maggie

I would have to disagree with Michael on one point: don't make a mess. We judge candidates, pc or line or whatever, on cleanliness as well as skills, ability to get along with the rest of us, and organization. We usually give candidates 3-4 hours, with a brief menu request, depending on what we think their experience is. Some have to make one plated dessert and produce something from the day's list; others need to make a chocolate dessert and a fruit dessert, sometimes a pre or mignardise. Sometimes they get an ingredient assigned, sometimes they don't. We make the decision based on the phone interview before they come, plus their resume. We ask them ahead of time if they have any ingredient requests, and don't mind if they snoop. If they haven't taken the time to look at our menus on line, I let them peek at the recipe book and the prep sheet for the day. But then again, if they haven't looked at the website, they get points off in my mind, anyway. How can they know what they're applying for, if they don't know what we do? I was a pastry cook down last summer, and I interviewed for three months, without success. I was so relieved when the missing pastry cook came back! I just have to say: don't talk too much, don't eat while you're interviewing (yes, it happened!), clean as you go, go in with a game plan, stick with what you know, and know what you're interviewing for. What's the paper for?

If I can get back to the subject, trad vs avant garde, I wonder why we feel that it has to be one way or the other? My situation is unique in that guests stay for at least 3 days and eat all their meals here. They are a captive audience, to an extent, and I get to play with them. I love incorporating new techniques in old stuff, deconstructing things without letting them know it's been done, borrowing from the savory side. The menu changes every night, and everything is included in the room charge, so no one skips dessert, or pre dessert or mignardises, for that matter. The savory cooks and my team play well with each other, borrowing stuff, copying each other, and we all learn from the monthly guest chefs who come through for cooking schools. We don't consider ourselves as being from any school of thought. We take southern cooking and indigenous ingredients, new techniques, twisted old techniques, and just make our food. Sometimes we get stupid guests who want creme brulee or ice cream sundaes, and we give it to them. We've always got Paco containers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream! And the savory guys always get the NY strip and mashed potato people. But this is a really exciting time to be in this business, with the spotlight on us, and we should be open to all possibilities. I can't be purely experimental, but I sure am happy to learn from all who are. Flavor is the most important end result, no matter how one gets there. I love that there are people like Alex Stupak and Sam Mason, but the world needs Emily Luchetti and Karen Barker, too. hmmmm...why are the avant garde more men than women and the traditionalists more women than men?

Oops! I make that cake all the time for diabetics who stay at our hotel! My mom, the diabetic in family, tells me about the carb/sugar dilemna all the time, but I don't really study the science behind it. I just have to say that I find Splenda frightening, and will not be at all surprised at an announcement someday that it causes medical problems, just as with Sweet and Low. Your recipe includes processed sugar, which can't be good for them, either, as do a lot of recipes in the cookbooks we have at work for diabetic sweets. I would much rather serve small portions of naturally sweetened desserts than use chemicals, especially to a child.

If you don't want to use a sugar substitute, use a date or banana puree, equal amount for the sugar. Add one egg yolk to make the crumb stronger, if you use banana. To make the date puree, put the pitted dates in a microwave proof container and pack them down a bit. Cover with water and microwave until the water bubbles. Let them soak for 30-60 minutes, then puree completely. Measure how much you need from the puree, not before you make the puree. I like the dates better than the banana, because I think the banana flavor comes out too strongly. The dates act just like brown sugar, which is yummier in chocolate cake, anyway. I should say, I mean to use an ordinary chocolate cake recipe, with the substitution of the puree, one with cocoa powder and/or unsweetened chocolate. As for the frosting, I think the mother needs to face facts, or raise her child to be filled with chemicals. They say Splenda is made from sugar, but I think there's a lot of chemistry going on there that they're not talking about. My mom, a diabetic, gets diarhea from it, and I've heard that from others as well. I agree with the ganache as a way to go. Let us know how it comes out!

I have a Diplome de Patisserie from Le Cordon Bleu, 1996. It's where I'd always wanted to go, what I'd always wanted to do. It was a great experience and I wouldn't make a different choice if I were to go now, though it bugs me that they've franchised the program in culinary schools in the U.S. When I got back to the States, I was offered all 6 jobs I applied for, all entry level pastry positions. What I noticed as I worked my way up the pastry ladder was that recent graduates from American pastry programs knew lots more about sanitation and percentage formulas for baking than they knew about how to make pastry cream or creme anglaise. We made the basic pastry recipes over and over again, in different forms, by hand, to learn exactly what they should look like, taste like and feel like. The nine month Diplome course is very thorough. I don't think the Basic Certificate would be enough for a professional career. And the Chefs will arrange for stages for the students who are interested, though it's not a requirement for graduation. I only know one person who went to Le Notre, but I know that French people consider it the better of the two schools. Here, it's not as well known. I was in A. Simon one day buying tools and a mother with her son asked the guy at the counter which was better. He said Le Notre, definitely. It made me sad, since I was about to graduate! But my friend who went there knew more about quantity baking than I did, from going to Le Notre. We were taught to make one beautiful thing at a time, something one rarely does in real life pastry! But we were taught well, I think, even with ten years experience behind me now. I still refer to my notebooks from school when I want a basic classic recipe. One thing I think is important is that, no matter where one goes to culinary school, the attitude you bring with you is far more important than where you go. The Chefs at Le Cordon Bleu treated the serious students much differently than the Japanese women who showed up in Chanel who wanted to use the school on their matrimonial resumes, or the rich American kids whose parents sent them to culinary school as a last resort. Those who worked hard were pushed harder. Those who didn't were given much more leeway. I didn't take Cuisine, only Pastry, but I sat in on two Cuisine courses a term, and had friends in Cuisine. The courses were just as thorough and the Chefs were very talented and patient. Those who were going into the profession got good job offers at the end of school. I haven't kept in touch with them since then and don't know how they're doing now, but they got off to good starts. There are also mini courses offered during and between the semesters, like tours of the market that's right around the corner from school (Convention), and a long wine course I couldn't afford! I took the Boulangerie class between semesters, and it was great. I learned a lot and met people from all over the world. I hope I've helped you some! I know my Diplome has gotten my foot in the door of places I wouldn't have gone otherwise, and kept me in the doors I wanted to be in. I know my education is far better than any American school I could have chosen.

Okay, I'm on the side of the anti-expresso, but y'know what I can't say without feeling pretentious? Croissant. I pronounce it as Burger King does, not the French way, and I speak French! I went to KOOLinary school there! And not that I would EVER defend Emeril's cooking, but I think the manniase thing is a regional (Louisiana) pronunciation. He's just keeping "his" culture alive.

I guess I work somewhere in between A & B The owners, let's call them A, make the Executive Chef, not quite in my face B, possible, and he makes my job possible. We (the bake shop as well as the savory kitchen) have a tremendous amount of creativity and freedom. The Chef always seems to put his mark on what we do, even if it's a tiny mark, but hey! He's the Chef! And he encourages us all to be our best. Sounds sappy and unreal, but it's true. I've worked in huge corporate hotels and hated them. How does someone in Maryland or Chicago or Phoenix know what you're capable of, or what your guests want? And why is it that Executive Chefs in large hotels all at one time worked in pastry? And they have a better recipe than you, and they could do your job better, but they don't have time, so just do it their way, would you? I learned a lot from working with guys like that. Like, I don't want to do it again. I've heard M. Richard is enormously talented, but I like someone a little less, shall we say, influentialin what I do. Just what I've heard. And I'd have to say that goes for a lot of the Chefs I've met in last couple of years who come to our place to do cooking schools. My favorite ones are those who come without a dessert for their dinner and let me do what I want, and trust me to make it make them look good. My least favorite are the micro-managers who breathe down my neck the whole time, then bitch me out for not doing it right. Good luck in your transition from one chef to another. That's never easy. Just when you think you have one figured out, a new one comes in. And who knows how long he or she will last?

That is way too much fun! I know tomorrow I'm going to be thinking about it all the way down my prep list.

It seems as though what you've asked from us has gone unanswered, though I have to say that my first reaction to your letter was dismay at the grammar and spelling, as well (English Major! Can't help it!). I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris ten years ago, and I was so frustrated at graduation, feeling that I'd just spent $40,000 and didn't feel at all prepared for a job. Le Cordon Bleu has no restaurant to work in, but the Chefs would set up stages for those interested. I didn't speak French well enough, so I didn't do it (big mistake!). But when I came back to the States, my Diploma in hand, I was offered every job I applied for. Granted, ten years ago, the Food Network didn't exist and celebrity chefs were only celebrities amongst chefs, but anyway... As for what you've said about your frustration in not learning desserts in school, what you want to do and where the start status comes: In my current hotel bake shop, the dessert plater is the entry level position. It was my first job out of school. The dessert plater makes the elements of desserts that the Pastry Chef designs and writes the recipes for. The dessert plater rarely designs the desserts, until they learn how it's done and prove themselves capable. Until then, they are basically a line cook, and frequently have to do other jobs while waiting for the tickets to come in: chopping onions, peeling garlic, helping to plate salads. The other entry level position in my kitchen actually takes more skill, that of the a.m. baker. That's where you get to use all that stuff you apparently don't want to learn now. They make the breakfast breads, the dinner rolls, lunch breads and the lunch desserts. It's not glamorous, but it is definitely a spring board into the next level. And it is a much more available position in kitchens across the country. Very few places, relatively speaking, have honest to goodness Pastry Chefs, producing the desserts you seem interested in. Culinary school's function, like any other school, is to teach you the rules, the recipes and techniques. It's up to you to take what you've learned and make it into what you want, where you want to go. Anyone nowadays seems able to graduate from the CIA. We have a constant stream of resumes for externships from there. The ones who stand out with us are the ones who would have stood out if they'd gone to some obscure community college culinary program. They read and study and research and try hard. They ask questions and are open-minded. They don't constantly talk about what their chefs in school said versus what we tell them. They do as we ask and do it to the best of their abilities. That's what's going to get you into your own bake shop, designing those sexy desserts. It won't happen by pissing off the entire community of instructors at the CIA. I also have to tell you that when I look at a resume and a cover letter, I do look at spelling and grammar. It's important even in this business, because someone has to write the recipes that go in our notebooks, and I will go back and change a poorly written recipe. That you want to change what you see as wrong with your education that you're paying for is good and noble and probably needs to happen. Other advice you've received here, especially from CIA grads is advice you should probably heed. But meanwhile, learn what you can, even (or especially) about the stuff you're not interested in. It will, I promise, come in handy during your career. Good luck!

We also use the "little blue balls" that come encased in a perforated metal box. They're great. The humidity here is formidable and these things make our tuiles and sugar and "papers" make it through dinner service every night. They get recharged in a low oven in a few hours. I'll get the ordering info at work today and pass it on.

Margot Cafe in east Nashville (straight down Bryland from your hotel to Gallatin Pike) has good wines matched with a daily changing menu, and don't miss Rotier's downtown for burgers on mini baguettes, deep fried pickles and waitresses who call you "hon."

We do a "Baked Tennessee" for special occasions, and light it with corn liquor, but have trouble getting it to ignite with just the alcohol. It only browned in spots, sometimes too much. So, we torch it before it goes out and the server carries a shot glass of the slightly-warmed alcohol, lit, to the table to pour over it. It doesn't always make it to the table lit, and is really just for show, since we've torched it in the kitchen. Warming the alcohol seems to be necessary for it to light and stay lit, just 10 seconds in the microwave before it goes in the shot glass.

Yep, and when a southern cat kneads its claws into you, it's called "making biscuits." The recipe is: 5 lbs. White Lily flour 2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda 2 Tablespoons Salt 1 lb. Shortening 8 cups Buttermilk 1 lb. butter The Lead a.m. Baker in my kitchen uses less butter than I, but I think she turns them less as well. Definitely handle the dough as little as possible, always. The dough we're dumping out on the table and turning hardly qualifies as dough. It's a very loose mixture until the turning starts, which is what brings it together as dough. My understanding is that the recipe is our Chef's, John Fleer at Blackberry Farm. He's very particular about them! My first time making them, I had to redo them three times. But when they're right, they're great!

Here's what I've learned about biscuits from my two years in the South, where they know their biscuits: Put all your dry ingredients in a bowl and, using your hands, cut in the fat until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquid. As if you're folding a fragile cake batter, pull the dry from the bottom over the top of the liquid and continue to do so, moving the bowl around to get all edges. When the liquid is incorporated into the dry, but not mixed completely together, dump it out onto a very well floured table. Spread it gently into a rectangle and slather it with soft butter. Fold the sides in, as if you were making puff pastry. Turn the dough 90 degrees, flouring your table again as necessary, and fold the sides in again. How many times you need to repeat the process depends on the dough. It should stay soft and pliable, not resist your efforts. Three times should be enough. Then, roll it very gently, using more flour, if necessary and cut the biscuits out with a flour-dipped cutter. Put them on a papered or buttered sheet pan, edges just touching. Brush them with melted butter (get the pattern here? butter is your friend! and your biscuits' friend, too) and bake them in a medium-hot oven (375-400F) until the tops are well-browned and the biscuits are firm. How long depends on how thick you rolled them and how large you cut them. When they come out of the oven, brush them with more--guess what!--butter. We use White Lily flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, with shortening as the fat in the dough, but cream of tartar and baking soda are just baking powder unmixed. We also use buttermilk, a very high fat one. Good luck! Let us know how they come out in your future efforts!

I've eaten an entire tube of Girl Scout Thin Mints while I read this! Try and duplicate those! I've never been able to come close. Check out The American Heritage Cookbook, out of print but the cookbook my siblings and I grew up on. I learned to bake from the dessert and cookies sections. Some of the recipes have historical prefaces. I look for old copies of it in every used book store I go in, and buy them whenever I see them. It came in a 2 volume set, as well as a one book combined version. Good luck in your new job!

I agree with Ted. Buy it from the newsstand, because you will rarely get an issue, and never on time. I had two years of full paid subscriptions, receiving a few issues, months late. Unfortunately, this magazine calls the shots in our profession, naming the top ten pastry chefs of the year. Why do they? Anybody know? Is it simply because it's the only magazine for us? Or the most prominent?

Ling, I have to say that I was kind of hurt the other day when I read your reply about the EP pound cake, because I still think it's delicious, and remember, I did admonish to be sure to beat the cake batter as much as it says to in the recipe. I even beat more in between each addition of the eggs. You said it was too dense, but here in the south, as I, the token Yankee in the kitchen, am learning, a pound cake has to be dense. So, I beat the be-jeezus out of it. I've made it marbled, adding a yolk, 5 oz. of 58% bittersweet, melted, and 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the chocolate part, and I always scrape a whole Bourbon vanilla bean in the vanilla part. I've made it part of the Baked Tennessee, our new "special occasion" cake that people celebrating anniversaries or birthdays get before their dessert. I layer it with Chocolate-Sorghum ice cream and cover it with vanilla bean-y swiss meringue, then pour moonshine over it to torch it. It has to be pre-torched before it goes in the dining room, because the moonshine, believe it or not, isn't volatile enough to keep it lit! Anyway, I love it! If I can find the Chef's digital camera, I will send photos of all the variations.

I was wondering about the gelatin, too, because it's hard to tell if it's too thin before it cools. It's also yummy to use clear cider or apple juice or wine instead of the water for another flavor component. And again, as Patrick said, simply reduce it to get it thicker, if you add too much liquid. If you don't add enough and it's too thick once it cools, reheat it and add more liquid carefully and slowly.

Um...guys? it's just flour, eggs, sugar and butter. It's not rocket science. Besides, I think it's very important to know that bread senses fear. I DID go to culinary school, and I am one bad ass baker, to tell the honest truth, but what I've learned that's most important is that it's just food. If you mess stuff up, you throw it out and start over. Or if you've only mildly messed up, you eat what you can and start over. Or you tell your friends that you invented something new. The best bread book ever is The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown. It's full of tree-hugging Zen stuff, but the bread recipe is the best, infinitely variable and extremely forgiving. And though I use a Kitchen Aid every day at work, at least 20 times a day, I just recently got one for my home, and most of the time forget it's there, until I'm done making stuff by hand. In culinary school, we weren't allowed to use mixers until the last semester, because they wanted us to know what things felt like when we made them by hand, a valuable lesson. So my advice is loosen up, have fun. All that stuff about flours and yeasts and sugars are written by people with WAY too much time on their hands! Play around with what you can find in your stores, with recipes that are straightforward and friendly, and when you get your confidence up with those things, move on to more complicated things. Pastry makes people happy; that's what I love about it. Don't let it make you feel inadequate. p.s. I can't cook! I make the worst soups on the planet!

Thanks, Darcie, for the bacon inspiration, the cat news, the meal photos, all of it. I can't believe you cook all day and then cook dinner, with no help! Probably explains why I'm single! Won't do it! I'll try and let you know when the bacon dessert becomes full-fledged reality. Cheers!

The "Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake" in last year's Music Issue of Gourmet is fantastic. Be sure to follow all the admonishments about over-beating. You cannot over-beat a pound cake, which is what I think they mean in the name, rather than that pound-pound-pound nonsense! Well, I can't quickly find how to insert the link, but just go to epicurious.com and type in the title of the recipe. It's really yummy, and no annoying separating of eggs or whipping the whites separately. I hate that!

I just started reading your blog yesterday, Darcie, and I was inspired to make sweet stuff with bacon, after 6 months of urging by my chef and stout resistance by ME! So last night's pre-dessert was the bacon spice cookies (also with cardomom, no cloves), topped with bacon ganache (8 oz. 58%chocolate, 8 oz. heavy cream and one fat tablespoon bacon grease), topped with bacon toffee. My lead pastry cook and I ate one each and said, "Hmmmmmm... I don't hate it, but..." but the line cooks all loved it. The Chef said it was yummy, but would have been better with Benton's Bacon, a bacon a guy in Georgia makes that we feature prominently in the savory menu. I'm thinking about making it a full-fledged dessert on our rotating menu, but I think I'll tone down the bacon-ness first. One of the line cooks promised to take my leftover toffee and grind it up to put over my foie gras course when I come in for dinner on Monday night. Can't wait! Thanks for a great, inspiring blog! Maybe I'll try bagels next! Maybe with BACON!

Wendy, that is one beautiful village! So much detail! And I love the Halloween house. The gazebo in the village looks like quite an engineering feat.

Whoa! Those are some fantastic photos! And Artistic Sugarworks, excuse me, but "not much to look at???" Surely you jest! That is one amazing house! Beautiful stuff! Everyone's marzipan work is gorgeous, too.

yea! more pictures! Cute houses! I just love gingerbread! No, they don't start to smell after a few weeks, but yes, sometimes they do fall apart. Last year, we lit the inside of all our houses, and the heat from the lights melted the windows and eventually, the icing that was holding the houses together. Don't do that! And the humidity here in east Tennessee plays havoc with them, as well. We'll see if our display makes it past Christmas, because it's right by 3 huge windows, an outside door and a large fireplace. Fingers crossed! Anyone out there from a really large hotel that makes a village?