at least infusing some of their own vodkas, etc. Juice should be squeezed fresh and most of the drinks that they're creating aren't using a ton of mixers...like, you shouldn't have margarita mix behind the counter at a high end bar unless they're making it themselves fresh everyday.

Per Se has a dedicated bakery which, if i understand correctly, is a money loser. They more than make up for that with private functions (huge revenue, less work for the restaurant overall). Cafe Gray doesn't have a full blown steam oven. That was a lost cause from the beginning with so much kitchen space in the back given up for front of house and open kitchen. But, as stated above, the overhead necessary to make good quality bread is a deal breaker particularly in New York City where real estate is so expensive. Ice cream and sorbets, however, require a lot less overhead and are fairly easy to make in house. Where you run into problems is with the health department of different states. In California in particular, you need a dedicated room for your ice cream machine. Most people just lie about it. It comes with working with dairy products...surprisingly hazardous when not handled correctly. Robuchon in NYC makes their bread in house as well (from what I remember). But I would have to say that the majority of middle range restaurants and some high end restaurants buy their bread.

hehe, i just had my boss order me two maternity jackets! funny that they make these things for pregnant women