gingersweetiepie

So THAT'S why they were looking for a new pastry chef! But if I could please address thw cake mix issue... the highest-end wedding cake makers (the names I won't name but you know) used boxed cake mix purchased in bulk. Fondant is mostly purchased in large buckets as well. The wedding cake business is not about from-scratch baking but about the labor that goes into making sugar flowers that no one ends up eating anyway.

agreed on the price of the cocktails and the service, both crap. but i liked the raspberry 'bread' even though there's nothing 'bready' about it. personally, i don't think that receiving things in pouches and jars do anything to add to my experience. but as for the bread itself, it was so intensely flavored for something that looked like a dry crusty sponge, i really enjoyed it. also didn't like that the cheese was precut and refrigerated. if goldfarb's rule of thumb is to make the customer wait as long as they have to for a good dish, it wouldn't hurt too cut the cheese to order. i just said cut the cheese, ha.

homemade rose preserves from turkey! made by a grandma, too. sounds so romantic and exotic and comforting all at once. would you consider trading? i could make you a hudson valley gooseberry jam, perhaps? and let us know how it works out.

Try adding the rosewater to the cooled base, not before. There are also rose preserves, which should result in a smoother product because of the natural invert sugar. I just finished a new dish on my menu which uses them in a strawberry rose sorbet and I must say it's one of the few things I've ever been truly satisfied with. It's always good to use a light hand when it comes to flowers in food. You mentioned adding a tad more than you think you need, which is the right idea since this is a frozen product. But if this is a gelato that you serve very soft at a warmer temp than custard ice cream, just enough may be just enough.

I'm half asleep as I write this, so please point it out of I'm wrong, but on the topic of Korean food being pricey... Consider the work that goes into Korean food. All of that banchan at your table doesn't come from nowhere. Every little dish involves an annoyingly large number of steps to prepare. It's hard enough getting banchan right- anyone who's eaten over or unerripe kimchi knows this - but to get 7-10 dishes of it with every meal justifies the pricetag of that plate of meat youre about to grill. Besides Indian food, with its chutneys and relishes, I can't really think of any other Asian cuisine which gives so much damn food gratis. And in fact, most Indian places I can think of charge for those items. Open a joint, call it Korean tapas and you can charge $5-9 for each plate. I've had a menu developed for years now based on this concept except for one problem, which is this very topic. The folks aren't ready for Korean. Are y'all gonna come be my first guests?

i was never really sure why el bulli was puting isomalt in there caramel systems.....it would only reduce sweetness a minimal amount....i think they thought it would hold up better amidst humid conditions but isomalt loses that property when mixed with other sugars.....i have good results using it in croquants and such without any texture issues but again i dont think it helped anything..... other than sugar show pieces its not good for much......although i did see someone do something really cool with it this one time.... he put olive oil in a vita prep and let it go full blast....and then carefully poured in melted isomalt......the result was a pate de fruit like texture.....it was almost jelly like.... ← was that somebody Johnny Iuzzini? Because they have excellent evoo pate de fruit @ jean-george that I'd love to know how to make ← Glad someone mentioned it - there's great flavor in that pate de fruit! Could taste it straight away. It was noticably softer in texture then the accompanying jellies, though. I wonder if it's resistant to jelling or if adding more pectin detracts from the flavor.

This issue made me want to gag. It could not have been a more misleading title. Totally geared towards food snobs with money to burn. (Which I suppose represents NY Mag's demographic) With all due respect to a place like Momofuku, $15 ramen hardly qualifies as a cheap eat in my book. And to recommend the chilli crab at Fatty Crab - it's $28! I know the star rating topic has been talk-talk-talked about to death, but this one really took it over the top for me. I'm officially over taking any critic's opinion seriously.

The Professional Pastry Chef (half price on amazon.com right now) and Professional Baking are standards that almost every pastry chef I know has referred to at one point or another. The photos scream "Hello 1980!!"! - stained glass saucing, anyone? - but you can update almost anything you see. In fact, I noticed something very interesting: Look at the photos in the plated dessert section in the back of the Professional Baking book. Then look at the plated desserts in Charlie Trotter's book. Exactly the same setups and components (for example, the fruit soup with sorbet and long tuile). And yet, each dinstinctly looks like it comes from a certain era in pastry. Depending on your taste, you might enjoy Sweet Seasons by Richard Leach. Not exactly my taste but some people just totally dig him. If you want hypermodern, Bernd Siefert's Sweet Gold is a good place to start. I bought my copy in Australia but I'm jbprince(dotcom) carries it.

ginger, like some tropical fruits, contain an enzyme that can break down the protein in dairy. if you use a freshly made chai mix, you may want to blanch the ginger. I'd say it's worth the trouble since the freshness (as opposed to old leaves in an old teabag) sounds like a lovely match for the chocolate. in fact, I'm currently experimenting with chai and curry in a number of chocolate recipes (currently trying to figure out a masala-chai-creme-fraiche-white-chocolate-ganache) so please report back and I'll do the same.

just a little off topic, but eater's good at serving wrong information with a side of attitude. to give them credit, they do preface their reports by saying that they come from unverifiable sources/anonymous e-mails (to which i ask, 'then why publish it?'). so yeah, i just quoting them since some asked. never did eat at the restaurant but i'm sure campbell will reappear in a new spot.

From the folks at eater: 2) UWS: They fought the good, long fight, but business is doneski at neighborhood mainstay @SQC (who doesn't love a phantom website?) From the ground: "Apparently the folks at @sqc have decided that providing sustenance to the stroller set on the UWS is no longer worth killing themselves." more closings that week at http://eater.curbed.com/archives/2006/07/shutter.php#more

you may want to check out this blog entry: http://dessertfirst.typepad.com/dessert_fi...ge_at_myth.html people will expect different things of you depending on where you stage. in fine dining restaurants, stages are there to crack and separate eggs, stay out everyone's way, and to please only ask questions when someone has time to answer, which is rare. i certainly don't mean to sound discouraging about it - the point is that it's up to you to keep your eyes and ears open at all times while quietly and quickly performing these seemingly inane tasks. observation is priceless. as for practical preparations, everything everyone else said: good shoes, eat something beforehand, keep your hair back, and introduce yourself to the folks in the kitchen - this includes the dishwashers and porters. and keep cleaning up after yourself. anyone who has worked in a restaurant couldn't stress these points enough. it's also important to make the terms of the apprenticeship clear with your chef and to honor your commitment. if you agree to an 8 hour say once a week, don't untie your apron 7 hours into the shift. all that said, good luck and have fun. the first time in a kitchen can be a very exciting and lifechanging experience.

the croissants are enormous and perfectly done on the inside, though i'd prefer a crispier exterior. i still prefer city bakery croissants even though they're admittedly denser and greasier. the smoked turkey cream cheese pastry is really rich and highly recommended if you're not into sweets. i respectfully disagree in regard to the financier - a little bland. i like financers with with a clear beurre noisette flavor. as for those mini chocolate filled savarin-shaped cookies, whoa. crunchy and soft and moist and chewy and light all at once. very nice. (are those the tiger cakes?)

while i can't offer a specific recipe, just a couple of thoughts... 1. gelato is traditionally all milk, no cream. 2. 14 yolks is a huge number. even the richest french style ice creams typically use 8-10 yolks per quart of dairy. the more fat in your base, the more it coats your tongue and dulls the flavor of the actual fruit. so just by tackling 1 and 2, using all milk and reducing yolks, you may have better luck. finally, 3. figs have a fair amount of water. i'd suggest making the puree and reducing it by half. good luck on your next try.