artisanbaker

little off topic but unsweetened makes for a great joke

Jim, Thanks for the Leroy note. I jumped on some 04 Vosne Romanee on closeout for a "good" price but I hear they're shut down so I'll wait a bit. Sounds like I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the Bourgogne...if you say it's worth $70 then I take note! Rob

it's usually a piece of brioche that is made into a tiny "pizza" and dotted with butter and sprinkled with sugar. it's baked quickly and often the butter/sugar mixture does not completely melt into a homogenous sauce.... you can see pix in "Special and Decorative Breads" by Kayser etc...a great book btw and worth getting for any serious baker. like most wonders in France, it's all about the "matieres premieres" or basic ingredients. happy baking

i clicked on the link and found your writing to be most impressive. thanks

Roger Gural who is an old poster on egullet (rgural) left in January. There is a new head baker who started around last week IIRC, not that he should have anything to so with the pastries...necessarily...

Venge made the first 100pt Parker wine: the 85 Groth Reserve. These days, he is involved with Keenan, Del Dotto, Saddleback, Carter and Venge Family...perhaps even others. Pretty sure Togni made the Chappellet 78. Heard lots of good things about Shafer 78 for the record. Also pretty sure that Conn Creek sourced some killer grapes during this period. Consensus about 78 is good. Thanks for the notes.

Mr. Leaman has a great resume full of enriching experiences so it's no suprise reviews are so good.

sufficient sugar in your dough

chef johnny: you have no idea what you're talking about

Beall (pronounced bell) Met Mr. Fleer last October and thought he was a top notch guy, but unfortunately was not able to spend enough time with him. FWIW, I've worked in the French Laundry and in the Blackberry Farm restuarant and the BF restaurant is no TFL...imo. Lots of exciting stuff going on there; the Bealls have the financial means to make stuff happen for sure. I would prefer renting a cottage in the mountains over staying at BF, but to each their own. I can certainly understand wanting to stay somewhere that says yes to every desire you have... You should have a good time phlawless.

i don't know what these are called in marketing lingo, but i'm sure there are benefits which occur (like pr) due to the release of a book that are relatively difficult to track/give credit to on a p/l. my accounting stuff is a long shot. i do understand that complex businesses must be financially sound, but i've learned that things aren't always "as they seem." if a book causes a lot of folks to come to your restaurant but it doesn't "make money by itself," then you simply look at the end of the year p/l and if you made a profit then how much roi did the book yield. not an easy task it seems to me, but hey i'm a baker. i do see the pride/ego stuff but i would tend to think that a lot of chefs (even ones with big egos) have enough sense (cents!) to keep that in check so that they don't lose out finacially on a endeavor like a book contract. i don't buy AC and think that thuries blow it away. i haven't renewed my thuries in a long time but that the real deal folks.

I'd love to hear how everything works out for you and your thoughts about the class if you do go. best

thanks rjwong! gee i even posted on that thread! she didn't like the idea of drinking melted snow and roasting black bear kebobs over an bonfire... something a little more family oriented

wide open folks any recs? wife said i'm fired if this trip isn't fun... j/k

I don't know about you guys' flour, but my flour is a different milling every batch! probably from different wheat... (i like to argue, i know)

OK, this is why I made post #2 on this thread. With all due respect, if your culture morphs (seems to me to be inevitable) then what's the matter with that. In the end if the bread is good then so what? For the record, SachCerv is in all levains based upon the above cited research iirc. Which led me to make post #7 re: myths. People like to perpetuate myths (I am a guilty party) to add charm. Saying that you made a starter in France sounds a lot better than saying you made your starter in say, Robinsville, NC... thoughts jackal10 and others?

"The conclusion is that a mature sourdough culture is pretty stable stuff, but the exact behaviour and flavour will depend not only on the culture but also on many other factors, including the local temperature and feeding regime, flour ash content, oxygenation, dough and stiffness." Voila, there you have it! nice work jackal10!

thanks for the dialogue everyone; i agree that it's fascinating... nathanm, i think you're #1 is close to the truth. there is a market, however relatively minuscule (perhaps even easily targetable) i still contest that those chefs above aren't worth the risk you're #2 is not correct imo (with due repect) as we've already established that there is a market. you and i make up this market, and i know a lot more folks that make purchases like these as i'm sure you do as well. if the companies are losing money, that's their fault. it doesn't mean there's not a market. (am i off here?) my above point about making money has more to do with accounting than ego if you catch my drift...i don't believe that all "for profit" businesses exist to "make money..."

a revolutionary theory: maybe they're not publishing these books to "make money..."

makes great sense. keep in mind that in spite of the fact your a paying "customer," these classes often are "managed" similar to production setting. if you have a hard time keeping up, then you will effectively hold the "team" back. the professional staff there should help you make the best choice based upon your knoweledge level without compromising the pace of the course...i'm exercising diplomacy here

i think you should respect the school's rules: pro classes are for pros. if you intend on becoming a pro then you should tell them. i've taken more than a few classes at FPS and speak from experience...the school would not differentiate if they didn't care *no affiliation*

if you go to bbga.org and order the "sourdough" leacture series on tape then i bet dollars to doughnuts you'll find the answer and probably even a study as you've described. there are 7 cassettes and lecture material featuring many many many EXPERTS in the field. i'm just a baker...

there a third possibility that perhaps you're not aware of: the starter takes on the personality of the flour it's fed with... sorry to complicate your question; i hope you get it answered. i suspect there's truth in all 3 "possibilities." i think i used to know but as my mind is full of many things i think i threw it in the "recycle bin" to make space! i'll try to call one of my old teachers for you.

i reiterate: there is not enough talent yet. give it another century or even 2. TK is the only one of the above listed that could produce a commercially viable product imo (period) if i was a ceo of publishing co. and i was going to put up thousands, it would not be on trotter, kunz, etc. keller would be the only one. i suppose that's why i'm a baker and not a ceo of publishing company...

1. persistance works 2. pride is good to an extent (can temper #1 above) 3. good salespeople "close the deal" *early* as to avoid such scenarios this stuff happens all the time; i'm careful about putting too many eggs in a single basket sometimes it's good to walk away and be patient. be confident in your product and your business. this has helped me and the lack of has certainly hurt me. as you know, business in it's pure form can be very tough, so it helps to play hard some times, even hard to get! good luck