dejaq

In the interest of time Rob, (72 clock hours to be exact) the Exec. was insistant that everything be purchased, IE cakes, props, pastry. The molded chocolate centerpieces in Dark chocolate were purchased by him, as well as the minitures, but everything else was made by me in house. I told him that on an evening like this, it was most important not to purchase anything from any commercial bakery wholesalers such as whole cakes or individuals, but due to time being of a concern, he could get by with the minis purchased from Uster. In my fair opinion, there are no good bakeries here in DC except for Patrick, everything else is a compromise. Michael

as a part of opening night at the Oz restaurant, the GM asked to create an ultimate chocoholics room, given the limited amount of time, I could have done more, but then perfectionists are never happy with their own work.

I am going to be willing to say that this is one of the most contructive posts ever to have graced our pages here at eg forums, good luck to you and well-keep us updated of your post, I for one sincerely thank you. Michael

Thanks for your input, I understand the nature of the industry and how “fickle” people can be. Surprisingly, there may be some hope yet for one of the co-owners who noted that he is going to wait about another month in order to iron out these mickey mouse problems with our client before proceeding with all 9 stores. Needless to say, I was shocked, wow maybe he’s beginning to listen to me for a change after all, that’s a switch?! Could be a bit of paranoia also, that always adds a bit of spice to things...If you could only see what gar-baaage these people were getting before we came along, maybe we could have a better level of appreciation for the expression “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

Both suggestions are exactly my thought, I actually worked for the parent company that we are now serving wholesale now, four years ago. They weren’t organized back then and it seems, things haven’t really improved much in all this time. It’s a shame, history really does have a funny way of repeating itself, sometimes. I did send a very polite note to the store manager, down on Cap hill attesting to the effect “ we stay competitive in the marketplace due to our production methods” yada ya, and was asked not to get involved with reminding the client of company policy, hmmmm, things like this indeed do have a radionuclionic half life.

With one of the organizations that I am working for, they seem to have a problem from an administrative standpoint of requiring from their wholesale accounts particularly one in question to submit their paperwork with timely expedience. This has created a host of bottlenecks for production since their preliminary counts do not jive with their final (later in the day counts) (well into production and packaging). Forcing staff to have to repack, pull, and reload merchandise in excess or under spec. Is this a Production issue or is it truly the responsibility of admin to address disorganization on this level.

thought I would chime in on this one, mostly I have found it depends on your comfort level. I have found that by becoming more familar with the art of baking, helps you to become less dependent on using scales and weights as a crutch. Ever work in a Greek diner? watch how their bakers work, those guys hammer it out so quick and fast it's blinding. They have done the same things over and over so many times, they don't even follow a recipe. One more thing, as you become more familar with the craft, at least I have noticed, it feels more like cooking (a dash of this, and a pinch of that) and less like baking, it just depends on how comfy you are. Mike

i basically would want to just mix it into the cold fruit puree and fold in the cream you answered it! mycryo is hot process, a gelee bavarian is or could be cold... quick and easy, no fuss, no muss. Michael

Consulting is a hard pressed matter for any chef... you really have to know your stuff, and even then their are no guarantees. I am on assignment with two companies as I write this, one is a commercial bakery that produces for Nordstrom and Starbucks. they are looking for new bar ideas, the 6-7 varieties that we have come up with so far are unlike anything currently avaialable anywhere. It will be exciting to see something I developed to be presented in a Starbucks as far away as California. the second contract (to start next Tuesday) is a temp. to train that means I go in train an exsisting staff how to raise their game and leave in about 7-8 weeks. I do charge for travel expense outside a Washington geographic area, as well as lodging, and a per diem expense daily. my standard hourly rate is 50.00 per hour. hope this helps. Michael

I have always had good experience with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and even some Ports. depending on Oak-Aging Aromas vs. Varietal-based Aromas the following rings true: Merlot is wonderful, with hints of cherry, plum,mintolive, cassis, vanilla, walnut coffee,oak or cola, use exclusively with a dark (72% or higher) black cherry and soft tannins are prevalent. Cabs offer berry aromas and many of the same characteristics of merlot. Port are a bit tricky, it's a sweeter wine, therefore you must compensate for this. you may try a Syrah ( flavor notes of pepper, spice and black cherry) or perhaps a Sangiovese heavier full bodied spice, notes of raspberry, cherry and anise flavors. my suggestions concerning whites, is they are more complicated B/C they tend to be dry. a muscat, or late harvest vidal, such as an ice wine can have applications, but the structure of the formula may have to have a lot more going on such as a combination of milk and dark chocolate to make it work. stay away from chianti, zinfandel, pinot, and chenin blancs for they may be more trouble than for what they are worth to get proper flavor balance. this topic will be in a forth coming article in the new zine "dessert Esoteric" look for it. Michael

It sounds like you are on point about emulsification, remember you have to add drys to liquid and not the other way around. B/C a larger proportion of cacao butter is needed to set a cream, the amount of mycryo in relationship to the liquids may seem high, but that's mycryo, you need a bit to gel an areated cream. At those percentages, it's pricey stuff, but for vegan applications, which is really the only use I can see fot it, other than those that simply don't like gelatin, your better off using a bavarian powder. Michael

Good luck Brian, I have a feeling you will do well! Hope the family is feeling better. Michael

Thank you very much Michael I've recently bought the 2005's edition of the El Bulli book's colection. They come with a new techique which they call the inverted-spherification. The sodium alginated solutions react in the presence of calcium, so that is to say if the liquid you're willing to turn into spheres has calcium in it, that will ruin the entire process as the reation will occur when you had the sodium alginate to the liquid itself. For example that would mean no milk chocolate caviar... or anything that has cream or milk in it. The way they've dealed with it, opening a new range of possibilities, was to invert the process : since the liquid has calcium in it, instead of mixing it with soldium alginate and then drop it on a calcium chloride solution, they just correct the calcium ammount of the liquid by adding some calcium chloride and then drop it on a water+sodium alginate solution. This way it produces a similar spherification reaction but just on the outskirts, leaving the center of the sphere still soft. ← Yeah, I got Adrià's most recent works as well, he is such a brillant and talented Artist, double thumbs up to anyone setting aside nearly three hundred USD for the set, well worth every blessed nickel, not dust collectors, but functional works of inspiration, he is a genius, but we already know that. Michael

Jisho is right on point... red bean paste and green tea are an excellent flavor profile combo, tried it last summer. Although as of yet, I have not done anything with tofu, it is a good choice also, and will require further investigation later on. Good Luck to you Duckduck, may the games begin! Michael

Good luck to you Kouign Aman! I just came up with some stuff playing around with salisfy and Jicama, interesting stuff. I made a raspberry balsamic poached infusion with the salsify, and sauted the Jicama with some honey, lime and simple syrup, makes a terrifc salad and dehydrated between two sheets of silpat, a nice dryed decor. Michael

Very nice, well done, looks delish...this is the type of dessert we really look forward to this time of the year, I can only imagine the flavor profile, I think you made some terrific combinations, and went well with trusting your instincts. Michael

Hey Filipe, It's interesting you thought of this. I am sure a dessert Tapas oriented company could do well, Specializing in high end -Vienoise tables and such. It would be a niche market though. People that gather around at festive occasions tend to drink and be merry. In my experience, dessert (passed and buffet) is an eclectic either or proposition, people usually gravitate one way or the other. I did come up with a concept a year ago called "Baby Showers R Us" tied into a high tea/hor'deurves theme, hinged on the promotion of specialty high end rolled fondant cakes. Ours, (for my son) was so popular, all the ladies in the group were asking "where can I get this"? It may still happen, but for the moment, the Consortium takes all my time. Hope this helps, Michael

Thanks It's a blueberry+strawberry+raspberry panacotta topped with strawberry jelly laying over a chocolate financier This next one is a coconut panacotta laying over a lemon genoise on which I've used the apple caviar ← Outstanding work, application of the pearls does have a place under the sun in retail presentation, terrific work Filipe. Michael

this should be good... I have been recently tinkering around with some of this, and have come up with some interesting things. Good luck to... Michael

Klary, for someone who has never done anything like this before, you hit high marks. Nicely photographed and terrific presentation. these flavors are some of my faves as well this time of year. keep up the great work! Michael

I am glad this thread was started, I was going to start this, but they beat me to it! I did this a few years ago when I was at the Inn at Buckeystown, a little B&B about 15 minutes North of the Hacienda. It's a pretty faithful representation of the Inn, but in miniature, right down to the front porch and all. I really enjoyed working for the owner Janet Wells, she was a real sweetheart. The house took about 3 days to put together, with most of the time going into the design phase. Happy Holidays everyone! Michael

Kerry, what a lovely dessert you came up with, the presentation and components really come together very nicely, I know you were more than able to put some thing together this amazing. well done, Bravo! Michael

Thanks for all of your very kind comments, remember this was a hard pressed week for time, imagine the possibilities with a little more homework and forethought, the Pastry Consortium, wait for it. Michael

some other suggestions: a pistachio financier a Pomegranate curd (which could be morphed into a chiboust) or compound mousse a pistachio gerbet macaroon I like the Pomegranate gelee idea. Michael

In case anyone was looking for the brulee recipe, here it is: Gellified Creme Brulee Michael